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cait's review
Moderate: Cursing, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Car accident, Cancer, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, and Grief
percys_panda_pillow_pet's review
- 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
3.25
Sager's Final Girls isn't unique in wanting to explore the idea of the final girl further, of what it's like after everything. Previously, there was The Last Final Girl by Stephen Graham Jones in 2012 and later, in 2021, Grady Hendrix's The Final Girl Support Group. All of these books follow a similar storyline: there are these "final girls" who each survive what is by all accounts a massacre and then they are seemingly being killed off until the main character is left. This leaves the main character a "true" survivor, I suppose.
My problem with Sager's Final Girls isn't that there are other books like it, there are many ways to tell the same story after all. More so, I could tell Sager was still inexperienced at writing when it was published. While I appreciated the thematic nature of the past being told in the third person point of view and the present told in first person point of view, since the main character and narrator, Quincy, is unreliable due to her amnesia of the horrible night all her friends were killed; in the end, I found the switch in POV jarring to go between.
As well, I could tell Sager was inexperienced in writing women specifically. Quincy herself was very annoying, and constantly got in her own way. But there was not only a strange love triangle between her, her boyfriend Jeff, and Coop, the cop who saved her life, there were also strange homoerotic tones between Quincy and her female friends/acquaintances. I felt like the was supposed to be a commentary on sexuality perhaps, especially when it comes to final girls (Check out Dead Meat Podcast Episode 15: Final Girl on YouTube for more information about that), but so much of it flopped and came off as cringey.
I liked that Quincy was unreliable and I was intrigued by the complexity of several of the characters. However, they were often too unlikable for me to really invest in them fully, and I constantly found myself hating each and every one of them at different points in the book.
Overall, I personally think that maybe the concept of finals girls should be left to the movies, or perhaps women authors who may be able to understand the deeper fears that persist in today's society of violence against women.
Graphic: Alcohol, Vomit, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Blood, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Suicide, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Classism, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Self harm, Eating disorder, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Police brutality, Sexism, Ableism, Cancer, Misogyny, Racism, and Death
As for the ending,sapphicpenguin's review
4.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Medical content, Gore, Infidelity, Murder, Vomit, Death, Grief, Blood, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Cancer, and Incest
breadwitchery's review
- 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
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Eating disorder, Blood, Sexual assault, and Addiction
Minor: Misogyny, Vomit, Death of parent, Cancer, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Racism, and Cursing
rachaelbunny's review
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Suicide, Alcohol, and Gore
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mass/school shootings, Sexual content, Addiction, Vomit, and Stalking
Minor: Sexual assault, Cancer, Police brutality, and Death of parent
sarah_onyxartemis's review
Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Mental illness
gvspn's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, and Misogyny
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Vomit