Sloan and Cherry. Cherry and Sloan. What started as a magical summer of first kisses and camp counselor fun turned into a nightmare as a fox-masked machete wielding killer slashed and hacked their way through the camp’s director and all their friends. Only Sloan and Cherry survived-Cherry has her memories of that horrific night but Sloan’s have disappeared.

Their trauma has bonded them. Summer fling girlfriends before, now inseparable codependent lovers clinging to only one another and turning their back on everyone else. But when things start not adding up as Sloan’s memories slowly start returning, she wonders if maybe…just maybe…Cherry is staying close for a reason, and maybe Cherry’s motivations for keeping Sloan close is far more sinister than it first appeared.

This was a super interesting delve into trauma and a great twist on the summer camp slasher narrative. It’s a look after the credits roll at what happens to the survivors, their friends, and their families. This was a great thriller, although I wish it hadn’t gone so quick at the end. I would have loved it to be LONGER-the story was so engaging that I wish this had just had another few chapters to really expand on the characters and the complicated aspects of the mind.

Release date: August 14th, 2023.

Huge thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley for my ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. On one hand, it was a super quick read that I finished in one day no problem. I was drawn in by the promise of finding out what happened to the night our final girls survived and who was or wasn't involved. However, I found the writing to be rather repetitive, like the author really wanted to hammer home every. single. clue. I also wasn't thrilled with the pacing at the end of the novel — I felt like the resolution was quite rushed, which didn't leave me feeling very satisfied. But if you love YA psychological thrillers and aren't turned off by the CWs, this might be for you.
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CWs: mass murder, violence, trauma, PTSD, nightmares, trauma bonding, paranoia, mental illness, death, gore, cults, toxic relationships

This book was disappointing. The premise is really cool and it didn't follow through. The trauma depictions alone were wildly problematic and incorrect. Don't get me wrong you don't always have to get that spot on. But 60% of this book is the characters different trauma responses. Something that takes up that much time needs to be well researched and done well. Also that was an incredibly annoying ending. It didn't fit Sloans character at all. It made zero sense and kind of wasted a good set up for using the cult.

I am still trying to process what I just read. This is a fast paced read jam packed with wtf moments.

The Last Girls Standing is a love letter to 80s slasher movies. We have two women, Cherry and Sloan, who were new counselors for a summer camp. Just before the camp was to open, a group of men came in and killed everyone but the two women. Months later the two are inseparable as they try to deal with their traumatic experience. Cherry remembers what happens but Sloan doesn't which makes Sloan start to think that Cherry is hiding something from her. Was Cherry a part of this or just as much a victim as Sloan?

As stated this novel is a love letter to 80s slasher movies. There are many nods to those films to make any horror fan smile. And I am one of them. It was one of the reasons I wanted to read the book so bad. It clearly shows that the author is also a fan of those movies as well.

There are many moments where you begin to doubt the narrator making Sloan an unreliable narrator. She begins to doubt her girlfriend thinking she had something to do with the massacre. There are scenes that made us doubt the actions or motives of Cherry as well. The ending came as quite a shock too.

I give this a 4 out of 5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and will be recommending it to all my horror friends.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin group Penguin Young Readers Group/G.P Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for giving me a copy of this eARC.

Thank you netgalley and publishers for providing an eARC of this book for review!
This book had me hooked from the beginning. I read it all in one sitting because I just HAD to find out the truth. Cherry sounded like such a supporting girlfriend that at some points I was convinced she was just a little TOO supportive and questioned why she was so protective over Sloan. One thing I will say is the book felt a little unresolved, like I felt like I knew the answer but am unsure. I'm not exactly one for ambiguous endings, especially since it felt like the character had lost their marbles. This is definitely a book that has you questioning everyone involved and wondering if motives are good natured or if theyre hiding something.

Ugh. I wanted to love this book. A YA thriller with queer main characters? Summer camp? It had so much potential. The book dragged at times, parts felt repetitive. The portrayal of someone dealing with PTSD is problematic throughout the book. (And hypnotism, really?) However, the ending was really the problem. Trying to think of how to explain without having spoilers, but it made no sense for a person to behave that way and it felt rushed. Like let’s flip a switch and wrap it up. This was an advance copy (thanks net galley), so I guess there is hope they could change the ending before final publishing?

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!
This book was very enjoyable and kept me turning the page to know what happened next. I couldn’t put it down! An excellent YA psychological thriller. The characters were well-developed, and at times I forgot I was even reading words, because the imagery was so vivid.
The only complaint I have is how abrupt the ending was, but I suppose a longer one wouldn’t have made sense for how things wrapped up.

I love slasher movies and I was very excited to read this book. I pictured Sloan and Cherry as Toni & Cheryl from Riverdale but yikes they were very toxic. Their relationship really ruined the book for me - Cherry clearly has issues from her relationship with her mom and treats Sloan like crap. Sloan is just annoying - we get it Cherry is perfect and can do no wrong and you wish you were her. I don't like codependency and I understand they are young but it was just too much and made the book a convuluted mess of hormone love.

First and foremost I love the cover. Gives me classic horror slasher vibes and that instantly made me want to read this book.
In this queer YA psychological thriller from the author of Some Girls Do and Hot Dog Girl, the sole surviving counselors of a summer camp massacre search to uncover the truth of what happened that fateful night, but what they find out might just get them killed.
I for sure was sucked in by the two ‘last girls’ as they are called. It for sure was a slow burn for me in the beginning. You know unraveling the massacre that got us to the point where the book starts. The trauma that the girls went through and things like that. But about almost half way through is where things got interesting and I speed up fast enough.
But the ending was kind of anti climactic and kind of dragged to get to the point. For sure a book that falls right in the middle. Not good to bad. Just okay.

Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin Publishing for a ARC in exchange for a honest review

This has a really strong openeinh which sets up a mystery so intriguing it had me sneaking chapters while at work because I wanted to know so badly what happened.

Unfortunately, the middle section of the book isn't nearly as strong. It has a repetitive feeling to it, with the same characters having effectively the same conversations multiple times. It is a testament to how strong the setup was that despite this, I continued to rush for the ending, each new piece of information (when such things were finally revealed) spurring me on more and more.

The ending, then, was not very satisfying to me. It felt like a lot of time had been wasted in the middle, causing all the vital build-up to be crammed into the last few chapters. I thought this made the ending feel very rushed, and perhaps not as believable as it otherwise could have been.

Horror is pretty popular with the teens in my library right now, and a lot of them seem to gravitate towards slasher type of stories. The "final girl" and summer camp tropes that this book builds on are pretty appealing to that crowd, so I do think that it would find its readership if put in your YA horror collection. It just wouldn't be my first pick as a recommendation.

I wanted to love this book after reading the blurb but it really missed the mark. The characterization was poor, the plot wasn't fleshed out, and so !such was unbelievable.

This book caught me delightfully off guard. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I read it all in one go because I was dying to know what would happen next. The relationship dynamics between Sloan and Cherry, her former friends, her family, it made the blur all the more interesting as you really went along with her for the ride. I really enjoyed this book and will definitely recommend it to all who enjoy this genre.

I want to start by saying I wish the writer had done more research about trauma victims because so much of this was really off kilter about how survivors of violent crime process their experiences.

However, purely based on the story being intriguing and so out of pocket and wild, I really enjoyed it! It was full of dread, lots of red herrings and just overall intrigue. I read it in about 24 hours because I just kept wanting to finish one more chapter!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to like this book so much. It instantly grabbed my interest when I heard about it. A queer slasher book? yesssss.

but it missed it’s mark sadly :( I found the main characters one dimensional and dull. The storyline was kind of a mess and repetitive. I just felt like there was room for so much more character development and for more explanation to the plot and some of the characters’ motives.

While this book wasn’t really for me, I think Jennifer Dugan’s writing style is great for some. The scenery and aesthetics of the camp and the gore were all there. I just didn’t enjoy or connect with Sloan & Cherry quite like I’d hoped I would.

A big thank you to Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers & NetGalley for the arc!

I rarely read rom coms but when I do, they're usually by Jennifer Dugan. She does an excellent job at writing cute queer fiction so I was especially excited when I learned she wrote a book closer to my genre of choice.

Last Girls Standing does something I feel like I'm actively seeing a lot more of in fiction. The aftermath of a slasher event. It's come and gone and we are now buried deep in the trauma of the main characters.

For Dugan's new book, it's a summer camp blood bath. We follow mainly Sloan who can't remember the night several people came with animal masks to kill counselors. She was saved by Cherry, her girlfriend.

While I respect what Dugan was trying to do, I think the novel truly failed. To the point, I felt uncomfortable by the end with how she portrayed someone with trauma. Everyone experiences trauma differently so I'd like to hear more opinions but it felt as if this trauma was an inciting incident that leads to Sloan murdering someone.

The plot was unevenly paced and about half way through I just wanted the "big reveal." It was consistently repetitive and slow in such a way I thought we'd really get to know fully developed characters but we didn't.

This is a shame because I'm always looking for YA genre fiction featuring queer characters. Here we have this horror flavored Sapphic mystery but every twist and turn felt like an annoyance. It really makes me hesitant to share because the readability was challenging due to its repetitive nature then I'd like to hear more opinions on the portrayal of trauma.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for the eARC of The Last Girls Standing in exchange for my honest review.

This, unfortunately, did not work for me at all. It had a really interesting premise and I thought that it was going to be something fully different. The pacing was super clunky and didn’t keep me engaged even though it was pretty short. I know this was meant to show the dangers/toxicity of trauma bonding, but it just left me feeling uncomfortable.

This book had a very interesting premise, and I enjoyed that immensely. It was great to have a a queer young adult book that was also a thriller.

Absolutely loved this book! As a horror fan it brought all of my favorite aspects from slashers and psychological and blended them together beautifully!
This book truly makes you feel like you can't trust anyone, and that was probably one of my favorite things about it!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I was really excited about the premise of this novel, the aftermath of a summer camp massacre. I’m a fan of this type of film, and this is a different perspective I was eager to read. That said, I just didn’t connect with the characters or storyline. However, the pace picks up in the middle, which kept me reading, to the end, which was shocking.

“The Last Girls Standing” by: Jennifer Dugan

When something traumatic happens, how does it mold and shape the lives of those who survive? How do their loved ones learn to love them as the new people that they have become?
Sloan and her girlfriend Cherry are the only two to survive a massacre at the camp they were supposed to have been counselors at for the summer. Sloan, however, does not remember that night. Cherry has supplied the account of what happened. They agreed there are no secrets between them.
Except.
Except Sloan is starting to remember things, different things. Things that do not match up to Cherry’s timeline of events. What really happened that night?
Onto my portion of the review. I liked this book. The author does a good job of weaving the story together. 3.5 stars.