snchard's review
3.0
This whole book is like one giant trigger warning. Very intense, at times disturbing. It really stretched my suspension of disbelief that Alex would be so easily accepted into Jack's clique, especially in a small town. I most enjoyed Peekay's voice, and although I liked Jack well enough, I kept thinking how much I would rather be reading Branley's point of view. Still, an enthralling story.
ellieafterall's review against another edition
5.0
2020 reread note: a character study of the implications of violence, necessary or otherwise, that holds up.
"Define success,” I say.
“I didn’t kill anyone today,” Alex says.
I laugh again. “A-plus, babe.”
The first sentence in the synopsis is: Alex Croft knows how to kill someone. So it's not exactly a shocker, but...I didn't read the synopsis. I was intrigued the moment I heard the title and even more so when I saw the cover. It's not often that you hear about contemporary YA fiction novels that talk about, well, the female of the species.
This book was so, so, so good. I'm going to run out of coming up with different adjectives to describe it because it felt, so so real. The time shifted as the events did and it genuinely felt like a real story. The mood was never a singular tone, and that was supported as we switched between three different point-of-views. But the atmosphere of this book was so well-written.
"He gets around, and I swear if he hurts you, it’ll be my turn to kick some ass.” I shake a fist in her face to make my point.
“Your thumb goes on the outside,” she says.
We've all read the whole "small town" trope so many times in many books, but we are so focused on the characters that you sometimes don't notice the town. I think that's what really hits you. Because it's more like circumstances that they are faced with and we are all left wondering as if we were in a choose-your-own-story video game and if the choices we would make were the choices the characters made.
When he answers it’s like the better half of me explodes into a thousand pieces of light, hope spreading through me to touch places that can’t recall the feeling.
This is definitely not a romance novel by any means, but as with teenagers comes the need to interact - in many ways, if you know what I mean - and so there is love. So much that you are hit with the unexpected feelings of content every chapter. To be honest. I wasn't expecting the romance between the two who do end up together, but I loved it the same. They were so, so good for each other. They never tore each other down but build and helped each other mature...and it was slow and adorable.
Peekay (or Claire, because Peekay is the stupidest name I have heard in a while. Just say PK if that's what it is. What's with the extra vowels!???)'s romance was kinda all over the place but I think we are meant to understand that it was never who she ends up getting with but what she learns from her past one. As in, stop always blaming the girl when it was the guy who chose to leave you.
But boys will be boys, our favorite phrase that excuses so many things, while the only thing we have for the opposite gender is women, said with disdain and punctuated with an eye roll.
This was SO incredibly feminist and I am so here for this. There's this girl who all the guys in the school want - as per usual, and as expected, is called a slut etc etc. However, Alex is not here for this shit. She calls out her friends repeatedly, and, get this, not in the worst way possible. She doesn't say "hey, guys, she's not that bad." She says "so she likes sex, and she can get guys. What's wrong with that?" That's the difference between shutting down slut shaming and changing the subject.
"Jesus,” Sara says as Branley walks past us. “Too cold to show off cleavage, so instead she goes for jeans so tight I can see her thong.”
“She looks nice,” I say, and she does. Branley always looks put together in a way that tells me she spends hours in front of a mirror before going outside. And while I don’t understand that, I can respect it.
There are many references to sexual assault and rape culture in this book, and I am so glad there are books like this out there. Where girls shaming girls is looked down upon and we offer support to women going through with this, where our freaking main character says repeatedly no girl deserves to get sexually assaulted no matter the circumstances. She legitimately says that. That seems like such a basic thing but you would not believe how many people say it is the girl's fault for being exposed. I'm sorry?? Shaming a woman is more important to you than, I don't know, offering support? Ugh. Ugh.
"Hey, Alex, did you know that you’re a slut?” Sara yells at me from the bathroom stall as Peekay checks her makeup in the mirror.
“This is news,” I call back.
The friendship between the girls is wonderful. I kind of just want to read about them hanging out for the rest of my life. Mostly because Alex is quite literally one of the best female characters I have ever, ever read about. I'm not even exaggerating. I loved Peekay, too, but Alex...Alex hit you in the heart, in the gut and in your thoughts. And she didn't even do it in purpose. It was just Alex, and her chapters were honestly things to look forward to. Just because her observations about everything were, well, everything. She always felt so raw and you could feel her emotions through all her important scenes.
The books didn’t help me find a word for myself; my father refused to accept the weight of it. And so I made my own.
I am vengeance.
Okay. So now let's talk about the killing again. Yes, Alex does kill. It was literally the first sentence of the book "this is how I kill someone" or something like that, and I was hooked from that. There are many, many views about payback deaths, and many who would just consider what Alex did to be revenge and not justice. This is a moral argument through and through, and Mindy McGinnis discusses this. Not plainly. Not like, "holy crap, me killing blah-blah was wrong."
But indirectly through the other two characters, who are faced with people in situations who they really are so sick of. When Peekay questions how we sometimes imagine hurting people in the worst way after they have hurt you, you are wondering there with her. Wondering if you are acting unjustly by even thinking of such a violent action. It's honestly remarkable, and I personally thought Alex was justified in everything. I know it's not the right thing, but she never said she was a good or a righteous person, either. And the person was not a good or righteous person either - and again, yet again something we wonder: but are any of us 100% good and righteous?
Most people consider things they wouldn’t do in real life, and there’s enough visceral satisfaction in the thought to alleviate the emotion. In reality, hurting another person on purpose is not a simple task, and not everyone is up to it.
This book caught me so off-guard and I bloody loved it. The writing style, the feminist characters, the female friendships, the in-depth interactions between all the female characters (as they realize they hate each other because of a guy and think, fuck that), alllll the kittens and dogs and the parents who adore their kids to the ones who don't.
P.S. I cried for the main death because it was unexpected and I will never forgive Mindy for it.
P.S.S. I really wanted Sara to have a girlfriend by the end, damn it.
"Define success,” I say.
“I didn’t kill anyone today,” Alex says.
I laugh again. “A-plus, babe.”
The first sentence in the synopsis is: Alex Croft knows how to kill someone. So it's not exactly a shocker, but...I didn't read the synopsis. I was intrigued the moment I heard the title and even more so when I saw the cover. It's not often that you hear about contemporary YA fiction novels that talk about, well, the female of the species.
This book was so, so, so good. I'm going to run out of coming up with different adjectives to describe it because it felt, so so real. The time shifted as the events did and it genuinely felt like a real story. The mood was never a singular tone, and that was supported as we switched between three different point-of-views. But the atmosphere of this book was so well-written.
"He gets around, and I swear if he hurts you, it’ll be my turn to kick some ass.” I shake a fist in her face to make my point.
“Your thumb goes on the outside,” she says.
We've all read the whole "small town" trope so many times in many books, but we are so focused on the characters that you sometimes don't notice the town. I think that's what really hits you. Because it's more like circumstances that they are faced with and we are all left wondering as if we were in a choose-your-own-story video game and if the choices we would make were the choices the characters made.
When he answers it’s like the better half of me explodes into a thousand pieces of light, hope spreading through me to touch places that can’t recall the feeling.
This is definitely not a romance novel by any means, but as with teenagers comes the need to interact - in many ways, if you know what I mean - and so there is love. So much that you are hit with the unexpected feelings of content every chapter. To be honest. I wasn't expecting the romance between the two who do end up together, but I loved it the same. They were so, so good for each other. They never tore each other down but build and helped each other mature...and it was slow and adorable.
Peekay (or Claire, because Peekay is the stupidest name I have heard in a while. Just say PK if that's what it is. What's with the extra vowels!???)'s romance was kinda all over the place but I think we are meant to understand that it was never who she ends up getting with but what she learns from her past one. As in, stop always blaming the girl when it was the guy who chose to leave you.
But boys will be boys, our favorite phrase that excuses so many things, while the only thing we have for the opposite gender is women, said with disdain and punctuated with an eye roll.
This was SO incredibly feminist and I am so here for this. There's this girl who all the guys in the school want - as per usual, and as expected, is called a slut etc etc. However, Alex is not here for this shit. She calls out her friends repeatedly, and, get this, not in the worst way possible. She doesn't say "hey, guys, she's not that bad." She says "so she likes sex, and she can get guys. What's wrong with that?" That's the difference between shutting down slut shaming and changing the subject.
"Jesus,” Sara says as Branley walks past us. “Too cold to show off cleavage, so instead she goes for jeans so tight I can see her thong.”
“She looks nice,” I say, and she does. Branley always looks put together in a way that tells me she spends hours in front of a mirror before going outside. And while I don’t understand that, I can respect it.
There are many references to sexual assault and rape culture in this book, and I am so glad there are books like this out there. Where girls shaming girls is looked down upon and we offer support to women going through with this, where our freaking main character says repeatedly no girl deserves to get sexually assaulted no matter the circumstances. She legitimately says that. That seems like such a basic thing but you would not believe how many people say it is the girl's fault for being exposed. I'm sorry?? Shaming a woman is more important to you than, I don't know, offering support? Ugh. Ugh.
"Hey, Alex, did you know that you’re a slut?” Sara yells at me from the bathroom stall as Peekay checks her makeup in the mirror.
“This is news,” I call back.
The friendship between the girls is wonderful. I kind of just want to read about them hanging out for the rest of my life. Mostly because Alex is quite literally one of the best female characters I have ever, ever read about. I'm not even exaggerating. I loved Peekay, too, but Alex...Alex hit you in the heart, in the gut and in your thoughts. And she didn't even do it in purpose. It was just Alex, and her chapters were honestly things to look forward to. Just because her observations about everything were, well, everything. She always felt so raw and you could feel her emotions through all her important scenes.
The books didn’t help me find a word for myself; my father refused to accept the weight of it. And so I made my own.
I am vengeance.
Okay. So now let's talk about the killing again. Yes, Alex does kill. It was literally the first sentence of the book "this is how I kill someone" or something like that, and I was hooked from that. There are many, many views about payback deaths, and many who would just consider what Alex did to be revenge and not justice. This is a moral argument through and through, and Mindy McGinnis discusses this. Not plainly. Not like, "holy crap, me killing blah-blah was wrong."
But indirectly through the other two characters, who are faced with people in situations who they really are so sick of. When Peekay questions how we sometimes imagine hurting people in the worst way after they have hurt you, you are wondering there with her. Wondering if you are acting unjustly by even thinking of such a violent action. It's honestly remarkable, and I personally thought Alex was justified in everything. I know it's not the right thing, but she never said she was a good or a righteous person, either. And the person was not a good or righteous person either - and again, yet again something we wonder: but are any of us 100% good and righteous?
Most people consider things they wouldn’t do in real life, and there’s enough visceral satisfaction in the thought to alleviate the emotion. In reality, hurting another person on purpose is not a simple task, and not everyone is up to it.
This book caught me so off-guard and I bloody loved it. The writing style, the feminist characters, the female friendships, the in-depth interactions between all the female characters (as they realize they hate each other because of a guy and think, fuck that), alllll the kittens and dogs and the parents who adore their kids to the ones who don't.
P.S. I cried for the main death because it was unexpected and I will never forgive Mindy for it.
P.S.S. I really wanted Sara to have a girlfriend by the end, damn it.
paigelm's review against another edition
4.0
I found this super gripping. Maybe not my favorite story ever, (or even favorite book by Mindy McGinnis), but I did like some of the nuances of the characters, with characters that fit certain high school stereotypes that then also break the mold a little bit. Not a lot, but a little bit.
(Also the book had rape in the story, without the whole story being about rape. Not sure how I feel about it, but I think it was used in a way that doesn't just add rape to make the plot line a little more interesting...aka: every law and order episode ever.)
AND the beginning of this book WAS AWESOME. one of the best opening chapters I have had the pleasure of reading in a while. I challenge you to read that opening chapter, and not want to complete the rest of the book.
(Also the book had rape in the story, without the whole story being about rape. Not sure how I feel about it, but I think it was used in a way that doesn't just add rape to make the plot line a little more interesting...aka: every law and order episode ever.)
AND the beginning of this book WAS AWESOME. one of the best opening chapters I have had the pleasure of reading in a while. I challenge you to read that opening chapter, and not want to complete the rest of the book.
gusfring's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book in high school & I 100% believe this is responsible for the books I love now, at age 22. I recommend this to everyone I can…super underrated
breadaficionado's review against another edition
4.0
i have no idea what i just read or what any of it meant but i loved every second of it
jenielle's review against another edition
2.0
It’s a hard book to put down.
That being said, it ended in a rush. Things just got weaker as the story moved along. I have to say the ending does fit the narrative, but the execution was quite a flop. Surely something that started as sharp as "This is how I kill someone." shouldn't have ended this way?
A quick look at the synopsis says this is "A contemporary YA novel that examines rape culture through alternating perspectives." Yeah, I don’t know about that. What I just read seems like an awful attempt at squeezing it in, never going too far to explore and address the issues. Messages got lost and muddled with your conveniently shoehorned YA clichés.
I have a lot more to say (or rant about), but I can accept that it at least had good intentions.
That being said, it ended in a rush. Things just got weaker as the story moved along. I have to say the ending does fit the narrative, but the execution was quite a flop. Surely something that started as sharp as "This is how I kill someone." shouldn't have ended this way?
A quick look at the synopsis says this is "A contemporary YA novel that examines rape culture through alternating perspectives." Yeah, I don’t know about that. What I just read seems like an awful attempt at squeezing it in, never going too far to explore and address the issues. Messages got lost and muddled with your conveniently shoehorned YA clichés.
I have a lot more to say (or rant about), but I can accept that it at least had good intentions.
toriagnew_'s review against another edition
5.0
The tears won’t stop coming. How does one recover after a book like this? Fucking brilliant.
reclusivereader's review against another edition
4.0
This book should come with a warning label. And maybe it does, in a way. It's called THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES after all.
"Everyone thinks if you fix a male dog it will lower his aggression, but most of the biters are female. It's basic instinct to protect their own womb. You see it in all animals -- the female of the species is more deadly than the male."
This story about rape culture, death, vengeance, small towns, highschool and acceptance, opens by setting your expectations on how everything is going to pan out. Alex's older sister was found in the woods in pieces. A few years later she takes steps to avenge Anna. And if you assume the rest of the story is supposed to be some kind of vigilante tale, you'd be half right.
Most of us don't have money, but that doesn't take away a certain element of pride that goes along with being part of this place, right down to the literal sense that your ancestors actually are in the dirt that grew the crops that you'll have for dinner.
McGinnis takes you in so many other directions in this book that you're actually lulled into believing it might be a love story, a coming of age story, of quirky eccentric adventure about people finding their tribe, living for a future they hadn't imagined, and getting out of the dead-end place they grew up in. It's complicated and rife with small town problems (drugs, alcohol, and all the problems they enhance) but there's also a lightheartedness to it.
I live in a world where not being molested as a child is considered luck.
And then it all goes to shit.
But boys will be boys, our favourite phrase that excuses so many things, while the only thing we have for the opposite gender is women, said with disdain and punctuated with an eye roll.
I refuse to say how and why it goes to shit. But the darkness in this book, the tough situations, the brutal circumstances that get talked about, challenged, the dialogue about women and men, it's all so important. So well done. And the end of this book will leave your heart in pieces. I loved this book, I hated it, it made me angry, it made me laugh. It's not an easy read but neither should it be. It may be dark but there's also an innocence to these characters that makes you root for them even when they screw up, when they do the wrong thing, when they don't speak up, when they kill.
I'm not sure I could recommend this to anyone, not with all the potential triggers, but if you can handle the subject matter, read it.
4 "there are parts of yourself that you hate; parts that you know other people wouldn't understand" stars
"Everyone thinks if you fix a male dog it will lower his aggression, but most of the biters are female. It's basic instinct to protect their own womb. You see it in all animals -- the female of the species is more deadly than the male."
This story about rape culture, death, vengeance, small towns, highschool and acceptance, opens by setting your expectations on how everything is going to pan out. Alex's older sister was found in the woods in pieces. A few years later she takes steps to avenge Anna. And if you assume the rest of the story is supposed to be some kind of vigilante tale, you'd be half right.
Most of us don't have money, but that doesn't take away a certain element of pride that goes along with being part of this place, right down to the literal sense that your ancestors actually are in the dirt that grew the crops that you'll have for dinner.
McGinnis takes you in so many other directions in this book that you're actually lulled into believing it might be a love story, a coming of age story, of quirky eccentric adventure about people finding their tribe, living for a future they hadn't imagined, and getting out of the dead-end place they grew up in. It's complicated and rife with small town problems (drugs, alcohol, and all the problems they enhance) but there's also a lightheartedness to it.
I live in a world where not being molested as a child is considered luck.
And then it all goes to shit.
But boys will be boys, our favourite phrase that excuses so many things, while the only thing we have for the opposite gender is women, said with disdain and punctuated with an eye roll.
I refuse to say how and why it goes to shit. But the darkness in this book, the tough situations, the brutal circumstances that get talked about, challenged, the dialogue about women and men, it's all so important. So well done. And the end of this book will leave your heart in pieces. I loved this book, I hated it, it made me angry, it made me laugh. It's not an easy read but neither should it be. It may be dark but there's also an innocence to these characters that makes you root for them even when they screw up, when they do the wrong thing, when they don't speak up, when they kill.
I'm not sure I could recommend this to anyone, not with all the potential triggers, but if you can handle the subject matter, read it.
4 "there are parts of yourself that you hate; parts that you know other people wouldn't understand" stars