Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

51 reviews

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

erinjeanette's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious 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: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault and Police brutality

grunbean's review against another edition

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

lucy_readsbooks13's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

It was a decent thriller. 
I'm a chicken when it comes to scary books, and this was perfect for me. It's not very scary, and it has a fast-paced plot which doesn't allow for carefully built-up jump scares. 
The main character was both insufferable and very easy to empathize with. I understood her ways and her reasons, but from time to time she was as interesting as a wet sponge and as likable as one of the "Monsters".
The plot was interesting, I quite liked that final e-mail, it juxtaposed two different times and "trends" in crime. The past is not told through a dual timeline but the reader is told about them, and it's supported by different reports, news articles, movie reviews, etc. and I really. 
Slasher movies are the only horror movies I'm brave enough to watch so this premise really intrigued me, and parts of it were very well executed.
I managed to guess certain aspects of the ending, and my edition has some grammar and spelling mistakes. I don't think it's intentional because they are not constant enough though. There have also been certain problems with continuity, like a character leaves something behind but has it again three pages later. miscommunication is one of the tropes I can't stand, and unfortunately, it was abused here. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Grief

bowlsofpasta's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Sexism, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Drug abuse

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

tiffanne11's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

2.75

The first 70% or so of this book was a great thriller. Our cast of characters are "final girls", reminiscent of the last one standing in a slasher film but they lived through these traumas. The main character, Lynnette, copes with excessive paranoia, locking herself away and not getting attached to anyone. 
Everything changes when one of the members of their group is killed. No one is sure who they can trust and Lynnette runs. 
The majority of the book is building up this tension about who is hunting the final girls and why. As a reader, you are wondering if it is all in her head or if there is a killer out there orchestrating this whole thing. 
Unfortunately, the "reveal" makes no sense. It's not evidenced in the text. You couldn't figure it out, and that is not what makes a good twist. A good twist is one that makes all of the pieces slot in together and make sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

chasingpages1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, and Police brutality

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