The Female of the Species

By: Mindy McGinnis

Narrated by: Amanda Dolan, Justis Bolding, Dan Bittner

Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Edgar Award-winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a dark and riveting contemporary YA novel that blends the unflinching honesty of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak with the relentless pacing and alternating perspectives of Gone Girl. A stunning, unforgettable listen.

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.

©2016 Mindy McGinnis (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Raw and Gripping

Really enjoyed this book and I'm not easily impressed as I listen to a book a week and often struggle to find something unique and compelling.

A great story

Wonderful story about coming of a age and social commentary on rape and individual responsibilities.

This book is a hot, fever-sick punch in the gut

And it's exactly what our society needs and deserves. Alex Craft is the repulsively attractive love child of rape culture and patriarchal dominance run rampant. She holds up a mirror to not only our society, but to us as individuals, and most of us won't like what we see. This book is about recognizing the monster within us, but also coming to terms with exactly how it got there in the first place. It's about owning up to all of the problems that we either directly caused ourselves, or that we allowed to fester while we stood by watching the infection slowly take hold, because fighting it is hard, and it's easier to become complacent and turn a blind eye until it affects you in a way so real and direct you can't ignore it anymore. That moment, that's the moment we begin to sympathize with the monster. That's the moment we can no longer judge her, because we wish we could be her. Wish we could do the things she does. Little do we know, until the end, how much of a monster we already are, and how, compared to us, Alex Craft is a saint. At the end of this book, I was completely destroyed. Not because of what happened, but because of how disgusted I was to see the monster out of its mask. Not Alex, but us.

Wow! Zap! Bam-ing!

Alex and PK are the best example of what power friendship can have in a persons life. This is an amazing story and I don't say that very often. Alex who has lost so much reminds us all of dignity and basic niceness. This is a complex and dark story that completely caught me off guard. The what? To who? OMG!! That along with a couple of snorts at great quips and behavior insight.

Listen or read this book. You wont be disappointed

Every Teenage Girl Should Read This Book

This is a heartbreaking story and there are parts I don’t fully agree with but the one line about this being the new normal, that you are considered lucky when are not molested as a child, hit the nail on the head for me! There should be no luck involved, people should just keep their hands off other people! If you put your hands on another person without permission then I fully believe you better expect consequences! Are the consequences Alex handed out to extreme? I’m not so sure.... I guess that is for everyone to decide for themselves.

Wow

This book is better than I thought it would be amazing story it brought tears to my eyes

Good book.

I picked it at random and really liked it. I really liked that the guy and girl parts were narrated by different people.

Pretty dark and grim for YA

I didn't realize this was YA fiction. I internally groaned when I realized it was going to be a novel full of teen angst. But it grabbed my attention simply because it was so very dark. I'm so glad I went to high school back in the dark ages. The issues and traumas these kids were trying to deal with....well, I never would have survived it. I thought the performances were strong.

Gut Punch!

So deeply moving and profoundly painful, but also very well written. It's a young adult story with very real content. It's something every human needs to know about "rape culture" and loss and depression and vulnerability.

dark truth

There were parts in the book which were hard to hear meaning I was sensitive to but I know there is a harsh reality to it. If you are sensitive to treatment of animals, rape , or curse words then this might not be a book for you. I thought the book addressed some important issues and put it out there to discuss which I like... No matter how difficult it is to hear/read about it.