The Female of the Species

WHAT. THE. HELL.

I shouldn't be writing this while so emotional, shouldn't write this right after finishing this book.
Contemporary is so difficult to read because of how emotionally attached you become to these flawed characters – these high school seniors who are just living their life they way they know how.
After this one, I'll need a break from YA Contemporary.

There is something about audiobooks that drag you into an audiobook and I have to say that these narrators did a good job. The emotions in their voices were perfect. I think the ending narration could have been... more, but if it was anymore, it might have been too much. There are three narrators for the three points of view: Peekay, Jack, Alex. The voices bring you in and while the shifts in points of view can take one out of the moment, but the narration is so well done, that it takes only seconds before the reader is brought back in.

The plot was done very well. While I wasn't always sure where the story was going, that sometimes happens with me in contemporary fiction. What is the climax or how is this supposed to end, are common questions, but this book is so seamless that those questions don't quite matter. There is no problem that needs to be solved, except for the social problem the book is trying to push in the reader's face: rape. This book is about rape in all its forms, how life isn't fair, and how we shouldn't tolerate jokes about rape or it in general.
I do have some questions, such as if Alex was a type of sociopath, which is a pretty important question for the background and for us to understand why she had no friends before her senior year.

This is a powerful book and in being so, is hard to read [or listen to]. It is one that some may shy away from reading, but it is a book that should be read, talked about, and shared. People have flaws, people make mistakes, and most importantly people can change, learn, and grow for the better if only they try.