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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
**Thank you to NetGalley, the author, & the publisher for a chance to listen & review an ARC of this audiobook!**
For me, this was a deliciously horrific & twisted story. I was so excited to receive a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley & to jump into it during Halloween season! Please find my extended feedback below...along with some spoilers (beware).
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Things I Liked:
-the mystery/thriller aspects
-the inclusion of the panther's point of view in the story...it added to the on-the-edge-of-my-seat feeling I had throughout
-the way the author wrote about the night the parents went missing...it kept me guessing
-how the story pointed out systematic discrimination in the town
-the honesty of how different people respond to tragedy (some want to help, some want to stay away, some want to judge, some want answers)
Things That Didn't Sit Quite Right With Me:
-It was weird listing to this with an automated/computerized voice doing the reading (this will change in the future though)
-Tress was not a likable character for me
-that cliffhanger! I can't wait for the next book in this duology!!!
Overall, I gave this audiobook 4 stars. It was an impactful & resonating read for me. I think it would be a great read for those who enjoy thrillers, mysteries, or macabre storylines.
For me, this was a deliciously horrific & twisted story. I was so excited to receive a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley & to jump into it during Halloween season! Please find my extended feedback below...along with some spoilers (beware).
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Things I Liked:
-the mystery/thriller aspects
-the inclusion of the panther's point of view in the story...it added to the on-the-edge-of-my-seat feeling I had throughout
-the way the author wrote about the night the parents went missing...it kept me guessing
-how the story pointed out systematic discrimination in the town
-the honesty of how different people respond to tragedy (some want to help, some want to stay away, some want to judge, some want answers)
Things That Didn't Sit Quite Right With Me:
-It was weird listing to this with an automated/computerized voice doing the reading (this will change in the future though)
-Tress was not a likable character for me
-that cliffhanger! I can't wait for the next book in this duology!!!
Overall, I gave this audiobook 4 stars. It was an impactful & resonating read for me. I think it would be a great read for those who enjoy thrillers, mysteries, or macabre storylines.
I don’t even know where to start. First this was an incredible retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s cask of amontillado. However, there were so many other Easter eggs of all of his other incredible short stories. Poe lovers everywhere will love the story. I think I figured out the mystery of what happened to Tress’s. Parents. This was so twisty it absolutely blew my mind. This really should be 4 1/2 stars not four. It was suspenseful, it was mysterious, it was horrifying, all wrapped up in one. I may add more to this review later as I think about it a little more.
Tress Montor and Felicity Tornado have history. These ex best friends are constantly pulled towards each other. Tress wants answers to a long standing mystery and Felicity is drowning in guilt and just want to help Tress without causing problems in her social life. When the girls were in fourth grade, Tress's parents went missing while driving Felicity home from a sleepover. Felicity was found on the side of the road bleeding with no memory of what happened but Tress's parents have never been seen since. Since then Felicity has been hiding her true self and hiding behind her popularity. Tress on the other hand has been the butt of jokes and lives with a grandfather who only cares about what she can do for him. Well now Tress wants answers and she is going to get them from Felicity no matter the cost.
This story unfolds in Felicity 's and Tress's alternating point of view. You get flashbacks from the past in both perspectives. I loved this because you see the unintentional slights and how they both have secrets that they keep from one another. They both wants what is best for the other and start off with good intentions until they end up in the basement at a party with Felicity chained to a wall with Tress demanding answers. This book was so intense. I don't think I have ever read a book so intense with characters that carry so much baggage. McGinnis doesn't shy away from the dark and I have never been so happy for it. The topics discussed and the history between these two is dark and twisted. I can't wait for book 2 because this book ended so suddenly and with such a crazy twist that you just have to know what happens next.
This story unfolds in Felicity 's and Tress's alternating point of view. You get flashbacks from the past in both perspectives. I loved this because you see the unintentional slights and how they both have secrets that they keep from one another. They both wants what is best for the other and start off with good intentions until they end up in the basement at a party with Felicity chained to a wall with Tress demanding answers. This book was so intense. I don't think I have ever read a book so intense with characters that carry so much baggage. McGinnis doesn't shy away from the dark and I have never been so happy for it. The topics discussed and the history between these two is dark and twisted. I can't wait for book 2 because this book ended so suddenly and with such a crazy twist that you just have to know what happens next.
This book was so weird, but well written. I was into the storyline for at least 2/3 of the book, but that last 1/3 had me saying huh?? too many times. The story just went off the rails and tried to do too much for the short book that it was.
I’ll read the second/final book when it comes out because I want to know how this ends, since we were left of such an abrupt ending that didn’t solve anything that was brought up in the book.
I’ll read the second/final book when it comes out because I want to know how this ends, since we were left of such an abrupt ending that didn’t solve anything that was brought up in the book.
Me at this very moment, having just finished this book:
One thing's for sure, Mindy McGinnis will ALWAYS fuck me up. And while I'm glad for that... part of me is now indescribably angry that I have to WAIT for book 2. Goddammit.
I explained the ending to Husband and equated it to the mindfuck that had to've happened when people saw Romeo & Juliet for the first time and got THAT ending.
I deeply appreciate the references to so many of Poe's works, although I have to say (as I saw noted in another review) that reading this amid a global pandemic is maybe Not the Best Idea. The unpacking-the-former-friendship was brilliantly done. Hugh might be my favorite.
One thing's for sure, Mindy McGinnis will ALWAYS fuck me up. And while I'm glad for that... part of me is now indescribably angry that I have to WAIT for book 2. Goddammit.
I explained the ending to Husband and equated it to the mindfuck that had to've happened when people saw Romeo & Juliet for the first time and got THAT ending.
I deeply appreciate the references to so many of Poe's works, although I have to say (as I saw noted in another review) that reading this amid a global pandemic is maybe Not the Best Idea. The unpacking-the-former-friendship was brilliantly done. Hugh might be my favorite.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the Publisher for an ARC of The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis!
I never know what to expect with McGinnis (other than serious grit). She varies intensely in genre and story. From the asylum in A Madness So Discreet, to sci fi in Not a Drop to Drink, to addiction in Heroine, to survival in Be Not Far From Me, to revenge and rape culture in The Female of the Species, and finally, this one. As I think about all those other books, I suppose the commonality is a strong female anti-hero who is struggling to survive and makes some choices that make the reader hate/love her.
This one draws from Edgar Allan Poe's Cask of Amontillado, which I actually haven't read, so I didn't know what I was getting into. It's a revenge story, y'all. And boy did it take you into it. I couldn't believe what I was reading...yet somehow I was still rooting for both sides.
We have Tress & Felicity, best friends until the fateful night they aren't. Tress' parents disappear and Tress' lot in life is irrevocably changed; while Felicity goes on having the "perfect" life. Years later, Tress' vows to find out what happened that fateful night, which Felicity happened to be present for, but doesn't remember. Hello revenge, basement, bricks, panther? (Say what??), and mortar. I don't know how McGinnis does it, but she makes you get behind people who are making really, really rotten decisions. She is SO good at showing you both sides, and letting the humanity creep through even the most inhumane of actions.
THAT ENDING THOUGH! I NEED the next book NOW. It's a duology, so I figured it would leave me wondering, but come on, do I need to wonder THAT much????
I think those who have loved McGinnis' other books will adore this one. For those who've never plunged into the grit of them, be warned, it does get very intense and I would say is more adult than YA (maybe a mature YA?). I'm definitely picking up the next book. I MUST KNOW HOW IT ENDS.
I never know what to expect with McGinnis (other than serious grit). She varies intensely in genre and story. From the asylum in A Madness So Discreet, to sci fi in Not a Drop to Drink, to addiction in Heroine, to survival in Be Not Far From Me, to revenge and rape culture in The Female of the Species, and finally, this one. As I think about all those other books, I suppose the commonality is a strong female anti-hero who is struggling to survive and makes some choices that make the reader hate/love her.
This one draws from Edgar Allan Poe's Cask of Amontillado, which I actually haven't read, so I didn't know what I was getting into. It's a revenge story, y'all. And boy did it take you into it. I couldn't believe what I was reading...yet somehow I was still rooting for both sides.
We have Tress & Felicity, best friends until the fateful night they aren't. Tress' parents disappear and Tress' lot in life is irrevocably changed; while Felicity goes on having the "perfect" life. Years later, Tress' vows to find out what happened that fateful night, which Felicity happened to be present for, but doesn't remember. Hello revenge, basement, bricks, panther? (Say what??), and mortar. I don't know how McGinnis does it, but she makes you get behind people who are making really, really rotten decisions. She is SO good at showing you both sides, and letting the humanity creep through even the most inhumane of actions.
THAT ENDING THOUGH! I NEED the next book NOW. It's a duology, so I figured it would leave me wondering, but come on, do I need to wonder THAT much????
I think those who have loved McGinnis' other books will adore this one. For those who've never plunged into the grit of them, be warned, it does get very intense and I would say is more adult than YA (maybe a mature YA?). I'm definitely picking up the next book. I MUST KNOW HOW IT ENDS.
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes