Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Final Girls by Riley Sager

69 reviews

redefiningrachel's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Forced institutionalization

kierstratton's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This has been on my TBR for the longest time, but for some reason it took me forever to read. It’s deep and dark and actually the twists and turns had me so anxious reading. This is jam packed with triggers and spins and so much info. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lottieingham's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Car accident

saraspncer's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction

marleyjade123's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Who doesn’t love a good ole slasher serial killer mystery? I know I do! 

This is my second Riley Sager book and I’m officially counting myself as a fan. Though I think I was more gripped and surprised by The Only One Left, Final Girls was a really fun read and was a much more visual experience for me! The story jumps back and forth between the event that made the main character, Quincy, a “Final Girl” to begin with and present day. In the chapters detailing what occurred at Pine Cottage, it almost felt like I was watching a slasher movie; the images were so clear in my head. Really compelling writing, with just enough detail to build the image in your mind without overdoing it and getting overly descriptive. If Sager wrote a book that was just entirely a slasher story, I’m certain I would absolutely devour it! (Has he? Clearly I need to check out the descriptions of all of his books now!)

I will say, I figured out the mystery to this one pretty early on, but I still really enjoyed the story leading up to finding out I was correct! I think Sager does a really fantastic job of planning his stories and finding ways to subtly work in clues for those of us who like to race to solve the mystery. His are books that, if you were to read them a second time, I think you would spend most of the time smacking your own forehead and exclaiming “How did I miss that?!” 

I’m looking forward to more Riley Sager in the future. Final Girls is an easy 5 stars!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

moxiereads's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ecmcmahon's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

thanksfrthemoomeries's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

After waiting months to be able to read this book, I have to say I am thoroughly disappointed in it. The book was too slow for my liking, but I was willing to push past that. I ignored the tropes and stereotypical characters. While the slasher theme was fun, there were too many red herrings in this book to count! I have to admit I was surprised at the ending, and then I was left crestfallen with the climax and villain’s monologue. 
Beyond all of that, after taking over a month to read (which by my standards is too long for a book this size and genre), I find out the author is a man. I am tired of men writing about women in these stereotypical slasher stories and making them out to be these shallow, judgmental, final girls who have a “dark side” to them. It’s exhausting and disgusting. While I would agree with the argument that real slasher stories are born out of crimes of passion, I find it revolting that the story ends with 

the most incel-coded character being bummed he didn’t get the girl. grow up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Vomit

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail