Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

93 reviews

cursed_sapphire's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

4.0

Fun, gripping, and action-packed, this book kept me on the edge of my seat. I was never sure what was going to happen next, and the themes of breaking a cycle of violence were compelling. Very much a blink-and-you'll-miss-it book, but that also meant certain details didn't add up to me- perhaps I wasn't paying close enough attention to certain details, but certain plot points and character motivations slightly confused me. Also disappointed that, for a horror book, this wasn't the least bit scary- I recommend going in expecting an action thriller, you'll have a better time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Mental illness, Cancer, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Alcohol, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Mental illness, Gore, Addiction, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

nicheinterests's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Cancer, and Panic attacks/disorders

theangelssing's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

I would’ve loved to put a better note, really. I’m sad I didn’t like this book as much as I thought I would but here we go. 

At first I really liked the writing style and the plot, it was really interesting to follow Lynnette’s thoughts and to discover the different characters from her point of view only, but then it started to be weird and I had difficulties to follow every stories of every characters. I was lost between all the names and all the stories. But that didn’t stop me from reading the book anyway. The story was still really interesting and I wanted to know the end.
At the same time I found it really interesting to have only Lynnette’s thoughts because of the atmosphere it created. I really felt her pain, her thoughts, I really tried to understand her and I really was invested in what was happening. I can’t say I always understood nor supported her and her choices but I did understand the difficulty behind every situation and choice. 

I can’t relate to her nor to the other final girls as I never experienced what they experienced so I can’t even say if their reactions and decisions were legit but I think the intentions of the author were still interesting and it opened a window on the women who are final girls in real life. We need representation.

Well, what I didn’t like. The book was really long for me. It took me too much time even tho the book hasn’t that much pages. I think the whole thing with Stephanie was too long. 

I do understand that maybe we needed moments with Stephanie so we could feel closer to her and so being sad she’s the villain. But it was very long.

Some passages were very long for me to read, maybe they were all important but they still didn’t caught my attention. I kept reading because I wanted to know what happens at the end (yes, I was clueless) but I was reading some scenes only to finish the book and not because I actually liked them.
And man I was so sad for Skye. I had hope for him, really. I really liked him and I felt heartbroken after the end please
I think the whole story of Chrissy was so rushed. I would’ve liked to know more about her and her story to understand her better and not seeing her being kind of a villain nobody understood.
I hated each part with Garrett P. I found them interesting and disgusting at the same time. Garrett was an awful and disgusting character and I didn’t like how he used and played with Lynnette when she still was a teenager while he was a grown up man. I found their relationship really inappropriate and kinda toxic.

Overall it still was a good book. I just think some stories where too long and some weren’t enough.
I gave 4 stars because I think the book is still pretty good and the characters were really interesting!! I really liked reading about those characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Body horror, Alcohol, Gore, Alcoholism, Murder, Blood, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Death, Child death, and Addiction

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pedophilia, and Gaslighting

nialiversuch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Addiction, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Violence, Police brutality, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, and Homophobia

sar_letsread's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Honestly, this book was…a lot to handle. I couldn’t believe the ending and how much the plot moved from one place to another. I was definitely not expecting anything like this and quite frankly this book gave me a headache with the amount of twist the plot has. I believe if you like books that have great writing and crazy, crazy plots, this book is for you. But in my opinion, it was a lot to process and I will probably never read this again (THANK GOD!!) Overall, I actually look forward to reading other book made by Grady Hendrix, because this was definitely an experience I would like to have again with his other literary works. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Blood, Murder, Misogyny, Gun violence, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Violence, Torture, Gore, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content

magikorbert's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.5

i really really wish they had given fu(bar)gate a different username in that lil reddit screenshot. it made me immediately suspicious of steph and it feels like it’s giving something away way too early

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Body horror, Gore, Death, Animal cruelty, and Adult/minor relationship

jesika's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Stalking, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Outing, and Physical abuse

bunv's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cancer, and Gun violence

kali21's review against another edition

dark inspiring 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

4.25

good but i cannot picture someone who isn’t a huge horror fan enjoying it tbh. they wouldn’t understand the joy of all of the references 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Kidnapping, Misogyny, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

root's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

I loved this book. The story is inherently about someone who has survived horrific trauma--she is an unreliable narrator with interpersonal issues as a result. It is not just about current events in the book, it is about how trauma survivors' lives change drastically because of what they experienced and how they are trapped in the past even as they deal with the present.

The majority of the "plot twists" are not plot twists so much as the product of an unreliable narrator jumping to conclusions about small things that, if you look at the actual evidence she is using, is utterly meaningless or at least is missing details. Because she is not just reacting to what's happening now--peppered in are comparisons of people who look like someone else, how she trusts them or wants to keep them safe because they remind her of people, how she distrusts others for the same reason. 

I think that itself makes the book outstanding, to depict a variety of very real reactions to trauma in such an accurate way, including their flaws. It is a testimony to the fact that being hurt does not make you inherently better at surviving: it can also make you that much more vulnerable and unsafe. It is a very real look at the effects of trauma, and a good critique of how the true crime community and of the horror genre turn real events into mindless entertainment at the detriment and suffering of real, living people.

Criticisms of the book would be the following:

It is a very rudimentary, white feminist perspective of the world that goes exactly one layer deep in gender politics which is "man evil, violent inherently" and "girl (not woman) innocent, dainty, victim." Even the author's attempted subversion of it still ultimately played back into this rather elementary understanding of the sociopolitical effects of gender. It's very "girlhood is grief" in its angle.

The very few times race is brought up is...unfortunate. I think it can be difficult to include only one Black character in horror media due to the limitations in author choices. His choice in this instance was essentially to have the Black character die or have the Black character live but being chased down and tormented by a white man. Neither of which are particularly good to read about. It tried to be progressive about race but just failed spectacularly.

The last point is something I've seen others bring up. Although the author was presenting a criticism of how the true crime community and horror in general utilize real events and make references to external stories, he was also simultaneously doing the same thing. I understood what the author was trying to do with this. He was trying to show that the book itself is Also That, that the reader should be cognizant that THEY are being criticized and that their consumption of the book itself is participatory in this exact thing. But it wasn't done well so the message was lost on a lot of people and so it just felt flat. I appreciated the sentiment, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Stalking, Mass/school shootings, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Racism and Suicide