Final Girls

Book: Final Girls
Author: Riley Sager

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.-Goodreads
Review: Quincy Carpenter is the sole survivor of a massacre that claimed the lives of her close college friends. Dubbed a 'Final Girl' by the press, she's now part of a trio of women who survived horrible crimes. Years later, Quincy seems to put the past behind her. She has a nice NYC apartment, steady boyfriend and Martha Stewart type baking blog. She claims she can't remember anything about the night in question...but is that the truth? She soon finds that the past has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it.

What a fun read. Told in alternating timelines, we follow Quincy and her friends on the fateful night as well as Quincy in the present time frame. In the present time frame, she's sought out by another Final Girl who quickly turns Quincy's life upside down. I enjoyed both narratives equally and while this was slow for 2/3, the last third was pretty action packed. I did not see the end coming and I loved how Sager wrapped up the book. 

I will definitely read more from this author!

Grade: 4/5