Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

197 reviews

melshoo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

bluestar_apologist's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gun violence, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

dblue236's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

Trigger warnings: Graphic violence, mass murder, gun violence, violence against women, gore, sexual abuse of a minor by an adult. 

If you are easily upset or scared, this book is one hundred percent NOT FOR YOU. I cannot stress this fact enough. While it is clearly a work of fiction, it is full of murder and gore and stalking and violence against women and if any of those things are a problem for you, you would be best served to never pick this up. Having said that, while it was definitely not an easy read for much of it, I really enjoyed the story and it kept me guessing straight through until the end. As a pretty much lifelong fan of slasher flicks and horror movies, I really enjoyed this, but it is definitely for a fairly specific audience.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Addiction, and Cancer

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, and Adult/minor relationship

sarahbrianne's review against another edition

Honestly I love the idea of this book, but living inside the main character’s made me feel more mentally ill than I already am

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Addiction, Death, Stalking, and Violence

90centspaghet's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful tense slow-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

1.75

This book was slow to get into…hence it took me fully out of reading for a bit and 3 months to finish…but the second half was compelling and adventurous. It was quite mysterious and I liked how you had to attribute things back to real horror works and slashers. Unfortunately the slow start really pushes it down in the ratings significantly for me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Medical content, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Violence

letters_from_gabriella's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

1.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gore, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Death, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Cursing, Child death, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Murder, Medical trauma, Mass/school shootings, Drug abuse, Stalking, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Vomit, Alcoholism, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

elislittlelibrary's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

2.5

I had really high hopes for this book. The concept was really unique, but the book left me wanting a lot more. Some descriptions felt like the cliché "woman written by a man", which I didn't like. I did like getting to know the women, but would've liked to know more about all of them, as some in particular remained very vague. In general, there were some plot points that I thought would be tied up in the end, but they weren't, which left me wanting more. Also, while the ending was somewhat fitting for the set-up and the topic of the book, it felt like it just suddenly derailed (at least to me). It was a pretty quick read, but I expected a lot more and the book left me feeling disappointed.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Addiction, and Panic attacks/disorders

enyltiak's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

5.0

I loved this book—I didn't want to put it down as I was desperate to find out what was going on, but I also really didn't want it to end. This is really a book for horror movie (especially slasher horror) lovers, and in particular will be a fun read for Scream fans. 

I think this book is incredibly divisive when it comes to the representation of the female characters—some think it's flawless, some think it's offensively dreadful—but truly it's just... fine. I think a female author would have more nuance, something different and interesting to say that a man can't understand, but Hendrix clearly wrote these characters with the consideration that they're people, not objects, and so I really didn't have a problem with it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Kidnapping, Cancer, Gore, Gun violence, and Mental illness

ccoterie's review against another edition

2.0

God. Where to even begin with this book? The premise is strong and paves the way for a compelling look into the slasher genre and its final girls. It's clear (perhaps too clear, some references were basically direct copies) that Hendrix loves the genre. And yet I can't tell what this book was going for. There are a lot of details that left me baffled (not including racist stereotypes - I get that the book is an homage to classic slashers, but some tropes can die) or, as I look back on them, confused about their inclusion. I think this book could've benefitted from cutting a few plot points or picking a clearer tone.
The beginning involved a lot of starts and stops as I texted my friends my newest hesitation. I couldn't get into Lynn as a protagonist. Her mindset was certainly understandable, sometimes her paranoia was uncomfortably familiar, but something seemed off. It felt like an "I'm not like other girls" would've fit perfectly - there were some lines that got pretty close. Without a concrete reason to believe her mindset, Lynn just got on my nerves. The middle rectified this issue, providing a fast-paced action thriller that made her compelling. Chrissy marked another turning point.

I understand the reasons behind her inclusion - everything she has going on has potential. However, her mysticism, murderabilia, and boyfriend didn't have any payoff. They were all loose threads making more of a vessel for the author to get a message across than an actual character. I still can't understand why she was written to be so narratively cluttered. Her scene did not have to be as long as it was considering her sole purpose.

The ending left a lot unresolved for me, mostly regarding its mental health themes.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Cancer, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Vomit

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Racism, Drug abuse, and Mass/school shootings

The protagonist has codependent and paranoid thoughts/behaviors.

alexdefel513's review against another edition

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Ableism