I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley.com.

This book is a whodunit about an Assistant Director, Courtney, who is murdered on the first day of filming of a high-budget blockbuster superhero action movie. The AD's murder is just one of several disasters on the crisis- ridden film set, which is ruled over by a megalomaniacal Harvey Weinstein-type sexual predator who terrorizes his cast and crew.

The story is told from the perspective of Joey, a costume designer and ex of the surviving AD, Eli, who was Courtney's current boyfriend.

Overall, the book is certainly good enough, with some charming side characters, and its moral about how bystander inactivity allows the perpetuation of sexual harassment and assault is well taken. However, there are some holes in the plotline that are glossed over or ignored entirely.

The feeling I took away is that it's a fine story if you don't look too closely, and just enjoy it at a surface level. If you're looking for a quick beach read, or something to wile away a summer weekend in the hammock, without too much thought, this is fine brain candy. However, if you start peeling away the veneer, don't be surprised if you find fiberboard instead of solid wood beneath the surface.

Final Cut tells the story of a Hollywood costume designer Joey. Joey finds a dead body on set and becomes a person of interest in the murder. It's an interesting story that had a lot of fluff and cringy moments but it did keep me intrigued until the end.

This book had some interactions with celebrities and it was handled in a very strange way. It seemed like the author was being a fangirl not even the character in the book. The best example of this was Joey’s interaction with Ben Affleck. The way she describes him and how nice he is makes me think that McCown is the founder of the Ben Affleck fan club. It did not feel genuine and it was honestly hard to get through parts like this.

The other part that bothered me was what I referred to as fluff. There was so much around Joey’s day-to-day as a costume designer that was uninteresting and not essential to the book. I didn’t need to know what celebrities she has dressed and that she has their measurements saved, I didn’t need to know about how she needed to drive around to places, and I didn’t need to know about her day-to-day on the job. I just needed to know what would advance the plot and this was not it.

When it comes to the actual plot, it did get a little predictable towards the end but I did like the overall story. Every time I wanted to put the book down out of frustration with what I described above I reminded myself that we had a murder to solve and I was right back in.

Even with my issues I still do recommend this book, especially to those who are interested in Hollywood film culture.

Dnefd this one at 32%. It was more of a "inside a film production" tell all disguised as a mystery, only there was little to no mystery.

This book is the perfect example of a 3-star book for me. It was incredibly average, but I still listened to it nonstop throughout my day so that I finished it in 2 days.

Joey was your average 30-something year old costumer in Hollywood, and I did love all the little tidbits sprinkled in throughout the story that I'm guessing are accurate facts about the industry. Those were my favorite parts of the book.

I cringed every time a real world actor was named in the book, because it just felt uncomfy to make assumptions about how these real people would act to their cast and crew members.

And then the actual story/plotline was very mid. Very predictable, but overall still enjoyable. Worth your time if you're looking for a pretty quick read to take to the beach or the airport.

This is a book that takes place on a big budget film set where the costume designer finds a dead body on set. Trying to cover it up to save the film, it’s an over the top novel that doesn’t quite hit the mark. I didn’t like the narrator and found it difficult to get gripped by the story so I had to mark it as did not finish unfortunately

This was a good book, but unfortunately wasn’t for me. The story is definitely more “Hollywood” focused than mystery/thriller, which is great but just not what I was expecting. I think I would have appreciated it more if I had the same background in movies/tv.

There is also a lot of real life name dropping happening in this book. It got a little redundant after a while.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I unfortunately could not get into it. DNF at 30%. The build up of the plot was long and using real people as characters in a fictional book was frustrating for me.

Final Cut is about the troubled set of a blockbuster superhero movie being filmed in Hollywood. The main character is Joey Jessop, the film's key costumer. Accidents happen and Jessop even finds a crew member's lifeless body.

Overall, the book writing and character development were both OK. The part of the novel I had a problem with was it couldn't decide if it was a in-depth look into how films are made, a police procedural about the set accidents and homicide, or a social commentary on sexual harassment in the movie industry. Each part on its own was decently written, but the novel kept shifting between the three themes and didn't develop an overall idea.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This is very simple. Way too much Hollywood and no thriller. The author was so busy building the setting she forgot the characters and lost the plot.

As someone who tried to dabble in the world of the wardrobe department in movies, as soon as I saw the plot of this book, I knew I had to read it.

It was fun hearing phrases I hadn’t heard in years as I was taken back to a much different version of what I worked on; I worked on much smaller productions, but will always remember the close knit families I gained on sets. Although I am very glad that I did not have to deal with any murder or serious injuries on set!

This book felt very fast-paced and I listened to it very quickly. I appreciated the different tones that the narrator brought to the story; brought it more to life.

The characters were pretty relatable, but the author still made you question how much and who you could trust. I had some different thoughts of who did it as the story was building up to its climax. I did feel like the end resolved very quickly to put all the pieces together. Even with there being a resolution at the end, I still had a few questions that I’m wondering about now.

Something I enjoyed was being able to clearly picture events and characters in my mind. I would’ve loved to have heard even more details about the costumes and fabrics than were given, but that may be a personal preference/interest.

It did bring up current affairs with what has gone on for a long period of time, but is more so being brought into the light now; so let this be a trigger warning that there is some harassment and predatory behavior portrayed.

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

I liked going behind-the-scenes with this mystery taking place on a Hollywood set for a blockbuster superhero movie. Joey, the main character, is the key costumer on set and we spend a lot of time learning about her position, which I found really interesting. The mystery itself was engaging but pretty predictable. I was more interested in the somewhat secondary storyline of the director's predatory behavior and the consequences of it. Also this book name-drops a lot. The first couple were fun, but I started getting annoyed the more it happened. I should've kept count but does it even matter when it passes 5? Anyway, I thought this story was good but it didn't blow my mind like I want a good mystery to.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

A fabulous insight into the REAL behind the scenes of film from an author who worked designing costumes for theatre, opera, and film for decades. If you're my theatre and film folks, you'll love this one because it's our world, but if you are only interested in the glamorous side of film, it's probably not your cup of tea. Amidst the life of costuming for a big film is the usual mess of relationships that follows acting and...murder.... Joey is fighting against the clock to keep the costumes coming and find the murderer before the murderer ruins her reputation or worse.

When Hollywood costumer Joey stumbles across a dead body near the set of a big-budget movie, she must find ways to protect her career—and herself—before it's too late.

This is billed as a mystery/thriller, but it reads like a non-fiction tome on how movies are made. Unfortunately this isn't what I am looking for in a novel.

Joey is working on the set of a highly anticipated superhero movie in the costume department. Her ex, Eli is the Assistant Director on set and his new girlfriend, Courtney is the second assistant director. Joey has no problem with that, but things turn bad when Joey finds Courtney's body and everyone becomes a suspect. The Director, Marcus pray, is a prick and only wants to sleep with young girls. Will they be able to finish out the movie or will this scare get in the way.

This was a good story that kept me intrigued. Numerous suspects and Joey tried her best to find out what really happened to Courtney. I did not like all of the sexual harassment by the director, but sadly, I am sure that happens in Hollywood. Joey took interest in a young kid and help get him a full time job on set which I really liked. There was great narration as well.