The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: McGinnis, Mindy. The Female of the Species. HarperCollins. 2016. Kindle.

The novel is narrated in the first-person present by three narrators: Alex, Claire, and Jack. Each chapter is numbered and labeled with the name of its narrator. The narrators rotate turns as the story goes on. The first two characters feature Alex and Jack reflecting on the death of Alex’s sister in freshman year. Alex remembers how she tortured and killed Anna’s murderer, Comstock, after the police let him go. Jack remembers how he was caught smoking weed and hooking up with Branley in the woods just yards from where the search party found Anna’s body. Jack had felt guilty about the moment for years, and he had always wanted to apologize to Alex, but he had never been brave enough to do so.

In the third chapter, Claire introduces the reader to the narrative present. She and Alex are assigned to work at the animal shelter for their Senior Experience. Claire is upset because her boyfriend, Adam, had just broken up with her for Branley, who is secretly sleeping with Jack behind his back. During their shift, a woman comes into the shelter and tells Alex and Claire that someone dumped a bag of puppies on County Road 9. Together, Alex and Claire go out to find the puppies, but by the time they arrive the dogs have all suffocated.

In the sixth chapter, Jack and Alex are called to the counselor’s office where they learn that they are nearly tied for valedictorian because they both have perfect grades, though Alex has taken more weighted classes than Jack, so she seems to be the front-runner. She tells the counselor that she does not want to go to college, so Jack can be valedictorian, but the counselor says that is not the way it works. Jack is upset because his family is so poor that he cannot afford to go to college without a full-ride scholarship. However, he is also attracted to Alex and wants to somehow talk to her. When he tries, his friend Park interrupts and pulls a prank that ends with Alex punching him in his crotch.

Alex and Claire go back to the animal shelter and find a stray dog with a broken leg that someone has thrown over the fence. They try to get the dog inside, but the dog bites Alex in the process. To prevent the dog from being put to sleep, Alex and Claire hide the bite from their boss. On the way home, Alex’s car breaks down and Jack finds her walking in the rain, so he offers her a ride.

Alex and Jack slowly start to develop feelings for one another. Meanwhile, Claire becomes increasingly jealous of Branley and Adam. After watching them kiss in the halls, Claire smacks the lipstick out of Branley’s hand and then tries to punch her. Alex stops Claire and takes her to the bathroom to calm down.

Jack tows Alex’s car out of the ditch and brings it to her house. They attend a party together at the old, abandoned church where all the teens like to hang out. Claire gets drunk and starts talking to an older graduate of the high school, Ray Parsons. He slips her a roofie in her drink and tries to take her outside. Alex sees what is about to happen and throws a beer bottle at his head. She publicly accuses him of attempted rape and then beats him up, ripping his earring and nose ring out of his face in a violent and bloody move that frightens Jack, Branley, and Claire’s best friend, Sara.

Alex takes Claire home with her and helps her calm down the next morning when she realizes what happened to her. After Claire goes home, Alex calls Jack and asks if he wants to go for a run. Jack says yes, and the two of them share a perfect kiss. The two begin dating, but Jack constantly worries that he is not good enough for Alex. He wants to tell her about what he did while the search party was looking for Anna’s party, but he is afraid to tell her the truth.

Alex confesses to her mother that she killed Comstock, but her mother says she already knew. Claire begins dating Park, and Jack starts to miss Branley. The four of them go to the old church with Branley and Adam. Jack plans to sneak away with Alex and tell her loves her in front of a tree he decorated for the occasion. However, Claire gets a phone call from Sara, who tells her that her uncle molested her sister. Alex goes outside with Jack and asks him to tell her more about Sara’s uncle, but Jack wants to tell Alex he loves her, so he does, and the moment is very awkward.

Alex goes home and decides to sneak back out to Sara’s uncle’s house. She sneaks in and throws coal on his lap, which starts a fire that burns him and his whole house down. Alex runs to Jack’s house and starts to cry, then she tells him she loves him too. He says everything is going to be okay, but he is disturbed because she smells like smoke, and he can hear fire engines.

When he learns about Sara’s uncle’s “accidental” death the next day, Jack realizes that Alex murdered him and he ditches her and gets back together with Branley, who breaks up with Adam. Jack gets a full-ride academic scholarship and Branley decides to apply to his college. Claire and Sara take Alex out and comfort her after the breakup.

At prom, Jack realizes that he has made a mistake and decides he wants to be with Alex. He ditches Branley and leaves with Alex, who tells him the whole truth about the murders she committed. He tells her he wants to be with her anyway and suggests she come with him to college so that she can get help and they can be together forever. Alex happily agrees.

A few days before graduation, Branley calls Jack and tells him to meet her at the old church so she can give him his things, and then she texts Alex and tells her to meet her there. Branley tries to seduce Jack so Alex will walk in on the moment, but Ray Parsons and his friend arrive with their hunting rifles and beat up Jack, then try to rape Branley.

Alex walks in and shoots Ray, but then his friend tackles her, and she smashes her head against a rock. After she dies, Jack tells everyone her story, and she becomes a folk hero standing against sexual assault and misogyny for smalltown Ohio.