Female of the Species will entrance you

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Courtesy of the Mindy McGinnis YouTube channel

The Female of the Species is the latest book by Mindy McGinnis.

Sarah Nagel, Reporter

Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis tells the story of Alex, a quiet and mysterious high school girl growing up in a small town. Unbeknownst to her peers however, she is an extremely violent vigilante who has almost serial-killer like tendencies to kill people who prey on young women and girls. She goes unnoticed by everyone and is suspected by no one.

Jack is the popular jock who seems to have it all: valedictorian of his class, star athlete, and dating the most envied girl in the school. He begins to notice Alex and becomes obsessed with understanding his strange classmate. As is Peekay, a rebellious girl who desperately wants to shed her reputation of being the preacher’s daughter.

The story is unexpected, with many twists and turns as the plot advances. It’s told by three different perspectives: Alex, Jack, and Peekay and the author does an excellent job of making each character believable. It’s a character-driven story. There’s much development in each character in their own way as the three of them grow closer and discover what each other is hiding.

There are many adult themes in the story, even though it was written about high school. It’s a mysterious tale with each character not necessarily giving an accurate account of events that occurred, leading to much speculation by part of the audience until the truth is discovered. It makes it a highly compelling read. Each character is witty and clever in their own way, and though it’s not meant to be a comedy many parts are funny purely because of the way the character is describing what’s happening.

The ending was satisfying and yet lead to reflection on the story as a whole. I would highly recommend it. It’s on the PHS library’s Top-16 books and the trailer can be found here.