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.
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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!

I am not sure where to start with The Last Girls Standing. I could have loved this book.

We start with our main character Sloan who is in a hypnotist's (Beth) office to try to recount the horrific events that happened to her and her girlfriend (Cherry). The reader gets the vibe at the start of the book that Cherry is not to be trusted. Cherry and Sloan's relationship is very codependent, which I guess is understandable because of the events at camp.

I would say this was a book with more telling than showing. Seeing the actual event happen in “real-time,” instead of the event being fragments of memories would have made for a better story. As the reader, we are stuck in Sloan's head while she tries to piece together the event. Being stuck in Sloan's mind would have been ok if she did not second guess every single thought that she had. I will say that the twist is very much something I could get behind. It just took too long to get there.

Overall I will give it 3 stars. People will love the twist in the story, or they will hate it. I enjoyed the scenes with the camp. I wish there were more scenes with the summer camp background.
Thanks, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group. For providing this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and PRH audio for my review copies. All thoughts are my own.

This was just a let down for me. After finishing it, it left a bad taste in my mouth. By glancing at the synopsis I expected this to be slasher thriller, not a PTSD trauma/mental health book. It was about dealing with the after affects of surviving such an event, and not about the actual slasher attack. The problem was the ending, where the implications on mental health isn't very sensitive. I just disliked it, and I'm sad that's how it all wrapped up.

There's a lovely, co-dependant relationship portrayed, bonding through living a traumatic event. It was nice to see these girls stick with each other, even when outsiders disapproved such a relationship. However, it all kind of devolved and it made me sad.

Overall a fast read, but just meh at the end of the day.

Wow, this book was unlike any other book I've read. There is so much tension in its pages, and so much stress and anxiety that comes with not knowing what happened during Sloan's lost period of time on that fateful night when her fellow camp counselors were murdered.

I found Sloan to be a challenging narrator - not just because she is unreliable due to her memory loss and her mental instability. She also has such dramatic swings between feeling a certain way, then immediately changing her mind. This might be due to the aforementioned things, but as a reader, the constant back and forth drove me crazy while reading because I just felt unsatisfied with everything. Even the ending of this novel is unsatisfying because I'm not really sure I buy it.

I think it's difficult to write a book that details the descent into "madness," especially when it's a teenager, because their minds are already so volatile and underdeveloped. Sloan has gone through trauma, yes, but does this explain how she ends up at the end of the novel? I think the author, towards the end in an almost throwaway comment or two at the last minute, tries to make excuses for why Sloan would turn out the way she does, but I don't think springing "childhood abuse from when she was four years old" is enough to smooth things over and make it make sense. Her life up until the time of murders was relatively normal. Now, is this a "snapped" situation? One traumatic event cutting the threads of Sloan's grasp on normalcy and well-adjusted life? I don't really buy it.

Now, the relationship in this book between Sloan and Cherry is...extremely toxic and I'm surprised that it was allowed, except for the tentative fact that they are technically "new adults." But the fact that they become so co-dependent (or more truthfully, Sloan becomes extremely dependent on Cherry), and are joined at the hip that it really leaves little time for either of them to move on from the trauma that basically brought them together. I was more concerned about this than actually enjoying them as a couple and I think it's difficult to tell whether the author wants this to be a true romance or more of a warning about toxic relationships, because at times it felt one way and then the other.

The ending is not particularly satisfying. I guessed what was going to happen once things began trending a certain way and I was disappointed that the author had chosen this path because, to me, it felt like it cheapened the message that I had been getting previously, which is that sometimes things happen for no reason or are nonsensical because unstable people do horrific things, but there isn't always room for closure or for things to feel completely resolved. Sloan is doubly in trouble because she has amnesia from that night on top of not feeling like she has closure due to how things turned out and that she has survivors guilt. Truthfully, I felt like the author did a disservice to therapy by sort of presenting it as unhelpful. Sloan ends up with a woman who isn't even a certified therapist (as if all other therapy has failed her). I know that not everyone finds therapy helpful, but with so few good portrayals of therapy in media, I think its harmful to basically present therapy as unable to help the main character all for the sake of the ending that the author wanted.

Overall, I'd say the writing is okay, there is a lot of tension and terror, but the real horror is how things turn out for Sloan and Cherry. It's an okay book, but I'm not really of the mind to recommend this one, since I think that it's cons outweigh is pros.

I've never read anything by Jennifer Dugan so I wasn't sure what to expect with her writing style. First, let me say that I grew up on 80s slasher movies and I believe that Dugan did a really good job paying homage to that era of films with this book. It tackled the fear and eeriness of being a last girl standing. The characters were developed decently enough. Sometimes the pacing was off in a noticeable way because it took some time for the story to really pick up. It was an interesting read and, overall, done well.

Talk about an unreliable narrator. This is the story of Cherry and Sloan, the only survivors of a Summer camp massacre, told through Sloan's point of view. The only problem is that Sloan can't remember what happened that night. She is dependent upon Cherry's memories, and that is not enough for her.

This is a wild ride through trauma, grief, and confusion. It is somehow both slow paced, and quick to its conclusion. It was a great concept, but it fell a little flat overall. It is worth the read for slasher fans, but unfortunately didn't live up to the expectations given to me in the book blurb.

Have you ever read a book that you knew where it was going so you just plodded through until you got there? That’s The Last Girl Standing. It was like an airplane ride. You got from start to end with no real surprises. The enjoyment of the story comes from the two survivors and getting to know them. Cherry and Sloan are obviously in a doomed relationship springing from shared tragedy. There is a sad optimism. The story isn’t bad. It’s just kind of good.

Sloan and Cherry are completely bonded together by being the only two survivors of a summer camp massacre. Deeply in love, the two girls know they can rely on each other to help each other through their shared trauma. But Sloan begins to question Cherry’s true intentions, going so far as to wonder if Cherry was in cahoots with the group that perpetrated the killings.

Dugan plays with the book’s reality so well. Just like Sloan is questioning everything, the readers will be too. This is also a really scary read-the flashbacks to the massacre are terrifying of course, but almost scarier is the breakdown of Sloan’s mind. The ending of this book still haunts me. I would recommend this book.

Welcome to a new start of summer camp. Well it would be welcoming if there wasn’t masked men with machetes rampaging through the camp. Sloan and Cherry only just met but now they’re fighting for their lives. And months later they’re inseparable as they process the trauma they went through. But only they can really make light of what happened and why.

This is a queer psychological thriller that was definitely different from the main plots of books I’ve read before. I mean take a summer camp and add in horror and man I’m living for it.

I really loved the characters but sadly some of the story and plot just didn’t do it for me. Sloan and cherry form this bond that I can completely understand, but Sloan was also random in trying to solve why it happened.

If you like ya slasher thrillers set in summer camps, than look no further!