Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

161 reviews

concon95's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Car accident, Grief, Cancer, Vomit, and Police brutality

tiffanne11's review

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

dreamofbookspines's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

Couldn't enjoy it because I kept feeling like there was subtext I was missing, and the descriptions of violence were way more brutal than expected. But damned if it wasn't a good time. Twists and humor sprinkled in really kept things moving.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Torture

raichoreads's review against another edition

funny fast-paced

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

1.5

I found this book to be very disappointing. This felt like a not so fun amalgamation of disjointed, shallow, and boring. I sadly ended up skimming the latter half of the book, which I’ll admit probably also tainted my experience, but it was just not engaging enough. And this is maybe too particular of me, but Hendrix’s writing style frustrated me. He would regularly describe a character’s action that is meaningful in context, and then turn around and explain that it’s meaningful. I found this read to be exhausting because it felt like it didn’t trust its audience and didn’t really know what it wanted to say other than making a bunch of slasher references.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Torture

Moderate: Death

narbine'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

3.25

interesting premise. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Torture, Death, Abandonment, Blood, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, and Stalking

cssquared's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I had high expectations and it lived up to the hype. The characters were highly developed and the story was exciting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Child death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Body horror, Death, Murder, Violence, Torture, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Drug abuse, Gore, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape

win_bin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Cancer, Child death, Grief, Terminal illness, Addiction, Blood, Car accident, Gore, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

blueowl2ivy's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Car accident, and Misogyny

Minor: Cannibalism

sarah_mcmullan_nz's review

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

If you're not  a horror movie fan maybe, if you are NOPE

As someone who makes their living out of watching and writing about horror films, this book was incredibly frustrating to read. 
In all honesty, I think I enjoyed trying to figure out who the characters were supposed to be way more than reading this poorly written, sloppily plotted incredibly obvious story. 
Having said that - don't waste your time. 

There are far better horror books, books about final girls and final girl films out there. Find them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, Drug abuse, Cancer, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, and Toxic friendship

justaddwater's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Emotional abuse, Torture, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Addiction, Confinement, Car accident, Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Stalking, Kidnapping, and Blood