Final Girls book review

Final Girls by Riley Sager
on July 11, 2017
Pages: 352
Goodreads

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.

I had heard that Final Girls was the Riley Sagar book to read, I have already read Lock Every Door and I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending. There wasn’t huge expectations going in and to be honest I picked the audiobook up on a whim. However I needn’t of worried, this book kept me enthralled all the way to the end.

Plot of Final Girls

We meet Quincy Carpenter 10 years after all of her friends were brutally murdered during a college vacation. After she survives she becomes known as a Final Girl and has to learn how to move on even with all of those connotations. She joins a very exclusive club of two others, which quickly becomes one as the original Final Girl is found in the bath tub, wrists slit. What happens next is two girls trying to figure out what the hell is going on through a series of bizarre events.

I think what worked throughout this story was the way that the story switches back and forth, especially through memories and flashbacks. This book keeps you on your toes all the way through and there is always a sense of anxiety that runs through all of the different events. I think I had an inkling of how this book was going to end but even as it was revealed it still pushed it into a new direction. There was something always happening but the pacing never felt off and I loved finding out what was happening and trying to figure out what was coming next.

I thought the ending although interesting didn’t make a huge amount of sense and a lot of this book felt unexplained and rushed in that regard. I would have loved to have had more details about how everything happened and what it actually meant. It did however feel like a full circle moment and I really appreciated how neatly the whole thing came together.

Characters in Final Girls

I really enjoyed the dynamic of the two main female characters in Final Girls, the way that they framed the storyline. It was interesting to read through their different experiences and how they live with everything they had seen. The fact that Quincy has tried so hard to build the perfect cookie cutter life and I really enjoyed watching how superficial the facade actually is when Sam turns up.

The way that the both of them react to certain situations is very telling. I think the plot twist when it comes to the characters was pretty obvious, and I wish that it had gone another way. The characters were the main reason why this didn’t get a full five stars. By the time I got half way through I was so bored of the nice act and the lack of explanation for certain reactions frustrated me.

Good bits

• Really interesting concept
• Brilliant twist and ending
• Good character dynamic

Bad bits

• Frustrating characters and relationships.

Who would like Final Girls?

Anyone really who enjoyed the Scream films and likes to imagine how the characters lived after all the trauma. It is an interesting concept and one that was actually executed well.

Did you read this one? What was your thought process? Let me know in the comments.