Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

39 reviews

ceej_aye's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

For a book that is largely a commentary on the slasher genre and Final Girls, there are moments where it falls prey to the cliches that are so prevalent in slashers that I was able to clock them pretty early. Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It was a thrilling descent into madness with the gratification that maybe they weren’t mad at all. The feeling of being consistently gaslit and unsure of what to trust or where to look adds tremendously to the themes and feelings of the characters. I wish the ensemble was more present earlier in the book, but they were all well thought out characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

underscoresyd's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Medical content

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

You know how you watch a horror movie and you find yourself yelling at the characters on screen? “OH, SHIT! RUN, GIRL, RUN!” No… just me? Ok. Well, that was my experience reading this book as well lol It is SO GOOD and SO hard to put down! I am sad that I started it late in the day on Sunday because if I hadn’t had long days at work yesterday and today, I absolutely would’ve blown through this entire book in one sitting. It had me hooked from page 1! Easily my favorite Hendrix I’ve read so far. 

Since I recently read Final Girls by Riley Sager, I wanted to read TFGSG relatively soon after to compare the takes on the final girl premise. Both books explore a group of final girls under threat again, but that’s where the similarities end. Sager’s Final Girls was much more of a psychological thriller, where as Hendrix’s TFGSG is more action packed and campy-leaning horror. Though I really enjoyed Final Girls, TFGSG takes the cake for me. Both are five star reads, but I was more invested in and excited by TFGSG. I especially loved the added bonus material at the end of every chapter - interview notes, movie reviews, journal entries - it gave just enough extra information for context but in a fun and quickly digestible way. The titles of the chapters aligning with the progression of titles in a typical slasher film franchise was also a beautiful touch. 

One tiny critique - Dr. Carol needs a HIIPA refresher course. You cannot just go around introducing people as your patients, Dr. Carol! Jeez! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

erinjeanette's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault and Police brutality

dexlud's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Final Girl Support Group is a beautifully written book detailing Lynnette Tarkington and her Final Girl Group’s life over the span of like a couple weeks, with flashbacks to the past, twists, turns, and characters that you really do get attached to. I loved this book, even with one scene or two making me cringe slightly. I personally wouldn’t call it horror, more thriller, but it’s a very good book none the less.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bluestar_apologist's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

dblue236's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

Trigger warnings: Graphic violence, mass murder, gun violence, violence against women, gore, sexual abuse of a minor by an adult. 

If you are easily upset or scared, this book is one hundred percent NOT FOR YOU. I cannot stress this fact enough. While it is clearly a work of fiction, it is full of murder and gore and stalking and violence against women and if any of those things are a problem for you, you would be best served to never pick this up. Having said that, while it was definitely not an easy read for much of it, I really enjoyed the story and it kept me guessing straight through until the end. As a pretty much lifelong fan of slasher flicks and horror movies, I really enjoyed this, but it is definitely for a fairly specific audience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Terminal illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Vomit

letters_from_gabriella's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

0.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

win_bin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

sarah_mcmullan_nz's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

If you're not  a horror movie fan maybe, if you are NOPE

As someone who makes their living out of watching and writing about horror films, this book was incredibly frustrating to read. 
In all honesty, I think I enjoyed trying to figure out who the characters were supposed to be way more than reading this poorly written, sloppily plotted incredibly obvious story. 
Having said that - don't waste your time. 

There are far better horror books, books about final girls and final girl films out there. Find them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail