The Female of the Species

I really quite liked this this book — it's brilliant and unsettling, in a way that makes my skin crawl. (Which, I'm sure, was entirely the point.)

However, I did have a few issues with it. First of all, the characters (or more importantly, the relationships between the characters) — I felt as if Jack and Alex's relationship progressed too fast. Alex has a lot of baggage (re: her father, her mother & her dead sister + Comstock) and so does Jack, but the author doesn't really address these issues, aside from giving us this little tidbit:

“I hold my phone tightly, too aware that the present is all we have if I can't mention the past and she won't talk about the future.”

And while Alex does end up telling Jack parts of her story, they never really open up to one another, even towards the end of the book.

Secondly, I definitely had issues with how Branley was portrayed. Yes, Alex and Claire do stand up for Branley —

“You shouldn't be that way about her,” Alex says. “I hear what people say and I bet half of it isn't even true. And even if it is - fine. She's no different from you and me; she wants to have sex. So let her...She likes boys, and she can get them. You were hurt by that, but it wasn't Branley who hurt you. It was Adam.”

nuanced

might

The Female of the Species

a lot