Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

79 reviews

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

apestforwrens's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.75

Slow start but worth it. Our heroine takes a little time to warm up to, but do not let that discourage you. This is coming from someone who does not like horror: I loved this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Medical content, Misogyny, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical content, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, and Abandonment

Its a slasher, there is genre typical content. Because it takes place from within the heroine's head, there is some derealization.

sammyb's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Death, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, and Murder

annagoodman's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, and Stalking

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Drug use, and Vomit

cammiem8's review against another edition

dark slow-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

1.5

Total letdown. This book had nothing to say about trauma that Scream and Scream 2 didn’t already say. Not one character is sympathetic, they are all frustrating and make terrible decisions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident and Addiction

hapalyn's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, and Stalking

Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Racism

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

lonareads's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Grief and Injury/Injury detail

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

seawarrior's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

Having only read Hendrix's first novel, I didn't have high hopes for the quality of writing within this one. Thankfully Hendrix has impressively grown as a writer over the years, and most of my qualms about the characterization, or lack thereof, I might find within the book were settled. Lynnette is an interesting and whirlwind protagonist for many reasons. She's intensely paranoid but makes one poor decision after another, resulting in a ricocheting plot that hardly allows the reader to catch their breath. She's also immensely unlikable, but despite her selfish, judgmental and avoidant nature I found myself understanding and forgiving one of her mistakes after another. 

Hendrix has a lot to say about horror franchises and their repetitive, exploitative and misogynistic nature, most of which is done through the characterization and dialogue of Lynnette and the other woman of the Final Girl Support Group. In between chapters various fictional archival interviews and journal articles are plastered to the pages, adding to the realism of the story and to the mythology surrounding this group of survivors and their monsters. For the most part I felt this was done very well. I only felt dissatisfied with Heather's characterization; she serves as a stereotypical "junkie" figure and is widely disrespected by both the characters within the book and the narrative that gave them life. What she survived and how is also defined the least, which only becomes more disappointing as the book continues. The other women's stories are revealed in segments, by their own admissions, Lynnette's memories, or their respective archives. Since each of them were inspired by an existing horror franchise most readers can assume the bulk of the violence they witnessed and endured, negating the need to force the women to rehash the most traumatic moments of their lives. Lynnette is the only character who has in depth flashbacks of her encounters with her monster after a tortuous accusation of who was truly responsible for her family's slaughter. 

The book primarily focuses on Lynnette's efforts to survive in the present, while attempting to solve the mystery of who wants the Final Girls finally gone. Pieces of this puzzle were fairly obvious to me, while others came as a surprise. Ultimately though, the villains, their motivations, and their weapon of choice, all serve to make a statement about mass violence and horror franchises as a whole. This is a love letter to horror, but a scathing one, fully aware of its flaws and refusing to hold back. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Terminal illness, Stalking, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Drug abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship