Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - The Final Girl Support Group

Slow start but worth it. Our heroine takes a little time to warm up to, but do not let that discourage you. This is coming from someone who does not like horror: I loved this book.

Content Warnings

arys_library's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book wasn’t exactly what I was expecting but even then, I still liked it. I expected a fast paced, gripping, gory horror novel. Instead it felt more like a thriller; even though the plot of the book is definitely for a horror novel. It wasn’t very gory either. I heard and saw multiple times that Grady Hendrix’s books were gory and kept you up at night, and weren’t for horror beginners. But I disagree. It was a good and gripping book but it was pretty easy for a horror novel, and there wasn’t much gore at all.

But onto the characters. This was one of those books that even if you didn’t see the authors name, you could tell it was written by a man. The women were unlikeable and petty in this book, which is fair and a lot of books with unlikeable characters are great. But these characters had no personality at all. They were bland and petty and besides their backstories, these women can be morphed into one simply because of their lack of personality.

SPOILERS START HERE! This book is 100% about women. But the one man in this book turns out to hate the women so much that he becomes the main focus and person behind all of this is just bad. And the girl that helped him only helped him because she was insanely love with him, which shows a lot about Hendrix’s opinions of women. That they’re petty and all the same, that they’re such followers and need a man to do everything. I feel like if the characterse were better, this could be close to a 5 star read

Content Warnings

phaas's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It was very tense and anxious read, which makes sense given these characters are expies of heroines who survived horrible things.

Content Warnings

theakilahbrown's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a fast read for me, in that I burned through about half of it in one day. The premise is basically "What if horror movies were real? What happens to those final girls after their movies are over?" The short answer is that they would form a support group. The long answer is that the horror is never truly over for them for a variety of reasons.

This is a horror book that critiques horror books, so, on the one hand, a lot of the commentary was on point, but on the other hand, I found myself wishing at times that it wasn't a *horror* book so that the point could be made in other ways, but that's not really the point of the book. As much as it is about movie monsters, it's also about real life monsters and the impact they have on the women (and children) they harm and what the glorification of movie monsters means. So, basically, it's like Scream but with a feminist bent.

I thought Lynnette was an interesting choice of a main character for many reasons, but one of the big ones is that she's not a "true" final girl because she didn't kill her monster like the other women did, and she also has the smallest life and is the most paranoid. I think there was a missed opportunity for Hendrix to get into WHY the other women made different choices because it almost seems like he's saying Lynnette made the right choice, which I don't necessarily agree with. There also should have been way more female friendship stuff in here, but it is there so I can't complain too much.

Those are relatively minor quibbles, though. I liked the book overall and thought it was smart and engaging. I wasn't sure at first how I felt about the ending, especially who the real life monster turned out to be, but the more I think about it, the more I like and appreciate it, so there's also that.

Some quotes:

Does this ever end? Will there always be someone out there turning little boys into monsters? Will we always be final girls? Will there always be monsters killing us?

I won't let messed-up parents keep making monsters, and I won't let these boys keep making more final girls. It's not some profound and ancient ritual. It's just a waste of life.

All in all, I would recommend it, especially if you're a fan of horror movies and/or badass women.

Content Warnings

ashleyjapan's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book started hella tropey and almost threw me off, but I stuck with it and am glad because it brought me to a very satisfying ending. The writing is definitely compelling and managed to keep my interest despite a week of overwork and exhaustion. If this isn’t the book for you though, that’s okay, I understand.

Content Warnings

More...