In this YA thriller, Cherry and Sloan are the "last girls standing" in a camp massacre. Once Sloan begins investigating what happened, she finds out more than she bargained for. The story is told in Sloan's POV.

I was really excited to read this - the cover art is amazing and the book description sounded right up my alley. After what they experienced at the camp, it's not unimaginable to see how these two ended up being together and being each other's everything. But the relationship is very toxic (to the point of full-blown obsession, including stalking). Things started picking up in Chapter 5. Once I hit Chapter 15, I couldn't put the book down because I *needed* to know what happened next. Without giving away the meat of the story, I wish the storyline didn't feel rushed. The progression from being paranoid about her girlfriend's involvement in the cult-related murders to believing in the doctrine of the cult was a bit rushed. There was no gradual decline of mental facilities. Bam, boom, it's done. One chapter she's investigating, the next shes in a full fledged mental break. I would have liked to have seen more development in that regard.

That being said, I really enjoyed The Last Girls Standing. It's dark, it's LGBTQIA inclusive and it definitely sets itself apart from the standard lone survivor trope. Being geared towards ages 14+, I feel like the content is appropriate for those not wanting to read heavy sexual content.

Jennifer Dugan you have my heart. I have already been a huge fan of J Dugan but I didn’t know she could do mystery and murder like this. Chefs freaking kiss.

It was alright. The story didn't immediately grip me and it took me some time to warm up to the book. However, it definitely had its good moments. I can see young readers liking this one.

Two final girls, survivors of a camp massacre, and girlfriends. Sloan and Cherry survived the massacre at their camp where two masked men with machetes attacked their fellow counselors and killed everyone but them. Now months later they are inseparable, their trauma bonding them because what they went through only both of them understand. Yet Sloan is left with so many questions and it doesn’t help that she doesn’t have any clear memories of the night except for what Cherry told her what happened. The more she tries to unlock those memories the more questions she has as to why she survived, why the men wanted to kill them, and what their motive was....., but as she digs deeper she begins to question if she can even trust Cherry and how far this conspiracy goes. Her memories are unreliable, her love for Cherry is being questioned, and everything is being scrambled. Can she figure out the truth before its too late or is Cherry also a monster? This was a mystery that jumped back and forth between the present and past and deals with an unreliable narrator. The overall ending was meh, and Sloan was constantly back and forth with whether she loved Cherry and trusted her and if she even cared because she knew she was dependent on Cherry. If you enjoy unreliable narrator mystery thrillers then definitely give this one a go.

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I adore Jennifer Dugan - her writing is always so fantastic and relatable - and I've read nearly all of her YA fiction. As a horror fan, I was especially excited to see that she'd tackled a YA thriller/horror novel, as I have a real soft spot for YA horror and I was excited to see Dugan write outside her typical genre. "The Last Girls Standing" is a sapphic story about two girls who were the sole survivors of a massacre occuring at summer camp. Our protagonist is Sloan, deeply traumatized by her experiences and haunted by the memories she can't quite remember about that fateful night. Her girlfriend is Cherry, vivacious, take charge and mysterious. When Sloan starts trying to get her memories back, she begins to worry that perhaps the massacre that permeates her nightmares isn't as resolved as the police had led her to believe.

This was a quick, enjoyable read. Dugan as always is really good with creating layered, interesting characters that have good qualities and bad, and uses those bad qualities to make an interesting thriller that keeps you guessing. About 60% through I was certain I knew where the book was going and I was wrong, which is awesome! Unfortunately I feel like the ending was weak; without going into depth, a character did an about-face and it wasn't telegraphed quite well enough to feel realistic once it happened. Still, any fan of YA horror will enjoy this book and it's certainly a wonderful late-summer horror tale perfect for staying up late wtih!

I was not impressed with this book. I was promised a cultish murder mystery and I got… a traumatize girl going psycho.

The opening was incredibly slow and nothing major happens until like 100 pages in. And then when things do start happening, everyone brushed Sloan off like her suspicions don’t hold any possibility and that maybe she needs to really see that things are coincidence.

And then we get to the end and Sloan kills Cherry because in the span of two pages suddenly the cult stuff makes sense to her. Like.. what?

This queer YA psychological thriller, written by Jennifer Dugan, is a gripping and intense read that will leave readers on the edge of their seats. The story follows Sloan and Cherry, two survivors of a summer camp massacre who are trying to uncover the truth behind the horrific event. The bond between the two main characters is palpable, and readers will be drawn in by the complexity of their relationship.

Dugan skillfully weaves together a story that is both emotionally charged and suspenseful. As the plot progresses, the tension builds, and the mystery deepens. The pacing is excellent, with just the right balance of action and introspection, and the narrative keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end.

The characters in this book are well-developed and multi-dimensional, and the author does an excellent job of exploring the psychological effects of trauma on the survivors. The relationship between Sloan and Cherry is particularly compelling, as they struggle to navigate the aftermath of the massacre and the unsettling realization that they may not know everything about each other.

Overall, this is a compelling and thought-provoking read that explores themes of trauma, memory, and identity. Dugan's writing is engaging and evocative, and the plot is both twisty and satisfying. This book is highly recommended for fans of psychological thrillers and YA fiction.

I adored the story, the world building was amazing. I love meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it. The writing was also really nice. I couldn't put the book down and I can't wait for others to read and enjoy this story as well.

Thank you so much to Penguin Teen for providing me with an eArc! I enjoyed the memory loss and Sloan's dire need for recovery. Cherry was ok, I liked that at one point that Sloan was worried they only bonded because of trauma, I liked that it didn't just die down. While I understand her attachment to Cherry as well as her attitude towards the people in her life from the "before" there were times when their relationship seemed a bit unhealthy and fragile. Cherry seemed manipulative at certain moments to me, I feel like the author left out some very important details like Sloan's birth parents. Instead of Sloan herself finding this out, the audience and her are told which I felt took away some of the impact of certain discoveries(at least to me).

I love Jennifer Dugan’s books so I was really excited to read her first YA thriller.

This book had a lot of elements I love! Summer camp setting, slasher vibes, cults.

I felt like this book was a little all over the place for me. The whole plot and the characters were just too disjointed. I didn’t love the ending 😅

This is a love letter to the 80s slasher genre I never knew I needed! Scream meets Friday the 13th, I was obsessed with the twists and turns, and I can't believe how many times I kept going back and forth about who was involved. It completely caught me off guard, which never happens, and it is seriously the perfect book for summer. It's everything I love in a book, complete with a summer camp setting and all the gory scenes you could want as a horror fan! Don't skip this.

I have always been a fan of Jennifer Dugan's work. I was surprised to see a darker book coming from her but was also excited. The Last Girls standing was full of twists and turns! I was scared at times and felt fear for many of the characters. It is one of those books where you do not know who to trust. Sloan and Cherry being the only survivors of a tragic incident that Sloan doesn't remember causes quite the mystery. I also love that there is a sapphic romance at the center of this book! If I was going to change anything I would make the other characters of the book more present, but overall an interesting YA psychological thriller.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for letting me read this early in exchange for review!


I’m so sad that I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would, the premise is fantastic but the ending didn’t do justice to the story. It felt really lack luster.