I was definitely drawn into this book based on the connections to Edgar Allen Poe. As a former English teacher, I have always been intrigued by Poe's life and stories so I loved the little references sprinkled throughout this book. I loved the plot, the characters, and as a teacher, I saw so many of my students reflected in Tress and Felicity.

Now that I have finished the book, I cannot wait to read part two. So many threads still unraveled and I have to know how it ends up!

Thank you to NetGalley for this free review copy. These opinions are fully my own.

I was given the opportunity to listen to the audio book of, The Initial Insult but was unable get into to it so I picked up a copy of the book and I'm thankful I did because this read took me on a rollercoaster.
Tress Montor used to have an ideal life. A happy life. She had a best friend, a lovely home and her parents then one night her parents disappeared. Now she lives with her drunk, cantankerous grandfather, who runs a wild animal attraction. Her one idea life is messy in more ways than one.

Her old best friend, Felicity was the last person with her parents before they went missing. The friendship is broken and Tress has a plan up her sleeves to find out what Felicity knows about her parents missing. The plan is rather sinister.

They story flips back and forth between past and present day. McGinnis has a unique writing style and will keep you captivated. The book's ending isn't exactly satisfying but I think that's because there is a sequel. I can't wait to read it!

I realize this has already hit shelves and I should have reviewed it sooner because I did listen to it. It was hard to listen to it with the computerized audio which I think impacted by impression. I thought the story was good, and I liked the chapter where I thought it was the POV of the cat. What the author did well with the dual POVs was give the reader a look into each character's life and how a decision or action may appear to one person when it was not meant that way. Another thing that was good, is how our parents or guardian can affect the way we see the world and interact with it.

I honestly cannot remember now, but there was something I didn't like about the characters and the book. I know I wasn't invested enough to want to read the second installment. I do appreciate getting the opportunity to listen to and review this book as I have been trying to expand my reading into other genres.

I received an advanced copy of the audiobook from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

First, the audiobook narration was quite good. I do like the different chapters of different characters and different voices. I feel like it does make the novel more enjoyable. With that, I really liked how the novel was written from the different characters and the flashbacks back to when the events occurred as they were talking about them in the present. The novel unfolded well and was interesting and exhilarating at times, however, I feel like the ending was just kind of blah and did not entirely make sense and then just....ended. I do not really like that with novels and that's why I gave it only two stars.

This novel focuses on Tress and Felicity in a small town with a history of families with money...and those without. These two girls were friends in their younger years and have grown apart as life circumstances caused their lives to take very different paths. Now they are brought together to rehash history and potentially have a dangerous, fateful evening together.

Not a bad novel, I was just not a fan of the ending and I have read some of Mindy McGinnis' books before and they are certainly unique...

This is a down right brutal and gut wrenching re-imagining of The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe!

Mindy McGinnis did an excellent job at retelling The Cask Of Amontillado. I felt that she stuck to the story enough that you were able to pick up on the subtle hints and similarities while also making it very much her own. I will say that this is way more brutal, gory and detailed than the original story though haha. So if those things are something that trigger you, maybe avoid this one.
I personally found it gut wrenching (particularly the end) which isn't necessarily a pleasant feeling. But for any author to be able to make you feel such intense feelings like that, I have to say that it was very well written. Although I found it well written and the retelling well done, there wasn't much about this that wowed me. It was a good book and a book that I'd recommend but I didn't find it anything that was mind blowing. So in that regard, I was a little disappointed.
So as i said, this book is well written, got a back story on the girls friendship and lives... The only real critic that I have of this is that there wasn't a whole lot of dimension to the characters. This is more of a plot based book. And I didn't really understand the point of the cat? I liked the idea of seeing things through a big cats eyes (one that's in a zoo, especially) But I didn't find that he added much to the story aside from just another perspective on how things went down. So I do think that this story would have been just as good with out that character in it.
However this isn't a bad book. This is actually a really good book! There just were some aspects that disappointed me a little. That being said, if this sounds like something that interests you, I highly recommend giving this one a shot!
This was sent to me by Katherine Tegen Books via Netgalley. So thank you so much to them for sending me an audio- arc copy in exchangeneral for an honest review!

Let me just start by saying “What?”

The Initial Insult had so much potential, but it just got so confusing and ended in a way that was wildly cliffhanging, but also it just didn’t make sense.

The storyline is super interesting. Two girls who were best friends and are now enemies. One affluent and the other living under incredibly difficult circumstances. One with parents who disappeared under mysterious circumstances and one who may know more than she’s letting one.


"If I can't feel the good things anymore, then doing a few bad ones shouldn't hurt a bit."


But then the timeline is laid out very weirdly. It alternates narrator regularly, but not necessarily every other chapter so I was often confused on who was narrating until halfway through the chapter. And then the chapters would jump from present day, to far past, to present day, to recent past. It was just all too confusing and frustrating to keep up with. Basically the reader has to work too hard to understand the book which makes it difficult to enjoy.

Oh, not to mention there are several chapters where the narrator is actually a big cat (a cougar I think?), and I just don’t understand the purpose. Just how does add to the story? I really just don’t get it. This absolutely wasn’t the book for me.

The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis is part of a duology, and it takes inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe's The Cask of Amontillado (one of my favorite short stories). In this book, we get two former friends torn apart by a mysterious disappearance and a revenge plot. There's money and circumstance. It's a tale of the the haves and the have nots. There are some interesting narrative choices with a panther's POV coming through at some points. So, it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm intrigued enough to check out the final chapter.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

In this spin off of The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe, you'll be guessing until the end. Ending that will make you scream and suspense/action until then. LOVED it!

This book has me very conflicted. On one hand, I thought the revenge premise throughout this book was fascinating. However, the last half of the book felt very rushed to me and like not everything was fleshed out like it could have been. I also felt like things wrapped up extremely fast considering how the first half of this book seemed to be building a lot.

Overall, not a bad thriller but I feel like some areas were stronger than others.

I liked it okay. It wasn't the best book I've read, but it wasn't the worst. The cover is... Plain? I felt like the cover was lacking the intrigue that the book deserved. Characters were alright. Author did a fine job.

I was so disappointed with this book.

I would say about 90% of the book I was confused and then the ending didn’t really do anything for me. I know it was setting it up for a second book but after the lack luster of this book I will not be a repeat customer

Wow. This was very intense. All the trigger warning beware. I enjoyed this soooo much. It reminded me of SADIE!!! It left me feeling gutted like Sadie did. Thank you so much for this ARC! It was left open ended and there will be a sequel surprisingly.

Nope, this is definitely not for me. I don’t know why I convince myself that I will like YA anything.

I found the story to be ok but not great. It was a bit weird for my tastes but it could be because the story was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and I've never really been a big Poe fan.

I’m not a huge fan of stories told in different time frames (confusing to me) so I struggled with the jumping around from past to present (and not even in chronological order). I’m not a fan AT ALL of animals that have human characteristics (creepy to me), so a panther that gets its own chapters and thinks in riddles was a hard pass. The characters were unlikeable and the town as a whole absolutely sucked, so there was that, too, not to mention just how busy this book was. There is A LOT going on.

I knew this was a two-book series going in, so was anticipating a cliffhanger. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will be anticipating book two, although I will probably check in to see how everything plays out. I know from other reviews this is a re-telling of The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe, which I have never read, but might have made a greater impact on me if I had.

A computerized narration audiobook doesn't allow for the best listening experience, but I have enjoyed Tim Campbell in the past and I see he is one of the narrators on the official audiobook, so that's a positive sign.

Deliciously creepy reinterpretation of "The Cask of Amontillado" as a tale of betrayal between teen girls. Amontillado, Ohio is crumbling town ruled by descendants of the founding families and the nouveau riche. Tress Montor is one of those descendants, but she became a social pariah the night her parents disappeared. They vanished driving home her best friend Felicity Turnado, who was found unharmed by the side of the road, Yet the incident has not stained Felicity - between her parents' money and her mother's tight control of reputations, Felicity is a shining star in her high school. But Felicity remains haunted by guilt for her former best friend's plight and the fact she has no memories of Tress's parents disappearance. One night, senses dulled with alcohol and drugs, Felicity causes the death of Tress's dog. For Tress, this is the last in a long line of cruelties for which Felicity seems to be the cause. Tress decides that she will pull the truth from Felicity, one brick at a time. Told from alternating first-person perspectives, this tightly woven tale will entertain YA thriller fans, with plenty of Easter eggs for avid Poe readers. Recommended for ages 14 and up.

I have to be honest and say that this one didn't really work for me the way that I was hoping it would. Mindy McGinnis (one of my all-time favorite authors) mixed with The Cask of Amontillado (my favorite Poe story) should have been absolutely everything to me, but the writing style of this one felt really... weird? to me and kept pulling me out of the story instead of immersing me further and I am SO bummed about it. I will most likely carry on and finish the duology because I love Mindy's work and I'm curious to see where she's going to take this strange story, but this first installment wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

I love YA thrillers and this one is right up my alley - twisty and hard to put down. My experience with the synthetic voice audio was better than to be expected. I'm recommending this one to all of my YA book friends. Thank you to Netgalley, Mindy McGinnis and Harper Collins for giving me access to this title before it's release in exchange for an honest review!

This is a fast paced, engaging mystery novel that focus on two friends with a lot of history between them. The plot was interesting and I wanted more.

For me, the only drawbacks were the cat POV, which was confusing and didn’t add much in my opinion and the fact that apparently this book is part of a duology. I hadn’t realized that when I started reading it.

Thank you the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn't get past the first chapter, was not my type of book. Was very boring. I just couldn't get into it.