![]() Meghan Brehon This book went to places I was not expecting. Geez. I have a problem with misreading book synopses. This is something that has become clear to me. The synopsis for this novel seems innocent enough. Just a light hearted mega cliché, following a cast high school kids including The Jock™, Mysterious Girl, and the Preacher’s Daughter with a Rebellious Streak. But see, the part that I completely skipped over was Mysterious Girl’s murderous tendencies. Kind of changes the atmosphere of the book, as I’m sure you can imagine. This is the first book I have read by Mindy McGinnis (although I have come very close to buying her other two novels, and might now go ahead and get them). I like her writing. No part of this book was boring. The imagery was vibrant, as were the characters. It moved at a good pace, with sparks in the plot sprinkled throughout. The title is what made me pick this one up. There were some pretty dark topics covered in this novel. I mean. Rape, violence against women. It covered heavy topics with poignancy, and elegance (as opposed to approaching rough topics in a messy way). The way the message of speaking up, and being strong in your own way (as only the ‘female of the species’ can) was subtle enough that the reader did not feel the novel was a lesson, with a story framed around it, but rather a story with a strong lesson attached. One quote that really stood out to me was, “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” As I mentioned in the beginning, this book did not follow the course I was expecting. For most of the book I could not see any way for there to be a happy ending. But then I thought, “Wow, this really turned around maybe we will end happily ever after”. And while I don’t want to spoil anything (and I won’t (probably)), that ending took me by surprise. As in I read it, and then had to stop for a minute and say “whhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttt????” to myself before continuing. So basically, the point to be found in the rambling that was produced from my brain which is still figuring out the novel I finished a ripe 5 minutes ago is that except the unexpected my dudes. I identified in some ways with one of the main characters (or who I thought as THE main character), Alex. At this point, you may be thinking to yourself, “Hold up. You identify with the chick with murderous tendencies??” And yeah, okay, there were definitely other parts of her character that made me think of myself other than that, and the similarities between us seemed to grow smaller and smaller as the novel progressed and more was discovered about her. With that being said, one of the main points of her character in the beginning was that she always spoke very carefully, and in a very formal manner. She said that this was because she read many books, and did not have much experience speaking to people. Which was the first line I drew to myself, as while I do have an awful tendency to use “LOL” in verbal conversation, people mention often enough that the way I speak is very proper (perhaps a little rigid at times (pretentious, as Cassidy sometimes says)). The way that her group of friend(s) was very small is also very similar to myself. But of course there are many differences, such as her love of running (barf) and murderous tendencies (of course). This book is very relevant in a culture such as ours. Where feminism is viewed as a joke by many (as opposed to a legitimate equality movement) and where rape culture is so pervasive. Basically, this book is heavy, and dark and really good.
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