The Initial Insult Review

Tress is the town pariah. Felicity is at the top of the social ladder. They used to be friends, perhaps still could be - except Felicity has a lot of secrets and Tess believes one concerns her.

"The Initial Insult" is a Poe inspired duology about what happens when we are forced to answer for our past mistakes.

General Impressions

I came into this book after having my first taste of Mindy McGinnis writing in "Not Far From Me" which lives rent-free in my mind so my expectations were sky-high.

I liked the premise and the initial relationship between Tress and Felicity but as the plot furthered, it started being harder and harder to suspend my disbelief or keep my attention from straying. No matter how juicy the ultimate secret, the back and forth between the timelines read like a high school revenge fantasy, where the underdog is able to make the bully acknowledge all their tiny and giant cruelties and force them to apologize through some threat.

If you are a fan of horror or gothic stories the chapters told through the point of view of the panther, the presence of a "flue" that is spreading in real-time and further affecting the judgment of dozens of drunk and high teenagers, the party happening right above where a girl is being tortured and the ending itself will give you all the Poe vibes your little black heart yarns for.

Something that remained true in "The Initial Insult" was the way Mindy is able to characterize poverty and impoverished towns and the unique mindset and culture intrinsic in the community, where the right last name means everything, including not having to obey the law. The book also touches on themes such as racism, mental health, ableism, classicism, rape culture and uses them to further characterize a town obsessed with appearances and pedigree. Sadly that will not be enough to interest me in the sequel.

Thank you to Edelweiss+ and Katherine Tegen Books for this DRC.

Rating 2/5

* The Waterstones link is only the author page - there is no news of a UK release as of yet...