The Female of the Species

The Female of the Species is by Mindy McGinnis.

A contemporary YA novel that examines rape culture through alternating perspectives. 

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it.

Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone.

As their senior year unfolds, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.

The Breakdown:
1.   McGinnis does an interesting job with exploring rape culture in American, especially in a small town.  I like that she does it without constantly throwing in the readers face, but you definitely know it is there and are uncomfortable with the implications of it (as you should be).  I loved that she explored through three very different characters.

2.  Alex is a interesting character.  She has some serious sociopathic tendencies but has a her own strange moral code about things.  She has really tried to distance herself from others, knowing that there is not something right about her.  Still Jack and Peekay pull her into their lives.

3. I like Peekay the most of the  narrators.  She is a good person.  She starts out a little naive, but after a party one night, she, in a way, loses her innocents.  She is a good friend to Alex.

4.  The last narrator is Jack.  He is the golden boy of the school: smart, athletic, and cute.  Jack is definitely the guy, who for most of his teen years, has let his hormones rule him when it comes to girls.  While he does this, he has regrets about it.  Once he connects with Alex,  he really starts to change.   He grows up, and with revelations about Alex herself, he learns to how to love someone despite their flaws.

5.  This book deals with some heavy subjects without getting too graphic about it.  McGinnis does a great job of pointing out what is wrong with the acceptance of rape culture without using very explicit imagery.  It is hot topic and a subject that needs to talked about more, and this a great book to help get the discussion going.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read