Final Girls

A breakthrough in VR technology allows people to heal the emotional wounds of the past by forming new memories in virtual scenarios. Skeptical reporter Esther is invited to try the technology out, finding herself transported back to high school. But when someone with an agenda hacks the system, Esther finds herself in a battle for both her life and her sanity as the dreamworld becomes deadly.

Final Girls is an intriguing idea — manufacturing memories for a healthier mental state — and Grant cagily sidesteps the science in favor of the narrative impact, giving us a conflict between skeptic and true believer, both of whom have valid points to make. And to have this conflict reshaped in the virtual world is a clever conceit, one that upends the reader’s expectations.

It also explores an underappreciated aspect of scary movies, the idea of simulated horror as a source of catharsis, which helps sell both the technology and the narrative to the reader.

The ending comes a bit too quickly — even a few more pages would have been to the narrative’s benefit — but even in this abbreviated form, Final Girls is a solid story, emotional and engaging.