My favorite thing about this book was all the little nods to Louisiana! As a Louisiana native, it was so fun to read a book set in a place similar to where I grew up.

I’ll eat up any book that feels like watching a slasher film, and this one was perfect. It felt like an ode to all of my favorite movies and the twist at the end got me! While I really liked this book, some parts felt a bit choppy, but it was a really enjoyable read.

In Final Cut, Olivia Worley slices deep into slasher tropes and serves up a clever, thriller packed with secrets, screams, and small-town skeletons.

Hazel Lejeune swore she’d never go back to Pine Springs. But now, freshly graduated and desperate for a break, she’s returned as a cast member on an indie horror film based on her hometown’s most gruesome legend: the Pine Springs Slasher. The twist? That “legend” is real, it is Hazel’s father who is serving life behind bars.

But no one on set knows her connection to the case, and Hazel is determined to keep it that way. She just needs to blend in, hit her marks, and get out. Easier said than done when her co-star might be too charming to trust and when people on set start dying for real.

Fast-paced, razor-sharp, and soaked in old-school horror vibes, Final Cut is a bloody delight for fans of slashers, scream queens, and thrillers that bump in the night.
#FinalCut #StMartinsPress #OliviaWorley #SlasherSeason #ReadInTheDark #HorrorMetaThriller

4.5⭐

What a twist!!! It's the first time since agggtm that I don't guess who the killer is!! The👏🏻 thriller 👏🏻 is👏🏻 thrilling. The pace is just right, not too fast, not too slow. The plot is really unpredictable. I suspected everyone except the actual killer 😅

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Thanks to the author and publisher for reaching out to me and sending an early copy via Netgalley 💕💕

Well f-ing crafted. There were glimmers of going off the rails, but the story was taught and fraught and a high-speed slasher from the beginning to the end. I can very much see Hazel returning ala Sidney Prescott. Well done, Ms. Worley, well done.

Thank you so much for letting me read this book!! I read it in one go, without stopping... I had so many questions and the twists and turns were excellent. The story is well constructed! A must read!

I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for allowing me the privilege of being able to read this book.

For the first time in a long time, I have no issues with anything, not even minor things, except for the YA rating. This can totally be YA, however it needs to be on thriller shelves as well! This is the second book I've read in the past couple of months that are thrillers under YA labels, that have blown away the "adult" thriller novels I've been reading lately. This book sucked me in and it gave me everything!!! Yes I did totally figure it out but that was through zero fault of the author or the book. Just like this book says, finding out who's done it is what a big thrill of slashers is, the same goes for thrillers and mysteries for me. There are no plot holes, no impossibilities, no annoyances, just straight and true thriller. One that had me devouring it and constantly questioning my thinking and second guessing myself like a detective would I loved it!

That ending though! I loved it, I don't know if it was but I'm really hoping it was done on purpose. Everything in the description of this story is exactly what this is, and I hope fingers crossed hope that it might keep mimicking the way the Scream series has gone because I could totally see how that would set it up! I need this as a movie too. Like all the other movies it mentions, it could be a completely new series all its own for the big screen. One that would get a cult following like every other one mentioned! This was perfect! I can't wait to read more by this author and see all that she can do!

Thank you very much again from the bottom of my heart for allowing me the privilege of being able to read this book! It has taken the absolute top spot for thrillers I've read this year, and in my entire time of reading! I will not be able to forget this book!

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Final Cut by Olivia Worley
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: YA Horror/Thriller
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: October 28, 2025

📍 Pine Springs, LA
🔪 Indie Slasher Film
🍃 Atmospheric Thriller

While the pacing was a little uneven at the beginning, Final Cut has the overall vibe of a twisty, fast-paced 90s horror film! I loved the backstory, the swampy Louisiana setting, and the twists that just kept coming! I never could've called the climax!

I absolutely recommend Final Cut for all lovers of twisty thrillers and classic slasher films!

Thank you so much @olivia.worley, @wednesdaybooks and NetGalley for the digital review copy!

⚠️ minor horror/gore elements

#FinalCutNovel, #WednesdayBooks, #OliviaWorley.

I really enjoyed this. The main character, Haze, is excellent. A slasher on the set of a movie? SIGN ME UP. The story also has script writing throughout which I think was a fantastic addition. The story was so hard to put down, and yeah, I didn’t guess the killer at all. The surprise twist was magnificent. All in all, excellent addition to the world of YA horror. Don’t miss it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of this ARC! This will be out in October of 2025!

I'm still breathless as I finish this amazing book! Protagonist Haze is one of several people cast in the movie Swamp Creatures which is based on the killing spree of Cal Dupree, now in prison for killing the teens In Pine Springs, Louisiana. But Cal is Haze's father so she is worried about how things will play out as he continues to profess his innocence, but even she isn't sure as there was enough evidence to send him to jail. As readers, we go on location with them and shudder as there are "accidents" on set and no one knows who to trust! It's a nightmare that's delicious in its devious plotting!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Hazel "Haze" Lejune is currently taking a gap year before college and making a go of acting while she can. She's not just another young ingenue though, no she is starring in a movie that is shooting on location in the very same town where her father was convicted of murdering multiple teens. When bodies start to fall, it soon becomes apparent that the script is a reflection of the infamous murders and Haze is determined to unmask the killer. The hard part is staying alive until the final credits role.

I have loved all of the books I've read by Olivia Worley and Final Cut is no different. While readers are probably familiar with horror movie tropes (and this is a movie within the book which is a lot of fun) Worley deftly creates a fun, engaging YA story that will keep you guessing 'whodunnit' until the very end. 4.25 stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This was such a fun read and will be perfect for October! If you are a fan of classic slasher films, you'll enjoy this!

This was a super-fun and fast read! Even at over 300 pages, I flew through it. I’m a huge horror movie fan, especially the 80s slasher movies, so this book was perfect for me. Any horror movie fan will love this. Ir was suspenseful with a good mystery behind it. It’s going to be a perfect October/Halloween release.

Thanks so much for letting me read in advance!

I’m not usually a big YA or slasher fan, but the premise of Final Cut intrigued me—an aspiring actress lands a role in a horror film, only to find herself in the middle of a real-life murder mystery tied to her own past. It sounded like a solid setup for suspense, and to be fair, Olivia Worley delivers on a lot of that promise.

The story follows Hazel Lejeune (or “Haze”), who’s hoping to use a low-budget slasher film to launch her acting career and prove to her mother that taking a gap year wasn’t a mistake. The catch? The film is being shot in the same small town where Hazel’s father was convicted of a series of grisly murders years ago. Once production starts, strange accidents begin piling up, and before long, someone on set turns up dead—for real. From there, it becomes a race to figure out who’s behind the new killings and whether the wrong “Slasher” is sitting in prison.

There’s a lot to like here. The pace is quick, the setup is clever, and the book leans into its genre influences without feeling completely derivative. The meta angle—fiction bleeding into reality—is handled pretty well, and there are a few genuinely creepy moments. Hazel is a solid lead, and her emotional baggage adds some depth to the typical final girl formula.

But for me, as someone who doesn’t usually read YA or slashers, the story didn’t fully land. The characters beyond Hazel felt flat—mostly stock types you’d expect on a horror set (the diva, the director, the love interest, the suspicious local). The dialogue sometimes felt forced or too on-the-nose, and I found it hard to connect with the stakes when the supporting cast didn’t feel fully developed. There are a lot of red herrings, which keep things moving, but by the third twist, it started to feel a little formulaic.

Also, while the mystery has some strong moments, the final reveal wasn’t all that surprising. It wrapped up in a way that made sense, but didn’t quite pack the punch I hoped for.

That said, I think readers who are fans of YA thrillers or horror will get more out of this than I did. There’s clear love for the genre here, and Worley keeps things engaging enough to finish. It’s fun, creepy in parts, and moves fast—just not especially memorable for me.

Final verdict: If you’re a fan of Scream-style stories or YA murder mysteries, Final Cut is worth checking out. If you’re not already into that world, this probably won’t change your mind.