Review: Final Cut by Olivia Worley

Final Cut

by Olivia Worley

Release Date: October 28, 2025

2025 Wednesday Books

Hardcover ARC; 352 Pages

ISBN: 978-1250392985

ASIN: B0DPV28J5T

Audiobook: B0FSLWT2YR

Genre: Fiction / YA / Horror

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3.5 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

When recent high school graduate Hazel Lejeune gets the lead role in a slasher film, it feels like a dream come true. This is her chance to break into the industry, build her reel, and prove to her mom that this “gap year” can turn into a career. So what if it’s set in the nothing town of Pine Springs, Louisiana–the same place her father, the Pine Springs Slasher, was convicted of a series of murders fifteen years ago?

But when Haze arrives on set, she gets much more than she bargained for. The shoot is plagued with suspicious “accidents.” Mentions of her dad dot the entire script. And then, a gruesome murder shocks everyone to the core. Now, it’s clear there’s a real killer on set—one who's determined to finish the film at all costs. But is this merely a copycat, or is the wrong Slasher behind bars?

 

My Thoughts

Final Cut is one of those books that I really wanted to read because it seemed to have the slasher vibes that I enjoy, plus it reminded of those campy 80s slasher films I really enjoyed as a teenager (and if I'm honest, still enjoy today). The story was enjoyable enough and the culprit reveal definitely caught me by surprise, but there was nothing really outstanding or different in this one, just solid use of typical tropes.

 

The setting in this is pure 80s campy trope, that's for sure, with a group of teenagers being hired to make a horror film in a small town in which a slasher was convicted of a series of murders over fifteen years ago. Turns out Haze, the daughter of the convicted slasher, has been hired to be the lead in the new film, something which she keeps hidden from the rest of the crew. The plot itself was full of tropes, the ones where people find things they shouldn't, have stuff dropped on them trying to kill them, the suspicious behaviour, and the list goes on.  I enjoyed Haze as a MC and liked how she fought really hard to keep the movie going while also trying to protect the people around her. Yes, she did some silly things as this wouldn't be a slasher book if she didn't, but they weren't too eye-rolling. I did like Haze's struggle as she grappled with learning new information about her father and what happened in the past and thought she handled it way better than I would have in the same situation.  I also found some of the other characters to be interesting and wished the author had developed their characters a bit more. 

 

While the story was enjoyable, I don't really feel like the author went out of the way to really produce some really good red herrings. What I mean by that is the plot holes and the devices used throughout the story were quite predictable and very tropey.  When a lot of the 'action' actually happens, the story suddenly gets mired down and starts dragging, so I lost the tension that was being built up. I do have to give kudos to the author though, as I didn't see the culprit coming from a mile away. I thought I had it all figured out, but nope.  Did the ending work? Yes, and no.  It's too hard to explain without giving it away though. What I will say about it is that the author tried really hard to surprise the reader, maybe too hard, and maybe more twists and turns would have made it even more believable. As a result of what happened, I didn't really have a lot of empathy for the situation. 

 

Verdict

Final Cut has a decent story, one that would even probably make a decent movie.  I did feel like the pacing was off at times, and that the dialogue from the characters tried way too hard to be clever, something that affected the overall tension and suspense. Overall however, this was enjoyable, one of those types of books I would be searching when I needed something easy to read. If you are looking for a popcorn horror book, this one would be right up your alley.