Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Final Girls by Riley Sager

58 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I have thought of Riley Sager as a favorite author for a long time now, but kept putting of his debut, until now. I was very pleased with how much I ended up enjoying this novel! This story follows Quincy, who ten years ago, became a final girl. On that terrible night, her and her friends went to a cabin in the woods to celebrate, but only Quincy, with no memory of what happened, made it back home. Now, she is trying to move on and live her life without constantly being reminded of the night that changed everything. She receives news that another final girl was found dead, under suspicious circumstances. Is Quincy safe, and can she finally remember what happened to her friends? 
This book had some twists and turns that I did not see coming, but everything felt in the realm of reality, which I always appreciate in a thriller. It was not my favorite Riley Sager novel, but I still very much enjoyed it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity

wowitsmadison's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Grief, and Murder

ecn's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

Nothing really kept me drawn to this book other than the will to finish it. Not the worst but not great.
You can tell a man wrote it, which I think says enough about certain scenes and characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt

reading_binosaur's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A woman who survives a massacre must go through life asking herself why she lived when others didn't and deal with the intense morbid celebrity that came with it. She can't remember all the details of that night and struggles to help police even 10 years later. The twist at the end will have you saying 'what the ****" so quick.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

seawarrior's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

While definitely a page turner, Final Girls was somewhat of a letdown for me. It probably doesn't help that I read Home Before Dark recently before this, where Sager's writing is much stronger in my opinion.

The main merit of this book is how easily it held my interest. I checked it out from the library planning to read it over several days, and ended up finishing it in a matter of hours. Unfortunately I felt that the twists in the plot were somewhat predictable, and I don't say that lightly, as I actively try not to predict the answer to mysteries as I'm reading them. This led to an anticlimatic end in my experience, made all the more unsatisfying by my mild investment in the characters. As much as I wanted to love these stubborn, surviving women, they felt a little too much like flat, paperdoll people to spark my investment or pathos. 

Though I have more harsh notes on this book than positive ones, I don't feel that it's altogether terrible and I don't regret reading it. The writing isn't excellent, but it's entertaining nonetheless and I would still recommend it to others looking for an engaging thriller to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Sexual harassment

Minor: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Terminal illness, and Police brutality

sarah_onyxartemis's review against another edition

Good book just not at all my cup of tea. I'm only just crawling out of a major reading slump so I'm not going to force myself to get through it. Not right now at least. Maybe I'll pick it back up down the road.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer, Mental illness, and Death of parent

bookishgoob's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

“I’m the moth that got careless with the flame. Now i’m engulfed” slow paced and utterly uninteresting in the first half, you follow a girl with no memory of what happened to her after being the only survivor of a massacre that left all of her friends dead. she was the only survivor. she was a “final girl” a term used when talking about horror movies most of the time to describe the girl at the end of a movie that is the only survivor of what happened. the first 50% of this book left me with the feeling of wanting to just not finish at all but I don’t like to DNF books unless it’s so terrible or uninteresting so i pushed through and finished it. the twists and turns were surprising, but only to an extent. i called a few of them from a mile away, a few of them though were not so easy to spot. switching from the final girls perspective to a 3rd person account of what happened to her 10 years early was an interesting choice, just not very well executed in my opinion. not getting much on either end of the story made it dull and it felt slightly repetitive. all in all, i’m glad i finished it but i would not read it again and i don’t think i would really recommend it. unless you like slow paced stories that really feel like they have no direction in the beginning. i give this read a 2/5. it was an okay spooky season read. but if you have a choice between this title, or another thriller, i would vote that you get the other one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

bastieboi's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I sussed everyone, and I was still wrong. what the heck

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit

Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

alinwonderland's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Car accident

davidrb's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.0

Christ.

No spoilers, but this is a tedious mess. For a thriller (and make no mistake: this is a thriller and not a horror), the pace is unbearably slow. The characters are beyond flat and contrived. The writing style gives absolutely nothing. Most damningly, the author takes a very dismissive approach towards more "traditional" trauma victims (i.e. survivors of rape and assault) in favor of his prototypical final girl, which is both uncomfortable to read and doesn't at all serve the story, considering it's a narrative about how trauma shapes people. Ostensibly.

Horror satire can still be suspenseful and scary (think Scream), but this forgoes any meaningful commentary in favor of cheap twists, and, in fact, has very little to say about the genre at all. I only gave it 1 star because I gave The Maidens 1 star, and I wouldn't say I hated it more. (I'm really striking out with thrillers lately.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol