10% First Impressions: Final Girls by Riley Sager
I borrowed this book because the cover attracted me and the book flap description sounded interesting enough. Just about 340 pages long, Final Girls by Riley Sager didn't portend to be a thick and heavy read, another positive. Our protagonist is young adult, presumably white woman Quincy. Quincy was the only survivor of a horrible murder spree. Surviving and narrowly escaping impeding death, such female survivors are coined "final girls." Having been looped with two other girls in a final girls club, years after her life-changing incident, when another final girl dies, Quincy's everyday live is upended.
From the book flap what I gather is our protagonist meets up with the other surviving final girl and sets out to uncover big truths about what really happened. Conveniently for the plot Quincy has amnesia surrounding her experience, so whether it's big truths about her traumatic event or that something besides the shared trauma links the final girls, something is going to be uncovered by the end of this book. I read to the next chapter of 10% so I read the first 38 pages of the book. Four chapters and interspersed flashbacks let me know enough about the character to say I'm not the target audience for this book.
I've never been the person to read thrillers that are found in the drugstores, or even the pulpy thrillers highlighted at the Barnes & Noble. In all honestly, that's this book. The beautiful cover fits. But it's more like I'm not an Upper East Sider (though I think from the context of the story she lives on the West Side). I'm not relating to anything the character is living through. One way or another she has money. She has success as a young adult and lives in an expensive neighborhood. Take out her trauma and leave everything else the same and this reads the life of a well-off white woman. And I can't relate.
There's a point in the book where she talks about having attended group therapy and not having been able to relate to the survivors of other trauma. Obviously, that's a valid point to be made. A murder survivor isn't necessarily going to be able to relate to a rape victim or someone who's been disfigured. Still the way it was phrased came off a bit weird, to me. As if she was saying "my trauma was more than theirs."
All in all, it's a bit milquetoast. The two other girls in the final girls club are Lisa and Sam, the former being the one whose death drives the plot of the story. I'm not not interested, I'm just not excited. Hopefully that changes as I read more, but right now it's a little blah. But if the cover quote is to be believed, according to Stephen King it was the first great thriller of 2017. Really? Okay. Apparently there's talk of a feature film adaptation. That still means nothing for the quality of the book. Anyway, I hope the book gets better?
From the book flap what I gather is our protagonist meets up with the other surviving final girl and sets out to uncover big truths about what really happened. Conveniently for the plot Quincy has amnesia surrounding her experience, so whether it's big truths about her traumatic event or that something besides the shared trauma links the final girls, something is going to be uncovered by the end of this book. I read to the next chapter of 10% so I read the first 38 pages of the book. Four chapters and interspersed flashbacks let me know enough about the character to say I'm not the target audience for this book.
I've never been the person to read thrillers that are found in the drugstores, or even the pulpy thrillers highlighted at the Barnes & Noble. In all honestly, that's this book. The beautiful cover fits. But it's more like I'm not an Upper East Sider (though I think from the context of the story she lives on the West Side). I'm not relating to anything the character is living through. One way or another she has money. She has success as a young adult and lives in an expensive neighborhood. Take out her trauma and leave everything else the same and this reads the life of a well-off white woman. And I can't relate.
There's a point in the book where she talks about having attended group therapy and not having been able to relate to the survivors of other trauma. Obviously, that's a valid point to be made. A murder survivor isn't necessarily going to be able to relate to a rape victim or someone who's been disfigured. Still the way it was phrased came off a bit weird, to me. As if she was saying "my trauma was more than theirs."All in all, it's a bit milquetoast. The two other girls in the final girls club are Lisa and Sam, the former being the one whose death drives the plot of the story. I'm not not interested, I'm just not excited. Hopefully that changes as I read more, but right now it's a little blah. But if the cover quote is to be believed, according to Stephen King it was the first great thriller of 2017. Really? Okay. Apparently there's talk of a feature film adaptation. That still means nothing for the quality of the book. Anyway, I hope the book gets better?
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