Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager
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.
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
This book was just meh for me, it was interesting enough that I wanted to see what happened but the end result and build up left me disappointed. I went into this with the expectation of a thriller, but this wasn’t a true thriller or horror read to me. I wasn’t shocked by the end and there were so many cringe worthy moments that I was just over it and glad it was done.
So first let me start off by saying that the intimacy scenes in this novel were not even needed and they just added an extra awkward and uncomfortable break from the story line. They didn’t flow or fit and seemed very out of place, especially for Quincy. Quincy as a character showed no growth or development over the story other than diving further into the recesses of her mind. Where I was hoping for maturation and self-discovery, I got insanity and lies. Quincy is so fickle and insecure, why would you let a virtual stranger into your home? And then the next rational progression is to start acting out, from beating someone up, shop lifting, and taking way more prescription medication than necessary, it was just a no for me.
In addition to my disconnect with Quincy, the novel was stagnant, there is an abundance of questions, adding to the thrill factor, but each answer doesn’t do justice. The synopsis was intriguing but the whole story is very anti-climatic. The ending left a bitter taste in my mouth because of course the cycle is set up to start all over again. Just save yourself the time and go to your next book.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble
