Final Girls - 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.

Thrillers are not a genre I usually read, though have also been curious about. There just wasn't a book that felt like a good intro to the genre. And my god, will I be picking up more thrillers!

If you're not quite sure what Final Girl means, this quote from the book describes it perfectly:

“Final Girl is film-geek speak for the last woman standing at the end of a horror movie.”

I was so infuriating to me that there was so much left unknown when you pick up this book. It made me feel uncomfortable, yet excited. I devoured this book, read it way faster than I thought I would (took me two days, but only because the first night of reading I absolutely HAD to put it down and go to sleep because of the big day I had the next day).

I won't spoil anything of this story, because it was just a great plot that would be ruined if I day too much, which does make writing a review a little tricky. 

This story was intense, brutal, horrifying and surprising. The ending was absolutely perfect. I could have never guessed it would end the way it did, so that was amazing. It was so shocking!

“That’s not your choice. It’s already been decided for you. You can’t change what’s happened. The only thing you can control is how you deal with it.” 

This book was an extremely incredible ride that I am very glad I went on. I will never forget this amazing twist.