Spoiler Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

The following review is full of spoilers from Final Girls.
Reading this review will reveal all the plot lines and secrets surrounding Quincy's life. Read this review at your own risk, you have been warned.

August17 book for Poison Apple Book Club

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"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."


I loved this book so much I NEEDED to write two reviews, the usual non spoiler and one that is all spoilers, because I desperately need to get some things about this book off my chest.


First of I have to express my two cents on Quincy and Jeff's relationship. He was a nice enough guy, but I didn't think they belonged together. Their views on life wasn't the same, I think his job was the biggest factor to this. How he felt the need to justify defending murders to Quincy I felt was so insensitive to someone who was the survivor of a mass murder. I can't say I was upset when they broke up, I hope Quincy can move on and find someone else, or maybe after everything she has been through she is better off alone. Whatever she decides to do with her romantic life, I just hope she is happy, if she can ever really be. I wanted Quincy to be with Coop so badly, I was so excited when they slept together. HOW MUCH OF A MISTAKE WAS THAT THOUGH RIGHT!?

I can't help think back to the interview Quincy failed to attend with the two other Final Girls. If Quincy had just gone to that interview, meeting Lisa Milner and Samantha Boyd, so much of this story could have been avoided..

After the "suicide" of Lisa Milner, Samantha Boyd showed up outside of Quincy's apartment after years in hiding. Her story about changing her name to Tina Stone was so clever, no wonder she was able to stay hidden for so long. The more we learned about Sam and her rough edges, the more I began to question her, although I felt bad about it. She is also a Final Girl, and it was upsetting to think that she could betray Lisa and Quincy. After the incident in the park, I knew she couldn't be trusted and she finally got some leverage over Quincy. Sam's whole attitude changed because she finally could control her. I was beginning to think she really did kill Lisa, and I wasn't sure if Quincy would meet the same fate, but she definitely was planning something. After learning that Sam spent some time with Lisa right before she died that sold me on this theory, Sam killed Lisa. I assumed it was because both Lisa and Quincy were able to put their past behind them and move on with their lives, Sam was still messed up from the night with Sack Man it had ruined her life. She wanted revenge for that. It all seemed to work out so nicely I couldn't believe how WRONG I really was..

Once Quincy did some digging IN LISA MILNER'S BEDROOM all the clues were there and yet I missed them all. Actually there were clues throughout the whole book, I either missed or ignored because I became like Quincy, too oblivious to the people in her life, I trusted people in this book too much. It never really bothered me that Quincy couldn't remember, clearly she repressed Pine Cottage for a reason and as the story went on we got bits and pieces of that night for ourselves to put together. I felt betrayed by the information Quincy found in Lisa's locked box, and another clear sign that Sam had been in Lisa's house. I was so quick to point a finger, just like Quincy I overlooked a more important clue, that picture..

I was a little overwhelmed when Sam's secret all came out as she drugged Quincy and took her to Pine Cottage. Quincy was right back in the nightmare of Pine Cottage. Tina Stone wasn't a fake name, it was the real name of the Samantha Boyd imposter. Her whole story about Joe Hannon being her only friend and trying to clear his name from as the murderer of Pine Cottage was a whirlwind of a story, and it was so amazing I can't believe I didn't put it all together. Quincy was smart enough to have that second, stolen phone on her and send a text to Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago at Pine Cottage but his presence at the end was a betrayal I will never be able to get over.

I CANNOT BELIEVE Coop was the real killer of Pine Cottage. Quincy had her memory so suppressed and messed up she put the pieces she remembered, Joe showing up, sleeping with Joe, and why her fingerprints were on the knife that she just assumed he was the killer, and how wrong she really was. The answer was there and I didn't see them. Coop was a good guy, the good guy Quincy needed him to be and I trusted him as she did. I even wanted them to be together. But his confession was like a stab in the gut. He created his own Final Girl, and had a weird, creepy obsession with Quincy. She claimed SO MANY TIMES that he doesn't seem to get too attached or show emotions well. A CLEAR SIGN. He had a brief relationship with Lisa Milner after Pine Cottage, and that relationship and the fact that she was a cop was why she so openly invited him into her home, and it was her trust in him that got herself killed. She was helping Sam/Tina dig into what really happened at Pine Cottage and Coop didn't like them digging. Coop knew all along Sam wasn't the real Sam. He visited the real Samantha Boyd years ago and after a night together, he killed her. And then he slept with Quincy, his very own Final Girl. He got to sleep with all of them. And kill them, but not Quincy, she really was a fighter and a survivor. She saved herself, and Tina.

Tina did get what she deserved in the end, although I still really like her and hope that Quincy and Tina stay in touch. Quincy also did the right thing by giving the only interview to Jonah, he really did help her so much in all of this. It's a little upsetting that the real Samantha Boyd was never found.
But I still cannot get over that this was all done by Coop. It's a betrayal I'll never be able to get over.

Final Girls was impossible to put down, and as the end grew near I started suspecting Quincy and my anxiety was at an all time high.

This is one of the best books I ever read and I cannot wait to get my hands on anything else Riley Sager writes in the future. I wish I knew Riley Sager's real name so I could look into more books from this author.


My Rating: 5/5 Stars