Books I've Read: Final Girls

 

This one was more like a novella than a full novel, so it was a very quick and easy read.

The book starts with a journalist, Esther, heading to a state-of-the art facility to interview a scientist who has supposedly developed a revolutionary VR therapy that uses horror movie scenarios to heal deep-seated psychological wounds.  Esther is skeptical.  Her father's life was ruined by another popular psych theory and she's determined to debunk this one as being phoney.

After watching what seems to be a miraculous healing of a fractured sisterly bond, Esther agrees to undergo the therapy herself, allowing a cocktail of drugs to be injected into her veins while the doctor oversees the building of a specific scenario designed to fulfil her own purpose.

As Esther navigates through her fabricated nightmare, things begin to go awry as outsiders, desperate to get control of the technology for their own purposes, take over the facility.

This was an intriguing story that was somewhat let down by a rather weak and predictable ending.  I very much liked the way the horror movie scenarios played out, but couldn't help being as skeptical as Esther about its ability to actually help.  It all felt very manipulative, especially when the doctor inserted herself into Esther's scenario purely to get her to think favourably about the product.

But, there were definitely things I found intriguing about this idea, and because it was such a quick read, it didn't bother me too much that there were aspects I didn't like.

So if you're a fan of sci-fi and horror, you'd probably quite enjoy this mash-up.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

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.