Final Girls by Riley Sager *Review*

I received Final Girls as one of my picks for my September Book of the Month club box and was very excited!  This book had been getting rave reviews and I was ready for a fun slasher.  While it ended up being more of a psychological thriller I still rated this book 3.5/5 stars (rounded to 4 on my Goodreads) and enjoyed it a bit more than I thought I would considering I usually dislike psych thrillers.  With twists I didn’t predict and creepy flash backs making me feel like I was in a horror movie, this book was a perfect start to my Fall TBR.

Goodreads Synopsis

Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.

Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.

That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.  

My Experience

I wasn’t actually aware this book was more of a psychological thriller before I picked it up, I had just heard that it was a lot like a slasher movie.  Since I really wanted a creepy read to start off my Fall reading I thought why not pick up one that has been getting so many good reviews.  While the psych aspect made the pace of the book a bit slower than I would have liked and some parts a bit boring, I actually enjoyed the overall story and characters mixed with the occasional scary flash back.  I also definitely did not see that ending coming which is always a good thing, I was left guessing and going “WHAT?!?” until the final pages.  The writing style flowed well and made it easier to get through the book in one sitting and constantly wanting to find out what was going to happen made even the slowest parts get by faster.

Overall, I walked away from this book completely satisfied.  I wasn’t blown away by any means, but I was pretty happy with just how much I ended up enjoying it.  The times that the book seemed slow or boring were made up for by the scary slasher aspects and the complete twists at the end.  Looking for a good Halloween read? Give this one a go!