Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

Title:Final Girls

Author:Riley Sager

Published:July 2017, Dutton Books

Format:Hardcover, 352 pages

Source:Publisher

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 thoughts:This book…this book is one twisted, dark, crazy book! It’s an unsettling psychological thriller that borders on the horror genre – a genre I typically do not read. I don’t even watch horror movies – definitely not! But…I loved this book…I devoured this book…and I will definitely read this book again!

This is such an intense, edge-of-your-seat type of read. I read it in two sittings – something I rarely do, but I was so captivated by it, I couldn’t do anything other than think about it. I had to know where it was going and who was behind what was going on. It is an addictive read – and the way it’s told…mostly all from Quincy’s point of view –  in present time and then the flashbacks to the night back when Quincy was at Pine Cottage and all the horror happened to her. It’s quite chilling.

This is one of the more suspenseful and thrilling novels I’ve read in a long time. There are so many twists and turns and it never goes where you think it’s going to go. Every time I thought I had things figured out, something would happen to throw me off and have me scrambling to put the pieces back in some type of order again. I loved that it kept me guessing and still managed to completely shock me at the end! And the pacing is so crazy – this is not a slow book at all – it moves and moves!

I loved that there were times when all the characters we are introduced to give you motive to question their reliability, Quincy included. I guess because I read so many thrillers/mystery books, I tend to be suspicious of everyone, but in this case, I think I was justified. But boy oh boy, I did not see the guilty one coming. This one is a whooper! But I loved the way all the pieces fit together just so. 

This is a gripping, addictive read that will take you all over the place – much like a roller coaster and has some of the most thrilling characters you’ve met in a while. I cannot wait to see what comes next from this author – Riley Sager this was one twisted, crazy book and I cannot recommend it enough!!!