Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

De laatste meisjes by Riley Sager

39 reviews

sapphicpenguin's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

Much more suspense/mystery than action/thriller. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did! I did often get mad at the main character, but I guess I'll give her a pass for the, y'know, slasher-movie trauma. The plot twists were well set up/thought out, and kept me guessing till the very end. I liked the subversion of movie tropes, plus the writing was very satisfying. Great nonlinear storytelling. A good all-in-an-afternoon read.  I guess I don't have the patience for too much mystery, though, as sometimes I just wished we could get to the next thing.

ACAB btw

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Incest, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual content

rachaelbunny's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, and Stalking

Minor: Cancer, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Death of parent

mfrisk's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

2.0

I really wanted to enjoy this book - I love a cheesy horror movie with slasher elements and figured this would also delve into how that intersects with how we consumer true crime and survivor stories. 

I kept waiting and waiting for more exciting moments to happen in this book but the beginning really dragged, the middle felt like it was headed somewhere, but then ultimately the ending was disappointing and overly reliant on tropes and cheesy lines. 

Additionally, there wasn’t really any discussion or thought put into the discussion of true crime, survivor stories, and how the media shapes how we view these events. 

The whole book felt like an unfortunate missed opportunity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, and Police brutality

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

leahcatching's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Violence, and Alcohol

a_bookish_discovery's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

boundforinfinity's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

A genuinely impressive book that surprised and excited me. 

Quincy's Final Girls are comprised of three, majorly smart victims. No not victims. Survivors. Quincy Carpenter, Lisa Milner and Samantha Boyd are standout, independent, strong female characters that thrill the reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

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

sammymc's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

Captures the feeling of a slasher movie while subverting a ton of familiar tropes.  Keeps you guessing and makes sure you never know what to believe.  I didn’t love all of the twists, but I also can’t say I saw them coming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

phantasmaboo's review against another edition

dark 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

Final Girls: A Novel by Riley Sager tells the story of Quincy, who is the lone survivor of an attack that left many of her friends dead in college. She is labelled a Final Girl, making her part of a group of young women who survived attempts to murder them. Quincy seems to have some stability in her life when one of the other Final Girls, Lisa, is found dead from an apparent suicide. Couple with the arrival of the third Final Girl, Samantha, on her doorstep one day, Quincy is quickly thrown down the rabbit hole as Sam tries to get her to remember her past and discover who she truly is.

This is really the first thriller book that I have read in a long while and I found the experience to be quite enjoyable. I didn't really consider a "page-turner", as I put it down and forgot about it for several months, but now that I've finished it, I'm glad I did. Sager has several high points to this book that represent the genre well. They include:

Complicated Characters
In my reading, I didn't really find many of the characters too likeable, but I thought that was a strength. I am glad that Sager stayed away from creating the "perfect victim" in Quincy and, instead, represented her flaws for what they were: reactions to the trauma that she endured. I also liked that because Quincy has distinct and arguably serious character flaws, as it adds to the suspense of the story. At times, it was unclear whether Quincy could be relied on to tell the story and accurately reflect on her experiences. I found myself questioning Quincy a lot and I thought that was the main strength of this story.

Compelling Plot and Pace (for the most part)
I thought that the plot and pace when it revolved around Quincy figuring out what happened to her and investigating Sam. Unfortunately, that happens mostly in the last 1/3 of the book. Still, I think that it was enough to make it a highlight. The book is fairly easy read and has a moderate pace, which I think it fitting.

Nice Twist at the End
There are some reviews that have said that they "knew what happened" from the very beginning, but I was really surprised! Maybe it's because I do not read this genre all that often, but I thought the surprise at the end was great and probably what saved this book for me. 

That being said, there are a few areas that impacted my review negatively. Among them being:

Diversity
There is a distinct lack of diversity in this book, so if you are looking for a book that will represent diverse perspectives, this probably isn't it. The book is very white-centered. The only person of color that I can remember is **minor spoiler** 

a drug addict who is attacked

, which is disappointing to say the least. I don't even think that Quincy is best represented as a white woman throughout the text either. She, and Sam, are constantly defined by the men in their lives and their relationships to them. For example, I was disappointed that a lot of Quincy's relationships with men were constructed so shallowly even though presumably she had deep connections to them (i.e., they were based on sex rather than intimacy). I found that Quincy was treated as more of an object than a person at points, even with her very real faults. I think that this did render Quincy somewhat shallow and hindered her development. 

At the end, when Quincy says that she wants to teach someone else how to be Final Girl, I had no idea what that meant, as Quincy barely seemed to have any character development in the text at all until the final few pages.

 

Pacing (now for the negative)
There are parts of this book that feel slow and disconnected. It isn't even clear what Sam is there for until the last 1/3 of the book where most of the plot comes together. While it is a mystery/thriller, I think that the middle portion of the book was meant to sow distrust in Quincy and/or show her growth, but I think it did neither very well. This is part of the reason why I put the book down and forgot about it for a while. I would have appreciated a bit more agency from Quincy throughout, perhaps having her do more investigating throughout the book rather than galivanting around with Sam.

Overall Review
I give this book 3.5 / 5 stars. I think that it is traditional within the mystery/thriller genre, although not really pushing any boundaries that I can think of. It was definitely a decent read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping