Ehhhh. There was nothing awful about the story or characters. There just wasn’t anything amazing either. I didn’t care for the narrator so maybe that is some of the ehh.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media and the author for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Final cut follows the story of a Costume designer Joey. She is starting work on the set of an infamous volatile and sexist Hollywood Biggy (imagine all possible Hollywood men stereotypes) alongside unfortunately her ex. Things start going south when her ex's current girlfriend is discovered dead by Joey herself following which something or the other seems to be continuously going wrong along with causalities around her. Add in paps chasing around for Goss and an active investigation with an unbearable boss, Joey is at her wit's end.

This book heavily dependent on knowledge about costume designing and other details related to film production and I think it would be very enjoyable to someone who has an in on it. The mystery kind of was there but not there enough in my opinion. It was kind of a miss for me, but I did enjoy the journey. The narrator had a major role to play in that.

The issues in Hollywood in relation to misogyny and sexism was well highlighted and narrated which I truly appreciate.

I really enjoyed this one. Thank you, NetGalley for sharing this with me. I'll definitely be looking forward to reading more.

This was soooo hard for me to get through, and I'm really not sure why. The plot was fully developed, I just think the characters fell flat for me. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the narration, unfortunately.

The premise of Final Cut sounded so intriguing, and I do love an interesting and fast-paced mystery that's not super dark, but this one was not as interesting as I wanted it to be. It was enjoyable, but I didn't think about it much when I wasn't reading it.

A great book if you want to know more about movie costuming practices. An ok book if you’re looking for a thrill. I enjoyed the book once revelations and action started to happen, but get it took a while to get there. I do think this story has a level of familiarity based on current events; however, that is not my cup-o-tea.

The narrator did not provide enough difference in character voices. I found myself being confused on who was talking sometimes.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and author Marjorie McCown for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book but -it was not exactly what I was expecting. There are a ton of details on the setting and particularly the costume design. There was an underlying mystery but I felt it was a bit scattered and rushed at the end. If you are looking for a hard hitting mystery, this is probably not it but if you want to learn about costumes and behind the scenes of a movie set (in a fictionalized way), this may be what you want.

I adored this book. A lovable main character down on her luck, but doing everything she can to survive. Full of quick wit, the author built a world behind the curtain of a Hollywood movie set. A page turner filled with charming relationships, a wide cast of characters, and a quirky tale.

Joey's a costume designer working on the disorganized set of known-misogynist Marcus Pray. When the girlfriend of the film's director (Joey's ex boyfriend) turns up dead after one day on set, all eyes shift to Joey. This book has a thrilling storyline and offers really interesting perspectives into costuming. I really enjoyed Joey Jessup's story and think anyone who's read and enjoyed Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan books will feel the same way. A great mystery with some adventure.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. It felt to be more of a behind the scenes of costume design than a mystery story. I ended up DNF'ing this one.
I think that anyone that is into theater or behind the movie scenes type content would enjoy this one.

Overall, this week was fine for his complaints, but I was mostly bore through a good chunk of it



Entertaining to a certain extent, but I don’t think for me

A great depiction of murder on a movie set. Troubling characters collide creating an atmosphere of malevolence and intrigue. Absorbing and well constructed, thoroughly enjoyable.

I am DNFing this one at 15% because I don’t have any idea what is going on and I couldn’t keep my focus on the book. I tried listening while on a walk and just couldn’t get into it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing this audiobook!

This was a fun little murder mystery, that gave an interesting look at the politics, and work that goes on behind the scenes in a Hollywood blockbuster movie shoot. I am guessing the writer worked in that world because there were detailed and what I assume were correct depictions of the goings-on.

I enjoyed the story and the narrator.

The concept of a murder mystery on a film set immediately had me hooked from the first page. “Final Cut” begins with an untimely death and then proceeds to flashback to earlier in the timeline, providing much needed backstory and character information.

This book relies HEAVILY on costume design and general film industry information and tends to overshadow the mystery. As someone who is really interested in fashion and costumes, this didn’t bother me as much. I did find myself occasionally growing bored of the lack of progressing mystery. There were a few scenes of sexual harassment that escalated to assault that I wish were written differently and would have left me feeling more fondly toward the main character.

I did really enjoy this book and I was invested in the suspense, especially once the killer is revealed. I would recommend to readers really interested in the film industry as this book is an in-depth dive into the field as well as a riveting mystery. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for proving an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. 3.75 Stars rounded up.

This book was ok for me. It was being compared to The Maid but did not strike me as similar at all. The mystery didn’t feel motivating enough for the employee it effected and I just felt the story was overall lacking. The movie set details were interesting, but overall this fell flat for me.

As someone who loves movies, loves a behind the scenes look at the movie industry, and loves mysteries, I was immediately interested in listening to this story.

What you get in this novel is a cozy mystery (a small amount) and a detailed look at the costume department in the film industry (a large amount). You have to be interested in learning about the behind the scenes look at the wardrobing department or this book is not for you. The author worked in movie costuming for several years prior to writing this book and her knowledge is quite impressive. The amount of knowledge shared here can be a bit overwhelming and I think quite a lot of the details could have been removed during editing.

The mystery part of the novel is actually fun to follow along with as the character who dies is the main character's ex-boyfriends new girlfriend. I really wish we could have gotten more of the mystery, but as soon as we learned parts of that, we would get back into the nitty gritty of the costumes. What was interesting to me, but could be annoying to others, is the name dropping. I'm sure the author has met these famous people in real life and has accurate knowledge of how they function in their work.

Overall, this novel was enjoyable to listen to and felt like a quick listen. I did appreciate the knowledge of the costumes and what it takes to make that part of a movie successful, however, I do believe there is a small portion of readers out there who would appreciate that kind of detail.

Thank you to the author, Marjorie McCown, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this arc audiobook in exchange for my review.

A thriller taking place in the behibd the scenes setting of the film industry.

While this book is at its core a murder mystery, and a race against time to figure out who is behind the on set accidents and injuries, its also a commentary of the way Hollywood treats people, and more specifically women.

The main character of this story, Joey, works in Hollywood as a costumer. This gives a unique perspective of a behind the scenes at the making of cinema, and how the hierarchy of the industry works. How easy it us to kerp quiet and not make any waves, even when you know what others in the industry are doing is exploitative and harmful.

I really enjoyed this novel. It was fast paced, tense and I really liked the main character and her story arch. The villains were easy to hate, but some were hard to pick out. And I was really sad when it was all over.

I will be recommending this novel to all the thriller lovers I know! One of my favourite books of the year!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Dreamscape Media for an ARC of this audiobook.

I really enjoy stories about Hollywood, so I requested this one. I have never read anything by this author either but I like reading things by new authors.

This book was pretty good most of the way through, and the last quarter of the book it went south for me. The revelation of the murderer is the build up of this entire book, and then the last few pages it isn't really a surprise to who did it. This book just fell short for me.

The narrator did a great job though

This particular book didn't resonate with me as much as I had hoped. A significant portion of the book felt like I was merely observing the mundane aspects of a costume designer's daily routine, with the plot taking a backseat.