Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Final Girls by Riley Sager

20 reviews

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, 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

jessiejonesbentley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• 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? No

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity and Vomit

tini_turtle's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Kept me so hooked for hours!! Felt it sagging a bit in the middle but the ending saved it. So so good and well written!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

iranian_yogurt's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

You get what you pay for (I borrowed this from the library). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

killmoore_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Had me going there for a minute, bud. The twist got me. 

Truly despicable characters, all of them, and a unreliable narrator trope that isn't exactly what it seems. This was fun, and while I don't normally like books that end all wrapped up with a bow, this one felt complete. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

la_karina1818's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

ohyeahshebomb's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Definitely kept me guessing up until the very end! Successful first Riley Sager book and I was not disappointed! Riley's writing style was absolutely perfect for a gooey thriller such as this. IT felt like I was truly watching a movie. He did a great job of giving descriptive without outright telling you everything you needed to know. You had to piece it all together. And just because you know something in the beginning, doesn't mean it's exactly as it seems...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, and Alcohol

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Honestly, this book was a serious letdown. It was not what I was expecting (in a bad way). Most of the twists were very predictable. Also, I'm not one to comment on pacing, but I felt how he went about the alternating chapters was weird, especially how sporadic they were. I really didn't like the characters especially "Ms. Boyd". Also, the big twist at the end seemed like a cop-out in a way. Like it was there for the sake of shock value and not because it made sense. And I hate that Quincy never gained any repercussions for what she did to that poor homeless man. Also, I thought more horror film tropes would be present here and there were literally close to none. Overall, I just found myself extremely bored with the book and was just trawling through it until it was over. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Gore and Grief

Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

abicaro17's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

This book was definitely interesting! Quincy seems at first to be a flat and uninteresting traumatized woman, but eventually evolves into something much more. The inner turmoil she displays at not only her current actions and choices but reflections of her past as well develop her into a multi dimensional character worth reading to the end for. Speaking of which, the ending was both as expected and sooo very unexpected! The last third of the book had me on the edge of my seat! My qualms with this book lie with the stereotypical and expected things. Like the boyfriend and other final girls. Even the twist was somewhat expected. I just wasn't as surprised as I like to be with these books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail