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mburnsides's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
violetbentbackwards1036's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
cait's review against another edition
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.25
Sager's Final Girls isn't unique in wanting to explore the idea of the final girl further, of what it's like after everything. Previously, there was The Last Final Girl by Stephen Graham Jones in 2012 and later, in 2021, Grady Hendrix's The Final Girl Support Group. All of these books follow a similar storyline: there are these "final girls" who each survive what is by all accounts a massacre and then they are seemingly being killed off until the main character is left. This leaves the main character a "true" survivor, I suppose.
My problem with Sager's Final Girls isn't that there are other books like it, there are many ways to tell the same story after all. More so, I could tell Sager was still inexperienced at writing when it was published. While I appreciated the thematic nature of the past being told in the third person point of view and the present told in first person point of view, since the main character and narrator, Quincy, is unreliable due to her amnesia of the horrible night all her friends were killed; in the end, I found the switch in POV jarring to go between.
As well, I could tell Sager was inexperienced in writing women specifically. Quincy herself was very annoying, and constantly got in her own way. But there was not only a strange love triangle between her, her boyfriend Jeff, and Coop, the cop who saved her life, there were also strange homoerotic tones between Quincy and her female friends/acquaintances. I felt like the was supposed to be a commentary on sexuality perhaps, especially when it comes to final girls (Check out Dead Meat Podcast Episode 15: Final Girl on YouTube for more information about that), but so much of it flopped and came off as cringey.
I liked that Quincy was unreliable and I was intrigued by the complexity of several of the characters. However, they were often too unlikable for me to really invest in them fully, and I constantly found myself hating each and every one of them at different points in the book.
Overall, I personally think that maybe the concept of finals girls should be left to the movies, or perhaps women authors who may be able to understand the deeper fears that persist in today's society of violence against women.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Police brutality, and Death of parent
As for the ending,fraise's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Misogyny, Racism, and Death of parent
emilymdxn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide and Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug abuse
mfrisk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I kept waiting and waiting for more exciting moments to happen in this book but the beginning really dragged, the middle felt like it was headed somewhere, but then ultimately the ending was disappointing and overly reliant on tropes and cheesy lines.
Additionally, there wasn’t really any discussion or thought put into the discussion of true crime, survivor stories, and how the media shapes how we view these events.
The whole book felt like an unfortunate missed opportunity.
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, and Police brutality
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
rachelcotter1's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book had some twists and turns that I did not see coming, but everything felt in the realm of reality, which I always appreciate in a thriller. It was not my favorite Riley Sager novel, but I still very much enjoyed it!
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity
angelakay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder