Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

31 reviews

itshrewsbury's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

 Interesting premise, okay-ish-ly executed. The fun premise, what happens to final girls when they get older and someone starts to pick them off again, really carries the book. I agree with another review I read, where they speak to there being obvious themes (and ones I usually love! What is femininity, feminist themes, grace for older women, the toughness of women to survive the abuses against them, etc), but not a super great/in-depth exploration of them, rather instead favoring Lynette’s characterization (Jamie Lee Curtis’s Laurie in the Halloween (2019) reboot, basically), and creating confusion (there were so many NAMES to keep track of with all these intertwining and complicated final girl backstories). Honestly, it might’ve worked better as a movie lol But you can tell Hendrix has a deep love of horror and its tropes, and this was still a satisfying Halloween-season read! The last 5-6 chapters are what really made me push the book into a 4 instead of a 3-stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual content

Additional TW/CW: anxiety attacks (graphic), statutory rape mention (minor), death threats, grooming (minor), school shooting mention (minor)

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

liabetweengames's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Police brutality

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, and Sexual content

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

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

justmys's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

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

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