Final Girls

by Mira Grant

What if you could fix the worst parts of yourself by confronting your worst fears? Dr. Jennifer Webb has invented proprietary virtual reality technology that purports to heal psychological wounds by running clients through scenarios straight out of horror movies and nightmares. In a carefully controlled environment, with a medical cocktail running through their veins, sisters might develop a bond they've been missing their whole lives while running from the bogeyman through a simulated forest. But & can real change come so easily? Esther Hoffman doubts it. Esther has spent her entire journalism career debunking pseudoscience, after phony regression therapy ruined her father's life. She's determined to unearth the truth about Dr. Webb's budding company. Dr. Webb's willing to let her, of course, for reasons of her own. What better advertisement could she get than that of a convinced skeptic? But Esther's not the only one curious about how this technology works. Enter real-world threats just as frightening as those created in the lab. Dr. Webb and Esther are at odds, but they may also be each other's only hope of survival.

• ISBN10: 159606823X
• ISBN13: 9781596068230
• Publish Date: 30 April 2017
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 16 June 2021
• Imprint: Subterranean Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

Dr. Jennifer Webb has done the impossible. She's created a piece of virtual reality technology so powerful that it can change our minds – literally. She's using this technology to heal old psychological wounds – to do good. But she's well aware of the potential harm this tech can cause. It's why she's so protective of it.

Enter Ester Hoffman. She's a journalist determined to debunk everything that Dr. Webb stands for. She's always been quick and outspoken about her opinions regarding pseudoscience, so imagine her surprise when Dr. Webb invites her in for a tour – and a trial run.

My Review:

I've been meaning to read Final Girls for quite some time now, and I am so happy to finally have read it. Final Girls results from a unique combination of elements, including horror movie vibes, virtual reality, and psychology. It was not what I expected, but that made it so much fun.

The novella starts with a classic horror story setting. However, that was really just a tool for Mira Grant to set the scene. It isn't long before we're introduced to the technology Dr. Webb invented. We're shown all the positives the tech offers, but we don't need to be told the dangers – those are fairly obvious.

There's a lot to appreciate about Final Girls. The vibes and aesthetics are obvious pluses, but I also really enjoyed this story's "food for thought" element. Some parts make you stop and think. Love that.

Highlights:
Horror
Zombies
Nightmares Made Real

Trigger Warnings:
Psychological Abuse
Horror Movie Elements

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[Melanie]

Review originally posted at BooksOfMyHeart.net.

4.5 stars

This is a stand alone novella by horror writer Mira Grant. I’m a huge Mira Grant fan ever since I started reading the Newsflesh series back in 2015. The thing I love most about Mira Grant is her characters. She’s great a writing diverse and complex characters. Now, since this is a novella, the characters are smaller in number and bit less complete, but I still really liked them.

Dr. Jennifer Webb has developed a new type of therapy using virtual reality. She puts you in these pods with some psychedelic drugs and run you through different scenarios depending on what you need help with.

Esther Hoffman is a journalist who gives new meaning to skeptic. Her father was a victim of regression therapy. Some girl accused him kidnapping and child abuse, which was later proved that the girl was manipulated and didn’t remember correctly. She was not attacked by Mr. Hoffman, but his life was ruined anyway and later killed himself.

Esther is convinced into the pod to test out the system for herself, because that is the only way to really write about the system objectively. Things start off okay, but something happens and it goes all wrong.

This was a pretty interesting story which has a lot of creepiness to it. Fans of Black Mirror will enjoy this story. I highly recommend Mira Grant’s stories if you are at all a fan of horror.

[clementine]

I’m not generally into horror/sci fi, but I love everything Mira Grant does. She turns these genres on their heads with such flair.