I feel bad giving this book a one-star rating-- those are usually reserved for books I DNF. That being said, this book was not for me. You can probably tell by the fact that I started it at the very end of May and finished it half-way through July.

The Last Girls Standing follows two lone survivors of a summer camp massacre, Sloan and Cherry, who trauma bond and date. Sloan doesn't really remember what happened during the massacre-- but Cherry does. And Sloan doubts Cherry is telling her the full story. Desperate to find out what really happened, Sloan does some sleuthing on her own.

It has a fascinating premise, but here's the thing: it was done poorly.

Showing the effects of trauma wasn't done well-- I've been skimming other reviews and I think there's a general consensus that the representation was poor. I felt very disconnected to the characters and they weren't even likeable, which, if you've read any other review of mine, you'd know is the most important to me.

The book's not long, and miraculously, that screwed with the pacing. Nothing happens for the first half of the book, and the second half is just me side-eyeing everyone in the book. The books not long enough for me to see any literary justification for Sloan killing Cherry (because the cult story is adding up to her?) and the extremely rushed ending.

I didn't like this book. I don't really DNF books anymore, but I was very close to doing that. The only reason I didn't was because by the time I read a third of the book, there wasn't much really left, so I just kind of went "why not?"

I'm sure that this book has it's own audience, but I wasn't a part of the demographic that would enjoy this.

I received an e-ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for access to an eARC of The Last Girls Standing in exchange for my honest review!

Everything seemed like it was going to be okay. It was the Summer after senior year and Sloan was a camp counselor at Camp Money Springs. She made friends, she had fun, and she started falling for another counselor, Cherry. And all of this before the kids even arrived for the Summer! But things go quickly off the rails when a group of attackers in animal masks charge through the camp in the middle of the night, killing everyone except for Sloan and Cherry. And now they're both back home--Cherry even moved with her mom to be closer--and they're still trying to come to terms with what happened to them, especially because Sloan has no recollection of the events of that night and has to rely on Cherry to tell their story for her. Even multiple attempts at hypnosis with a counselor have not helped Sloan to recover her memories of the massacre, and as her mind tries to piece together the few things she does remember, she alienates herself from everyone in her life other than Cherry. And when the last surviving attacker asks to speak with them, their whole world is toppled yet again, and Sloan begins to doubt even Cherry's involvement in the massacre and the truth of what happened that night.

There were so many wild twists and turns throughout this book. My sister and I read it together, and while we were reading, we were literally placing bets on what we thought was going to happen and how the plot was going to pan out. All in all, it was a really fun time. I loved getting to watch the characters go through the process of solving the mystery of the attack and the drama was *insane*.