Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan

37 reviews

reading_under_covers's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was much more about dealing with grief and trauma than it was a summer camp slasher (though we did get glimpses and mysteries surrounding that!)

Thankfully, that didn’t take away from me enjoying the overall story, and trying to figure out the pieces of the puzzle was fun.

The ending did leave me with way too many questions tho 😵‍💫

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creolelitbelle's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Very unsettling. Everything from what happened at the camp to events after with Sloan trying to cope in the aftermath was really screwed up. Sloan's mental state and her interactions with those around her made me uncomfortable in a way only a well done slasher that's also worked into a psychological thriller can. Unreliable narrator with missing memories who has an unstable grip on reality and uncertainty of who she can trust. The answers Sloan begs for are not even found by the end... Or are they? 

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skye_era_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I thought I fully figured out the ending 30 minutes into the book. I finished the book a few hours ago and I still don’t actually know if I was right or not lmao. I’m genuinely so confused by the ending. The characters were extremely unlikeable. I understand she just went through the most traumatic thing imaginable but oh my god. I did appreciate the sapphic rep but oh my god was it toxic as fuck. Every single relationship in this book was toxic.

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sonygaystation's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I love it when women are insane!


(i do wish this book had more of the summer camp slasher vibe than it did. It was pretty focused on life after the Event, which did keep me guessing. I feel like I got no answers though and I’ve definitely read better thrillers/horror, queer books, and queer thriller/horror. But it was just unhinged enough to satisfy the insanity palette iykwim. Although the main couple were TERRIBLE together like if I had to hear them fight one more time lmao 😭 as a 29 yo gay person in a committed relationship my young besties if you fight like this I’m gonna need you to do some serious inventory on if “love” is worth it lmfao 😭)

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bethbaty's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This book had so much potential to be a dope mystery with a satisfying ending, and then it was just dark with no real rhyme or reason in the end. Which, if you’re into that, I’m sure this was great. But I kind of hated it.
She’s literally just crazy by the end due to all her trauma and PTSD and murders her own girlfriend happily? Ugh.
I also saw the ending coming and I’ll be honest, I just stopped reading with only a chapter or two left because I knew what was coming and I knew I was going to be mad about it. And then I was right on both fronts. 
The book had SO MUCH potential to be a thrilling rollercoaster of uncovering the truth of a horrific event little by little for one big crazy reveal. But it didn’t do that. Instead, we got a show of mental health and unchecked trauma that spirals out of control. And it feels like the actual main premise is simply poor communication or lack of it altogether. In every single relationship. In painfully obvious and annoying ways. 
The only character I actually liked was Sloan’s ex best friend, and then that just kind of  ✨ went away ✨ and never came back. Even though after understanding and kind he’d been, it seems out of character for him to just never come back? 
Also, I hated—HATED—Cherry and Sloan’s relationship. These girls knew each other for what? 3 days before they trauma bonded and decided they were soulmates and entirely codependent on each other in every aspect of their lives?? They were SO toxic it was gross and made me strongly dislike both of them. 
Finally, I prefer to understand a story and what really happened once it’s over. But we never actually get answers here. Was Sloan right?? Was Cherry lying? Was her mom in on it?? Her dad?? The whole sister Sasha character also seems so random and unexplained honestly. The ending comes, and yeah, Sloan is definitely mentally unwell no matter what, but like… was she right?? What really happened? 
I don’t know. I’m just annoyed and angry now.

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twilik's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

a portrayal of someone falling too deep into conspiracy that felt uncomfortably realistic. every problem that makes it worse is caused by people refusing to talk to each other. it made me feel frustrated more than anything. 

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shaunashares's review against another edition

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

4.0


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fl0tsam's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25


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pey333's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5


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smugreadsbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0


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