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underscoresyd's review against another edition
- 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
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
lotoblanco's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
haileyhardcover's review against another edition
- 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
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
justmys's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
Not sure if I'll actively search out to read any more by Grady Hendrix. This is only my second book and it feels a little...icky? For lack of a better term. He's so determined to have women go through such harrowing events and it's just starting to feel like...like every other man making a living off of women's suffering????? Maybe the others are different but for now I need a break.dblue236's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
- 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
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
- 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
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
rosesofthespring's review
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury
There is a description of a previous ex-relationship with a huge power imbalance and considerable age gap. The younger party is 18.leeghlee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
maxierosalee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
______________
I'm not a horror person, so I wouldn't say this is the kind of book I usually read. I was intrigued by Grady Hendrix, though. I had heard copious amounts of praise for his books, and the premise of his books sounded interesting to me, even though I am not really into the genre. Even as someone who doesn't watch horror, however, I am familiar with the tropes and really famous movies, which grabbed my attention.
So, how do I feel about the book after finally reading?
It was...a decent book. Between "okay" and "good." Here's a breakdown of what I think, no spoilers:
What I Liked
+ Really cool premise. The setup is really neat: a group of final girls based on famous real-world horror slashers have to deal with the aftermath of the slayings, surviving and witnessing horrible atrocities done to their loved ones. But what happens after the credits roll? How would a "final girl" from all of those famous movies go on throughout the rest of their life being a "final girl"? All while the story acts as a deconstruction and commentary on the final girl trope in general? That sounds amazing to me.
+ I enjoyed the brisk writing. Maybe it helped that I was reading [book:Galilee|52639] by Clive Barker at the same time as this book (yes, I'm one of those weirdos who reads multiple books at the same time), and it was nice to read something where the prose was more casual and interpersonal, but not in a way that felt juvenile to me. It was short, snappy, and full of personality.
+ This is sort of a double-edged sword, but the fast pace made this a vigorous read. And despite my issues with it, it was gripping in its own way, and I found myself reading on to see what would happen next.
+ Lynette, the main character, does genuinely feel like a flawed person struggling with trauma. I appreciate how Hendrix explores the ways that her trauma affected her while still making her make genuine mistakes and bad calls. It makes for an interesting character.
+ The fake-out for the plot twist was pretty good, I totally fell for it.
+ While this book didn't scare me, there were actual parts that were pretty tense and had me on edge. These are probably my favorite parts of the book and the ones that had me gripped the most.
+ If you're interested in horror but don't want to read anything too hardcore or upsetting, this is a great book to read. There are moments of violence and descriptions of gore, but they did not push me into the "discomfort and want to put this down" zone. It wasn't overly detailed or made me sick. And I really appreciate that there are books like that!
Now, onto the cons...
- This book felt like a case of "really cool premise, lackluster execution."
- The characters all dealing with their trauma in different ways is something that probably needed more time to flesh out because, in the end, it didn't feel very immersive.
- The meta-commentary for the book, as cool of a concept as it was, very much felt a little too on-the-nose. It broke the immersion. In a deconstruction, we're supposed to believe that these things actually happened to these girls, because the whole point of deconstruction is to analyze the workings of a commonly accepted trope and analyze how it would actually be played out in real life. But when the commentary is too obvious and too trite, it lessens the impact of it and we're left with a bunch of characters talking about the obvious without us being invested in it. There's an extended scene with a character called Chrissy that illustrates this perfectly, in my opinion. I can't take your "analysis" seriously when I'm rolling my eyes at the poorly written dialogue.
- Adding to the last point, the commentary of the books should have been better integrated into the story itself. It's too often an occurrence where the prose stops in the middle of the story to have a tangent talking about the final girl trope, or a whole scene with ridiculous, unrealistic dialogue that felt like a teenager wrote it because they don't have enough knowledge to write dialogue that would actually sounds like it would theoretically come from an actual person.
- The in-betweens of the chapters, with the essay blurbs and interviews with the victims, ultimately don't add much. It should have been focused more on the phenomena in-universe of over-zealous horror fans. It's just another example of the meta-commentary not blending well with the story.
- While I did appreciate the fake-out of the plot twist (see the pros above), the actual plot twist itself made little sense and the setup was not convincing. We don't spend enough on the motivation that when it does come out, I was just mostly thinking "Huh?" and "Who would through <i>this</i> to do <i>that</i>?"
- There are other plot points that I feel like were poorly fleshed out (that I can't really go into because of spoilers) or were glossed over. I feel like the book would have really benefitted from either cutting down the focus to just Lynette and fleshing her out more, or adding an extra 200 pages to flesh out all of the final girls.
All in all, even though I don't think this is a great book, I still got some enjoyment from reading it. And for what it's worth, I'm more interested in Grady Hendrix's other novels after partaking in this one.
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, and Violence