The Final Girls by Riley Sager Really Into This Goodreads
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The Final Girls by Riley Sager Book Review

The Final Girls by Riley Sager Really Into This Goodreads
Goodreads

The Final Girls by Riley Sager Book Review

The lowdown from Goodreads

Publication Date

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.

The Final Girls by Riley Sager Book Review

A lot of my fellow book lovers LOVE this book & I think that’s great. This review is not meant to take anything away from anyone’s reading experiences.

A Reluctant Party Goer

To say I’m late to the party called The Final Girls is a huge understatement. This book came out last summer & I even bought a copy when it was on sale at Target. Then, I saw this article. In case you’re still reading & you don’t want to click on the link, it outlines several authors using pseudonyms, all of whom are men using gender neutral names. A line in the article about this being “good for business” had me feeling particularly icky.

I know authors have used pseudonyms for centuries & will continue to do so moving forward. It isn’t about that for me. My takeaway from the above article & this one is that publishing houses may be deceptive when they market a particular type of thriller to women. I’m not about that life. It just doesn’t sit well with me.

Back to The Book

Despite my hesitancy to read The Final Girls, I honestly tried to go into it with a clean slate. I chose the audio version & listened to it as I drove around & went for my evening walks. I’ll put this out there, the narration isn’t my favorite in this audio. I pressed on & finished the story.

The general idea is great. The story centers around Quincy, who is a lone survivor in a horrific attack. One of the first scenes describes her wearing a red dress that was previously white. That’s a graphic image that I expected & is warranted in what is marketed as a slasher type of novel. As the story went on, I found myself rooting for her less & less. I wanted her to be a bad-ass survivor ready to kick ass & take names. Sadly, she’s the only fellow baker I’ve “met” & didn’t really like.

THE VERDICT

I am Kind of Into This book. I felt lukewarm about how the story developed. Maybe I just had a sour outlook from the start? Cue Scott Weiland singing Sour Girl. I really tried to keep an open mind I wanted to LOVE this story. I mean, hell. A.J. Finn is named in both the articles mentioned above & I rave about The Woman in the Window.  I’m so glad a lot of my book friends love The Final Girls, but the bottom line is, it wasn’t for me & that’s okay.

Special thanks to Riley Sager, Penguin/Dutton Books & NetGalley for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

Let’s connect with books!  We have all of our reviews on Goodreads!

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About the Author: Riley Sager

The Final Girls by Riley Sager Photo Credit Jesse Neider
Riley Sager | Photo Credit Jesse Neider

Riley Sager is the pseudonym of a former journalist, editor and graphic designer.

     Now a full-time author, Riley’s first thriller, FINAL GIRLS, was a national bestseller that has been published in 25 languages. His latest book, THE LAST TIME I LIED, was published in July.

     A native of Pennsylvania, Riley now lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Momma, wife, baker, reader & smart ass. I am Really Into doughnuts, inside jokes, trash TV, pizza, 48 Hours & George Michael.

7 Comments

  • Jasmine

    I’m at a loss for words.. I was expecting a rave review from you as I see from many others on Goodreads. I’m glad you loved The Woman in the Window, while I liked it okay. I wouldn’t rave on it because it was slow going just getting drunk upstairs and downstairs.. except I do love the ending. I have been feeling down for not finding the time to read The Final Girls yet, but seeing how this book doesn’t work for you.. I guess I can wait a bit more.. Great review!

    • stslusher

      Yes! There was a lot of upstairs/downstairs drinking in THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW -for sure. The ending caught me so off guard though, I just loved it. Please read THE FINAL GIRLS when you have the time. SO many of my friends LOVE IT. <3

  • Tiffany

    I wanted to love this one, but it didn’t really work for me either! There’s a sex scene where I was thinking, okay, I can tell this is a male author writing a female character…🙄 That being said, I have this author’s new book on my TBR, so hopefully that will be better.

    • stslusher

      I know exactly what scene you are talking about, Tiffany! Thank you so much for your comment. I wasn’t in love with Robyn Harding’s THE PARTY, but I loved her newest, HER PRETTY FACE. My biggest issue with this is really from the publisher & marketing. C’est la vie, right? I’ll be curious what you think about THE LAST TIME I LIED. There was definitely some great imagery and some nice tension in FINAL GIRLS, but just not the read for me & that’s okay! <3

      • Tiffany

        It’s funny that you mentioned The Party because I didn’t love that one either! It was fine…but left me with an overall awful feeling when I was finished with the book. I still need to read Her Pretty Face—glad to hear that one is better!

  • Lars Hegnet

    Totally agree with U…the story is off to a good start…lets have a wicked feminine slasherbook here with only a few red herrings/charactors….hey, this is entertaining holiday reading. Alas..not quite so…I have 140 pages left and I’m pretty much annoyed with the developement og the whole massmurder mystery. The 2 final girls are way too teenager-intense…the good rescuing cop is unbelievable
    …and the plot is a bit smartass om the tediously boring side. I will finish it, though…but luke warm murders it sure is…hmm 🤔

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