Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary audio copy of THE INITIAL INSULT by Mindy McGinnis in exchange for my honest review.
The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis follows ex best friends Tress Montor and Felicity Turnado in the close-knit town of Amontillado, Ohio. Forced into the role of an outcast after her parents died, she lives in a trailer with her careless, drunken grandfather at, as the town refers to it, the “White Trash Zoo.” Felicity Turnado seems to have it all, but hides several secrets. Secrets that may bury her alive.
After reading The Female of the Species and Heroine, Mindy McGinnis is a must-read author for me. She is not afraid to explore all of the darkness of the human soul in her books and I'm here for it. The best way I can describe this book is that it is an Edger Allen Poe retelling with the characters of Tiger King in the roles of Mean Girls.
This story has the action at the forefront and flashes back to scenes of Felicity and Tress’ past, which is a method of story telling that I very much enjoy. I love how McGinnis doles out the information brick by brick. I didn’t love Tress as a main character and I think it is because we don’t see her bond to or with anyone after her parents die. I mean there is a weird connection with Hugh but even that is very light. I would have liked to see her show more emotion or seek solace with the animals she cares for so I could’ve bonded with her more. Other than that, I enjoyed the book and can’t wait to see what happens in the sequel.

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

I have received this audio preview form Harper Collins and Net Galley in exchange for an honest opinion.
I did not care for the the electronic voice....it made it harder to get into the story because there were no emotions being conveyed. It is my understanding that will not be in the final copy. I did like the alternating POV's from the two main characters. I also like the backstory of how their relationship got to where it is presently. I didn't get the point of having the cat have a POV. To me, that could have been left out. There were parts where I was laughing and then other parts gave off the creep factor! I think the story could have been told with fewer sex, drugs and drinking. references. That being said, I would recommend this to my students. I did not realize that there would be a sequel. I am looking forward to that...hopefully it will tie up some loose ends! Thank you Net Galley and Harper Collins!

You can always count on Mindy McGinnis to write a story that makes you feel just a little bit uncomfortable. The Initial Insult is no exception to the rule.

Tress and Felicity used to be best friends- but that might as well be ancient history. Now they couldn't be more different. Tress lives with her grandfather on the property where he runs a wild animal attraction and where he keeps plenty of secrets. She spends most days just trying to get by. Felicity spends her days trying to hold onto her rung near the top of the social ladder and trying to forget that she was with Tress's parents when they went missing seven years ago. Occasionally she reaches out with small gestures to help Tress out, but those are always quickly batted away.

Tress is determined to finally get some answers from Felicity about what happened that night, even if it means sealing her former friend into the coal chute of an abandoned house- laying bricks one layer after the next as she demands answers.

I listened to the audiobook ARC of this- which was a little lacking because it was a computer-generated voice- but even still was on edge as I waited to find out what would happen next. There were a few moments that I felt didn't quite add up- but maybe I just missed how the panther gets to his location at the end!

I highly recommend this book!

I was absolutely captivated by this heartbreaking tale of two best friends ripped apart by Society and the unrealistic expectations our youth struggle to survive under. As the years go by a small rift turns into a chasm and we see the darker side of our heroins, the deep scars of continuous bullying, and experience the emotional turmoil the may just push them both past their breaking points.

I was full of anxiety, desperate to help clear the air, as the story unfolds and the stakes grow higher. With an unsettling end I didn’t see coming this book earned 4 full stars for me. I would advise readers who engage in this read to heed the trigger warnings ie. Bullying, death, suicide, abuse, abandonment. And be prepared for a darker read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars with an R rating for language and sensitive content.

This is the first installment in Mindy McGinnis's duology and I am eagerly awaiting the next one. The story jumped around a lot, which made it somewhat difficut to follow at time, paired with it being an audio book, so I was not able to flip back and forth between the pages to make sure I was in the right spot. The main characters, Tress Montor and Felicity Tournado come from a town where a person's last name means everything and if you have any kind of disability, it must stay hidden. Tress had everything, two loving parents and an amazing best friend, Felicity. One night that was all taken from her. Both her parents disappeared after leaving to take Felicity home after a failed sleep over. Tress knows that Felicity is hiding something and is going to get her to open up, even if it means she has to scare it out of her.

Tress and Felicity attend a Halloween party at an old abandoned house. It is supposed to be a night of fun and debauchery, but Tress has other ideas. She tries to pry the truth out of Felicity by sealing her up in the basement of the house, one brick at a time. The thing is, Felicity does have a secret and is hiding something from Tress, but it isn't that she knows what happened to her parents, it's that she has a seizure disorder, which her mother has sworn her to secrecy about. Felicity does blame herself for Tress's parents disappearance and over the last couple years has done everything she can to make it up to Tress. She has learned to self medicate to keep herself from feeling and to continuously punish herself for her lost friendship with Tress.

I did like seeing the story from both perspectives, but again the jumping around from time period to time period was a little hard to follow. I think I would like to read the next one in print, just so I can flip back and forth to make sure I know what's going on. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in audiobook format of this book. All opinions are my own.

Wow! I'm not really sure where to start.... At first I was going to give this book 1 - 2 stars because I really, really did not care for it.... But after some serious consideration I decided 3 stars was fair.....
When I read the premise of the book I was excited..... 2 former best friends, Halloween, party at creepy house, unearthing years old secrest.... definitely right to my alley!
Basically a modern retelling of Poes A Cask of Amontillado, with a few of Poes other stories mixed in. To me the book jumped around and was a bit jumbled. Some parts just seemed completely unnecessary. And in all honesty the book just wasn't for me, with that being said I wouldn't recommend the book but I believe a lot of people will love it! I do plan on reading the 2nd book of the duology in hopes it will change my opinion.

I listened to the audiobook which is read by a synthetic voice narrator until the actual audiobook is published…. I felt like I was listening to my GPS read me a book, which is not pleasant. I'm sure when the actual audiobook is published it will be much better LOL.

Thanks to Netgalley & publisher for ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

This retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado pulled me in immediately. I loved this book. Tress and Felicity are such real, gritty characters. You are rooting for them both to succeed and fail. Seeing things in each of their points of view was so interesting. I am ready for book two now. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Children’s/Katherine Tegen Books for the audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Children’s/Katherine Tegen Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This in no way change my rating**

First 5 star of 2021. Not surprised because Mindy McGinnis is a very talented author whose books I have previously enjoyed. She’s skilled at creating and holding tension and that is DEFINITELY on display here!

The Initial Insult is a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado. For those who haven’t read that, it involves two former friends where one felt slighted and lures him under false pretenses to wall him up alive, brick by brick. It is unsettling to say the least. In this version, Tress Montaur begins to wall in her ex-best friend, Felicity Turnado, to get answers about her parents death. Felicity was with them when it happened, but experiences seizures and claims to not remember. McGinnis has woven other Poe works in as well. I noticed The Fall of the House of Usher, Annabelle Lee, The Raven, The Black Cat, and the Pit and the Pendulum. In particular, the Black Cat was a great addition. Tress lives at a private zoo with her grandpa after her parents death (think Tiger King). A panther escapes and terrorizes the party they’re at, adding tension and danger to an already tension-filled plot. I’m very curious to see what she includes in The Last Laugh.

Tress and Felicity have such an interesting and complex history throughout the book. It was good to see events through both of their eyes. McGinnis would write an event through one and then the next chapter is the same event through the eyes of the other, giving the reader a more complete look at these two characters. The side characters, while used somewhat sparsely, were well developed and gave you an idea of who each one was, what their motives were, etc.

I had an advanced audiobook and I think I will check out both a finished copy of the print novel and a finished audiobook. There were some chapters from the point of view of the panther that read kind of weird in the advanced audio. Kind of the like robotic voice would smash words together. I would like to experience those chapters again with a finished copy.

That aside, the only complaint I have is that I have to wait for book 2. This was awesome and one I’d highly recommend to fans of Poe or Suspense novels.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

WOW! When a young woman decides that after decades of mystery and growing up in a place no child should live, she has had enough and will find the answers to her questions or else.....well you know the or else means something bad is going to happen.
Tress' life changes when her parents disappear. She last saw them as they drove her best friend, Felicity, home from their house. Now she lives in a zoo and eight years later, has become the outsider in every aspect of her life. Even Felicity shuns her company, maintaining she can remember nothing about the night Tress' parents disappeared. Somehow, Tress doubts her story. During a Halloween party that is so crowded it is hard to hear yourself talk or miss anyone....Tress will meet Felicity in the basement of this haunted house to talk about THAT night. Tress has a plan to make Felicity talk...or else. Yep, or else.
This book is absolutely fantastic. The two young women both have their reasons for their actions and neither one can see what will happen at the end of the night. This is the first volume of a duology....my imagination is running wild with story lines for the next book. OMG!!!!!

That... was... weird. This book was just strange.. and pointless... I know the ending was meant to be like a shock ending, but seriously, it was all for nothing!! Tress didn’t get her answers, Felicity was stuck in a wall because Tress was too stupid to check for a pulse. Hugh ended up being a nothing character that didn’t add the ending whatsoever, he was just a nice guy that was sort of there for both of them... the panther was unnecessary. It kept me wanting to know what happened, but we didn’t even find out what happened to her parents. The ending just made me angry, not for the characters, but because we got zero answers to anything. 2 stars because it kept me entertained but there was seriously no point to this book whatsoever.

I have received this Audiobook ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tress and Felicity were frustrating characters, especially Tress. If you like friend and family drama, this is the book for you! It was honestly really hard for me to get into this book and it might have been due to the temporary narrator. I think I might enjoy it more physically reading it in the future!

3.75 stars. This book was NUTS. It took me a while to settle into it and then I was HOOKED. The way it was told was very odd and eclectic...it didn’t translate overly well as an audiobook, especially since it was read in a synthetic voice. There was really nothing positive to be gleaned from this story - a ton of drinking, partying, pills, and references to sex, and poor examples of coping with hardship. However, I was riveted by the events at the party and could not stop listening...the characters were very unpredictable, which made it SO compelling to see where it was headed. And the ENDING....I don’t want to give it away, but I definitely had a reaction!

Following Felicity and Tress’s friendship from the beginning, to the present , and various stages in between through their alternating perspectives was very interesting! I didn’t know this was gonna be a series but I’m excited to continue!

listen, i'm a sucker for a good retelling. and i love poe's stories, i think they're real neat. but this wasn't quite the retelling i was hoping for. i liked the characters and the slow build of the plot, that was all fine and dandy. it hooked me in and i kept going until i finished the book, all 90 chapters of it, which is a feat. the only real problem it had was that it tried to do too much. there were multiple plot lines going at all times and they weren't all necessary. some could have been cut and it would have been a stronger book, in my opinion. aka the cat chapters were really not necessary. also, i get that it's building up to have as second book but had they wrapped up the plot a little more (which definitely could have happened), i think this would have been a great standalone.

This is the perfect suspenseful, thriller type novel. I listened to this audiobook and found the storyline was super interesting and became so captivated by the two former best friends. Both Felicity and Tress had such detailed backstories and family issues/secrets.

This book reminded me of 'One Of Us Is Lying' and I feel that this will be a successful YA thriller. My rating was not based on primarily the novel itself, but the fact that it was an audiobook. I loved the story, however, the chapters were confusing in the beginning half of the novel. I found the layout of who was talking, if they were in the past or present, and setting to be a bit jumbled at points. As a listener, after I caught on to the layout it was easier to understand. Otherwise, highly recommend the book to purchase as a hardcover.

Thank you for the chance to review the novel!

I tried to like this book. The title is what drew me in. However, I found it wanting from the first chapter. It was difficult to finish.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader's copy of this book from Netgalley as an audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

Mindy McGinnis books are a hit or miss for me,, but when I read the description of this book I just had to check it out. There were parts I loved, parts I disliked, moments of confusion, and parts I could have done without. I liked that the story was told from the perspectives of Tess, Felicity, and the cats. Someone else said this reminds them of Tiger King...pretty much similar to the Tiger King setting. Sometimes the pacing was slow and other times it was fine. I can't remember if it is ever revealed about what happened to the parents. If it was, then it wasn't memorable. Overall, I give it 3 stars.

Before you read this book, make sure you brush up on all your Poe, as this is a fascinating mash up of them all. Some of them are easy to spot with the names (Usher, Turnado, etc), and some of them are fairly subtle such as a pendulum paired with razor sharp claws or the flu that is incapacitating people. And as always, Mindy McGinnis puts the reader in a quandary to decide how far is too far? What should determine a fair punishment for wrongs. Do not be deceived- this is not a book about teenage angst. Instead, we read about real life through the eyes of teens, their perspectives, and their social status, especially in small towns. Ms. McGinnis again has kept the reader eagerly turning pages to find out what the outcome with her book that we can't look away from the train wreck of flawed characters as they pile up upon each other.

This review is going to be short and sweet.

I think I liked this? I'm not entirely sure yet since the audio arc is used with a synthetic voice and not the multicast narrators the official audio has. Because if this I had trouble remembering which POV I was in more often than not but at the same time, I got use to it. I know I probably didn't follow along as well as I would have with the narrators but I know I was interested enough in the story that I will probably seek out the audio once it is released.