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A review by michellekiara
Final Girls by Riley Sager
dark
mysterious
tense
3.5
I’m honestly addicted to Riley Sager’s writing style. It is so easy to get through and just says things as they are without any need to read between the lines. The premise of Final Girls about three survivors of different massacres living completely different lives, only for one of them to suddenly die, was so intriguing and such a fun concept, especially for a horror enthusiast like me.
I thought it was really interesting because most horror movies end with a final girl surviving, but I have not seen much media that explores what happens to them afterward. The trauma, the survivor’s guilt, and how they even begin to move on. Seeing the main character’s “normalcy” slowly unravel after finding out a fellow final girl died gave such a fresh perspective on survival and its aftermath.
That being said, I felt a bit weird after finding out Riley Sager is actually a man named Todd Ritter. This whole time I thought he was a woman, especially since most of his main characters have been women (Based on my research, he eventually wrote a male MC but in the first seven years of his career as Riley Sager, all his main characters have been female). Reading about a female character losing her virginity and almost getting raped felt off once I realized it was written by a man. I also could not shake the feeling that his ambiguous, slightly feminine-leaning pen name was meant to appeal to female readers who might assume he is a woman too. When I checked Twitter and some reviews, I saw I was not the only one surprised to learn the author’s true gender.
I thought it was really interesting because most horror movies end with a final girl surviving, but I have not seen much media that explores what happens to them afterward. The trauma, the survivor’s guilt, and how they even begin to move on. Seeing the main character’s “normalcy” slowly unravel after finding out a fellow final girl died gave such a fresh perspective on survival and its aftermath.
That being said, I felt a bit weird after finding out Riley Sager is actually a man named Todd Ritter. This whole time I thought he was a woman, especially since most of his main characters have been women (Based on my research, he eventually wrote a male MC but in the first seven years of his career as Riley Sager, all his main characters have been female). Reading about a female character losing her virginity and almost getting raped felt off once I realized it was written by a man. I also could not shake the feeling that his ambiguous, slightly feminine-leaning pen name was meant to appeal to female readers who might assume he is a woman too. When I checked Twitter and some reviews, I saw I was not the only one surprised to learn the author’s true gender.