Friday, April 26, 2019

Final Girls by Riley Sager


Title: Final Girls
Author: Riley Sager
Publisher: Dutton
Release Date: July 11, 2017







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.










To Quincy, my glorious sister in survival. I’m here if you ever need to talk.
With so many great reviews, I had Final Girls added to my TBR a while back. I had a break in between ARCs and I thought this was the perfect time to read it.

After finishing it, I can say, I'm in the minority. I thought The Final Girls was predictable and in certain parts, it dragged too. I know a lot of reviewers loved it but I wasn't one of them.

The premise was a good one. You had 3 "final girls". All 3 are survivors of terrible events that changed their lives. We have Lisa Milner (sorority house massacre in Indiana), Samantha Boyd (Nightline Inn), and Quincy (Pine Cottage), our heroine.

Quincy is the sole survivor of the Pine Cottage Murders. In the present, she lives in NYC. She writes her food blog, she's dating Jeff, an attorney and she meets frequently with the cop who saved her, Coop. She deals with her anxiety by using Xanax and alcohol. Then, another survivor, Lisa commits suicide and Samantha Boyd, the only other final girl shows up at her doorstep. Sam is the sole survivor of the Sack Man attack at the Nightlight Inn. Quincy's life spirals down. She's drinking too much, taking more Xanax than usual and leaving her home at ungodly hours to go with Sam who seems to be up to no good.

Quincy spiraling down is one of the main reasons why this didn't work for me. She invites a total stranger into her home. Then, she proceeds to do everything Sam wants her to do without questioning any of it too much. Sam's peer pressure works every single time. Quincy was weak and malleable. More than once, I wished I could scream at her for being so dumb.

The second thing I didn't like is how the book ended. As I mentioned earlier, it was too predictable. The whole time, I was hoping I was wrong so I could be surprised but it was not meant to be.

Lastly, there was a scene that was too unbelievable with regards to police procedure.



I think the Final Girls would work great as a movie though. Perfect theme for a slasher movie.

Cliffhanger: No

2.5/5 Fangs

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