Final Girls- by Mira Grant- This one is about dream therapy used to correct trauma from past experience. A familiar scenario in the ever-expanding use of VR tech in gaming, movies and in print. Reminds me a bit about Roger Zelazny's He Who Shapes from half a century ago. In this case the individuals undergoing the treatment are put through a series of horrific encounters tailored to their particular dynamic, in the hopes of finding closure or at the least answers to what is haunting them. The writing is full of informed asides which can put some people off, but I enjoyed its style and wit. I'm not much of a horror fan but Mira Grant(Seanan McGuire) is very good at working the well used tropes, bringing a taste of something new and adding lasting dread to her designs.

I would say this novella is mildly interesting. It never really grabbed me, but it was never really dull either. I found the whole "virtual reality as a therapeutic device" concept intriguing, but it wasn't enough to build a story around. If the twists had been more surprising, it would have had more impact, but nothing that happened shocked me. Don't go out of your way to read this one, but if it looks interesting to you, it might be something you'd enjoy.
Thanks to Netgalley and Subterranean Press for the chance to read this.

Great book. Excellent storyline and wonderful main characters. I would highly recommend this book.

Oh em gee! Can this woman do no wrong? This is a Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire work so I preordered it the first chance I got and of course threw out a request on NetGalley. It's just what you do when your favorite living author announces something new. Final Girls is also a Subterranean Press novella. I love these things! They're expensive, true, but so worth it when you can afford them. Go over to their site at HERE and check out all the pretties! I've bought books from them based solely on the the beautiful covers.

Back to Final Girls, Esther is a science reporter looking to debunk a new psychological treatment innovated by Dr. Jennifer Webb. It's basically a drug induced VR dream/hallucination in a horror movie written by Dr. Webb's staff. Esther agrees to undergo a session in the VR pod and Jennifer joins her in the dream session after Esther is already under. After that the two live through a horror movie. It's tense and fantastic.

Ms. Grant does horror so so well, that I don't think I need to tell you that this is a perfect subject for her. If you liked Feed or Parasite, you'll most likely enjoy this as well. The only problem is that it's a novella and therefore there's not enough of it.

The pacing is perfect for a novella and it has the author's signature excellent writing. I will read everything she writes and was looking forward to something new from the Mira Grant pseudonym as she breaks away from fantasy and branches out more. I hope she keeps teaming up with SubPress to write more of these because they're quick and fun. They also, like her short stories, pack quite an emotional punch in a small package.

This seems to be the year of Mira Grant aka Seanan McGuire, for me. I started the year with Rolling in the Deep, and I've read a couple of other Mira Grant and Seanan McGuire books since. Final Girls is what you'd expect of the Mira Grant half of the persona: a little horrifying, psychological, more towards the realistic speculative fiction end. This one examines the idea of a system that drugs people into receptivity, puts them into a simulated situation, and thus fixes their hangups and flaws. Sisters who hate each other can become friends, and lasting friendships can be forged based on fictional scenarios of blood and sacrifice and horror. It doesn't even have to be that realistic: it just has to feel real.

One of the main characters, Esther, is sceptical about the truth of all this. It seems too good to be true, especially since her life was severely impacted by the false conclusions of people who went through regression therapy. As you'd expect, things go wrong.

Grant/McGuire's writing is as good as usual, and the conclusion to the plot comes as a bittersweet surprise. Something is salvaged from the situation, but there's a lot of damage along the way. Because it's a novella, it doesn't do more than hint at the long-term effects of the technology it explores. Instead, we experience it, its failures and its saving graces, through the characters. It works well.

Review link live 23rd March 2017.