It has been ten years since the night that Quinn Carpenter survived the massacre at Pine Cottage and became a "Final Girl." The press dubbed her a "Final Girl", along with Lisa, who survived a sorority house massacre and Sam, who survived a massacre at a motel. It has been hard to move on, especially since the details of that night have escaped her memory, but Quinn is a survivor. She lives with her boyfriend in an NYC apartment that she bought with survivor money, she runs a successful food blog, and is doing well. Until the day that her friend and savior, Coop, calls to tell her that Lisa has committed suicide. Coop was the officer on duty that night she ran out of the woods covered in the blood of her friends. It has been Coop to be by her side as she reintegrated into the world and tried to move past the events of that night. It is Coop who makes her feel safe. It is Coop who cautions her when Samantha Boyd, another Final Girl, shows up on Quinn's doorstep. Quinn is hesitant to welcome her, but she is really the only person who can even understand a fraction of what she has been through. When it is determined that Lisa was murdered Quinn's world quickly starts to spin out of control. Will she be able to finally recover the memories of that night? Or will someone do everything in their power to keep Quinn from remembering?

HOLY COW! Final Girls is by far the best thriller that I have read this year. There was more than one night that I had to close the book rather than read it alone in my dark bedroom. It truly terrified me. Quinn is the kind of character that appears to be strong but is really just a hot mess. She is addicted to Xanax, has a horrible relationship with her mom, and keeps secrets from her boyfriend. And all of that is before Sam Boyd even shows up. The book has an "80's horror flick - where are they now?" vibe - but that is not a bad thing. It is very fast paced - but not so fast that you can't keep up. And the author knows how to build the story so that you just cannot stop reading. You are hanging on to every word because you, like the media in the book, are morbidly fascinated by the Final Girls. It all builds to an explosive conclusion that will leave you absolutely shellshocked. I had NO IDEA how this book was going to turn out, but wowzers did it have a great conclusion. --CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom line - While Final Girls doesn't really get explicit with the gore, the graphic nature of the plot cannot be denied. These characters survived bloody massacres. Get past that though and you have a well written, incredibly intense thriller about a survivor just trying to live her life. You will not be disappointed with this one if you are looking to scare yourself and get your heart rate up.

Details:
Final Girls by Riley Sager
On Facebook
Pages: 352
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication Date: 7/11/2017
Buy it Here!

I need to start off by saying how much I loved the author’s attention to detail, there was the perfect amount without going overboard. I thought the writing flowed so beautifully, and how each flashback was introduced. It just flowed so amazingly.

Each character has completely different thought processes, which made for much better character development. Quincy was an admirable and strong character, I absolutely loved her. Sam tended to frustrate me with her almost fearless actions.

The twists and turns are like none I’ve ever seen and really added to the overall story. I loved all the quotes that were empowering to survivors of any trauma, I even wrote a few down in my personal notebook. I loved that there were touches on the subject of untreated PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). This book is easily one of my favorites of 2017!

This was a twisty read. I thought I had it all figured out about halfway through and I would’ve have been so disappointed if I had. I was wrong. This was an interesting story that revolved around 3 women who were known as Final Girls, meaning that they were the only survivors of horrific, murderous events.
The majority of this story is not really about those events but more of the lives of these women after. We do find out what had happened during the murders but the focus is the present.
I really liked this book and it was different then the type of thrillers I normally read. I gave this book 4 crowns.

Eye-roll of an ending, bit of a slow, somewhat silly beginning. The writing felt overeager and stilted at the same time. Very typical of the genre. Didn't care for any of the characters at all by the end and few had any dimension at all. The twists were fine, but predictable by the end. Not very satisfying, felt like a mediocre Law & Order episode.

Talk about edge of your seat reading! I'm absolutely sure my fingers were glued to my kindle, white knuckled! I fell into this so much that reality disappeared.

The premise is pretty simple, Quincy Carpenter survived an attack on her friends and lived to tell the tale. Sadly, she got a badgering because of it. Not only from the cops that didn't totally believe her story, but from people that started to obsess with her.

Quincy settles into a routine and winds up making a life for herself, something far and away from the slaughter that happened ten years ago.

Downside, there are two views in this, the present and Quincy's past. I didn't fully care about the present Quincy although through getting to know her she tells the reader more about her past. It's not Quincy that is opening up though, she has refused to think about that night and pretends that her life is all cupcakes and roses. Literally. Sadly, she's not past it so when Samantha Boyd enters her life she is thrown for a whirl but instead of just telling Samantha to get out, she goes with it. Leaving me to believe that she wasn't fully happy with the facade she created anyway.

The entire telling of the story was interesting. There is a build up in both narrations. It's hard the way it is written to be able to see what Quincy does remember but I think that what the reader is shown is what the present Quincy can see. As she goes further down the rabbit hole, more and more is opening up, for her and for the reader, making almost a jigsaw puzzle as she sees more about that evening.

Samantha is a bit of a strange one though. Like seriously, I don't care who you are, some crazy person shows up at my door she is going to be seeing that door again really soon. I don't think there was quite enough holding the girls together. Quincy had a lot more choices than she is left to believe which frustrated me. She is also frustrated but she rolls with it and even gets herself into more trouble!

As she was catapulted to the end it seemed that there were clues, but not the ones I was suspecting. While I usually love when I do not figure out the main culprit, I don't love it when I CANNOT due to lack of evidence. There has to be something sprinkled somewhere, and although there are many clues that will lead the reader to many different endings the actual ending was a bit of a shocker but without the electricity to back it up.

I loved the book and even with the lack of clues I definitely recommend this one. The story has enough world and character building, maybe even too much, to drag the reader in and leave them wanting to know the answers. I was left thinking about this one for days after reading, which is always a good thing. Minus that one part at the end, all of it was great.

I had promised myself not to read any more thrillers with the word “girl” in the title because it has become so overused but I listened to my Goodreads friends, who never lead me astray, and read this novel, I’m so glad that I did. This has been the first thriller this year that has seriously felt like a thriller and honestly scared the heck out of me in parts!

If you’ve read the blurb or any reviews you know the the press had named three young women survivors of what could be called massacres “The Final Girls” because they were the ones left behind. None of them like being in this group.

The book is told from the POV of Quincy Carpenter, the only survivor of a grisly killing that took place in a cabin that she and her friends had rented to celebrate one of the girls birthday. Quincy has never been able to remember anything about the tragedy except the part where she is running through the woods and comes upon a highway patrolman who saves her life. Coop, as she has dubbed him has kept in touch with Quincy and she feels he is her personal hero. Quincy has never met the other two Final Girls, Lisa Milner and Samantha Boyd. She has managed to build a life for herself with a baking blog and some money from a fund that was set up when the tragedy occurred. She has a solid boyfriend, Jess, who doesn’t really play much of a part in the novel.

Things start to get rolling when Lisa is found dead, supposedly a suicide as she is found in the bathtub with her wrists slit. Samantha then shows up on Quincy’s doorstep and camps in her living room for days convincing her that they have to solve Lisa’s murder. Jeff senses trouble and doesn’t trust Sam.

Sam is able to convince Quincy that they need to stick together because they are the only two left and begins to try to get Quincy, in one way and then another, to remember what happened on that horrible day. She takes her back to the cabin where it all happened “I try not to think about the woods surrounding Pine Cottage, even though it’s all I can think about. That thick forest, filled with hidden dangers. It’s like I’m back there again, ready to break out into my life-or- death race through the trees. Sam heads deeper into the park and I follow even as a chant of worry forms in my thoughts -- This is dangerous. Wrong. “

I’m not going to spoil this great read for you with any more plot but this is a razor sharp thriller. I had my ideas of what would happen but in all but one I was proven so far off the mark that if it was a target I would have hit the wall, tree or whatever. The characters are well described, unique and extremely interesting. The plot moves at a very quick pace and there is no lag time anywhere in the book.

If you want to read what I think will be a blockbuster thriller this summer, pick up this great one by Riley Sager and you can thank me later.

Will also post to Amazon upon publication

Review posted to Amazon on 7/20/17

The mystery was fine. I did not guess the outcome, which is usually a plus for me, but it really came out of left field in a way that left me feeling unfulfilled.

Looking for a tricksy plot and an unreliable narrator, something like Gillian Flynn or Megan Miranda might cook up? Then check out Riley Sager's Final Girls (Dutton, digital galley), a well-constructed thriller whose title comes from the old horror film trope where one girl survives a mass murder. In Sager's tale, Quincy Carpenter has rejected the tabloid moniker and moved on in the years since her college friends were massacred in a cabin in the Pennsylvania woods. She has a successful baking blog and a live-in lawyer boyfriend, and it helps that she has almost no memory of the murders and appeases her survivors' guilt by regularly checking in with Coop, the cop who saved her life. But then another Final Girl -- Lisa, who survived a sorority house attack -- is found dead, believed to be a suicide -- and Samantha Boyd, who fought off a mass murderer in a Florida motel, shows up at Quincy's door. As troubled Sam provokes Quincy to tap into her buried anger and memories, interspersed chapters flash back to the fateful Pine Cottage weekend, generating menace and suspense. Readers may think they know where the story is headed, and maybe they do, but they also may be in for a shock. Quincy sure is.

from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever

I know I am in a minority here but wasn't a fan of this book. In the books defense I think the story was so similar to another book I had just finished so I was bord

You all know my deep deep love for horror movies, and that I have a serious guilty-ish pleasure for the slasher film genre. There are so many things about it that are kind of grotesque and trite, but I really do enjoy a slash ’em up kind of flick like “Halloween”, “Friday the 13th”, or “Scream”. I think that my love for that subgenre stems from my time as an awkward teenager who was a bit more cautious and shy than some of her lady friends. Because of this, I really related to the “Final Girl” trope that those movies almost always trot out: the virginal good girl who triumphs over evil and is the only one who can vanquish the bloodthirsty villain. The movie “Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon” did a great job of deconstructing the concept of the Final Girl, as did the movie “Final Girls”, and I’ve been aching to read a book about it as well. When Lauren Beukes “Survivors’ Club” didn’t quite get there, my only hope left was “Final Girls” by Riley Sager, and BOY am I THRILLED to say that this book nailed it and gave me everything I needed.

The very scenarios given in this book as the mass killings that the Final Girls endured are so textbook 80s slasher film that I was living a Dayglow glittered fever dream. You have the college kids in a cabin in the woods, the sorority house massacre, and the isolated motel ambush with a killer who is wearing a sack on his head! PERFECTION. But even beyond setting up the perfect slasher scenarios, Sager also painted pictures of how an actual ‘Final Girl’ might endure after the trauma. As much as we love the idea of Nancy Thmpson or Laurie Strode going on to live happy lives, in the real world the consequences would be far more long lasting. Quincy is a complete mess whose outward appearance is a lie to the pain underneath. She has her baking blog and her true blue fiance, but she is addicted to Xanax and unable to let go of Coop, the cop who saved her all those years ago from a killer in the woods. She has distanced herself from other survivors of violent massacres, Lisa and Sam, because while the media loves to lump them together, she just wants to be herself and to live her life. I really loved Quincy for her full damaged self.

The thing that surprised me the most about this book was that it wasn’t the meta and self referential homage that I was expecting it to be, even though it’s set up was one hundred percent spot on for such a novel. Instead there was a serious mystery here, specifically involving Sam. After Lisa, the original and perhaps most ‘with it’ Final Girl is found dead of an apparent suicide, Quincy is approached by the second, Sam, who had been off the grid for years. The mystery at the heart of this book is about Sam’s experiences, as well as Quincy’s. Though I went in thinking that it would be about the two of them teaming up to find a killer, it turned out to be something much different. And then it superseded my expectations AGAIN when it also became a question about Quincy and her experience at a cabin in the woods. The movies like to portray these Final Girl types as innocents caught up in a whirlwind of circumstance, the ultimate Madonnas who are better than the Whores that surround them and therefore they get to live. But Sager poses that perhaps it’s more interesting if they are just complex, well rounded people instead of just a trope, and questions whether being innocent is the absolute only thing you can be to deserve to survive something as brutal as a slasher killer.

I truly enjoyed this book as a fan of the slasher genre, even if it wasn’t the self satisfied wink fest I thought it was going to be. Fans of this genre really need to go out and get their hands on “Final Girls”. Quincy has every right to stand with Laurie Strode, Nancy Thompson, and all those other badass women who take out those who wish them ill, and she can do it while still being damaged.

Final girl: a female sole survivor of a multiple homicide. Quincy Carpenter, Lisa Milner, and Samantha Boyd didn't ask for this life, but they are forced to live it through the Final Girl name penned by the press. But when something happens to one of them, the other two cling to each other for support. Quincy doesn’t remember every event of that night, but as the novel unfolds all of the secrets and deceptions are brought to light.

Final Girls is full of suspense and misleading plot twists. While many books in this genre are predictable, Sager’s distinct characterization allows for the reader to be just as confused as Quincy. Readers will furiously flip the pages seeking answers, and be left grasping for breath until the very last page.

This was such a fun ride! When I wasn't reading it, I wished I was reading it. I couldn't stop talking about it. I loved the way the present-day was intertwined with the events at Pine Cottage. The book started out as a slow burn and grew into a wildfire. If you're a fan of slasher flicks, this is a must read!

Gripping thriller. Unexpected twists and turns take readers on a terrifying ride! Makes me wonder if I have what it takes to be a Final Girl....

What a fun and fast paced novel this one is! It’s an incredibly readable thriller with a great plot as well as great characters. Such a great addition to the thriller genre! Lots of twists and turns in this one. The premise is really interesting as it centers around the ‘final girls’ who each survived different nightmare events. As their stories all intertwine, you learn more about what they experienced and how they are actually coping in life after the events that in so many ways have defined them. The only reason it’s not a 5 star is that I figured out the twist fairly early in the book so the ending wasn’t quite as climactic as it would have been if I had not. But, I still enjoyed the ride … it’s a really strong thriller and an intense novel that is very well written. The novel had the feel of a horror movie in many ways and I think that aspect made the reading experience all the more enjoyable. I definitely recommend this one for fans of the thriller genre. It’s a really strong read that I think thriller fans will enjoy!

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! The Master of Horror, Stephen King, calls Final Girls the first great thriller of 2017, and if that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is! It's good old-fashioned horror-slasher film fun, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it come to the big screen at some point. You don't want to look, but you can't look away either. You find yourself screaming (or whispering so the killer can't hear you) at the characters to turn around, hide, and RUN because you KNOW they only have minutes to live. True horror fans will love this violent, twisted tale, but it may be too much for readers looking for a tamer sort of read. Sam, Lisa, and now Quincy, our narrator, all belong to a club none wanted to join, the Final Girls, They don't know one another, but all are sole survivors of brutal killing sprees they should not have survived. Quincy, the last Final Girl, is struggling to move on from a night she can't remember, but only doing a superficial job of it. Word comes that Lisa, the first Final Girl, was found dead in her bathtub with her wrists slit. Sam, the second, suddenly shows up at Quincy's door. How did she find her? Can she be trusted? Will Quincy be able to finally remember the killer's identity, a man she only refers to as HIM? Riley Sager takes the reader back and forth from the present to the past, around blind curves, through dark tunnels, and finally just sends us "Wile E. Coyote-style" straight off a cliff!

FINAL GIRLS is a book that reads a little differently from its description. It wasn’t much off – but off enough that I wished the blurb was more accurate.

Quincy starts out as a sort-of-sympathetic character, then becomes annoying and confusing. Understandably she is happy with her food blog and her ineffectual boyfriend, but somehow changes persona 180 degrees when fellow survivor Sam comes into the picture. Together they become a two person mini-mob, stealing things and causing trouble.

Sam is a character that is not only unreliable, but unhinged. Her motives seem to be clear one minute, then murky the next. I wasn’t very fond of her at all and wondered how mealy little Quincy could enjoy her company. I also wondered how some of the things they did escaped unnoticed. In any case, the plot advances until the house of lies they built comes crashing down. Then follows a plot twist that I hadn’t seen coming (always a good thing) and the story abruptly ends.

Despite all the activity and violence, I wasn’t truly engaged in the story or the characters. I read through it halfheartedly hoping it would get better. I felt that I had to suspend my belief a few times and I struggled to care about the outcome. Perhaps if the story was a bit shorter, or there was less instances of Quincy’s monologues, and baking, and flashbacks (which had no detail, really), and love-hate interactions between Quincy and Sam ……. I’m not sure. Is it possible to call a thriller “dull”? It was certainly true in this case. I’d say without a doubt FINAL GIRLS is an instance where the plot holds great promise but the writer doesn’t deliver. Maybe this would have been better as a movie, given that the backdrop was similar to those silly-but-not-really 80’s horror flicks. Some things just don’t transition well from screen to page.

First, this is not a bad book...it could have easily been a 4 star read for me, but...here we go again! What is it with overhyped thrillers that have loads of potential, but just seem to miss the mark?? Every. Friggin. Summer.

What was the BIG twist everyone didn't see coming?? Really guys? Like, for real, for real?
Another slow burn bites the dust. Don't get me wrong this was not an awful book, but a thriller it t'was not.

Thrillers are one of my favorite genres, be it novels, documentaries, ID channel recreations, I'm into it! When it comes to books, I never expect to be scared by the horrific acts, and most of the time I can see a plot pretty far off. At least keep it tense, keep me guessing a bit, and keep the action, or attempts at creepiness coming.

The protagonist, Quincy is the the typical horror/thriller amnesia-suffering character, wading through the muddy waters of events long past for far too many pages. Her story was humdrum and repetitive. Things didn't pick up and get going with the story until the last 25%. If I were a DNF'er...

So we've got a slow moving plot. The flashbacks chapters (to the night of the event) were the most interesting parts of the story. Once they were introduced and built a momentum, things got rolling which definitely helped hold my interest in characters that I didn't have a ton of connection to. Again, another novel with a lot of slow story to get through, to finally have the majority of the action crammed at the very end of the book. Seriously the end, as in the last 20 or so pages. As for the reveal, I figured out the Who-Done-It so early on that I was slightly shocked that my guess really was, who-done-it.

The close of the book seemed out of place, like it was taped on as an after thought. I think the ending would have been stronger if the book finished a few pages earlier. Again, this isn't bad book, but I can honestly say, I was expecting more. The foundation for something awesome was there, I'm not sure what happened, and that ending...hokey.

Even though it wasn't all that thrilling, Final Girls was better than the last two "thrillers" I have read. It's a fairly quick read, though the plot is slow. If you don't mind a slow burn, with f'ed up characters, and can lose yourself enough in a plot to see the forest and not the trees, here ya go!

The masses will probably enjoy this.

Ten years ago, student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came home alone -the only survivor of a gruesome massacre. Together with three other women who are also the sole survivors of violent crime, she becomes a member of a group the press calls the Final Girls. The girls have never met but when one of them is found dead, the remaining Final Girl turns up on Quincy's doorstep.
This is a psychological thriller done right. The suspense builds right until the end and the details are ambiguous enough to keep you on the edge of your seat..
The characters are well-developed and the plot is full of twists and turns. Endorsed by Stephen King, it's hard to believe that this book is the author's debut! Five stars from me - a refreshing and very clever roller coaster ride of a book.

This book had me with its title and cover but I'm so glad it lived up to my expectations!

Horror movie fans know the meaning of a final girl - the girl who survives the carnage to see another day. Well Quincy Carpenter is a final girl but doesn't want to be a final girl. She wants to be "normal", running her successful cooking blog, living in her well decorated NYC apartment and almost-engaged to a really nice guy. But is she really "normal"?

Quincy is perfect on the outside but drinks to much and takes Xanax with her grape soda. It isn't until another final girl shows up on her door after the death of a third final girl, that the cracks start to show in her carefully created facade. Is Quincy really the victim of a brutal killing spree or is she the killer herself?

Sager's writing kept me up way past my bedtime trying to figure out what really happened that night ten years ago in Pine Cottage. This book is perfect for fans of suspense thrillers and one of my favorites of the year. Highly recommend.

Quincy, Lisa, and Sam are the Final Girls. Dubbed so by the media, the three women were the sole survivors of three separate, horrible crimes. For Quincy, the moniker is an ever present reminder of the day her best friends were murdered. But she herself has very few memories of that terrible night.

Then Lisa is found dead. The verdict is suicide, but Quincy isn't sure. And when Sam shows up at her door, she becomes even more certain that Lisa wouldn't have killed herself. Together, the remaining Final Girls begin searching for answers, but as they do, Quincy starts to wonder if she can truly trust Sam - or anyone. And as their investigation gets closer to the truth, she starts to remember.

"Final Girl" as you may know, is a term coined to describe the last woman standing in typical horror fare. There are multiple books and movies that bear the name (the film starring Taissa Farming and Malin Akerman is my favorite so far). And given that Riley Sager's debut (Riley Sager is apparently a pseudonym for a previously published author) has been hyped as THE thriller of the summer, blurbed by no less that Stephen King himself, you can imagine I was pretty excited to get my hands on a copy.

The attention this one is getting is not completely unfounded, but I think my own expectations of it may have been too high.

Quincy is a survivor. She's on meds to keep her stable, and abuses them to an extent, which is understandable. And she's shielded by the fact that she has virtually no memory of the crime that claimed her friends' lives. But when Sam appears in her life, she goes off the rails in a way that I didn't quite think worked.

She trusts Sam, as a fellow survivor. But we already know that she's made a point of never really interacting with the other final girls. She's spoken to Lisa a few times but Sam has remained hidden and fairly anonymous from the world. So I wasn't completely sold on the fact that Quincy would trust Sam so quickly. Her attraction to the fellow survivor, who is admittedly more outgoing and manic, and her quickness to follow just didn't quite mesh with the caution I thought Quincy displayed when the book began.

The story progresses quickly, with Quincy soon setting off to find out what really happened to Lisa. And it turns out Lisa herself had been keeping information on all three of them, which kicks off Quincy's returning memories.