while the blurb did give a little peak into the book, little did I know what I was getting into ! Lisa, Samantha and Quincy have one thing in common- they are all survivors of a mass massacre. They are called the final girls. Quite naturally, if one is subjected to such horrendous torture, they can never be normal. But Quincy seems to have adopted a normal lifestyle. With a baking business, a beautiful home and a supportive boyfriend- everything seems perfect. Coop is her support system- the same cop who found her on the fateful day that changed her life... When everything seems to be going as normally as it could, Lisa commits suicide and Samantha turns up at Quincy's door.
With this blurb in my head I began this thriller , and was I floored ?
The book is dark, and painted with bold colours standing out on the dark canvas. The characters have an air of mystery about them. They are messed up in their own ways and the book takes the reader to a point when you don't know whom to trust anymore.
The line between sanity and dangerous insanity is a fine one and all the characters seem to hover around it. The book progressed in ways that I did not anticipate it to, and it was quite impressive!
The climax sure was a high point, and the end was so unexpected that I just needed to take a few moments to just comprehend where the book has finally got me to!! Overall, a dark read that has a potential to mess with your head !

This one definitely got off to a sluggish start. By the time I was 50 pages in, I realised that not a lot had happened. The reader is given some background info on the Final Girls, and how one is classified as a Final Girl, but the story hadn't yet kicked off. And then I got 100 pages in, and I found myself reading just one more page before turning out my bedside light. And then I got 150 pages in and I was totally unwilling to put the book down! By then, I was totally and utterly gripped.

Quincy is getting on with her life after surviving a mad killer. She's put the past behind her, she has a successful baking blog and she has a wonderful boyfriend. Life is on track, and although she is unable to forget the past and the events that took place at Pine Cottage, she has moved on. And then Sam arrives on the scene. Suddenly, the past has come back to haunt her. For the reader, this is a good thing as Sam's arrival speeds things up a lot. It's from this moment on that the story picks up pace, and the book becomes rather difficult to put down.

Looking back, I'm actually rather glad that the beginning was slow. And I can see the necessity for the slow start. It was important to show the reader who Quincy is, who her friends are and the type of people they all are, what their characters are like. It leads to a greater shock factor later on in the story.

I must also mention that this author has a real talent. I thought that her writing style was fantastic. It was solid, quality writing that I loved. I toyed with whether to award 5 stars to this book because I thought it was a great thriller, but at the end of the day, 4 stars just feels more right. I loved this one Bookworms, and I highly recommend it. If, like me, you find the beginning slow, push on. It's worth it!

My Rating: * * * *

Publication Date: August 2017 (South Africa)

Genre: Thriller

Format: Trade Paperback

Source: Review copy received from the publisher. Many thanks to author, Riley Sager and Penguin Random House SA for my copy. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

I'm not a great fan of this genre and the experiences of Quincy, Lisa and Sam failed to make me change my mind.
I can however imagine a Halloween night movie being a huge success as there are enough twists to keep an audience of horror happy.

Final Girls

Oh my goodness, what a book!!!!!

Ten years ago Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with her five friends...but only Quincy came back alive.

Lisa lost nine sorority sisters in a college massacre and Sam went up against the Sack Man and lived. These three survivors have been dubbed The Final Girls, despite having never met.

We are taken on one heck of a roller coaster ride with this book. It's a fast paced thriller with so many twists and turns you'll be left dizzy.

I absolutely loved this book and predict big things for The Final Girls in 2017! 5*

I was so excited for this book as soon as I heard about it. I'm a big fan of 90's slasher movies, and seeing a book that revolved around the final girl trope? Definitely on my insta-read list. Unfortunately, the book was kind of a let down. It wasn't bad, I did like it, it just didn't hook me the way I expected it to.

The main problem was that the story progressed at a snails pace. It was pretty boring for large portions of the book. I went into it thinking it was going to be this gripping, thriller read but most of the story was pretty much just the main character in her apartment barely interacting with anyone or doing anything besides baking.

The story didn't start to pick up and deliver the kind of story the summary implied until maybe 80% into the book...and that bit was exciting, it was fun to read, but it was also quite predictable. I'm fine with predictability in this sort of book, but because I'd guessed all of the twists long before they were revealed it meant that the reveal didn't really make up for the story being bored through the first 3/4's of the book.

The characters were interesting, but also really annoying. There wasn't really any of the main cast that I particularly liked or any relationship (friendship or otherwise) that I felt invested in (except for one that I can't mention because of spoilers).

This review is way more negative than my overall opinion of the book, because in the end it definitely wasn't a bad book. Even the bits that bored me weren't bad, it just wasn't what I was expecting...it felt more character driven than plot driven, and I was reading for the plot. That's why the book gets only a 3 star rating from me but it's definitely worth checking out, especially if character driven stories are more your thing.

I'd definitely be up for reading more books by Riley Sager, I'd just go into them with different expectations than I did with this one.

This is one of my favourite adult crime books that I've read for a long time. I was slow to get into this book, but in the second half the action really ramped up! The characters and their back stories were very intriguing and I had no idea at all how the events were going to be resolved.

The structure was also great, because the flashbacks to Quincy's experience as a 'final girl' added another layer to the mystery.

I really enjoyed this book and I'll definitely look out for more by Riley Sager in future.

I must confess my expectations were pretty high going into Final Girls. I felt like the premise was amazing - the concept of the "final girls" is something I am dying to read in detail. The way that this author explored it was different to how I'd expect, different to how horror films portray these women (thankfully).

I found the first third of this book so sloooow though. It picked up shortly after and then I was disappointed again with the ending. I was almost disappointed that this author had chosen this premise - I want the book I imagined from the blurb so hard. I was just disappointed by this rendition of it.

Would recommend had me gripped me from the beginning to the end

What first caught my attention about the book was it being compared to Gone Girl and Stephen King endorsing it as a great thriller- how could I resist? The blurb sounded extremely promising and I was all set for a nail-bitingly suspenseful story. Did the book deliver what it promised to? We'll see about that.

While my expectations for Final Girls was undoubtedly very high, due to what I'd like to term as the Gone Girl Effect, I did have my reservations. And I'm glad for that because while the plot did offer numerous twists and surprises, I did have a few problems with it. Maybe not problems, per se, but things could certainly have been even better.

The overall plot was thrilling and well-paced and had me hooked- I'd say there was never a point where I felt bored or listless. The surprises kept coming and I appreciate the way they were dealt with. I loved that we had alternating chapters between the present and what happened at Pine Cottage in the past, and Quincy being an unreliable narrator just added to the thrill of it all.

I don't really have much to say about the writing except that it sufficed- I wasn't particularly bowled over by it because it somehow just missed the kind of edge I would have liked in a psychological thriller. Thanks to the plot twists that kept coming, I was still thoroughly engaged and the alternating chapters between the past and the present definitely worked in favor of the book too!

The characters are definitely the best (and my most favorite) aspect of Final Girls too, and for pretty much the same reasons as Vera- they were all so complex and layered, and you think you have it all figured when it comes to them and BAM! they do something to surprise you.

Quincy was, as mentioned, an unreliable narrator here and we never know whether to completely buy what she offers us. There times when you know just what to expect of the characters and they deliver, and then there are times when they'd do something completely out of character and you're left questioning whether you ever even them to begin with.

The dynamics between Quincy and Samantha were very well done, and the same could be said of Quincy and Coop, and Quincy and Jeff as well. With regards to the characters there's little to complain of and I'm very happy with how they all turned out to be.

I'm not necessarily unhappy with how things stood for them towards the end, but I do feel what happened at the very end (hahaha, I'm being very cryptic, am I not?) was a little bit over the top. I also feel the things that lead up to the ending, i.e. what happened at Pine Cottage, could have been done better. That said, the author did do the story justice, and the ending was, if not perfect, quite very satisfactory.

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with Final Girls despite the few shortcomings which could be pinned down to mostly the Gone Girl Effect like I said before- that is truly a book tough to live up to in my honest opinion, and I'd always have my reservations about books that are touted to be along the lines of that.

I'd dock down a star for the tiny problems we discussed above, however, yes, this one did work well as a psychological thriller, thanks to the superb plot and well-layered, complex characters, and I'd definitely recommend it to you if you feel like picking up a thrilling, suspenseful page-turner. On a final note, I kept thinking that I'd love to see this one adapted as a movie and I hope that happens very soon! This would be just splendid on screen!

Whilst I didn't see the twist ending coming, it also didn't leave me speechless.
The book was steady paced, and kept me gripped throughout - it took me 2 weeks due to lack of reading time, not lack of wanting to read it!
The story keeps you guessing as to who is hiding what and I did like Quincy, especially her last couple of pages.
Would love to see what Riley does next.

If you’re a horror movie fan, then you’re already familiar with the concept of the “final girl.” Like Laurie Strode in Halloween and Sidney Prescott in Scream, the final girl is the sole survivor of a massacre that sees all her friends –and possibly her love interest- meet a gruesome end. She’s a slasher-flick survivor: the only person to face the killer and live to tell the tale. Unfortunately for final girls, lightening often strikes twice, and when that killer resurfaces (often rising from the presumed-dead) to kill again, nobody is safe. Just ask Nancy Thompson. Oh wait, you can’t. Freddy Krueger killed her in Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. RIP Nancy. You fought Freddy Krueger and won. Until you didn’t.

Quincy Carpenter is a final girl. But you’d never know it to look at her. Ten years on from the cabin-in-the-woods bloodbath that saw a bunch of her college friends die at the hands of a knife-wielding maniac, Quincy has moved on with her life. The owner of a popular baking blog, Quincy lives comfortably on the Upper West Side with her lawyer boyfriend. How does Quincy carry on as normal after everything that’s happened? Well, there’s Xanax. There’s also the fact that Quincy doesn’t actually remember anything about the worst night of her life. She remembers hanging out with her friends at the cabin, sure. She remembers the aftermath too, when she ran through the woods to safety. But everything that happened in between? Quincy’s got nothing.

Though she doesn’t remember what happened on that night of horror in the woods, Quincy at least knows that the maniac who killed all of her friends, is dead. She saw him die with her very own eyes. But when another final girl, Lisa Milner, dies of an apparent suicide, Quincy is spooked. Is there a “final girls” killer on the loose? Fellow final girl, Samantha Boyd, is convinced something is amiss. After all, Lisa did everything in her power to survive the sorority bloodbath that gave her “final girl” status. So why take her own life? It just doesn’t make sense. There’s a reason for that, of course. It’s sequel time! And this one’s been ten years in the making.

One of the most buzzed about thrillers of 2017, with fans that include none other than Stephen King, Final Girls is a real edge-of-your-seat stuff, a true page-turner that’ll keep you reading late into the night, even though your home alone and almost too scared to read on. Or maybe that’s just me. Final Girls is also a whole lot of fun; a whole lot of very sick and twisted fun. If you love a good slasher-flick, then you’ll love this. It kept me guessing all the way through too. I suspected everyone. Everyone. I only figured out what was actually going on right before the final reveal. OK, maybe a couple of chapters before the reveal. I’m pretty disappointed with myself on that score. I mean, I grew up on horror movies. I really should know better.

One thing I loved about Final Girls is that we get to take a step right back in time to Quincy’s night from hell ten years previously. The night she became a “final girl”. Yeah, we get to see it all. And let me tell you it’s hard to forget. So why doesn’t Quincy remember anything about that night? And what does it mean for her survival now that the past she tried to forget has come back to haunt her? Will this final girl live to see another day? Or does her time end now?



In short: Final Girls is a whole lot of sick and twisted page-turning fun. Read it if you love a good horror flick. On that note, though I haven’t heard of any movie deal, I would love to see this one on the big screen!

Sadly I DNF'd this book. For some reason I found it very slow and hard to get into and I didn't connect with any of the characters. I found Quinn to be very annoying and I couldn't ignore it. Through looking up other people's reviews of this book it seems it's either a hit or a miss for everyone and unfortunately it's a miss for me this time.
If you are into unreliable narrators and an almost rollarcoaster plot, I would recommend this to you.

I enjoyed this book almost in spite of myself. Having read a lot of psychological thrillers, I am very rarely surprised by the big reveal, they are usually pretty obvious. But I have to admit to being surprised by this one, in hindsight I can't really believe i didn't see it coming. For this reason alone I give the book 3*
There is a slow build up to this novel, which I like and enough twists to make you suspect almost every character and this is what kept me reading.
However, the characters are a series of cliches with no real depth and I have to question whether the author, a man, likes women as they all portrayed as bitches and whores. Maybe this isn't intentional but it's how it comes across.
So, an ok read but not one I'll remember - like most books in this genre.
My thanks to netgalley for this copy.

I'm sorry I am behind with this review. Now that I read it the video review will be published on 06.08.2017 on both the blog and booktube.

Quincy Carpenter is a Final Girl, the sole survivor of a massacre that killed her five friends. It’s ten years since that horrific night in the woods and Quincy seems to be getting on just fine. She has a successful baking blog, her own apartment, and a lawyer boyfriend. She also has the unwavering support of Coop, the police officer who found her that night.

She is one of only three Final Girls. Lisa and Sam both found themselves the only survivor of horrific massacres years before. Lisa, Sam and Quincy are collectively known as the Final Girls, a term coined by the media.

So when Lisa is found dead, wrists slit in her bathtub and Sam turns up unannounced on Quincy’s doorstep, it becomes apparent that despite having no real memory of that night ten years ago, Quincy isn’t quite as ok as she thought.

Upon reading the synopsis of this book I knew it was one I had to read. Told from Quincy’s perspective, it’s hard to put this book down. Yes, there was the occasional lull in the story but if anything that just served to build the tension more. This, coupled with interspersed chapters from ten years ago, as well as the sudden shift in Quincy’s world following Lisa’s death make this the thrilling read it is. Quincy’s attempts at normal life, baking for her blog and working from home, are a stark contrast to what happens when Lisa dies and Sam appears in Quincy’s life.

This is a well written, gripping thriller that is sure to keep you reading and speculating until the last chapter.

Quincy runs screaming and covered in blood from a dark forest. When she sees light, she feels that her ordeal is over because she has run towards headlights bringing safety. Safety - and a policeman who was at the right place at the right time. His name was Coop and he becomes a friend who helps her through the trauma. Quincy developed dissociative amnesia or more commonly known as repressed memory syndrome because what she witnessed was too traumatic having lost all her friends. Only she survived.

Quincy would become what the media called Final Girls. But Quincy does not want to be aligned with a group of other girls who are the only survivors of the similar brutal slaying of people. Quincy manages to get her life in order again after the trauma and chooses to keep the loss of memory intact because it helps her to cope. She gets married to Jeff and only turns to her saviour and friend Coop when she needs to talk about her experience, still holding onto her loss of memory.

Coop tells her that another survivor of a brutal slaying has died. Her name was Lisa Miller and Quincy refused to become acquainted with Lisa even though she had reached out to Quincy. The death of Lisa Miller initiated a media frenzy that Quincy avoided. Then, another person appeared, who claimed she was also a final girl, a survivor of another brutal attack on a group of friends. She befriends Quincy against Quincy’s will but Quincy allows it to happen with very interesting consequences. This is what creates the characters and the plot.

Can Quincy accept being a final girl and a survivor? Does she regain her memory? Let the book take you to these answers. It is worth the read.

BonnieK

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

This book had so many twists and turns and red herrings thrown in I think I became suspicious of everyone in the book. It is a well written tense thriller all the way through but it fell short at the reveal and that left me feeling a little flat, so 4 stars instead of 5. I still highly recommend it and expect it to be a talked about book.

A timely reminder to choose your friends carefully.
Quincy is a Final Girl- a media construct to describe the sole survivor of a massacre. How does it affect you? Everyone is desperate to know and your life is not your own. She seems okay, but we quickly pick up holes in her armour.
It's difficult to tell you about this without inadvertently dropping crucial details. What I will say is that you might spot the actual twist, but the way in which it's presented more than delivers.

This is a brilliant book - I read a couple of books a week and it has been a while since I literally couldnt put one down.... this was definitely one of those for me!

We are all familiar with the slasher movies when lots of people die but there is one survivor - this book looks at what happens to the survivor in the future... what happens to the last girl left or the 'Final Girl' as the press have dubbed them.

Quincy Carpenter is doing a good job of convincing herself and those around her that she is over the tragedy which claimed 5 of her friends and has moved on with her life.

However when Lisa, the original final girl, dies and another final girl, Sam, turns up on her doorstep asking to stay, Quincys well constructed life slowly comes apart as she is forced to face what happened to her in the past.

There are som great twists and turns to this story but no spoilers here.... just make sure you grab this book and read it now!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I’d like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book through NetGalley.

Well, this book was supposed to be an ARC, but my terrible 2017 reading slump had other plans, so now it is released.

Quincy is a dynamic, strong, female character that suffers from PTSD, as it is expected, after what happened to her at Pine Cottage, where all of her friends were murdered, while she survived. This survival is what gives her the title Final Girl by the Press, who is constantly harassing her into giving interviews about the massacre. She is trying to copy with her PTSD by taking Zanax and by baking. Her life is about to change once again, when Lisa (another fellow Final Girl) is found dead and Sam (Final Girl) shows up at her door unannounced. Her relationship with her fiance (Jeff) is about to change, so is she while discovering that she doesn't know herself and what she is capable of. Sam can definitely take credit for shaking Quincy's world with her twisted schemes. However, she is also the one that helps her recover from the events in Pine Cottage.

The story starts abruptly, but it starts unfolding at a steady pace and more and more information about Quincys' story is being revealed. Also, the narrative is from the one side the main plot and from the other side are the events of Pine Cottage. The plot is well organized with twists and turns in almost every chapter. While the 2/3 of the book moves kinda slow and does not reveal much about Quincy's lack of memory of the massacre, the 1/3 is fast paced and has you turning one page after the other!

I have to say the ending was not at all what I expected. I had made some predictions and I totally did not see that coming! I am a little dissapointed, cause it didn't made sense, but 8/10 for that plot twist! I have to admit the last 12 words that Quincy utters gave me the CHILLS! And if I was not rooting at her in the beginning, I am now!

All in all, it has all the elements of a good mystery/thriller! Good writing, well developed plot, strong character, lots of plot twists. I definitely recommend it, even to non-fans of mysteries/thrillers!