This book had every opportunity to be the book that I so wanted it to be. Sloan and Cherry survived masked killers as Summer Camp Counselors. Now, they're working through the survivors' guilt of being the last two left. Sloan has a harder time because her mind has shut out the memory. In search of her memory and the truth, we watch Sloan's rapid mental decline, which honestly just broke my heart.

An ode to final girls and slasher films. A rollercoaster from start to finish. A must read. I highly recommend.

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan follows Sloan and Cherry, the only two survivors of a summer camp massacre. Bonded by trauma, these two characters rely on each other heavily in the months that follow the event. But when new evidence about the crime begins to surface, Sloan begins to wonder how truthful Cherry is being about what happened. Sloan begins her own investigation to try and recover her own memories about the night and decide what the truth is.

This had so many buzz words for me to be excited about. A queer slasher that takes place at a summer camp? Yes! But unfortunately, this book missed for me on almost all levels. Judging other early reviews, I don’t think I’m alone in seeing this trauma representation as very poor. This is a YA book but I could never recommend it to a teenage reader. The characters are also very bland. I never felt connected to either of them in any way. As a reader, I felt very distant.

Sloan is very wishy washy about her feelings about trusting Cherry. Which may have been compelling if it was mentioned once. But it’s an ongoing conversation throughout the entire book. I only read this book because I was curious about how it would end. But I found myself very underwhelmed by the ending because it didn’t seem to fit the narrative at all.

Truly very disappointed in this book as it was one of my most anticipated summer reads.

Summer camp massacre with queer leads? Yes please! The Last Girls Standing is Jennifer Dugan's take on the 80s slasher film, and is a great homage to the genre. Channeling Stefan, this story has everything. Murderers in creepy masks, trauma induced amnesia, final girls, cults...

Cherry and Sloan are the loan survivors of the Money Springs Camp massacre. A few days before the campers were set to arrive, men in masks came onto the campground and murdered all the counselors, except for the two of them who managed to hide until the police arrived. Or at least, that's what Cherry says happened. Sloan doesn't remember most of the night, her mind a blank slate. But Cherry has no reason to lie to her, right?

As Sloan learns more about the group behind the attack, and finds disturbing connections to her and Cherry's pasts, questions begin to arise. Was there more to that night than just random violence? Is she at the center of something more insidious? Or is this all in her head?

Jennifer Dugan is already the author of several YA queer romance novels. As her first foray into horror, The Last Girls Standing is a promising start.

I received this ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

This book sounded amazing which is what motivated me to request it, but unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations. Most of the book was honestly quite boring, and the ending was extremely rushed and just bad. You thought it was going to end one way but then it was something completely different and now that I am thinking about it, felt sort of out of character. Unfortunately, this was not for me.

I have some deeply mixed feelings about this book, and since I don’t know how to talk about my reading experience without discussing plot elements, this review is definitely going to contain vauge-ish spoilers.

I’ve read some of Jennifer Dugan’s other books, and this one was wildly different. The placing and themes were definitely those of a slow-burn thriller, and I liked that I was consistently gaslit by the narrator. Sloan’s progression through the novel was believable and incremental, and I liked that the ending didn’t play into some of the tropes that the rest of the book hinted at re: adoptive families, etc.

But.

The end also made me go, “WTF?” in part because of the loooooooong conversations trying to explain certain aspects of the story. And while I didn’t love all the stuff surrounding the cult of animal-masked murderers and rituals, I understand why Dugan included some of those things. Overall, I enjoyed the ideas, but not necessarily the execution.

That said, up until the ending, the books was a solid four stars for me. And I was literally sitting there at 93% percent white-knuckling it through the end and going, “What is real!?” As for the ending itself, I think it fumbled the landing, but I can’t deny that those last pages were powerful, and the final twist (?) was inevitable. I love this genre, and while this book left me not-quite-satisfied, it was certainly much closer to the mark than The Final Girl Support Group, which tackles similar ideas but with less nuance and subtlety.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

The Last Girls Standing began with an enthralling first chapter. The book follows a queer teen couple, Sloan and Cherry. They survived a massacre at a summer camp shortly before opening for the season.

The plot thickens when it is discovered that the murders wearing animal masks are part of a cult. Sloan, whose memories of the night are foggy, begins to question what really happened that night. She turns toward paranoia.

The plot is promising and familiar with a unique spin. Sloan's paranoia left me questioning the truth of what really occurred that night. I found this ambiguous ending to be too ambiguous. There are too many unanswered questions for my taste.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC of The Last Girls Standing.

Sloan and Cherry go to Camp Money Springs to be counselors after their senior year. They meet there and a romance quickly begins. Just days into their stay a massacre occurs and they are the only two that survive. Sloan goes off the deep end and trouble and mayhem arise.
This was a very creepy read that had me quickly flipping through the pages.
Thanks NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for this ARC that will be released August 15, 2023!

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.