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!

Thanks to NetGalley and Jennifer Dugan for the chance to review the spooky new book The Last Girls Standing. Cherry and Sloan are the final two survivors of a massacre at the summer camp that they were counselors for and now Sloan is trying to remember what happened to them so she can move on in her life. This is a fast paced story and I really enjoyed the mystery of what happened to the girls. It’s well written and if you enjoy Riley Sager or Garth Nix then this will be a good fit.

Whaattttt. Okay. I love slasher stories. I love cult stories. But holy crapola this was weird. It kinda seemed to drag on but also headed the direction I was anticipating once the plot broke through. I dunno. It wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t great. It just… is.

Nothing bonds two people together like surviving a slasher together. Sloan and Cherry had met at camp and then a couple of days later were running from masked men with machetes. But Sloan doesn’t remember anything from that traumatic event, and can only rely on what Cherry tells her. Secrets and lies start being uncovered, and Sloan has to figure out the truth.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the eARC of this disquieting horror novel! The premise alone was enough to draw me in; as a fan of slashers for my whole life, I was so ready to jump into a new creation with the age old trope. Jennifer did not disappoint here. The entire book is filled with trauma-- both old and fresh. The way that she handles PTSD is utterly astounding, from Sloan's bad dreams to bonding with the one who pulled her out of the living nightmare. And speaking of Cherry: her relationship with Sloan may be a summer love, but it is a joy to read.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. We are introduced to our protagonist very shortly after her world has been completely turned inside out. Sloan and her girlfriend Cherry are the sole survivors of a massacre at the summer camp they were to be counselors at... but it never got to open. Eight funerals later-- Sloan has totally cut off her old friends, guards herself around her family, and mistrusts her therapist. The only person she will allow herself to be with is Cherry. However, things begin to change as new information comes to light in the investigation of the murders, even that dynamic shifts. Sloan can only trust herself... which is problematic, because she can't even remember what happened the night everyone was killed.

So, with a mountain road's amount of twists and turns and an unreliable narrator-- this story keeps you guessing up until the very last page. I devoured the book in one night, wholly unable to put it down. I was truly taken with the characters in this book. From the central figures to the background players-- each were genuine and varied, and they truly made the tale something special. If you like sapphic romances, cults, and whodunnits; this is the book for you. I absolutely loved how I was questioning everything the entire time. What's real? WHO is real? You feel the narrative unraveling and coming together all at the same time, and it's absolutely gripping. Thank you, Jennifer, for this thoroughly fun read.

The Last Girls Standing is a YA thriller about the final girls of a summer camp slaughter. Sloan and Cherry are are now trauma-bonded. But as moths past, Sloan becomes skeptical of Cherry's intentions and role in the murders. This is a thriller with LGBT+ representation. Though how the author represents trauma is flawed and I expected it to more of slasher action type thriller.

I was really excited about this book but I’m so confused….I don’t get it…? Maybe I’m just dumb but it didn’t answer anything? Is it just that she sunk into the paranoia? I’m so confused lol

It seems like most people aren't liking this book because of the misrepresentation of trauma (fair) and the unhealthy relationship and flat characters. I actually liked the toxic codependency since it added to the uncomfortableness of the mystery and Sloan's situation, and I can overlook flat characters if the plot is interesting, but the story did not have the setup needed to pull off the ending.

I had no idea what was going to happen in the end. And that is the greatest compliment I can give a thriller/suspense novel. Jennifer Dugan somehow keeps crushing it with every new queer YA story she writes. Its so hard to write about Sloan and Cherry without delving into what happens. But I will say....go buy this book now!

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for an honest review.

I want to begin this with I enjoyed some aspects of this book. The twist was good and the thriller aspect of this book was done well. I really hope this author writes more thrillers because she is very talented and shows promise. The relationship between Sloan and Cherry is what hurts this book. It's a toxic relationship and I did not enjoy that aspect of this book. Overall, this book was worth the read. Special Thank You to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy of this book prior to publication.

In this book, we are following Sloan and cherry, as they go to camp money springs to be counselors after their senior year, but before they go to college. They begin a romance, but what they can’t anticipate is that days until their state something horrible will happen Trouble in paradise? This will be an experience neither one of them will forget.

I’ve tried to read a romance, book by the author, and it wasn’t for me, but I was very interested in the queer representation in the format of a thriller/horror. Unfortunately, I think that this author just isn’t for me this book didn’t have me wanting to keep flipping through pages, I found myself getting distracted, easily and forgetting what was happening in the story. I think this author isn’t for me, but I like that she’s venturing into other genres well, including queer representation.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for this early e-arc copy!

This was such a wild ride! I am a fan of an unreliable narrator. This book had all the slasher vibes that I love. I so did not see that ending. I had a whole story in my head of what would happen and boy was I way off. I loved that. I was so surprised. It you love a book with an awesome twist and slasher vibes, you should check this one out! Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but sadly I did not. So much do the book was focused on a very codependent and sad relationship. The interesting parts only appearing as flashback. The ending abrupt and the twist maybe too twisted.

The Last Girls Standing is a queer, Psychological Thriller that gives a little too much away in the blurb but is still a novel worth reading as it is well written and stands decently no its own two feet. Going into this novel, what you really need to know is that Sloane and Cherry are the "final girls" of a summer camp massacre who became romantically involved. This might seem like the place a story would end, however, this is just the beginning because all is not what it seems with the details of the massacre. I enjoyed the way this book played out. It's true that some parts were a tad bit predictable, but I think that is the way the teen thriller genre is nowadays. I did find some parts unexpected and I liked the way the overall story played out. I really enjoyed the depictions of the characters as they are extremely well developed and portray the complexity (and sometimes toxicity) of teenage relationships well. Finally I loved the tension as it played out throughout the novel.