Title: Final Girls
Author: Riley Sager
Genre: Thriller, Slasher Horror
Publisher: Dutton
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781101985366

Summary: Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.
 
Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.
 
That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.

My review:

I haven’t read too many thrillers or mysteries but from the moment I saw this book, I wanted to get my hands on it. When I finally did, I couldn’t put it down.
The story follows Quincy, a Final Girl, one of three girls who survived massacres. To say that I loved Quincy’s characterization would be an understatement. Her thoughts and emotions about her survival were turbulent, a mix of guilt, fear, and anger.

Everyone around her keeps insisting she’s moved past the tragedy but on the inside, Quincy knows this isn’t true. I love that she doesn’t become this vengeful angel or too damaged to cope.  She has a dirty little habit that she started when she survived but this only adds complexity to her personality.
Her character is complex and oh so human that it sucked me into her world, her mind. I wondered what it would be like to be a Final Girl and Quincy was all too willing to show me.
Her relationship with the other Final Girls, Lisa Milner and Samantha Boyd, is rocky.  In fact, all her relationships are messed up in some way, shape, or form. The conflict within her connection to those in her life aren’t forced and they don’t feel fake or unrealistic.Perhaps the best element is her evolution and the progressive shifts in her relationships. It’s subtle and slow but by the end of the last chapter, I could see how everyone had changed.


The writing was done well. I’m impressed by Sager’s attention to detail and the steady, consuming plot that arrived not too late or too soon but on time. Sager had me on edge, wondering who the killer was. At first, I was sure it was Samantha Boyd. Then I wondered if it could have been Quincy herself. The more I read, the more desperate I became for the answer. WHO WAS IT? At the end, I was blindsided by the twist and yet, a small voice mumbled about all the little details I overlooked that pointed to the killer.

Like I said, I don’t have much experience with thrillers/suspense/mysteries. It might have been obvious to someone else but not to me.
The ending was my favorite, I think, but I promise not to spoil it for you.

Do you like suspense/thrillers/mysteries? Do you have any recommendations for me to review? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

♣Check Out These Other Reviews♣:

The Lives of Desperate Girls

The Disappearances

MARCH 

♣Find Final Girls Here♣:

Goodreads

Amazon

Riley Sager Site

*I requested a copy of Final Girls from Dutton Publishing through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.*