Loved everything about this book, the description sounded great but it has nothing on how amazing this book actually is! The characters, the story, the ending all just blew my mind and had me reading the full book in one sitting as I just couldn’t put it down! Beyond amazing!

Natural Selection by Clare Edge is a compelling and humorous YA mystery novel full of suspense, social critique, and revenge. The book's interesting idea will keep you glued to your seat, and the cold and isolated nature of the snowy wilderness is perfect for building suspense. The characters' friendship is genuine and inspiring, and the mystery behind the bear is captivating. This intelligent and quick-read book is definitely worth reading.

A sharp, darkly funny YA revenge thriller that starts as a prank in the woods and spirals into something far wilder, weirder, and far more satisfying than the girls ever intended.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for the early copy of this book!

A feminist book about asshole guys 'just being boys' and actually getting consequences for this. Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!

If it was a choice between the men in this book and the bear, it's 100% the bear for me.

I quite liked the hook of all the three main girls being called Megan/Meghan, their nicknames kept this from getting confusing but it made for some fun misunderstandings and a bonding reason for them all.

The plot and pacing was really good in general, though some threads regarding some not so great behaviour could have been possibly covered a bit more, it's not enough for me to go down a star. This book has a LOT of moments in it that gave me such feminist rage that I kind of wished I was the bear myself. I think this town was a boiling pot of sexism and maybe the universe just decided it needed taking down a peg.

I really enjoyed all the twists and fun interactions between characters, even the parents who usually aren't that 'real' or three-dimensional in a younger book like this. It felt like a whodunnit with bears, and since I'm also getting into crime more alongside horror, this felt like the perfect mix for me.

It was a cute, queer, frustrating, badass read.

Revenge, mystery, fantasy, women up in arms. I liked the sound of the blurb, and I’m really glad I picked it up to read.

It’s starts like an American end of year High School thing. Get back at the boys that have wronged the girls.

But it develops into something darker around the whole of the male population in this small town. Ruled by law of the Sheriff, one of the casts daughters, and the revenge becomes more spirit and witch like. Then the surprises come, as the reader becomes aware of what’s really going on. Not an ending I expected. In fact the story line surprised me.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK and ANZ) and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

As a lesbian, I can tell you that Outlaw's big Top energy will unequivocally set all us queer Verses and Bottoms quivering. No doubt! She's a terrific character, and she kept me reading compulsively because I wanted to get to 'her' next chapter in the triple-POV narrative.

This is exactly the book I want to read, and I loved every ferocious moment of it. Even Megan found her redemption in my eyes at the end: 'Because I think I finally understand what kind of man my father is. [...] his truest allegiance is to his boys and their reputations. So it's going to be up to me to take care of my girls.'

Outlaw’s tender moments crushed me: 'I feel like I'm living in a way I never fully have before'; 'The hope lighting her eyes slips right into the cracks in my armor, maybe even the cracks in my fucking heart.'

All three girls fascinated and beguiled me. I couldn’t have asked for more in terms of characterisation. That goes for plot and narrative pace too. And atmosphere? There’s buckets of pathetic fallacy and metaphorical moodiness in these forests and these locker rooms.

It’s released in a fortnight! I say, pounce on it!

'These men, maybe all men, are monsters. They treat us like objects. We are disposable, replaceable. But now we're the powerful. Now we're the beasts waiting in the forest.'

Thanks to Clare Edge and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) | Bloomsbury YA for the chance to sink my teeth into this one.

A timely story about the dangers of unconscious prejudice and the power of young women when they decide to fight back.
In the small town of Riverside nobody questions the power the boys - particularly those involved in sports - have. Top of the chain is Kevin Jackson, a young man used to getting his own way. Early on we learn that Kevin has raped at least one young woman, abused a number of girls and that his girlfriend has got fed up,of excusing his behaviour. Megan and her two friends - both victims of Kevin’s behaviour - decide to get their own back and make him pay for what he has done.
However, something strange starts to take place in a riverside.
There’s talk of a bear hunting young men. Young men who’ve all got a reputation for thinking they are beyond reproach. Young men who are winding up dead.
Those in power try to do all they can to maintain their status quo. The girls who are pivotal to these events pledge to ensure they will not succeed.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.

This is a fascinating YA book about revenge on the misogynistic society and boys will be boys mentality with some side of cute romances and a huge dose of complicated friendships.

This book is told from a perspective of three girls Megan, Bee and Outlaw. Megan is a soon to be homecoming queen and valedictorian, she's leading the perfect life with her perfect idea of a boyfriend, Kevin. Until Outlaw, her best friend, tells her what she caught Kevin doing and Bee, the still new girl in school, tells her what he did to her last summer. They plan their revenge, but when things don't go exactly as they expected, their whole lives are thrown into a spin.

I really enjoyed the perspectives this book gives. Each girl has a different point of view on Kevin and the society that allowed him to hurt girls without any consequences. I think it was so interesting to get a PoV of a girl who fully knows that what Kevin did was wrong but due to the society she was brought up in she still tries to come up with excuses for him. And a lot of the time she actively calls herself out on it, but it's still so ingrained in her that she finds it hard to avoid this knee jerk response.

I will admit at times this book was hilarious in a truly horrifying way. The Halloween part in particular was so on the nose awful that you just couldn't help but laugh.

I really liked that the girls actually struggled with how far things went. While it's easy as a reader to go "these men all deserved it", I think it feels so realistic to have these girls who actually knew those men, wrestle with their own morality and the fact that death isn't this fix all solution.

I loved the ending, it was honestly unexpected in some ways and a little heartbreaking but also extremely satisfying. It's a really good feminist revenge story.

I went into Natural Selection completely blind. I avoided the blurbs, the synopsis, and anything else that explained or described what this book was about because I wanted the full experience of figuring out what the tagline, Always Choose the Bear, really meant. And it's absolutely worth it.

Megan and Outlaw are two friends living in Riverside, a small town reminiscent of Twilight's Forks. When the actions and attitude of Megan's boyfriend, Kevin, push them all one step too far, they enlist the help of Bee, the town's slightly mysterious new girl, to exact a little revenge.

What follows is the sudden disappearance and subsequent discovery of several teenage boys' bodies, all apparently victims of bear attacks. Running alongside this mystery is Megan's growing sense of rejection as Outlaw quickly falls for Bee. At the same time, all three girls attract suspicion due to their proximity to the attacks and the alarming gaps in their memories.

This is the book I needed when I was 14 years old.

All three girls, appropriately enough all called Megan, have been tormented and, in some cases, assaulted by these boys in one way or another throughout much of their young lives. Their experiences are enabled by a quiet town that views the men as the stars of the show and the women as little more than supporting characters and housekeepers. Their initial decision to embarrass and humiliate Kevin is questionable at best, but what follows becomes the true backbone of the story.

First and foremost, it's about friendship. Despite the inevitable teething problems along the way, and despite the reader being led to suspect all three girls at various points, you're still firmly on their side. Every step of the way, I wanted to stand beside them, defend them, and support them in refusing to take this treatment any longer. The story shines a harsh light on the phrase "boys will be boys" and the dangerous permission that mindset grants.

The book leans heavily into teen fiction territory, with the usual bonfires, underage drinking, and late-night hanging out. These elements recur frequently throughout the story, but I didn't mind at all. In fact, I was so invested that I read the final two hours in a single sitting.

The author keeps the reader guessing right up until the very end, and when everything finally unravels, it's a satisfying, cataclysmic revelation that suddenly makes so much of the story fall into place. I wanted the revenge. I wanted the bloodlust. I wanted the violence. I felt the boys deserved it, and I felt the girls needed it. I don't know what kind of person that makes me, but I absolutely loved it.

What. A. Book!

I was eager to read Natural Selection the minute I heard it was partly inspired by Heathers and that it featured a lesbian romance. (I met my fiancé 8 years ago through their LGBTQ Heathers the Musical fanfiction. My tastes haven't changed much). So when I saw that the cover was pink? And that the story explored the female intuition to Choose the Bear? Well my eagerness turned into a rather intense ‘need to read’.

(I would like to warn that my following paragraphs will likely include spoilers for this magnificent story, so please proceed with caution!)

All three of Clare Edge's protagonists (each named Megan, though two are referred to as Bee and Outlaw) stand out as spectacular YA narrators. Their individual personalities shine through the prose, and - unusually for me - I genuinely enjoyed reading each perspective equally. Though Outlaw was my favourite of the three girls, the others were both written with such charm that I was just as invested in their happiness too.

Edge's writing of other characters shone out brilliantly too, for example Bee’s mother is now one of my favourite parents in fiction. She is as smart as she is fiercely loyal, and I hope against anything that she managed to finish her novel! (In case you think I am overreacting and she can't possibly be that noteworthy, think of Olive's parents in Easy A. She's even sassier and more iconic than them)

I could go on for hours about how well the characters in this book are written. For example, the horribly realistic and foul misogynistic men and the entitled, rapist boys, but plot-wise, this book is just as strong. There are enough “Uh oh” and “Thank God” moments to have you desperately turning the page and every arc reaches a more than satisfactory conclusion. Though some moments may be predictable - I believe the synopsis makes it clear that missing girl Cally is inevitably going to be revealed as the bear - nothing about this book ever feels disappointing or obvious.

A number of quotes stood out to me as noteworthy, and if I was still an avid Tumblr book-quote-blogger, you can trust that my feed would've been full of Natural Selection lines. I fully expect some quotations to make their way into mainstream use in the coming months - and rightfully so. But for now, I'll leave one of the loveliest moments here. One that might, perhaps, go unnoticed in favour of its stronger peers:
“And then she's kissing me again and I feel an animal hunger rise in me that has nothing to do with the memory of being a bear and everything to do with the fierceness of being a girl.”


To summarise, I devoured this book and was left delightfully stuffed. If you're an insatiable reader searching for a feminist novel that'll leave you licking your lips with satisfaction, this is the book for you.

Natural Selection was my first book from the author Clare Edge and it won't be the last. This read was a dark humorous YA novel that is full of twists, revenge and women sticking by women.

When three friends realise they have all been victims of the same guy, they decide the best way to get even is to get revenge in the woods for a prank. This all takes a dark turn when the prank turns into an accident with a snowstorm brewing and a bear in the midst. Trying to figure out what the do especially when the bear starts attacking men suspected of abuse. Are the girls in control of the bear but like i always say - i'd take the bear over a man and that's exactly what it's doing.

This novel was a fun read, the characters felt real and i loved the friendship between them. The plot was exciting and full of thrills and i enjoyed every moment of this read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) | Bloomsbury YA for a copy of this arc in exchange of my full honest review.