The Initial Insult

A modern retelling of The Cask of Amontillado (with some other Poe references thrown in there for good measure), The Initial Insult centers around former best friends Tress and Felicity. Now on opposite ends of the social circle spectrum - Tress lives with her one-eyed, alcoholic grandfather in what is known as the “White Trash Zoo”, whereas Felicity is wealthy and popular - the two find themselves at the same wild party one night. It's no coincidence, though: Felicity wants to buy drugs from Tress, and Tress has her own plans for Felicity, as Felicity was the last person to see Tress's parents before they disappeared several years ago. And if Felicity doesn't confess what she knows, Tress will slowly seal her into an old coal chute, brick by brick.

Although I love the weirdness of this book, and appreciated that the dual narrative allowed you to feel sympathy for both characters and their situations, I didn't really connect with this book the way I did with the author's other works. I thought that the third POV narrative was unnecessary, and took me out of the story every time it popped up. That being said, it was compelling enough that I breezed through it, and I will certainly be reading the next one. This will be an easy recommend for fans of YA thrillers. 3.5 bricks sealing up your former best friend in a coal chute out of 5
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Welp, that was bananas.