Written by Abbey Norton |

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis

Realistic Fiction

Anna died, and Alex is a wolf unleashed.

Anna was a perfect older sister. She helped Alex be a normal girl, not an animal that ran on her own instincts. With Anna around, she was just a teenager with anger issues.

Anna was murdered by someone in their small town, someone they talked to and looked at and waved to while running by. Someone Alex knew. Now that Anna was gone, she could be free to act as a female of the species, much more dangerous than the male.

But Peekay is there with Alex, and she is already discovering the soft sides of her–the love in her eyes when she sees a saved animal, her whispering to tortured dogs and cats. Alex is not just metal and edges and fire; she is petals and drops of rain and sunshine.

Jack sees this, too. She sees her freckles, her green eyes. But he also sees the violent. He smells the smoke. He can taste the blood that she pours over her sister.

Alex is alive; she is vengeance, and she is perfectly okay. But Anna is still dead, and nothing can be truly okay after that.

Rate: five stars

Likes: Alex is such a great and confusing character. You know you should hate her, but you just can’t because her violence stems from other violence. She is a teenage girl just like the rest of them, but she has this desire to make things right that she just can’t control.

Dislikes: Jack is great, but my god, he is very much controlled by his hormones.

Overall, it was a raw novel full of joy, pain, and teen angst.