What is Natural Selection about?
Three girls named Megan / Meaghan, join forces to take revenge on a teenage boy who has hurt them all. But other forces raise their head, spawned from past hurts and betrayals, to wreak havoc on a small town.
A prank turns deadly and the Megans share a terrible secret as the whole town comes under attack.
Plot summary of Natural Selection (No Spoilers)
Outlaw (nicknamed due to her real name – Megan Lawless, and the fact that her best friend’s name is Megan) is shocked to see her friend’s boyfriend watching a girl’s sports shower room through a hole in a wall. Outlaw has hated this boy named Kevin most of her life, because of the way he treats her friend. The peeping incident is made worse as Kevin then shames Outlaw herself.
She’s not sure whether Megan will believe her, as she always brushes off Kevin’s behaviour as everyone does in their small hunting town, “Boys will be boys.”
But this time Megan believes Outlaw, and when they meet yet another girl (also named Meghan) Kevin has hurt, they decide together they want revenge. A plan is put together for after the Homecoming Ball. It works perfectly until it doesn’t. A bear appears out of nowhere.
The town is in shock, and the three Megans must keep their secret. Little do they know, yet another local girl was hurt in the past and never seen again. As the days pass and more locals are attacked, the more the Megans begin to think something else is at play here.
More secrets pile onto what they already hold close, and loyalties must be drawn in the sand. Who will be next in the town to die, and did they deserve it?
Review
My dislike for Kevin and ‘his boys’ hits me early in this book, and the desire for revenge upon him is keen. He deserved what he was going to get after all the hurt he’d caused. He is a product of this small hunting town, and the ‘good ol boys’ club of sexism and misogyny, and there are others just as bad as him, close by.
But the twist that occurs is shocking and steps up this narrative in one big jump. The desire for revenge never goes away, but it is swamped with guilt and fear and confusion as a prank and the events of a Homecoming afterparty go terribly wrong.
An element of witchery or just plain magic is cleverly woven through the story, making the main characters wonder if they have woken something stronger than them all put together.
I enjoyed this story of revenge, girl power and eventually love, as three very different girls go up against the men in their town who have allowed women and girls to be abused.
Book Style
336 Pages
FAQ’s
What age is it for?
14+
Where & When is it set?
A town called Riverside, (only a square mile) not far from Seattle, and surrounded by National Forest
What is the Point of View / Tense of the novel?
Three Points of View – Outlaw (Megan Lawless), Megan Deloria, & Bee (Megan Harot)
First person / Present Tense
Is there Violence?
Yes
Is there sex?
Yes
What genre is Natural Selection?
YA Thriller
Themes
Mystery / Magic / Animals / Thriller / Revenge
Is it part of a series?
No
Author
Clare Edge
Publisher
Bloomsbury
(2026, Bloomsbury, Thriller, Crime, Murder, Pranks, Revenge, Sexism, Rape, Misogyny, Small Town, Hunting, Bears, Witch, Magic, Tarot, Suspicion, LGBTQ+, Queer, Animals, Friendship, Romance, School, Secret)