Revisiting Riley Sager: Final Girls

- September 19, 2026

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,

As I continue to read my way through Riley Sager's novels, I love looking back at past reviews (and editing them). Here is the first in my series of revisiting my Riley Sager reviews:

Final Girls is written by Riley Sager and is published by Dutton Books. In it we meet Quincy Carpenter, the sole survivor of the notorious Pine Cottage massacre. Ten years later she is a successful vlogger with an up-and-coming baking website called Quincy's Sweets. Quincy is not the girl she used to be. She has long since blocked out the events of Pine Cottage. And with the help of Xanax and her recent engagement, she is happy.

The news arrives that another "Final Girl", Lisa Milner (sole survivor of an Indiana sorority house massacre), is found dead. Was it suicide? The mystery deepens as Samantha Boyd (sole survivor of the Nightlight Inn massacre) ends up on Quincy's doorstep. She does not believe it was suicide. But when a reporter from a tabloid enters into the mix, Quincy begins to remember that night at Pine Cottage. And she is warned that Samantha Boyd may not be telling her the truth.

Final Girls is written with the structure of a mystery novel, and the brutality of a gory slasher film. It also dives deep into the psychology of a survivor. The depictions of post-traumatic lives in this novel gave sympathy to the characters, as well as showed their strength. Using dual timelines, the story is revealed as Quincy's memories of Pine Cottage start to return. And when Sager delivered the shocking twist at the end, I was just as shocked as the main characters were.

I read this book in part with the audiobook read by Erin Bennett and Hillary Huber. Both narrators did a wonderful job reading the current and past narratives. Their voices could be soothing at times, but rough with emotion when the words needed those inflections. I am a fan of both narrators from previous performances. They were the perfect complement to the story.

I gave this book four out of five stars. I was thoroughly entertained by the mystery. The love letter to slasher films of the past had me smiling as a horror movie fan. This is a great novel for Spooky Season.

Let me know what you are reading in the comments below.

Because there is always time to read,

Xepherus3

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