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Final Girls A Novel Riley Sager Books

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Final Girls A Novel Riley Sager Books

Part One: Critique
For whatever reason this summer, I've been drawn to psychological crime thrillers. Within the last couple of weeks I've read Ruth Ware, Tana French, and now this. One aspect that binds the three novels together is that they each overuse the theme of "protagonist forgets the details of the traumatic event that happens to them" which leaves the reader in the dark, too. In my opinion, and probably because I've read three separate novels employing this theme back-to-back, I was highly annoyed by this. I understand this is a necessary technique to utilize when creating an atmosphere of suspense, but clearly it's overdone. Within this genre, I'd like to see authors become a bit more creative. The last irksome detail, in my opinion, was the final twist. While I didn't see it coming, I also didn't really buy into it. It was far more believable and better written than the twist at the end of "In a Dark, Dark Wood", but for some reason, I felt that Sager built us up for something much more dynamic. I was not displeased with the ending, I just felt lukewarm about it.

Part Two: Praise
Of the three novels, Sager's novel was the easiest and most entertaining read. I read it quickly; tore through it, in fact. I know many of the reviews claim that the characters are unlikeable; however, I feel that our leading lady--Quincy Carpenter--was believable, likable, and yes--in extreme denial. All of those traits made me buy into her post Pine Cottage mentality. She was broken and rattled to the core, but who could blame her? She tried to frost herself to perfection like one of her Food Channel acclaimed baked goods. Again, I truly felt her actions would be a normal response to numbing oneself back into normalcy. When Quinn meets Sam, I even found myself angered and disappointed in her choices and this was necessary. Quinn moves quite swiftly into a dynamic character and watching her mentality evolve was a joy to read. She needed to feel everything Sam brought to the forefront; Quinn never had the chance to grieve the tragedy or her role in it. Before the blood could even dry at Pine Cottage, her mother tried to put her on Xanax and make her forget and move on from the tragedy. At 19-20 years old, how can anyone fully grieve and move on? We can't. I believe Quinn is an extremely well-written and thorough character.
Secondly, I felt that this novel was a page turner. The writing enveloped me and transported me right into Quinn and Jeff's apartment, Pine Cottage, etc. I felt scared, thrilled, angered, sad, and at the end, complete. I almost see Quincy as a Jessica Jones type who now wants to help fellow victims (and I love that parallel).
Thirdly, whether intentional or not, Sam (as Quinn meets her) reminds me of Joss Whedon's Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They have the same attitude, vengeance, and morals. Again, probably a not so conventional parallel but this made me enjoy the novel even more.


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Final Girls A Novel Riley Sager Books Reviews

This was a terrific read! I couldn't put it down.
I wanted to like this book, the premise seemed like it would be right up my alley. A psychological thriller in the vein of recent hits like "The Girl on the Train" but with a slasher movie influence on the plot. We follow Quincy Carpenter, who ten years ago was the sole survivor of an incident at a remote cabin in which all of her friends were brutally murdered by a maniac. 2 other women exist in the United States who have similar stories, nicknamed the "Final Girls" by the media after a horror film trope. When one of them winds up unexpectedly dead, the 3rd, Sam, heads to New York to find Quincy, ostensibly so they can comfort each other over their shared experiences and loss. But are her motives really so innocent? What does she really want from Quincy? Is there someone out there who wants to see all the "Final Girls" dead? And if so, who? And what is she forgetting from the night of the murders? There are a lot of questions here, more than enough to keep one turning the pages, but there are a lot of problems with this books as well. While it is true that I can't imagine what sort of mental scars surviving the sort of incident Quincy did would leave, I find it hard to believe it would lead someone to make some of the very poor decisions she makes here. It all does come together to a fairly satisfying conclusion, but there is too much suspension of disbelief in regard to character actions to get there to feel like this was really worth the journey.
I just this minute finished Final Girls. Normally, I'd wait a few days before writing a review; I'd wait until I'd given the novel time to sink in, down deep, until I was certain about what I wanted to say. No need to do so with Final Girls. It's the first novel I've read in a very long time that I simply could not put down. There is first the plot itself, which starts strong and never lets up. There is then the list of characters, all well drawn, especially in their psychological makeup - detailed, fascinating, crossing back and forth constantly between likable and unlikable, suspicious and not suspicious, the possible killer or totally innocent, all the way to the end. Quinn, the narrator, and Samantha, another Final Girl, are flat-out compelling to get to know, and they come across as real human beings. And then there's Sager's style, which is, for the most part, Quinn's voice - filled with tension, fast, furious, almost breezy were it not for the subject matter. Interspersed throughout, though, are short chapters told in third-person, chronologically detailing the actual events of the night of the murders at Pine Cottage, and all I can say is that they are damnably frustrating in the best sense of the word as they tell you the story of that night little piece by little piece. They're the ticking clock, the ticking-off clock on the bomb of the novel. They add so much to the overall plot and mystery because they're so perfectly written, each one offering another direction, another suspicion, the night moving forward with one new possibility after another, and each one making you feel as though you're the guy from the bomb squad trying to decide which wires to cut in which order. And all while the same technique is being employed in the present. It's like being on two trains simultaneously, both of them hurtling out of control toward each other. Brilliant structure, riveting, forcing you to turn every page to the next and the next. My only qualm is that I did guess the killer's identity very early, but not because Sager gave anything away - I don't know why I knew, but I just KNEW. However, this did NOT spoil the story in any way at all; after all, he might yet have proved me wrong. I read somewhere recently that Riley Sager is a pseudonym for another well-known author, and I would imagine this is true; Final Girls is a bit too accomplished for a first writer's thriller. So, now that I've finished the novel and am no longer in taut suspense over IT, I'm STILL in suspense to learn which well-known author actually wrote it! Damn you, Riley Sager, damn you!
Part One Critique
For whatever reason this summer, I've been drawn to psychological crime thrillers. Within the last couple of weeks I've read Ruth Ware, Tana French, and now this. One aspect that binds the three novels together is that they each overuse the theme of "protagonist forgets the details of the traumatic event that happens to them" which leaves the reader in the dark, too. In my opinion, and probably because I've read three separate novels employing this theme back-to-back, I was highly annoyed by this. I understand this is a necessary technique to utilize when creating an atmosphere of suspense, but clearly it's overdone. Within this genre, I'd like to see authors become a bit more creative. The last irksome detail, in my opinion, was the final twist. While I didn't see it coming, I also didn't really buy into it. It was far more believable and better written than the twist at the end of "In a Dark, Dark Wood", but for some reason, I felt that Sager built us up for something much more dynamic. I was not displeased with the ending, I just felt lukewarm about it.

Part Two Praise
Of the three novels, Sager's novel was the easiest and most entertaining read. I read it quickly; tore through it, in fact. I know many of the reviews claim that the characters are unlikeable; however, I feel that our leading lady--Quincy Carpenter--was believable, likable, and yes--in extreme denial. All of those traits made me buy into her post Pine Cottage mentality. She was broken and rattled to the core, but who could blame her? She tried to frost herself to perfection like one of her Food Channel acclaimed baked goods. Again, I truly felt her actions would be a normal response to numbing oneself back into normalcy. When Quinn meets Sam, I even found myself angered and disappointed in her choices and this was necessary. Quinn moves quite swiftly into a dynamic character and watching her mentality evolve was a joy to read. She needed to feel everything Sam brought to the forefront; Quinn never had the chance to grieve the tragedy or her role in it. Before the blood could even dry at Pine Cottage, her mother tried to put her on Xanax and make her forget and move on from the tragedy. At 19-20 years old, how can anyone fully grieve and move on? We can't. I believe Quinn is an extremely well-written and thorough character.
Secondly, I felt that this novel was a page turner. The writing enveloped me and transported me right into Quinn and Jeff's apartment, Pine Cottage, etc. I felt scared, thrilled, angered, sad, and at the end, complete. I almost see Quincy as a Jessica Jones type who now wants to help fellow victims (and I love that parallel).
Thirdly, whether intentional or not, Sam (as Quinn meets her) reminds me of Joss Whedon's Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They have the same attitude, vengeance, and morals. Again, probably a not so conventional parallel but this made me enjoy the novel even more.