The Female of the Species

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.

— A dark and daring book about rape culture, sexual objectification, and slut shaming. Violent, disturbing but very powerful!

“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.”

This book is so special. It tackles another difficult topic in an amazing way. The book follows Alex who at first appears to simply be a introvert who has always kept to herself. But you soon learn there is a lot more to Alex than initially thought. This book was so dark and creepy but it tackled the idea of rape and rape culture in a very unique, but important way.

All The Rage is one of the best books that discusses rape culture and this book easily fits in that category. This book made me angry at times and sad at others. Mindy McGinis wrote this so well. I never knew what exactly was going to happen as Alex became part of her high school's social scene. As she gained friends and other life experiences after her sister's rape and death.

This book was told in 3 seperate POVs and it was one of those unique times were it is absolutely necessary for each of them. We needed Alex's innermonologue as she dealt with her sisters death. We needed Jack's story and how that impacted Alex's. And finally Peekay's POV was important to showcase how a friendship can change a person's story.

I do not want to give many details about this book, but I do want to urge you to read this (if you can). It is so well written and is a story that needs to be told.

cw: animal death, animal abuse, rape, pedophilia

The Female of the Species had been on my radar for a while now, and apparently I'm going through a spell of reading YA books about sexual assault because this is one of three I've read in the last few weeks. Luckily they were all well-crafted in their own ways and I didn't have to worry about killing them with comparison.

Fuzzy faces peering through bars can be unbearable for many.Change the face to a human one and the reaction changes.

This switches between three characters' points of view: Alex, Peekay, and Jack. At first I found these changes somewhat jarring, but either the book or I eventually settled into a rhythm where they became more natural. I ended up adoring each character for different reasons, although I struggled with Jack towards the beginning. I liked the dynamics between them, although occasionally I was confused about their motives behind certain actions.

The plot itself was interesting, and differed a lot from most contemporary YA novels. While it does follow the typical “high school kids falling in love and learning more about themselves as they contemplate their futures” path, it also deals with something a lot deeper: the subjectivity of morality. The reader finds themself siding with a vigilante murderer – or at least I did – thus showing that things aren't quite as black-and-white as they seem.

Her eyes are on mine and it's like there's no such thing as casual flirting with this girl. Every word she speaks is intense as hell and thoroughly investigated before she lets it out of her mouth.

While I ended up enjoying the book a lot, there were a few things that didn't work for me. As I noted above, the perspective switches were a bit disconcerting for me to begin with. I also didn't know how to feel about Jack's “secret” regarding Alex's sister. It's revealed pretty early on, but I won't spoil it. All I'll say is that I don't really understand its purpose. Perhaps it was meant to create some sort of tension between the two at the outset, but it never gets brought up or used in any meaningful way and I truly just forgot about it several times.

But overall, this is definitely a worthwhile read. I found the moral questions it unearthed very interesting while also just enjoying it as a work of fiction. I'd definitely recommend you pick this one up if it seems like your thing.

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.