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.

‘The Last Girls Standing’ surprised me in its commitment to being a full-blown slasher novel. Quite often throughout the book, I felt like I was watching an old slasher film (think Friday the 13th) as our main character searched for answers on why she was left standing after a surprise attack at the summer camp she was working at. The book follows our MC struggling to make sense of a cult's plotting, her family and girlfriends' relationships with herself, and her own memories of this tragic night.

I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t guess the ending and I loved the queer representation in this book. I’m truly excited to see if Jennifer Dugan will write another slasher/horror book in the future as I’d love to read it.

While I did enjoy the book, I do feel we could have had a bit more character development and more discussion surrounding mental health. I wish the MC had had a better 'therapist' to discuss her experience more thoroughly and I feel the quick mentions to their difficulty coping/trauma/PTSD could have been discussed more and we could have still had the same ending with a more in-depth dive of our MC’s train of thought. However, I feel like this can often be said in the horror/slasher genre - sometimes the deep dive is forsaken in exchange for a surprise ending.

All in all – if you’re not a slasher fan, I wouldn’t recommend. If you love the horror/slasher genre, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with this story. :)

Thank you to Penguin Group and GP Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for an E-ARC copy of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for the ARC of this!

Whoa this was an absolutely wild ride. I liked it for its queerness, tension and surprises. I don’t normally like an unreliable narrator - Sloan has no memories of the night she was almost killed- but this was ok here. The end was bonkers.

I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm going to start this off by saying this book is really, really dark. Readers should know before diving in that the content can be upsetting. The book is about two girls who have gone through something completely horrific; if stuff like gore and violence (and the aftermath of said gore and violence) is something you struggle with as a reader, maybe pass on this one.

Just in case you did not read the summary-- or haven't actually checked out the book yet-- two girls go to camp as counselors one summer, and become survivors of a massacre led by people in animal masks. The tragedy bound them together, but our main character, Sloan, begins to suspect that her girlfriend actually had something to do with said massacre. As Sloan goes deeper into the rabbit hole, she begins to question what is true-- and whether there is anyone that she can truly trust.

When I described the content as upsetting at times, I really meant that AS A COMPLIMENT. I know that sounds really strange-- but the fact that the author was able to imbue THAT much pain and realism into her characters is truly a gift. It can be a little tough to handle at times, but in the sense that the author is doing their job right. The reader hurts for Sloan so much; this is truly an emotional rollercoaster.

Beyond that though, this book is also completely unexpected. Without getting into spoilers (don't want to ruin it for anyone), there was a certain point at which I thought that I understood what was happening. But it was so completely out of the ordinary for this genre that I thought I had to be wrong up until the last possible moment, when we get the whole picture. In that sense, the author does a really great job of subverting audience expectations.

Additionally, I thought it was really interesting how the author handled Sloan's relationships with people who knew her before her trauma. For example, Sloan has a best friend-- Connor-- who seems to really want to help her, but he's not really sure how to. So, sometimes he does things that are really insensitive (like inviting her to see a slasher movie...), even when ultimately, he probably has her best interests at heart (they just graduated high school if that helps contextualize things a bit).

One thing I will say: the description of the book is a little misleading. It specifically describes itself as a:

"queer YA psychological thriller from the author of Some Girls Do, perfect for fans of One of Us is Lying and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, the sole surviving counselors of a summer camp massacre."

It's true that the main characters are queer. But I feel like having that in the first line of the description will lead people to believe that romance is a big part of the plot. And it is in some ways, but not in the "warm, happy fuzzy feelings" sort of way. More so in the "traumatic, this relationship may not be totally healthy," sort of way. To put it in other words: I wouldn't call this a romance story. I honestly probably wouldn't have drawn as much attention to that in the first line of the description because it's not the main part of the story. (This is my own personal opinion, which anyone is of course, free to disagree with).

But beyond that, if dark, psychological thrillers are your thing, I would recommend this book. It is truly heart-wrenching; I needed to take a small break after reading this because it is so emotionally impactful (in a good way!)

Many thanks to Penguin Teen for an arc of this book!

After surviving a summer camp massacre, Sloan clings to her new girlfriend-- and sole other survivor--Cherry in the aftermath. But with no memory of the events that led her to survive, can she really believe Cherry's version of that fateful night?

I loved this book from start to finish! Sloan is an amazing narrator and the fact that her lost memories made her unreliable from the start had me as a reader not only eager to find out the true version of events but wondering if I could even believe any discoveries Sloan made!

I loved the romance, fraught as it was... Very much 'screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain and it's 2 am and I'm cursing your name' vibes for me!

Also like the rabbit trails (pun definitely intended) that Sloan went down had me flipping pages late into the night.

I'm sure the ending will be very controversial for a lot of readers but I absolutely LOVED it. I was so happy it went the direction it did.

Really glad Dugan took this step into horror and super looking forward to what she does next!

CW: death, blood, violence, animal violence (off page, remembered), PTSD

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the advanced copy of this book.

I went into this with such high hopes, but ultimately the book fell flat for me. It honestly dragged out for way too long. The connections between characters felt so shallow and unhealthy. I appreciate the representation as a queer woman, but…. It wasn’t tactfully done and the trauma that both Cherry and Sloan went through had the same flaw. Just very superficial. I’ve liked Dugan’s other books and appreciate her venturing into a new genre. There were elements I appreciated- the dialogue felt realistic, the plot was interesting, and the overarching idea was sound. But that ending was just not it.

Well, I wasn't feeling great about this book but the ending really ruined it for me if I'm honest.

There was SO much potential with this book, but it was just lost, and I feel like I'm standing here with fewer answers than I started with.

Truthfully, this book could have been about half the length if it cut out all of the repetitive conversations between Cherry and Sloan, and all of the repetitive "therapy" sessions with Beth. I know we were supposed to be witnessing Sloan's descent into madness, but I was so bored. More flashbacks, more pieces of information being revealed, anything other than the same conversations in toxic relationships over and over. I found myself wanting the story to be over, and the only reason I ended up as baited as I was was because I was anticipating a big reveal or solve, and it never really came, just that cluster of an ending.

For goodness sakes, I just wanted someone to LISTEN to poor Sloan, instead of just trying to "fix" her as quick as possible.

Thanks to NetGalley, Jennifer Dugan, and the publisher for this ARC! The Last Girls Standing comes out on August 15th 2023!

I REALLY need to start reading the synopsis. I say this with like every book, but then I never do it. But if I had, I think I would have been more prepared for this one and liked it more. This was good, but it was pitched to me as a horror book, not just a psychological thriller, so it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. Instead of me getting the massacre as it occurred, it was the aftermath and the girls trying to figure out life after all of this. Did I like it tho? Yes. Was it what I was expecting?

Ok so going in to this I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was not thinking it was going to be the same thing the whole book tho. She was asking the same question and hardly found any evidence to support her claims like the whole book. And then when they started explaining things to her, she still didn’t want to hear it. She needed real help and they insisted on sending her to someone that wasn’t a real doctor. In this situation, girl BFFR. (Also as a side note, I did read a review where someone with PTSD said this was an insensitive description of those with PTSD so I wasn’t a huge fan of that.)

I didn’t care for the romance in this one either. Like these chicks were definitely not together together, they were trauma bonding. And I don’t think either one of them wanted to hear it. I didn’t like that no one was telling them it wasn’t ok. They should have at the very least given them some time apart. Their whole relationship just wasn’t healthy. And none of the adults said anything.

The concept of this book tho was creepy, I’ll give Dugan that. I listened to this until like 3 am and every single creak or groan that my house made, I was creeped out. I remember pausing and looking around a few times. This one is not for the weak y’all. I was just as confused as the MC and I wasn’t sure where the ending was going. I just knew they were going to reveal if she was correct or not in her assumptions. But no, completely different than I thought.

The ending was good af tho. I hate when books are like repetitive and are like basic until the ending. Like why did you do all this extra all that time and then come snatch my wig NOW? It was stupid lol I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. It was hella weird. I don’t like that it was over right after that tho. I still had so many questions. Was she right? Was she just trippin? What happened? I needed to know. But none of that was explained. Is that “all the rave” now for authors to write these open ended books? Or those that like end on this huge thing and then its over? Can we stop this? It’s getting frustrating lol

This wasn’t my favorite Dugan which is sad because I really expected it to be. As a horror girlie I just KNEW this was going to be the best. It had its problems, but it was ok. I do wish it was horror and not thriller, I did enjoy it and I think my teens still will also.

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan was a phenomenal queer YA psychological thriller.
Solan and Cherry 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. Like woah, I couldn’t stop reading once I started.
Excellent storyline and well-developed characters, as well as phenomenal suspense.
The pacing kept me reading through the night. The writing in this was wonderful.
I freaking love a good YA thriller and this one checked all the boxes.
A fun, dark summer camp tale full of mystery, murder and good whodunnit!
Yes, please!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!