Book Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

Shelly's Book Corner received a review copy from NetGalley and voluntarily provided an honest review. This does not affect the opinion of the book or the content of the review.

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 Final Girl, 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.

Review:

Quincy is the lone survivor after a brutal attack and is trying to live a normal life. Everything is going well until another “final girl” Lisa is found dead. After hearing about Lisa’s death things slowly start to spiral out of control for Quincy.

I really liked Quincy but I felt like she needed intense help with dealing with the aftermath of the attacks. She really didn’t have a solid support system. Quincy in my opinion has been living in a constant state of denial and it was no surprise she started to unravel/break after Lisa’s death.

I do have to say I was on the fence with Sam showed up. After all of these years? I didn’t trust her motives at all and I honestly felt she didn’t mean well when it came to Quincy.

This was my first time reading anything by this author and it was a good read. This story held my interest and I loved the way the author made you question everybody as a suspect. I had two theories about the real killer and what Quincy was not remembering and I was hundred percent wrong with both. I loved the way the ending unfolded and I didn’t see that coming! Way to keep me on my toes until the very end! I’ve placed “The Last Time I Lied” on my tbr pile and I can’t wait to see what this book brings me!