The Last Girls Standing

May 1, 2023
Grades 10-12 When Sloan met Cherry at the start of summer as they both trained to become camp counselors, it was love at first sight. But men in crude animal masks attacked the camp, slaughtering everyone. Months later, Sloan and Cherry, the only survivors, are the subject of intense public focus. Sloan, whose memory of the night is a giant blank, clings to tough, unflappable Cherry, relying on her for safety and to fill in the gaps. Sloan's overbearingly anxious mother pushes Sloan out of her comfort zone, not realizing that Sloan is struggling with her memories and doubting Cherry's version of events. As Sloan begins her own investigation into that terrible day, her mind, already fragile, begins to break down. Dugan, author of queer romances (Melt with You, 2022), takes a sharp, but perhaps not ultimately shocking, turn into a thriller that grapples with the loneliness of trauma and the bonds that, for better or for worse, are forged there. The slow spiral to an unsettling, well-earned end will leave readers with much to think about.

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June 15, 2023
Eighteen-year-old Sloan narrowly escapes a massacre at a summer camp but is left missing her memory. Sloan expected to spend the summer before heading off to college having fun working as a counselor at Camp Money Springs, but her plans are cut brutally short when a band of men wearing carved wooden animal masks show up and slaughter everyone in the night with machetes. Only Sloan and her now-girlfriend, Cherry, survive, but Sloan can't remember anything about how they escaped, relying only on Cherry's version of events to fill in the gaps. As Sloan desperately tries to regain her own memories about that night and answer the myriad questions she has, her trust in Cherry begins to unravel. Sloan begins to wonder if anything she's been told is true, if Cherry may have somehow been involved in the massacre, and if the mystery of Sloan's own adoption 14 years earlier could be the answer to everything. Sloan's confusion and growing uncertainty build palpable tension as events hurtle forward in a haunting and compelling manner. Sloan and Cherry's codependent relationship rings true and feels suffocating and difficult to escape from, never quite allowing readers to develop trust in any one character. Occasionally, Sloan's unreliability as a narrator can feel repetitive, but overall, this element adds to the frantic march toward a shocking and satisfying conclusion. Main characters read White; there is some racial diversity in secondary characters. A queer psychological thriller with teeth. (Thriller. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 12, 2023
Following a summer camp massacre perpetrated by a mysterious group of animal-masked, machete-wielding assailants, teenagers Sloan and Cherry, the event’s sole survivors, have become inseparable. Moreover, their shared trauma deepens their romantic relationship into a mutually codependent dynamic as the two struggle to adjust to life after the incident. But when one of the masked murderers is taken into custody, Sloan uncovers disturbing facts about the circumstances surrounding the events at Camp Money Springs that lead her to suspect Cherry of knowing more about the tragedy than she’s been letting on. Ominous motives, misremembered events, and emotional manipulation abound as Sloan works to uncover the truth behind the killings—and her entire relationship with Cherry. Leisurely pacing dampens somewhat straightforward twists; nevertheless, the teens’ relationship develops via cinematic prose, giving it space to be complicated and messy in a way that makes it compelling to watch unfold. Dugan (Melt with You) pays homage to classic slasher flicks in this enthralling departure, a solid addition to the camp horror genre that boasts urgent mystery and queer romance alongside its psychological thriller foundation. Sloan and Cherry read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties.

October 1, 2023

Gr 9 Up-Sloan, 18, is one of only two survivors of a gruesome slaughter that took place during the summer camp where she worked as a camp counselor. With very few memories of what occurred-masked men wielding machetes, snippets of kissing her girlfriend while covered in blood-Sloan struggles to come to terms with her trauma. She is plagued by nightmares and has formed a codependent relationship with her girlfriend, Cherry, whom she had only known for a few days before the massacre. They are virtually inseparable; Sloan relies heavily on Cherry to fill in the blanks of what really happened that night. When the news reveals information about the cult that massacred their friends, Sloan begins to suspect that her girlfriend may have been more than just a victim-she may have even been a part of it. Can she trust what Cherry says happened? This psychological thriller will interest readers who appreciate a little bit of gore. The characters are complex and realistic. Main characters read as white, with several supporting characters cued as Black, Korean, and Latinx. Throughout the book, readers see the arc of how Sloan's relationships with family and friends change after the trauma, as well as her growth as she learns to live with her PTSD and anxiety. VERDICT A recommended purchase where thrillers are popular; hand this to fans of Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and Stephen King's IT.-Ashley Grillo

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