The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis Review

 Title: The Initial Insult

Author: Mindy McGinnis

Age Group: Teen/Young Adult

Genre: Horror

Series: The Initial Insult, book one

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

I borrowed this book from my local library and reviewed it.

Mindy McGinnis is one of my very favorite Ohio-based authors, so when I was browsing the stacks at my local library, I snatched this off of the shelf. This book was pitched somewhere between The Cask of Amontillado and Tiger King, and it most definitely did not disappoint. This book may be my favorite in McGinnis’s entire body of work. Chilling, tense, and brilliantly told, this book takes one of Edgar Allen Poe’s most terrifying stories and turns it inside out, with two high school girls as the focal point. This book was dark, terrifying, and the ending was truly shocking; I finished this book over a week ago and the shock is still fresh. I loved this duo debut, and I cannot wait to read The Last Laugh!

Tress Montor and Felicity Tornado could not be any more different. Tress lives in the grassy foothills in a trailer at the edge of town, and Felicity lives in a nice house with a wraparound porch and more money than she can possibly spend. The two girls used to be best of friends, thick as thieves until Felicity gets in a car crash, with Tress’s parents driving. Blocking out the traumatic event, Felicity pulls away from Tress. But her old friend hasn’t forgotten the secrets she is hiding, and is out for revenge. Meanwhile, a big cat escapes from Tress’s uncle’s zoo, on the prowl for bigger prey than Cecil can provide. As tensions mount, Tress must decide how far she is willing to go to get the truth, and Felicity might not make it out alive…

The Cask of Amontillado is one of my very favorite Poe stories; so when I found out that this was a retelling, I was so pumped! Mindy McGinnis spins a horrid, tense tale of a childhood friendship gone horribly wrong and spun out of control. The pacing was breakneck, the chapters so short that I finished it in just over two days. I was captivated by both Tress and Felicity’s voices, alike yet distinct. And the addition of the big cat was so cool; I loved reading chapters through its point of view as well. The tension was enough to make me nearly pull my hair out; I kept wondering, will Tress or won’t she exact her revenge, in the most brutal way possible: by shackling Felicity and building a wall in front of her?! And that ending; I was absolutely blown away. I’m so excited to read the sequel, The Last Laugh! Easily one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year! The bottom line: Dark, chilling, and horrific, I loved The Initial Insult, and I cannot wait for The Last Laugh! Next on deck: Lie to Me by J.T. Ellison!