Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

101 reviews

abmochapman's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The Final Girl Support Group has such an interesting premise and didn’t necessarily disappoint, even though it was not exactly what I expected. It is, of course, mirrored after slasher movies and  it focuses more on those themes than the support group itself. There is only one session with the main cast of final girls before their world starts to fall apart, again. From there, the plot inches forward until about halfway when it picks up and the book feels almost impossible to put down. The number of incredible, almost ridiculous twists is dizzying. As compelling as the climax is, I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief. The resolution is gratifying, but still, I am left with so many questions and pieces that don’t seem to fit together.

As other reviewers have said, that may be because The Final Girl Support Group doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. Is it a parody of slasher movies, or is it meant to be taken seriously as a thriller? Is it an ode to the genre, or is it a satirical deconstruction? Reviews praise it as having accomplished both, but I am a bit more conflicted. To me, the novel does not subvert its tropes as much as it relies on them.

The main character, for example, is overly-cautious to recorrect the naivety that she blames for her final girl status. Yet, it is also her irrational and naïve choices that lead her once again into the arms of the monster. She should not have been able to survive but by some miracle, she does.

Like the movies, it’s compelling but unbelievable.

Perhaps the best function the novel serves is to highlight our society’s disgusting obsession with and gross exploitation of victims of violence. The novel explicitly asks readers, “what does it say about us that so much of the entertainment we consume is about killing women?”. The plot, too, confirms the harm that movies and media that glorify mass murder can cause. It’s a very necessary conversation, and one that I am glad the horror genre is having. It’s interesting, though, because the novel is so self-aware except about how it might also contribute to the problem. Doesn’t it also exploit the phenomenon of violence against women (and our morbid curiosity about it) for entertainment and profit? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Stalking, Terminal illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Police brutality, Excrement, Grief, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts

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

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

sngspicysword's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

THE PLOT TWIST OMG! THIS IS SUCH AN AMAZING BOOK! it’s really helped me get out of my reading slump. Highly recommend!!! I will say the author is a bit dramatic at times but the writing is INSANE.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Addiction, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Stalking, Child death, Death of parent, and Police brutality

Minor: Terminal illness, Animal death, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Forced institutionalization

multiplyoctopi's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Police brutality, Stalking, Blood, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Torture, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Car accident, Medical content, and Grief

apersonfromflorida'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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Police brutality

dexkit10's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicide attempt, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Police brutality, Addiction, and Stalking

Minor: Animal death and Cannibalism

lilawsahar's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

The characters were so annoying. I hate them all equally. Why were all their personalities pretty much the same? 

The subject was so interesting but the plot of the book was so boring. I liked that the book was about final girls, but I didn’t like how it was pretty much like any other thriller. It felt so basic for such an unique idea. 

I could not follow the action scenes at all. I just kept jumped over fighting scenes because I had no idea what was going on. His descriptions were weird and hard to follow and his transitions were terrible. I hated the mixed media between chapters too. It didn’t really add to the story. 

It felt like a man wrote a book trying to relate to women and missed the mark completely. Women are scared of men. That’s the only thing he got right lol. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Drug use

cara_anne's review against another edition

dark funny 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Car accident, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Gaslighting, Gore, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, and Police brutality

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Bullying, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Stalking

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this one and I know a lot of people don’t t like this so it’s an unpopular opinion. I just was so invested in the story and the characters and I didn’t see a lot of things happening. I thought the concept was interesting and the topics thought provoking and I liked some of the discussions in this. I really liked Lynnette as the main character and the strength and growth she went through. This also made me weirdly emotional at times, but it’s just the dark themes and the horrible world it’s hard not to. This was also pretty funny at times. I don’t know something about this just worked for me. I liked the sister aspect which I think really made me enjoy this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Cursing, Death of parent, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Vomit, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Torture, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Animal death, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Misogyny

glutenfreemaggie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Medical content, Terminal illness, Ableism, Alcohol, Confinement, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Sexual content, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Cancer, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Gore, and Torture