Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

142 reviews

calhudak's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Cursing

emilyliest's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A re-read of one of my fave Grady Hendrix books. Pace is medium with a few heart-pounding events until a very exciting and tense end. Perhaps slightly rushed towards the end after such a long build-up. Lynette and other characters aren’t really likeable which I actually enjoy because you’re not meant to relate to them! Learning to try and understand minds with trauma and highlights the detachment she feels after her experiences. The writer has such a talent for gory and shocking descriptions that stay with you long after reading. On second read I noticed a couple loose ends which felt open to further development, eg The Dream King and Dr Carol. Overall a fantastic gripping read which fully embraces the horror genre instead of combining with other genres. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Vomit

sage_alexandra's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.0

It was, cute. The first half+ of the book was pretty strong. It's definitely made for fans of classic slashers from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Literally. These women and their stories are essentially copies of the movies they are nodding to. 

Scream-> Stab (could've been a bit more original, seeing that the Stab franchise exists within the Scream universe)
Friday the 13th-> Summer Slaughter 
Nightmare on Elm Street-> Deadly Dreams
Halloween-> The Babysitter Murders

My favorite was "Panhandle Meathook" aka Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The 6 women in this support group are also named after the actresses who played their characters, or after supporting actresses. (Julia Campbell = Neve Campbell; Heather DeLuca = Heather Langenkamp).

Between each chapter is a photo page: movie reviews, excerpts of interviews, police reports, etc. Definitely adds to the book.

The reason this gets a 3 rating is mostly due to the ending. Spoilers ahead:

If you've seen Scream 5 (2022), then there's your ending. Although I just googled to confirm, TFGSG was published in July 2021, 6 months before Screa/V\, so I guess Ghostface is the copycat. Even so, you don't find out How they managed to do everything.

But also, the horror from these franchises just wasn't here. This book was cute as an homage to Final Girls in media, but in the end, I would've preferred originality. This concept but with teens and early 20-somethings, fresh out of surviving their horrors, with original concepts. A lot of tropes are overdone, but it wouldn't be hard to come up with "new" slashers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism and Lesbophobia

Major plot spoilers:

I guess we're just not going to talk about the younger kid's trauma comic and how much he actually knew about his older brother's plans????? Also Heather and "Dream King"..... she literally went to sleep and then magically appeared in time to save Lynette. There's obviously some actual Freddy Krueger supernatural action going on, but we Do Not Learn about it.

jreason's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Alcohol

lotoblanco's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

makabra's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

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

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