Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

34 reviews

wolf013's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Car accident, Child death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Ableism, Stalking, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Mass/school shootings, and Drug abuse

cgoiris's review against another edition

dark funny 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? It's complicated

3.0

I'd already read Horrorstör before this, and liked and disliked the same things about both books. 

Hendrix clearly has great insight into horror tropes, given that this entire book is very meta and full of nods to the classics.

That said, I expected this insight to take the story somewhere unexpected. The thing is, most characters fall pretty flat and the plot twist revelations are either easy to figure out beforehand when hinted at, or completely absurd and nonsensical when not hinted at (those who've read it will know).

I usually like an unreliable narrator, but Grady employs it in a really frustrating way to force the plot sometimes, which makes some parts pretty nonsensical.

Grady seems to have a theme going for him: great concepts, poor execution with a bit of a sizzle instead of a bang.

Enjoyable read if you like figuring out all the nods to classic horror along the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism

itsheyfay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Violence, Body horror, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Misogyny

Moderate: Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Sexual harassment, and Abandonment

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Ableism, and Racism

msradiosilence's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

2.0

Tldr; others have done this plot, but better. None of the characters are likable. If I read one more recent release with the bury your gays trope I’m gonna set something on fire.

Read my full review at: https://www.rainyreader.com/single-post/the-final-girl-support-group.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcoholism, Cancer, Lesbophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Torture, Ableism, Body horror, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Self harm, and Vomit

capybooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I enjoyed this book but did sometimes find it difficult to carry on reading. I like how Hendrix creates such complex characters with harrowing backstories. Each character represents different ways to cope with trauma, which I think is really important to recognise. I believe that the premise of the plot is brilliant, but I think it could have been carried out slightly better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Blood, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism

rebeccaxpaige's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

anoveldestination's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.0

I was intrigued when I first started this book, but I wasn't sold until the ending. At the beginning, I struggled to understand the character's motivations and questioned the choice of Lynette as the narrator over other girls in the book, but by the end, Gary Hendrix had once again made me fall in love with all of the characters and their journeys. There's so much that happens in this book and so much to unpack, that I'm honestly still processing it. However, Grady Hendrix is a talented writer, and he juggles so many complex themes, characters, and plot points with ease. The writing and story are both emotionally impactful and suspenseful and entertaining. 

With all that being said, I thought the pacing was off. The story starts with a bang, but I thought the whodunnit plot dragged in the middle, and the scenes at the police station, while important for Lynette's character backstory and growth, felt like they didn't add anything to the plot and were an unnecessary interruption. I also think that while each character was developed well in the story, there were too many characters. I don't think we needed to see Michelle in the story. I also think some of the themes could've still been communicated without having both Garrett and Stephanie in the book. I wasn't sure if Garrett needed to be an actual character in the book or just someone we heard about through Lynette. Also, Pax, while essential to the plot, I don't think the story needed him and that Gary Hendrix could've found a way to make the plot work without Pax. Still, I was never overwhelmed by the number of characters. I just think some of the characters and their purposes felt too similar. 

Despite my issues with the book, I love the way everything comes together at the end. The book is also engaging, with great moments of suspense. It's a true thriller that you won't want to put down. Within this entertaining plot, Grady Hendrix manages to insert truly original characters and communicate important feminist themes. The book is the perfect balance of reading for pleasure and reading for enrichment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Homophobia

readingsiren's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Ableism

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I'll say this for sure about TFGSG - I was never bored. However, I was often extremely confused. As always, I will start off with positives. I thought that the pacing of the book was sharp and there was always something going on. This book did not let me breathe. The whole thing was messy and chaotic, dark and sometimes funny in a quintessentially Grady Hendrix way. I thought every "final girl" in the group was a strong addition to the story and I think Heather and Dani were my favorites. A really nice touch were the newspaper and media clippings throughout the book that helped tell the story and also provided meaningful commentary to the phenomenon surrounding these "final girls."

My gripes aren't really that big. Really, the main one is that Lynette can be so maddening to read at times. She is so traumatized that living in her head was sometimes suffocating and insufferable. I had some issues with her as a character too, but that didn't necessarily affect my enjoyment of the book because my enjoyment does not usually hinge on a protagonist being likable. Something that was hard for me throughout the book was keeping track of every girl's story. I wrote down what I could, but some girls in the group got lost in the shuffle. I cannot definitively tell you what Heather's backstory is as a result of this. Just a LOT going on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child death, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Mass/school shootings

kelly617's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Cancer