Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

39 reviews

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

I read this book after several people recommended it. This book kept pacing well but that is about where the positives stop for me. The writing style was not my taste. There were a lot of plot conveniences. The main character built herself a panic room and it just happens to fail once the group decides to disband? All these women shaped by their trauma to survive let their guards down at the same time, save our main character? Sure, Jan. The varied reactions to a traumatic event did show a realistic variety- some of the girls prepping, some ignoring, one losing her composure. The characters just weren't written in a very 'final girl' way. I did not like how the antagonists were just squished into the plot wherever and I especially did not like the identity of the main antagonist. If you love slashers you will probably find this to be an okay read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

lycheejelly's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Confinement, Cursing, Hate crime, Rape, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

emily_koopmann's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence

laurag659's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, and Cannibalism

sunshine_sophia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

this book had a lot of potential, but it fell flat. there were too many characters to keep track of,
therefore, i did not really feel attached or connected to any of them. the flashbacks/current events were confusing and not clearly marked. it was hard to understand what was happening now, and what was in the past. the plot was also confusing and i thought there was too much dialogue. there was a lot of fluff and things that didn’t matter. yet, there were many plot holes and things that were never addressed. i didn’t understand the world that he was trying to create and found myself confused and lost though out the book. i felt like this book could’ve been longer, but also could’ve been more concise. it was just fine. 

the one positive i will say is this book is a good commentary on how women/femme presenting people are perceived in society and treated. women/femme presenting people are more likely to be the victims of violence from men and this book shows that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence

ns4's review against another edition

dark 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

The concept was interesting and led me to pick up the book, but the narrator is so paranoid and disorganized that I couldn’t enjoy it, as well as the plot not flowing together in a way that made sense nor did anything suck me in to want to read on beyond just finishing the book. Slasher fans might enjoy the idea of a support group for final girls, but I was bored and not engaged at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Sexual violence

megancrayne's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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 death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

cursed_sapphire's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Fun, gripping, and action-packed, this book kept me on the edge of my seat. I was never sure what was going to happen next, and the themes of breaking a cycle of violence were compelling. Very much a blink-and-you'll-miss-it book, but that also meant certain details didn't add up to me- perhaps I wasn't paying close enough attention to certain details, but certain plot points and character motivations slightly confused me. Also disappointed that, for a horror book, this wasn't the least bit scary- I recommend going in expecting an action thriller, you'll have a better time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

nialiversuch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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

ronnieb's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Trigger Warning: Sexual Violence, Death of Family on the page, Descriptions of blood and body harm, Suicide, Cancer

I have really conflicting feelings about this which leads to my 3-star rating. The story follows our main character Lynnette who was part of a massacre in the 80s and now belongs to a group of other women who survived this same thing. The way this is described and they are all characterized is my first issue with the book. If you are a horror movie, specifically Slasher films, the references in this book are galore. It is pretty obvious which real-world franchise each character is supposed to emulate and it does become a bit unbelievable at points. Obviously, this kind of book requires some amount of suspension of disbelief but for me as a reader to believe that these multiple women went through multiple attacks/massacres like a Scream or Halloween just was a lot. I am a slasher film fan and it is much easier for me to do that for those films than it was for me to do that for this novel. The number of times they would mention the movies, books, and the term “Final Girl” as they relate to this group would just pull me out of the story at times. 

I also found our main character to be unlikable which is fine but she was also so annoying and kind of dumb. I see why she is characterized this way as it makes sense to her arc and it is satisfying but being in her head was difficult during some pages of this book. The other characters were mostly fine but there were a lot of characters and keeping them straight and their individual stories straight was difficult at points (especially when it comes to all the women in the group and the attack they went through). I think if the book included a pseudo-cast list in the beginning almost as a table of contents that would have helped a lot. It also would have fit thematically with the book as it really reads as if the events taking place on the page were a movie playing out. 

My final point of discussion is relating to the pacing/plot of the book. I will say the book surprised me with almost every twist and turn except our final one. However, they all had a very low impact as I realized that I was just not invested or cared that much. Looking back the twists make sense though and the overall pace is fine. I think it does sag toward the middle a bit but the beginning and ending is interesting in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide