So much slasher and so much suspense! This was fantastic. My favorite genre (YA mystery/thriller), and it definitely lived up to the hype.

Final cut is a book about how a low budget slasher film turned into an actual horrifying experience. This gave me Scream vibes. I have really been loving the YA thrillers lately and this one didn't disappoint. Full of great character development and enough suspense to keep you entertained from start to finish. I absolutely guessed the killer wrong at least 2 times throughout this book. The plot twist is the exact reason why I'll never say no to a thriller book. White knuckling is a must when reading books like this and that definitely happened. Loved this one!

If you're an old school slasher horror fan, which I am, you will love this book! The author gives homages to such movies as Scream, Friday the 13th, Halloween and Texas Chainsww Massacre, to name a few. Those little Easter eggs really made the book enjoyable as a horror fan. Reading the book felt like I was behind the scenes of one of those movies, except the story was based more on real life than the cast and crew expected. You'll be guessing who was really behind the mask until the end but in the meantime, you're following the Final Girl and her castmates, as they try to guess whodunnit! I'm still on a high after reading it!

Special thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I was in high school when the original Scream movies were released and because of them I went down a deep dark hole of slasher films. This book gave me those same vibes. Hazel, the final girl, is not only trying to stay alive but also trying to figure out if her dad actually committed the murders he is in jail for. I liked how it respected the horror genre while also being very tongue in cheek with it. The twists throughout the story were thrilling and engaging and I had no idea who the killer was at the end. It had a satisfying ending, even though I was hoping for the last second scare that slasher films of the 90's were known for. All in all a fun read that will be great for it's October release.

This is my favorite Olivia Worley book I’ve read! I really thought I knew what the twist was going to be, but nope… it was executed well and I felt like there weren’t any loose ends left.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an early copy!

I LOVED this arc. this is peak summer slasher! its twisty, fast paced 90s/80s horror film vibes!
i especially like how its set in Louisiana, which makes the atmosphere a little extra spooky!

A horror novel set on a horror film. A group of teens come together to make a movie and people start dying. It’s up to the final girl to solve the murders. I didn’t really get into this, but thought the premise was good

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the 48-hour free eARC read! I am a sucker for anything marketed as "Scream meets ___" so I was dying to get my hands on this one!! YA slashers are hit-or-miss for me but I trust Miss Worley with my life. Had me biting my nails to pieces until that final reveal. Really excited to read through her backlog and see if any of her other books are as much my style :)

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Final Cut by Olivia Worley. This YA horror reads like a slasher film, which is what a lot of my teens are looking for currently. Ultimately, I think I'll have plenty of readers to make this title worth purchasing on my limited budget; however, I don't think this is particularly groundbreaking or long-lasting story.

Did I like the characters? Yes.
Did I think a few things were too coincidental? Yes, but that's probably my grown-up perspective seeping through.
Will I recommend this one to my students? The older ones; it skews a little more gory than some of my middle schoolers like.
Will this story stick with me? Probably not. It'll blend into other horror stories on the market, but that's okay!

3.5 overall.

I was able to read an early copy on Netgalley. Phenomenal slasher novel. It was a bit slow in the beginning but holy hell did it pick up. As someone who usually talks through horror movies and guesses what’s going to happen, this had me stumped on who our killer was! Our author may be the queen of ‘never let them know your next move’. Nothing but love for this book, it’s going to make a killing when it releases❤️

Hazel Lejeune is a recent high school graduate who is very into slasher films. She also happens to be a real- life murderers kid, which sometimes muddies the waters of her social life and ensures she feels like a pariah in her friend groups etc. Currently living in Texas, because Pine Springs holds the gruesome memories of her father's transgressions, she agrees to come back to the scene of the crimes to participate in a film surrounding the true crime aspect of her father's case. Almost immediately, our FMC is met with taunting incidents and a movie set that very quickly spirals out of control. I really loved the dynamic of the characters and the fun mystery of the set paired with the character driven plot. Some moments were fantastical, but it was still truly all in pretty good fun. I am a devoted lover of a slasher film or book- I will always absolutely jump at the chance to revel in this formulaic, yet comforting, genre. Summer slashers such as this feel like coming home and to me, Worley nails it. I'll add as a Louisiana native, our girl did the drippy swamp such justice. Thanks so much to the author and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review an eARC! #stmartinspress #oliviaworley #finalcutoliviaworley

4.25! While I thought that a some of it felt very close to Scream, there were some interesting twists that made it stand on its own. There were so many red herrings and I was genuinely shocked in one of the last scenes. If you like slasher movies (especially the classics), you’ll love this! An enjoyable, suspenseful read.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the digital arc!

This was awesome. I don’t usually read this genre, but I thought this was very well done. The plot twists took me completely by surprise. The setting and the characters really brought this story to life, keeping me on the edge of my seat. I only wish that there was an epilogue that took place maybe a year later, so we could see what happened to the characters with their relationships and acting careers. I would most definitely read a sequel or anything by this author based on this book.

3.5 Stars! I enjoyed this book as a first entry into the thriller genre. I am a horror movie fanatic which initially drew me to this book (along with the stunning cover from a graphic designer’s POV). However, I feel like my experience with horror movie tropes made the book feel a little cheesy and predictable in some spots - but I think that was part of the fun of it in some ways! I thoroughly enjoyed the reveal i found it incredibly interesting and unexpected for sure. Do I feel like this book did something outrageously different? No. Did I have a fun time with this short read? YES!

I like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing this as a brief 'free read'.

I love horror films. I love the obscure ones too. I appreciate the genre in whole. So when someone drops Italian horror (Fulci), you know they know what's up.

This book is a mixture of Scream and some 70's / 80's horror with a story that it is impossible to know who is the culprit until the story wants you to at the right parts or right time. I liked that our main lead has some hidden identity and connection to the original killings. I enjoyed our little scooby doo team that comes together to solve it (while making this low budget horror movie). And, our killer is a fucked up guy.

The only bits I'd say I'd mark this down a star is the connection with her father (I get though in the end why the lack of appearance from dad was what it was) and, some more world building (is it a low budget horror film?).

I hope the author writes more horror stories for teens because I trust her. Gimme this gore-bathed, murder mystery with nods to horror films of old and new.

Haze Lejeune has been haunted by her father's past her whole life. Despite being swiftly moved out of her hometown as soon as her father was convicted, and taking her mother's maiden name, she never could quite shake the ghosts of her past. Eager to learn more about her father, Haze, an aspiring actor, jumps at the chance to be cast in a slasher movie set in her hometown. Once she gets to set she realizes the script hits a little closer to home than she expected, and then a series of strange incidents begin to occur. When one of her castmates nearly dies, Haze decides to get to the bottom of who's targeting their production, while digging up the past and shedding new light on her father's crimes. As bodies begin to pile up, so does her lists of suspects, and Haze must figure out who the killer is in order to save her friends, and find herself along the way.

Olivia Worley's 'Final cut,' is a story about finding oneself while overcoming the past, wrapped up as a YA slasher. The main character, Haze, is well fleshed out, and easy to root for. The supporting characters however, are a bit flat, which made it difficult to care about the romantic, and platonic subplots. The overall mystery was intriguing, I thoroughly enjoyed the slasher elements, and it's a solid YA horror novel.

I'd recommend this book for anyone looking for a fun summer slasher.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

I loved this. It's a fast read that I didn't want to put down. There were twists, there were turns. It's a perfect summer slasher read! It gives me the same vibes as all of our 90s slasher movies, like I Know What You Did Last Summer or Scream.

I literally live for slashers and I get especially excited when I find them in book format. I definitely called the killer from a mile away but I still enjoyed understanding how they got there. With such a large cast of characters, I was expecting that I would be confused and not have enough information to feel really attached to these characters but I was wrong! A fun, thrilling read that I would certainly recommend! 4 stars.

3.5. FINAL CUT hits all the slasher hallmarks and has appropriate and enjoyable nods to the genre as a whole (characters named Carpenter and Skeet is a nice touch), but I found a lot of the story to be underwhelming, and that's mostly due to the fact that the main character doesn't have much of a defining personality, and the dynamics really don't get the proper buildup/aren't strong enough to make certain key plot moments have the necessary weight. I think the twists and reveals are very interesting, though the ending does drag a little, but for the most part this was a fun enough read. Has the same meta vibe as SCREAM 5; I just wish the cast was as likeable.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was absolutely PHENOMENAL. As a huge Slasher/horror movie lover myself, this was such a fun, wild ride. My favorite movie series is Scream, and this had MAJOR Scream vibes. It was so cinematic and adrenaline-fueled. I need this author to write more horror books! This is as one of my favorites of the year so far!