The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis - NO

The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis, 384 pages. Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins), 2021. $18.

Language: R (166 swears, 47 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - NO

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

In Amontillado, last names matter; they tell everyone else if you're rich enough to be important. Tress used to fall into that exclusive group before her parents disappeared and she started living with her Grandfather and his white trash zoo. No one knows what happened the night of the disappearance because no one else was there -- except Felicity, Tress’s former best friend who insists she can’t remember anything. But, tonight, Tress will find out the truth. Even if it kills her.

A lot happened, but I’m not sure what it was. Both the timeline and point of view skip around constantly, and the stream of conscious style the book is written in becomes a hindrance when the characters become discombobulated. I have no reason, as the reader, to like or want to know more about what happens with these girls, and the story is full of drama with zero resolve -- and not in the way that makes you yearn for the sequel. In the end, we’re all left in the dark. The mature content rating is for underage drinking, drug use, nudity, innuendo, and mention of masturbation and sex. The violence rating is for gore and assault.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen