Sloan and Cherry meet each other as summer camp counselors and immediately become fast friends that quickly evolves into deeper feelings. The girls enjoy getting the camp ready for the kids to arrive the following week and they also like and get along with the other counselors and are having fun while also getting paid for their time. One night their camp is attacked by a man wearing a carved wooden rabbit's mask and swinging a hatchet while killing every person that night except two survivors, Sloan and Cherry (The Last Girls Standing).

A few months later the two girls are inseparable where Sloan has alienated herself from all her former friends since she is just an empty shell living each day in unfathomable fear of the unknown. Their need and love for one another is built on the foundation of two girls surviving a horrific massacre which tore their lives apart while trying to find a so called normal way of thinking and living again. Cherry is the strong one in the relationship while Sloan suffers severe PTSD including daily nightmares where she wakes up screaming night after night. If Cherry is suffering the same way she certainly hides it well. The main reason Sloan depends on Cherry so much is she has no conscious memory of the events that took place that night except for a few, tiny bits and pieces so that everything she knows about the massacre comes from what Cherry has told her since she literally saved Sloan's life when Sloan appeared to have entered a catatonic state of frozen fear and couldn't move a muscle to save herself.

Sloan is trying hypnotherapy hoping to gain her memories back from that night which upsets Cherry since she feels the horrific visions could destroy Sloan even further. Sloan is struggling and wants her memories back so much that she's starting to think some of Cherry's stories aren't adding up and maybe Cherry has lied to her about some things especially when she innocently comes across a couple of odd and inappropriate items at Cherry's house that seem so wrong that Sloan thinks there is so much more that happened that night with her blind spots and maybe Cherry has been lying and possibly involved with the killers in some way. Now, Sloan makes it her mission to discover the truth at all costs especially if her life is on the line once again!

Well,.this was an unexpected type of horror book! I had prepared myself for a gruesome, gory sort of entertainment but this was more of a psychological thriller in my opinion. This certainly wasn't a silly, bloody slasher story but a heavy post traumatic look at one girl's experience with trying to recover from an insurmountable type of tragedy and trauma and making puzzle pieces fit where they don't belong and pushing away all the people who truly care about her because she doesn't want to burden them and also thinks they couldn't possibly understand what she's going through so it's best to stay only with the only person in the world who understands her and is also the only other person in the world except the killer who knows what really happened that night.

The book took a different turn where I was surprised at the depth of emotion which played out. I expected to be horrified with bloody terror but instead I felt such sadness for these girls especially Sloan. I wish more had been explained about what Cherry was going through since it seemed hard to believe that both girls experienced the same brutal tragic night. I wanted to know more of Cherry's story and heartache if any! I felt disconnected to Cherry's trauma since it really wasn't addressed and that was somewhat disappointing for me.

This was an intelligent and unique YA horror but geared for anyone seventeen and up (not younger). All.in all I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it to any reader who likes mystery/thriller stories revolving around teenagers and their angst. There were also many funny and cute moments within all the drama so this book was definitely entertaining and a worthwhile read.

I want to thank the publisher "Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!


I have given a rating of 3 1/2 UNEXPECTED SLASHING 🌟🌟🌟🌠 STARS!!

I love horror/thriller novels that take place in or around creepy summer camps! It is one of my favorite tropes in horror novels and this one was no exception. The protagonist, Sloan, was relatable and her fear/anxiety felt very real. One caveat: the constant reference to Cherry and Sloan's romantic endeavors seemed unnecessary. I fully love and appreciate the relationship issues but that drew me out of the story. Overall, a solid read.

How do you move on after you are one of two lone survivors of a summer camp massacre? All Sloan's family and former friends want her to do is heal and move on with the rest of her life, but it isn't that easy. The only person who Sloan thinks understands her is her girlfriend Cherry, the other loan survivor of that fateful night. But has more information comes out about the men that attacked the camp in a ritual killing, everything Sloan thinks she knows about that night changes. Was Cherry involved in that night? Did she know it was going to happen? Will Sloan survive what happens next?

Author Jennifer Dugan is showing that she is not afraid to explore genre. As a fan of her YA and adult romances, I was thrilled to see that she was diving into the YA thriller realm.

Overall I found this book to be a generally okay first thriller. I will gladly read anything Dugan puts out and I think with this first thriller under her belt, future novels will only continue to get stronger.

What I thought worked well: I LOVE an unreliable narrator/protagonist and the story continuously left me with an anxious, unnerving feeling that I crave with a thriller. Dugan successfully put us in Sloan's head while still writing in third person. The twists and turns through the second half of the book truly left me guessing and I did NOT see that ending coming.

What I wish worked better: I wish the mental health aspect had been handled with more care in the therapy/hypnosis sessions, it tended to read like the author did not know anything about seeking treatment for PTSD/C-PTSD and overall felt out of touch. The pacing of this book also felt off to me, the first half seemed to have little to no plot development and then a million twists and turns were crammed into the last 20% of the book.

Overall, an okay first thriller and I forever remain a Jennifer Dugan stan.

great book!! I enjoyed the thrille of the story.

The way it was written it was so easy to follow along! the story was so good and it really gave me the scream and horror movie feeling ! it was fantastic!

Listen. I know the ending of this book will probably be pretty controversial for a lot of readers, but I honestly didn't mind it. It kind of came out of left field and I liked that once I gave myself time to mull it over. I didn't really enjoy much else about this book though, which I am so sad about. I read Jennifer's debut right after it came out and have been excited about every subsequent release since. Her contemporary writing is so easily consumable, and I always leave her books feeling like the time spent reading them was worth it. Unfortunately, this book's writing wasn't my favorite. Though the characters are supposed to be unlikable and the relationship is supposed to be toxic in the context of the story, the pacing of a thriller is definitely not supposed to be this slow. I kept finding myself getting bored while reading and I only pushed myself to finish the book because I wanted to see how everything would tie up. Another gripe I had with the books is the synopsis. The description pushes you to think that the book is going to take one route, so when it didn't totally get there, I was extremely disappointed. I pushed myself through to the end of the book only for what I thought was being promised when I picked it up not to happen? On the bright side, the cover is absolutely gorgeous, but I wish that the story on the inside was just as great.

I’m a fan of Jennifer Dugan’s YA and adult romance novels, and I loved the premise. Unfortunately, the book didn’t measure up to my expectations. I was hoping for a sapphic spin on the Christopher Pike teen horror books I grew up loving. At the very least, I thought we’d eventually get more glimpses of the campground slaughter scattered throughout as Sloan unraveled the mystery.

Instead, it hyperfocused on Sloan and Cherry’s toxic, codependent relationship and Sloan’s rapidly declining mental health. Both were frustrating to read about.

This not a thrills and chills book. This is a mess with your mind book.

Perhaps my disappointment was my own fault. While the title and cover both scream “horror” the book is correctly advertised as a YA psychological thriller.

Part of the problem was that the most interesting part of the story happened before the book started. And since the Sloan had no memory of the events, I was robbed of what drew me to the book in the first place.

I considered giving up several times, but like Sloan, I wanted answers. Heck, I needed answers. After slogging through Sloan’s trauma and screwed up romance, I deserved answers.

There were no answers. The ending was WTF, and not in a good way. And as if that wasn’t irksome enough, this book also checks all three boxes of my least favorite lesbian cliché that has been overdone to death.

Jennifer Dugan is a talented writer, but this wasn’t the right story for me. I’ll stick to her romances from now on. If you’re looking for a gay Gone Girl, however, this book might be for you.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

Not what I was expecting, but damn, if this wasn’t compulsively readable. Fast-paced, confusing, stressful? and action-packed, this was a great slasher novel, but it did feel like there were too many threads being pulled, so there was a lot of confusion to muddle through, and it didn’t end in an expected way. This was unputdownable, and complicated, and dark. Maybe a bit too much going on, but I did enjoy it!

This was my first thriller in years, and it did not disappoint. I loved Jennifer's writing from Coven, and I had a large feeling that I would enjoy this one despite thrillers not being my thing.

Sloan and Cherry bonded in their traumatic experience when masked killers had a murder party at their camp. Sloan and Cherry are inseparable, but Sloan begins to suspect Cherry's role in everything.

This was fantastic. It gave 80s slasher with queer representation and it served. I was hooked very early on although the start was a tad slow. The twists and turns that this story took me on was amazing. I can't wait tor ead more of Jennifer's work!

As the sole survivors of a summer camp massacre, Cherry and Sloan have a bond few people can understand. Sloan has been having a harder time moving on from the trauma due to her memory loss of that fateful night. Unable to let it go, she begins her own investigation into what happened that night, hoping to gain her memories back, however she gains more than she handle. This took a heartbreaking turn. Watching Sloan lose more and more of herself as the book went on was hard to read, but I really enjoyed this one. I thought Sloan was relatable, there was plenty of mystery, and I appreciated this for what it was. 4/5 stars! The cover art is amazing and I think it will make a lot of people pick up the book. Loved the slasher tropes.

I thought the constant twists in the book really sold it for me. The switch from a slasher to a story of a cult /conspiracy group was gradual and well done in my opinion. I found Sloan and Cherry to be slightly toxic but still made sense for two individuals who went through so much. My major critique would be that the book was 100 pages longer to really drag out the mystery and background of Sloan and per parentage.

O M G. What to say about this book I don’t even know. I was obsessed with this story. Sloan and Cherry were very real and raw to me. I was enraptured by the story of the massacre and Sloan’s process of healing and trying to recover her memory. Whatever Sloan currently was theorizing happened, I was right there with her. The writing was fast pace and easy to follow. It was a fun book to read in a sitting. Without giving the ending away, I did predict the last twist. The ending was like slap to the face. I truly recommend this book so much.

🛑SPOILERS BELOW🛑

The spiral that Sloan went down following the cult was incredibly written. I was disappointed that the ending wasn’t nearly wrapped up and had some loose strings; why did Cherry go for the knife in the first place? Protection or what? But honestly, it fit the book so well. I’m not used to liking sad endings, but I think this was a great end to the book.

OMG I have some mixed feelings on this one.

A masked group enters a campground and murders 8 people. There are two survivors, and this is the aftermath. Told from the POV of Sloan who has no memory of the events that occured past the first screams and being found covered in someone else's blood with wounds of her own.

I absolutely loved the premise of this. We see Sloan go through therapy and be hypnotized in an attempt to regain those lost memories. We learn that the group responsible is a cult. As a big "fan" of cult knowledge it was interesting to learn the beliefs, rituals, and history of this fictional murderous group. Sadly, that was the only thing that kept me reading.

Sloan is not likable. She's very co-dependent, ungrateful, needy, dramatic, and annoying. Now with horror it can go one of two ways. Either the reader knows this is 100% fictional or would never happen in real life. OR there is an uneasy knowledge that this could or in some cases has already happened.

I feel like this story fell in the second category and because of that I couldn't help but feel disappointed that there was a lack of interaction or character building in regard to Sloan's family and friends. I felt like they were dangled in front of me to create a connection and then just put on a shelf.

Overall, it was a smooth read, entertaining, and had a the appeal of the occult.

YA thrillers will forever be my favorite thrillers. there's just something about them, and the last girl standing? hit all those checkmarks for what i love in a YA thriller! you can tell that she got inspiration from 80's slashers and i LOVE that. 80's slashers are so good. but add lgbtqia+ representation to 80's slashers? now THAT is my cup of tea! this left me saying "ummmm what the heck am i reading" multiple times in such an amazing way!

Unfortunately this book is a huge mess and as much as I love Jennifer Dugan's YA's, this book was absolutely terrible.

great comment , great writing ….i think this novel would appeal to people like this tripe but also would speak to people who don’t read this genre regularly

Fans of The Counselors and You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight might enjoy this YA thriller.
🏕️
Sloan and Cherry met as camp counselors, having just finished their senior year. After knowing one another for only a short time, they trauma bond over the fact that they are the only two survivors of a mass shooting that killed everyone at the camp. Now the two girls are joined at the hip, with Sloan still struggling with survivor’s guilt and paranoia. Sloan starts to think everyone around her is gaslighting her…even Cherry. Sloan survived a horrific event; will she survive the aftermath?
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This was definitely marketed wrong by the publishers. It was not like One of Us is Lying other than they’re both thriller books. I enjoyed the queer representation, but, man, were Sloan and Cherry toxic! The ending left me cold and most of the book is a deep character dive, not so much about the mystery. I enjoy reading this author, but I believe her first foray into this genre wasn’t a hit (in my opinion),

CW: death, mass shooting (theme), paranoia, gaslighting, toxic relationship

This book was giving me such 80s vibes and I dont even know why!!! I really liked it. Would totally recommend.

This was a great book! I have never read this author and would definitely like to read others. The main character was extremely likable and the killer is someone you never imagine would be involved. I wasn't aware there were other books in this series. I will be looking for them now. If you're a thriller fan, this is definitely one for you.

I was really excited for this book. I love slasher type thrillers and this was giving me Final Girls by Riley Sager vibes from the summary. Unfortunately it did not meet my expectations whatsoever. There wasn't a single character that I liked and so many questions weren't answered. I didn't like the ending. I thought it was weird and not in a good way and it was also a bit confusing. Sloan's actions at the end of the book make no sense since there weren't any indicators that foreshadowed it happening. It wasn't believable.

Are you a fan of summer camp slasher stories? Have you ever wondered how the surviving victim’s lives are impacted after those horrific events?

Enter The Last Girls Standing.

This book takes a deep dive into the psychological impacts of survival for our main characters Sloan and Cherry. While this story is told through the eyes of Sloan, she is constantly with Cherry, so the reader feels a deep connection with both girls. From the start, it is clear that Sloan struggles with her memories and emotions connected to their ordeal. It can be hard to watch as she starts to unravel at times, but Dugan portrays that in a way that feels genuine. This also leaves the door open for Dugan to utilize Sloan as our unreliable narrator and right alongside her we start to doubt Cherry and everyone close to Sloan.

I’m not sure that I would categorize this book as a thriller or a horror story. There are certainly elements of both, especially when it comes to the ending, but the majority of the story feels more like a character study. Perhaps I would call it more thriller/horror-adjacent. It’s certainly geared toward those genre readers. There is a slower pace and detailed structure to this story that I think would have been beneficial to know before I started and been able to set my reading expectations accordingly.

This is one that is worth pushing through the slower start to hit the tension towards the middle and ultimate grand finale of a twisty ending.

A huge thank you to Bookish First for my gifted copy!