Final Girls

Brilliant book i couldn't put this book down, i was hooked from the start, the story intertwinning was such a good twist.

Final Girls is a cracking psychological thriller which will be huge in 2017 when it's published in July. The story centres around Quincy Carpenter who is the sole survivor of a massacre in a wood cabin 10 years ago when her friends get murdered. Along with Lisa and Samantha, both sole survivors of horrendous massacres the 3 girls have been dubbed The Final Girls by the press. This story is a real page turner which kept me reading long after Iights out! Gripping and tense and highly recommended.

What I thought:

Bloody hell, this book was addictive! A veritable feast of twists, turns and bombshells, not to mention an incredibly unreliable narrator who keeps us firmly on our toes.

The ones who got away in separate massacres (think Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween), Lisa, Samantha and Quincy may have survived something truly horrific but at what cost? Having made it out alive from their own private hells they are bunched together by the press as The Final Girls. Although they have never met they have communicated a couple of times over the years but just as Quincy is getting her life together she is given the shock news that Lisa is dead. And then Sam turns up on her doorstep...

Ten years ago Quincy went on holiday with 5 friends to Pine Cottage, a cabin in the woods, and came back alone. She has lost a huge chunk of her memory about that night and only remembers running out of the woods screaming and covered in blood. Now living in an apartment in New York with her boyfriend and having created a successful baking blog, the news about Lisa rocks her world, but that's only the beginning. Sam's arrival, a hurricane ripping through her neatly composed life, sets off a chain of events that sucks Quincy in like a vortex and spits her out the other side. As Quincy and Sam's ensuing game of cat and mouse increases in speed and ferocity, you're never really sure who to trust.



Verdict:

I absolutely loved this book. Dark secrets, red herrings, blind alleys - the perfect ingredients for a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It felt original and authentic and was astonishingly assured for a debut novel. I very much look forward to reading what the author comes up with next.

Fantastic book!

To be truthful, thrillers and suspense books have never been my favourite - I usually tilt towards sci-fi instead. But Final Girls is worth the exception. I picked it because its description picqued my interest. Lisa, Sam and Quincy are all girls who survived unimaginable torment in the form of brutal massacres, and are thus named 'Final Girls'. We follow the protagonist Quincy, as she receives news that will impact her life, and the lives of the other final girls.

This novel is filled with twists and turns that left me desperate to read on until I reached the end. It was a truly great debut book, and I look forward to reading more from Riley Sager in the future.

Really gripping thriller. Due to my love of slasher movies, the concept of 'the final' girl intrigues me and it is played out really well in this book. There are 3 final girls from different murders which have taken place and when one of them is found dead years later it brings the other 2 closer together. Is someone out to finish them off once and for all?
I didn't guess the outcome of the book at all, a few times as I was reading I smugly thought I had it sussed when in actual fact I couldn't have been further from the truth.
I was kindly granted this book to read after wishing for it on netgalley and I think it will be really big when it is released next year. Maybe we will even see it on the big screen in the future.

All I can say is wow.
I have never read anything by this author before and would not hesitate again. This book is well written with twists in the plot that make you feel you have all the answers but actually don't.
Quincys evolving journey through being a final girl eminates a number of emotions and especially when she meets Sam you wonder what will become of her.
Sams character is so well written that you have a love /hate relationship with her.
I had a lot going on when I read this book so had to keep putting it down and coming back to it but it was like I had never left the story,it pulled you straight back in.
I can't wait to read more by this author. A must read.

I am passionate about thrillers and detective stories. What disappoints readers like me the most - obvious killer. This books gets Oscar for the opposite! Felt like Sherlock up to the final scene.
Many horror stories have a happy ending - one survivor. Sager have put a tag on these survivors - final girls. They made it through the worse. Everyone around them imagine them to be strong as hell but actually they are broken forever by the events that happened to their friends. They have physical and spiritual scars that open up when one of the girls die and other two meet (do they?).
Crippled life is hidden behind baking cupcakes, drinking wine and xanax, living with people who pretend that everything is "O.K.". No it isn't. And is so well isn't that book will take you like tsunami from a cupcake to Hitchcock.
Not recommended reading before bed...

OMG,This book is Absolutely Brilliant,fast paced,packed full of twists and totally and utterly unputdownable

Lisa,Sam and Quincy,three young women who have survived unimaginable horror.Three victims of separate massacres who have been grouped together by the media and been labelled The Final Girls.

When something bad happens to Lisa,Quincy and Sam finally meet.Each has dark secrets and as events from the past reach out their bloodstained fingers into the present each one will never be the same again.

The book is written in the third person and mainly follows Quincy although there are some later chapters that are all about events in Sam's past and the reasons why she has decided to try to get to know Quincy.Interspersed throughout the book are chapters set before and in the weeks after the events that happened at Pine Cottage which is where Quincy`s personal horror occurred ten years before.Quincy and Sam are polar opposites character wise,Quincy does not want to accept that she is a Final Girl,she just wants to be normal and is very happy dedicating her life to her baking and her lawyer boyfriend Jeff.She can't remember what happened that horrible night at Pine Cottage and she just wants things to stay that way.Volatile,impulsive Sam with her wild goth style and don't give a damn attitude cannot understand why Quincy will not accept that they are both Final Girls.As far as Sam is Concerned Quincy needs to face up to the truth and stop living in denial.It's a character driven story and Quincy is a complex,well thought out believable character.I had my doubts as the events from the past unfolded wether Quincy knew more than she would admit.The rest of the cast of this heart pounding twisty thriller are also realistic and believable and all the way through the book I had no idea what really happened on that terrible night ten years ago and why Sam reappeared after years in hiding and turned up on Quincy`s doorstep.

It's a totally gripping,twisty story that hooks the reader in from the thrilling,heart pounding prologue right to the truly shocking and totally unexpected final twist.It's a very well written debut book and I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

Final Girls is going to be THE big hit of 2017! - An absolutely superb debut - in fact I had to double check that it was actually a debut, it was *that* good.

Now a bit of background - I’m usually that annoying person who can see a ‘twist’ coming a mile off. Even when I don’t want to. Especially when I don’t want to. I’ve actually got to the point now where I am so sure there is going to be a twist in a psychological thriller that I’ll often figure it out really early on and it’s pretty much down to the quality of the writing whether or not I invest the time needed to finish the book. However, despite the fact that Final Girls would have had me reading to the end thanks to some excellent character shaping & brilliant writing, it had me absolutely befuddled.

Relying on the character arcs - proving flawed characters can be very engaging, and a bloody good story rather than the recent trend of crowbarring in red herrings to misdirect you (which absolutely infuriates me!), this author draws you in and very quickly you find yourself sinking into the story. There’s no clear way out. For the first time in a while I realised that I wasn’t trying to figure out what was going on or where the twists were, or what they were going to be, I was just enthralled and sucked into the life of Quincy Carpenter and the strange world she found herself in.

Suffice to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I feel quite bereft now I’ve finished it. I look forward to hearing about the enormous success Riley Sager is bound to attract in 2017!

This book completely blew my mind! It’s such an amazing thriller!

I tried so hard to guess the end. And each time I thought I knew it, the book turned in a completely new direction. The book is full of surprising twists and I think I never got so tense reading in my entire life! I had so many guesses and in the end, I just couldn’t get it right.

I loved the plot. It was interesting, clever and just perfect. I couldn’t stop reading it. I had to know what happened next. What was Quinn going to do? How was she going to react?

This book was everything I could think about these past days. And I loved each piece of it, from the characters to the writing, that was extremely captivating and just on point.

I loved how well the characters where planned. They were very interesting. And although the book develops around what happened to Quincy at Pine Cottage, it didn’t cause me pity or sadness, it mainly got me angry. And a lot of the time, angry at the wrong person / action.

I would love to see this book turned into a movie!

This is a gripping and tense book that I highly, HIGHLY recommend for reading in 2017!

Brilliant from start to finish. A fast paced easy to read book that I had to read in one go to find out what happened. Lisa, Qunicy and Samantha are all sole survivors of separate massacres and that is why they are called the final girls. When Lisa is found dead, Quincy starts to try to remember her own story. Quincy has no memory of what happened at pine cottage. The book is written from her perspective. The who plot is brilliantly put together with many twists and turns which make it a memorable book.

Ah man, I feel lucky, privileged, to have the experience of reading yet another great psychological thriller.
What more do you want then 'I feel for her, I believe in her, I can't believe she is capable of that, hmmm am I wrong about her, I despise her, I have hope for her, I never doubted her, come on Quinn, you're a survivor!'

Man, what a journey. I was so completely drawn into the story that i didn't for once foresee the outcome.
Now that's a testament to some great writing!

This is a story about surviving, about striving, about discovering the ugliness of who you are and soaring above it. Oh, and with some great twists to boot.
My favorite quote, just because it was backed by so much emotion and intent, was 'I'm a f*£$%^ Final Girl'

Thanks Netgalley for a wish come true.

Every now and then a book comes along that takes a genre in an unexpected direction! Riley Sager has done that here with Final Girls! You are as a reader both eager to find out the truth and yet you don't want to know more because you find a chill running up your spine! It's one of those books that is compulsive and disturbing-if this book isn't a massive hit, there is no justice!

Stephen King,no less, has tiped 'Final Girls' as a thriller to watch for in 2017 and I would agree . Not only does he have a reputation for picking books I tend to adore but also it is a damn fine book.
The basic premise is this : the lone survivor of horror movie type killings are collectively known as 'Final Girls'.
Whether by accident or design, these girls were left behind by brutal killings that stormed the media and had them spot lit for celebrity whether they liked it or not.
This trope is used to excellent effect here where Quinn, sole survivor of the Pine Cottage killing, about which she remembers nothing, is unwillingly bought face to face with the events that gained her the wealth that allows her to live a life from the other side of a computer screen.
Her 'safe' relationship with a lawyer who is often away and her fan base at arms length on the flipside of her baking blog, she can avoid dealing with any of the issues she is so obviously struggling with.
The suicide of another 'Final Girl', the resurgence of interest in her case and the appearance of another 'Girl' who has literally dropped off the face of the earth all bring reality crashing in on Quinn in this excellent thriller.
I can see this being a huge hit, thanks Netgalleu and publishers for allowing me to read the proof in return for an honest review.

I received this in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. Thank you to the author, Riley Sager, and the publisher, Ebury Press, for this opportunity.

Meet the final girls. The survivors. The ones who lived through a massacre. The ones who survived unthinkable horrors at the hands of a crazed individual. The predator might be different, the prey might be different and the setting might be different; but when an individual goes on a killing spree and there is a sole female survivor they loose their former identity and now become a part of the elite few - the final girls. And these final girls are left to fight off another piranha - the press. And the press are in a feeding frenzy when beloved final girl, Lisa, commits suicide. How did this strong survivor become the cause of her own early demise? This is what fellow final girl Quincy Carpenter must find out.

With a slew of thrillers being chugged out daily, it seems, I find it hard to find a synopsis in this genre that feels unique and immediately captures my attention. This synopsis promised an individual story-line, fast-paced plot and unguessable twists. And lived up to it.

I have little to fault with this. The idea behind this made for truly captivating reading and I had no idea of the directions the narrative would diverge in. The characters were relatable and real. The ending had me slack-jawed with shock as I had absolutely no idea of what the outcome would be.

My only negative is that the central portion of this felt a little too elongated but with the surpises in store in the final portion I can forgive this all its sins.

I can see why horror master, Stephen King, has dubbed this the thriller to read in 2017!

Final Girls by Riley Sager (Random House UK, Ebury Publishing, Ebury Press)

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Drama, Mystery



RATING: 5/5


The Story

Quincy is a baking blogger living a picture-perfect life with her lawyer boyfriend in central New York. At least, that's what an outsider would see. When Quincy was in university herself and her friends were brutally attacked at Pine Cottage, a trauma which Quincy has carried with her, along with a media label she can't escape - she is a 'Final Girl'. This name links her with two other survivors of violent crime, Sam and Lisa.

The famous trio have never met, but that will quickly change with Lisa's apparent suicide and Sam's arrival on Quincy's doorstep.Alongside her Final Girl companions comes the past Quincy wants to forget, and some hard truths which make her question even her most steadfast beliefs.

Final Girls is a compelling mystery thriller with a intricate narrative that keeps the reader hooked until the very last page.

The Review

The first thing I thought when I picked up this book was that it was extremely well written.

This may seem obvious - after all it is a published novel. Sadly, that is becoming less and less indicative of quality literature nowadays. When I started reading Final Girls I could tell within the first few pages that it would be an easy read. Sager's prose has a diversity and fluidity which makes it interesting, engaging and yet not so complicated as you have to work out what she's on about. Even better, it's not so simple that you feel like you're reading a book aimed at tweens.

By no means, however, does an easy-reader mean that we are faced with a simple chick-lit novel for people who aren't interested in a good plot or character development. The story is one of the most compelling I've read in a long time.

Sager has actually managed to write a novel full of twists which I didn't see coming. I don't mean to bang my own drum here, but I find imaginative twists more and more difficult to come by. Perhaps I've read too many books, so I expect the unexpected. Or maybe quality authors who still have the ability to surprise a modern audience are just harder to come by. Whatever the reason, I'm delighted to have come across Sager. She's one of those authors who gives you just enough information to make you think you're clever and that you've worked it out, and then throws not one but ten curve-balls at you.

I will admit, I wasn't always happy about those curve-balls. The ending of the novel is not as satisfying as I'd like it to be, because it results in Quincy losing someone who I thought was a brilliant, admirable character. I felt a little cheated, and I'm not sure that the decision really benefited the novel. That, however, is personal preference.

Final Girls is an intriguing, harrowing, uplifting and occasionally tragic story, which sensitively illustrates the reality for many real victims of violent crime. Sager provides a unique opportunity to delve into the psyche of the 'victim', not with one character but with many, and reveals just what we would expect; no two victims are the same, and they may, in fact, be something entirely unexpected.

In many ways Final Girls is a by-the-numbers mystery novel. As you proceed through the story you discover, alongside the protagonist, the gratifying and horrifying truths of life. What helps it to stand out from the crowd, however, are clearly defined characters with real motivations. They are the backbone of this novel. The reader feels for them, understands them, envies them, hates them, and has to find out how their stories end. The plot is compelling, but without this strong cast of characters I'm doubtful the story would have the same impact.

A review copy of this book was sent to myself via Netgalley – the novel is released to the public on 29th June 2017.

I hope you put it on your reading wishlist, and please let me know what you think!

You can follow Riley Sager on Twitter.

[edit]
I loved the cover and description of the book and was delighted to be given the chance to read this. There is so much buzz for The Final Girls around, including Stephen King who called it "The first great thriller of 2017". The story centres on Quincy Carpenter who is the sole survivor of a massacre 10 years ago during a trip with her friends to Pine Cottage. She along with two other girls Samantha and Lisa, also sole survivors in different horrific circumstances, have been labelled The Final Girls. A Final Girl is the girl often depicted in horror movies who fights back against her attacker to win agains the odds..

Since the attack Quincy has rebuilt her life and is doing well until Samantha shows up on her doorstep. Quincy has buried the memories of what happened due to the trauma she suffered but Samantha arrival forces her to relive the past and the true horror of that night. But what are her motives? When the other final girl, Lisa, dies in an apparent suicide, Quincy has to delve deeper in the mysteries of both her and Sam's past to find out the truth.

This book has such an original concept, I loved how the mysteries within the book unraveled and especially Quincy herself. She is strong but also vulnerable, suffering from guilt at being the only survivor. She is taking medication and is not able to refer to her attacker by name, they're just called 'Him' The character of Sam is very different to Quincy and immediately I was very suspicious of her motives, she soon starts to turn Quincy's life upside down and makes her and us question why she has suddenly appeared in her life. The only part of the book that threw me was why Quincy would allow Sam, essentially a stranger, to stay with her at hers. For someone who survived a massacre and is advised against doing this by people close to her didn't feel right to me. However this didn't stop me enjoying the book by any means and I soon enjoyed how the story went from there. Being narrated by Quincy the story switches between the present and the past as she slowly remembers and the way the events at pine cottage are slowly revealed really ramped up the tension and suspense. Even towards the end of the book when I was feeling like I had guessed the outcome I was shocked the find that I had it completely wrong.

This book will have everyone talking in 2017 and I'm sure that it will be picked up to be made into a movie. If you like original thriller books that will keep you reading well into the night just to find out what happens, this one is for you!

Big Thanks to Ebury Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely thrilling and fast paced. Just when you think you've got it all worked out, you don't.

I absolutely loved this book, by far one of the best books that I've read in ages. Just when you think you know how it's going to turn out there is another twist and mystery continues. Would definitely recommend this book to my friends as an engrossing read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ebury Press and Riley Sager for my copy of this novel.

First of all THIS book – WOW – this is a strong and immersive debut novel. I have been hearing about this book for a while but didn’t pay much attention to it until I came upon it again and started reading the reviews and following the reviews on Goodreads (daily). I decided to check NetGalley for it and to my luck I requested and got approved for this novel. I am so grateful to have gotten a chance to read it now!

This book focuses mainly on Quincy Carpenter who is a ‘Final Girl’ – the sole survivor of a massacre. Ten years have passed since the massacre at Pine Cottage hapened and Quincy has a boyfriend and a baking blog but she still can’t shake the feeling of that horrible night and the cottage in which she lost her friends. There are three ‘Final Girls’ – Lisa Milner, Samantha Boyd and our protagonist Quincy Carpenter. Then something happens to Lisa Milner which causes an unease in Quincy. Quickly after the death of Lisa Milner, the second ‘Final Girl’ Samantha Boyd appears in front of Quincy’s building. This is where the story starts to thicken and all hell breaks loose. Being a ‘Final Girl’ has it’s consequences and the women who experienced that terrible fear and shock possess something that others don’t.

An amazing debut novel from Riley Sager. It is compared to ‘Gone Girl’ which no book can beat but this book has it’s own power which makes it unique and a MUST read. Riley Sager writes really well, she gets under your skin with scary scenes. This novel is full of twists and turns which are cleverly done. I must say that at one point I did predict what was going to happen but the last 100 pages were so fast-paced, gut wrenching and wonderfully done. Also I really loved the references to Old Hollywood movies (Vertigo..) and stars (Grace Kelly, James Stewart..). Riley Sager has become one of my top authors now.

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone – especially lovers of mystery/thriller genre. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed by this book!

Wow! Talk about twists and turns & an ending I did not see coming! What an absolute cracker of a read. I'm still in shock. This is a great read if you love crime, thrillers. I can't really say too much without giving the story away- you must read it yourself.

Final Girls - a very popular slasher movie trope - is given a new meaning in this wicked thriller from an exciting new author... It's dark, fast paced, thrilling and above all, FUN. Definitely a worthwhile read for James Patterson fans.

What a great book! Had me gripped from the first page, I read it in one sitting (off work poorly and this book helped me through it!) ; I never saw the twist coming at the end! Loved every page!

I am a big fan of 90's slasher films like Scream etc, so when I saw this book I had to read it. The 3 girls, now dubbed the Final Girls by the media, all survived massacres reminiscint of teen horror films and now someone is trying to kill them off, one by one.

The narrator is one of the survivors, Quincy. I really liked her character, and it was fascinating reading as she slowly tried to remember what had happened that night after losing her memory of the actual attack.

Although I knew there were big twists coming up, or did not trust certain characters, the ending was a complete surprise to me. It's hard to believe this is a debut novel. I look forward to read more from Riley Sager.

My first novel.of the year finished!

Imagine the burden of being referred to constantly as a final girl. A girl who is the sole survivor of a terrible massacre that has taken place where everyone else died, be it friends, or just other people that were unfortunate enough to be around at the time. 3 girls all dubbed the final girls. Each of them surviving something horrific. Quincy is the 1st girl, a sole survivor who has a blank in her memory as to what happened to her and her friends on that fateful night. Years after the massacre, after all the buzz has died down, she leads a normal life as a baker, with the help of xanax, her husband and the comfort of knowing that the policeman who saved her all those years ago is still around whenever she needs him. A comfort blanket of sorts. Lisa is the 2nd, someone who has embraced the title, written a book about her ordeal and now helps other girls who are in peril. The 3rd and final is Sam. She has disappeared off the grid.

The 3 girls dont have any connection with each other, other than what happened to them, that is until Lisa is found dead in her bathtub and Sam comes knocking on Quincys door

Who is Sam? What does she want? Will Quincy finally remember what happened to her all those years ago?

This is a fresh and confident debut with some of the most believable dialogue i have ever read. The novel has chapters that alternate between Quincys life now and what happened all those years ago. It builds to an incredible climax that i did not see coming even though i thought i had it sussed many times. A scorching read and a great start to 2017.

Thanks to netgalley for the advanced copy.

Three young women who survived unimaginable horror: Lisa, Quincy, and Samantha.
Quincy is the only survivor of a massacre in a wood cabin, 10 years ago, when her friends got murdered. Lisa has lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife.During her shift at the Nightlight Inn, Samantha went up against the Sack Man.
All three girls are named by the press as The Final Girls, even though they don't really know each other very well. They've talked a few times only, but they've never met.

Just when Quincy thinks that her life came back to normal, she is given the horrible news that Lisa is dead. Soon after that, Samantha turned up on her doorstep and turned her life upside down.
I enjoyed reading this book. Is going to be one of the best psychological thrillers of 2017. The characters are unreliable and sympathetic. Quincy and Samantha are two different girls, with so opposite personalities. One is the normal girl who dresses normally, the other one is choosing black clothes and piercings.

Their struggle to survive is magnificent. Quincy doesn't want to remember anything about what happened ten years ago, but Samantha wishes for her to do. I felt that their relationship is like having an angel and a demon telling you what to do but instead you want to do something absolutely different by the two.

The story is so well written that the writer makes you doubt about the each girl's stories.

You thought that you've figured out the plot? Don't be a fool. You didn't.

A well-written book that you must read this year.

Thank you Netgalley for this book that I've got in return for an honest review!

Thank you Riley Sager and Netgalley for a copy in exchange of an honest review.
OMG I have just read one of the best psychological thrillers of 2017 and I cannot believe that it is a debut novel. Absolutely amazing work Riley, just brilliant. I am a reader who easily picks through the clues and red herrings, the one who knows the ending a little before time ....... well not this book, Riley you had me second guessing myself many times with your twists and turns. Many a time I had to put the book down and calm my nerves, picking it up again once my heart starting beating properly. Bravo!
I eagerly await you next novel with baited breath.
I highly recommend this novel, just clear your schedule because you won't be able to put it down until the very end ..... and then you will be a Survivor too.

HELL YEAH!

This is everything you want from a good thriller. This is a book where the plot slowly adds up to a great climax. I did NOT see that coming.

This book is like an awesome rollercoaster ride. When you think you will go left, you go right. And most of this ride is in the dark.

The main character is awesome, you go from loving her, to hating her, to doubting her, to loving her again. The side-characters are great and really add something to the story. The plot is unbelievable good.

One of the best thrillers I've reed in a LONG time!! READ. THIS. NOW.

I have read a lot of psychological thrillers, many of which are predictable, but this one is different. Beautifully written, faced paced, and keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It will be a huge bestseller in 2017 and will make a fantastic film.

Regardless of your preference in books do yourself a massive favour and read what will surly be a massive best seller definitely recommended it and already know will be in my top three books of 2017 pure quality writing that not only do you lose yourself in but never won't to leave quite literally breathtaking

Each girl survived an unthinkable horror. Now someone wants them dead...
They were called The Final Girls.
Three young women who survived unimaginable horror. Three victims of separate massacres grouped together by the press. Three strangers bound by similar traumas.
Lisa. Quincy. Samantha.
When something terrible happens to Lisa, put-together Quincy and volatile Sam finally meet. Each one influences the other. Each one has dark secrets. And after the bloodstained fingers of the past reach into the present, each one will never be the same

Well with a blurb like that I was desperately hoping to get an advanced copy of Final Girls! How lucky was I to get it. The story totally surpassed my expectations. An amazing and we'll crafted plot which keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. The main character Quincy had my nerves on edge throughout never knowing what was going to happen next! A very quick read as I couldn't put the book down until I got to the very shocking ending which i never saw coming! One more chapter became 4! I don't want to spoil the story by giving too much away. I cannot believe this is Riley Sagers debut novel...it's a masterpiece and should be a bestseller. Make sure if you read anything in 2017 it's this book.

Gripping! I was so into this book, I read it in one sitting!

This is one of the best thrillers I've read! The book has wonderfully complex characters as well as a compulsive reading plot. The author takes the movie trope of a Final Girl, the lone survivor of a terrible event, and makes her the focus of this book. Quincy is already dealing with the aftermath of a massacre that killed her friends some years ago when a new threat is found at her door. The book starts slowly, giving the reader time to allow musing on the different ways of handling trauma and grief. The pressure builds to revelations that pull you down a rabbit hole of theories and red herrings. The protagonist was very interesting to watch as she works to unwind the memories she hasn't been able to access since that terrible day and tries to handle to the situation unfolding.
To talk further about this book I'd have to add spoiler warnings; I will say that I am already planning on buying this for a friend who I'm certain will love it! The characters are well drawn, the plot is gripping and the writing style hooks you in from the start. This is a fantastic debut novel from Sager and I hope to read more from this author.
For fans of: 'The Girl on the Train', Psychological Thrillers and classic slasher movies.

A gripping, tense roller coaster of a novel! Just when you think you know where the story is going it doubles back on itself or takes a twist and leaves you guessing once more. I read a lot of books of this genre but I can honestly say I have never been so fooled so many times. A fantastic story that I can easily imagine translated to the silver screen.
I would recommend this book to any that enjoys a mix of crime, mystery and horror.

The blurb should already have you wanting to read this book like it did me, and what a fantastic read it is too.

If you especially like trying to guess the outcome and still enjoy a surprise then this is definitely worth a read because with all the twists, turns, thrills and spills you will be kept page turning to get to an incredible ending.
Like so many people already have said, this is a must read for 2017 and Sager has written a sure-fire hit. Brilliant.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy in return for an honest review.

No one wants to be a Final Girl, to be a member of this club, you must be the lone survivor of a massacre. Quincy, with the help of her Xanax prescription and no memory of the events that happened ten years ago on the night of the Pine Cottage massacre, is adamant that she is not a Final Girl. Focusing on her baking blog she is avoiding all media attention. That is until Sam, a fellow Final Girl, gets in contact and Quincy must now relive the events of that fateful night.

With its thrilling opening, I was pulled into this story right away; Quincy soaked in blood, running through the forest, the lone survivor of the Pine Cottage Massacre. The story is then narrated by Quincy in the present tense, as her life is turned upside down by the arrival of Sam. Quincy believes her and Sam, despite it being their first meeting, have an unbreakable bond but the more she gets to know Sam the more she’s not sure she can trust her. As the reader, you’re not sure if you can trust Sam either, and this makes for great reading as you are constantly wondering what Sam’s agenda really is, adding a great suspenseful element to the plot.

By the mid-way point of the novel, I wasn’t feeling the excitement I had hoped for, and I worried this would be another psychological thriller that has all the right ingredients but ending up falling short for me. But then Sager threw in another red herring and my excitement levels were right back where they should be.

Interspersed throughout the novel are flashbacks to the night of the Pine Cottage Massacre, these were my favourite parts of the book as they continued to build on the already suspenseful narrative of the present day, building to the big reveal of what really happened that night. And when the big reveal came, it did not disappoint (and neither did the reveal that came before that).

Final Girls is full of twists and turns, two in particular that I absolutely loved and did not see coming, it’s fast-paced, thrilling, a good solid debut from Riley Sager that I recommend to fans of psychological thrillers.

I am a huge fan of horror films, specifically slasher films. I saw Scream when I was eight years old and it became one of my favourites even to this day. Why? Because Sydney Prescott was a complete badass. She fought back, she didn’t give up. She fought and won. She was a Final Girl.
So when I saw that there was a book about not one but three Final Girls I knew I had to read it. The problem was as soon as I saw the cover and read the synopsis I had built up the book immensely in my head, imagining characters and a story I was worried the book wouldn’t be able to live up to.
I needn’t have worried.
Final Girls was incredible.
Within pages I’d been pulled in to a sharp, fast paced world where each character carried secrets that brought twist after twist. I couldn’t stop reading and even when I went to prepare lunch or stopped to feed the cats I was thinking about Quincy and trying to figure out what would happen next.
The ending… that ending. I’m worried about saying too much as I don’t want to give away anything vital so I’ll just say this. You may think you’ve finally figured it out, that the pieces have all come together and the secrets of Pine Cottage are revealed.
But you’re wrong.

Final Girls by Riley Sager

Wow, what a fantastic book! It really is something different, and I cannot remember the last time I was so scared and worried about the main protagonist.

Quincy is the sole survivor of a massacre where she witnessed the murder of her friends. Years later she is still traumatised by the event; even though it is clear she has blocked it from her memory. Her financial security has been gained through various law suits and this only serves to compound her feelings of guilt and her existence is focused on her wish to avoid any contact with the media. Her cooking blog gives her the opportunity to work from home and avoid the curiosity of the outside world. At home she is protected and lives a semblance of a normal life with her boyfriend; it is the place where she feels in control.

However, Quincy is just one of three Final Girls; Samantha who has disappeared from the grid and Lisa.

Then it starts to unwind when Lisa dies and Quincy feels her security is threatened, by exposure to the media, by Samantha?

This is really well-written with exciting, unexpected twists and turns and the characters are amazing.

Think ‘Gone Girl’ or ‘The Girl on the Train’ and then multiply it by four. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

Quincy Carpenter lives in New York, with her boyfriend Jeff and runs a successful baking website and blog. 10 years ago she was involved in a massacre at a remote cabin in the woods where her friends were all butchered and she was the only survivor; a Final Girl. Quincy has blanked out all memories of the night, she remembers the before and after, but not the during and has a number of coping strategies to help keep her on an even keel. She isn’t the only Final Girl, there is also Lisa, who was the only survivor at a massacre at a Sorority House and Samantha, the last woman standing after the Sack Man murdered the inhabitants of a hotel. When Lisa is found dead in a bathtub in an apparent suicide, Quincy’s settled and ordered life is thrown into upheaval by the arrival of Samantha who wants to help Quincy remember what happened that night in the woods.

I looked at Twitter just before I settled down to read this book on my Kindle and the first tweet I saw was from Stephen King naming Final Girls as the first great thriller of 2017, and well, who am I to disagree? I was hooked from the first page; dual timelines showing both Quincy now and the night of the massacre, tight prose, well written characters, a critique of ‘celebrity’ and more tension that you could shake a bloody stick at.

This book has twists, turns and red herrings galore – I was second guessing all the way through and I tore through it in a matter of days. I started it on Tuesday, was at a wedding on Wednesday (and seriously considered taking my kindle with me as I was so hooked) and finished it on Thursday; Riley Sager has written a cracking thriller.

I loved Quincy; strong but weak, guarded but vulnerable, trusting but cynical, brave but cautious and forever defined by events that happened a decade ago. Samantha’s entrance into her life brings to the surface emotions and fear which she had long since buried and causes Quincy to battle against her past, present and future. The plot is gradually revealed through the two timelines and I found the ominous building of tension in the ‘flashback’ very creepy in places. In the present day, I loved Quincy and Jeff’s relationship; it felt very authentic and his concern over Samantha’s appearance and role in her life mirrored that of the reader.

Thanks to the Ebury Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book, it is released in July 2017 and I think it’s going to be huge. I believe that this is Riley Segal’s first novel and I look forward to reading more from her, she is a definite talent in the thriller genre.

Rating: 5 stars

The Final Girls

This book absolutely gave me goosebumps. I could not put it down. You spend the novel thinking you know exactly what's going on and exactly who you can trust...until the rug is pulled spectacularly from underneath your feet. You almost feel betrayed, that's how real the emotions are!

I would love to read this again now I know how it ends, to look back over any clues I may have missed! I very rarely give 5 stars, but this was a no brainer. Treat yourself to an afternoon with your feet up reading this masterpiece folks, you won't regret it. Be prepared to be thinking about it for a while after you turn the last page. I really can't wait to see more from Riley Sager.

I was kindly sent a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.