Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

194 reviews

wymzie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

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

bickleyhouse's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Grady Hendrix takes the "unreliable narrator" to new levels in this one. The book is in first person POV, from the perspective of Lynette Tarkington, one of the members of the titular support group.

In slasher movies, the 'final girl" is the one who survives and manages to kill off the villain. This book presents a group of girls who are real life "final girls," surviving real encounters with serial/mass murderers and offing the perpetrators.

There are six of them who meet together regularly in a group led by Dr. Carol Elliott. There is actually a seventh living "final girl," but she doesn't meet with them, and no one mentions her. As the book begins, however, a new final girl makes the scene, as Lynette sees a news report of six people being murdered at Camp Red Lake.

And while five of them are in their next meeting, wondering why Adrienne is late, they find out that Adrienne has just been killed. Not too long after that, someone tries to kill Lynette (and Juila by default, who just happens to be there) at her own apartment. And thus begins the wild ride that is this novel.

There are many twists and turns along the way as Lynette and company try to figure out what is going on and who is trying to knock off the final girls. it is literally impossible to tell who can be trusted, as this tale unfolds. None of the girls trust any of the other girls. It's the most unlikely "support group" ever, because, at the first meeting we witness (actually the only meeting we witness, now that I think about it), all they do is bicker and fight. 

And one of them, it seems, is writing a book about the rest of them. 

This one doesn't have the same vibe as other Grady Hendrix books I have read, and this is the fifth one I have read. In the others, there seems to be a lot of humor at the beginning of the story, and then, at some point, it is suddenly not funny anymore. This was definitely true of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and to a degree, even his most recent work, How to Sell A Haunted House. But there isn't much funny about this one. It pretty much hits the ground running with the intensity of the story and never lets up. 

There's lots of running and fleeing in this one, as well as massive amounts of apparent betrayal and distrust. And murder. Lots of it. Lots of shooting and stabbing and other things. It's kind of like all the slasher movies rolled into one punch. 

One thing I really liked was that, in between chapters, there are excerpts from articles, journals, books, and even a reddit thread, in one case. We do find out who was writing the book, too. And that was a shocker, at least for me. Didn't see that coming. In fact, I didn't see the end coming, as far as who it was who was trying to kill the girls. 

I recommend this book for fans of slasher films and horror books. Oh, and I also just found out yesterday, that Hendrix has written a new one, slated for release early next year. It's called Witchcraft for Wayward Girls.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

emi_miller's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Stalking

bottlecaps's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Excrement, and Abandonment

quabbityash's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Torture, Blood, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

matcha_cat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction and Fire/Fire injury

grunbean's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

I couldn’t put this down. You can rely on Grady Hendrix to take you on a wild ride, and I managed to get through it without whiplash! 

I really liked the fast pacing and twists, as I feel this is the staple of the final girl trope, and slashers.

The final girls don’t share an equal amount of time, but I think you get a good feel for who they are and what makes them different. I was rooting for them all! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

randeerebecca's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

As someone who loves horror movies, all the slasher references were fun. But, I found myself annoyed at the end because there were too many plot twists right after another - it felt a little ridiculous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction and Excrement

tottles's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and Gaslighting