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jolietjane 's review for:
The Initial Insult
by Mindy McGinnis
Mindy McGinnis needs to quit writing for YA and pivot full time into Splatterpunk, a genre with fans that can appreciate her. This is the second of her books I have read and it has so much in common with popular Splatterpunk. The Initial Insult is a zero empathy revenge story and it's creepy as hell.
Overview:
❤️ Friends to enemies
❤️ A tight-nit town
❤️ Novella
❤️ No romance
❤️ Angry women
❤️ Character study
Tress and Felicity live in a town where status is everything- so when Tress's parents go missing and she is forced to live with her mentally unwell grandpa and his collection of exotic animals at the edge of town, her life falls apart. Her best friend Felicity slowly stops hanging out with her and instead hands out with her bullies; but that's not all Felicity is done. Tress is convinced that Felicity knows something about her missing parents, and she's prepared to kill Felicity to get the answers.
This is a VERY loose retelling of The Cask of Amontillado and primarily focuses on the grudges that Tress is carrying around, and how Felicity is at the touchstone of every dark event in Tress's life. It's easy to empathize with both of these characters even in a book this short. Tress is a dark, brooding type, but we quickly see how small town social climbing and abuse have shaped her. Similarly, Felicity seems like a girl who has it all, but she herself lives in a gilded cage.
The tone of the book is dark, slow, and creeping. The tension builds as you start to get a sense of the instability of both girls and find yourself wondering what choices they will make. It's hard to talk about this book without spoiling it, but it's super easy to get invested in. Im shocked the ratings are so low, which I can chalk up to how horribly placed the genre of The Initial Insult is; it feels like something that might go over the heads of a lot of kids, or be too uncomfortable.
I was actually extremely surprised in its brutality and grim dark vibes; like legitimately I kept waiting for the hopeful shoe to drop and it just doesn't. If you want to read some fucked up shit, this is your book.
Overview:
❤️ Friends to enemies
❤️ A tight-nit town
❤️ Novella
❤️ No romance
❤️ Angry women
❤️ Character study
Tress and Felicity live in a town where status is everything- so when Tress's parents go missing and she is forced to live with her mentally unwell grandpa and his collection of exotic animals at the edge of town, her life falls apart. Her best friend Felicity slowly stops hanging out with her and instead hands out with her bullies; but that's not all Felicity is done. Tress is convinced that Felicity knows something about her missing parents, and she's prepared to kill Felicity to get the answers.
This is a VERY loose retelling of The Cask of Amontillado and primarily focuses on the grudges that Tress is carrying around, and how Felicity is at the touchstone of every dark event in Tress's life. It's easy to empathize with both of these characters even in a book this short. Tress is a dark, brooding type, but we quickly see how small town social climbing and abuse have shaped her. Similarly, Felicity seems like a girl who has it all, but she herself lives in a gilded cage.
The tone of the book is dark, slow, and creeping. The tension builds as you start to get a sense of the instability of both girls and find yourself wondering what choices they will make. It's hard to talk about this book without spoiling it, but it's super easy to get invested in. Im shocked the ratings are so low, which I can chalk up to how horribly placed the genre of The Initial Insult is; it feels like something that might go over the heads of a lot of kids, or be too uncomfortable.
I was actually extremely surprised in its brutality and grim dark vibes; like legitimately I kept waiting for the hopeful shoe to drop and it just doesn't. If you want to read some fucked up shit, this is your book.