Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

121 reviews

crimsonash606's review against another edition

dark funny inspiring 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

4.25

An incredible read for any slasher fans. A great mix of deadly stakes and humor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Child death, Alcohol, Torture, Violence, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Sexism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Murder

vickymcckey's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

Very well written and well thought out. The author makes sure readers know that he doesn’t support the glorification of serial killers, which is nice and (unfortunately) necessary, even if it was a bit heavy handed throughout the book.

I thought the first plot twist of Skye being the killer worked really well, but Stephanie’s role in it felt a little more forced while it was being revealed.

The description of violence in Lynn’s first “horror movie experience” I found to be a bit gratuitous, but I guess that’s what you get when you pick up this kinda book. The rest of it didn’t bother me, but the implied sexual violence and child violence on page 155-156 were a lot.

This is definitely the kind of story where a good suspension of disbelief will do you favors, not necessarily because of the serial killer aspects, but more because of the character’s personalities and logistics. Though once again, that’s kinda expected from this sort of book. Overall this was definitely out of my comfort zone but I did enjoy it. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Car accident, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Minor: Cannibalism and Animal cruelty

gamerreaper13's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.75

I was very unsure at the beginning whether or not I would enjoy this one, but then the plot very quickly drew me in, holding me in a chokehold for hours! I slowly came to love and adore the main characters after beginning to understand their experiences.

The plot is fast paced and thr book quickly becomes impossible to put down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Police brutality, Cancer, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, and Gore

kazy's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

a thrilling, fast-paced homage to the slasher genre and their final girls, whose main characters are middle-aged women surviving their trauma with scars fully on display. 
really enjoyed! it’s always fun to see things that are so clearly love letters from the author to the genre itself (not without its own criticism of the genre as well). it certainly felt like watching a contemporary slasher movie, the kind made by someone who’s seen every one and had some notes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Cancer, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, and Misogyny

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Mental illness

Minor: Ableism, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Suicide, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, and Incest

mentions of victim blaming (both external and heavily internal),

mental health professionals violating patient’s trust

, extreme agoraphobia.

A lesbian dies through terminal illness. the black character dies first, though remains relevant to the plot and characters throughout the rest of the book. adult men taking advantage of traumatized young women, including minors, including a man who knew the girls’ father before he died and used his death as a jumping off point to groom her. one of the final girls (though not of the main group) is in a relationship with her slasher, and another is accused of conspiring with hers to kill her family as well as sleeping with him. one of the girls is mentioned to have been “forced to wear a suit made of human skin” during her traumatizing event. at least two young children are explicitly murdered violently, the murder isn’t described in extreme detail but with enough description to fully understand what happened. Someone’s diary/vent journal/mental health exercise is published without their consent.

justmys's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Vomit, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, Murder, Misogyny, Stalking, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Body horror, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Sexism

Moderate: Confinement, Car accident, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Not sure if I'll actively search out to read any more by Grady Hendrix. This is only my second book and it feels a little...icky? For lack of a better term. He's so determined to have women go through such harrowing events and it's just starting to feel like...like every other man making a living off of women's suffering????? Maybe the others are different but for now I need a break.

rainbownp's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

The book was very interesting at points but had many periods where it just felt insane. I honestly started questioning so many things because it was all over the place.  The premise was very good and it was not horribly written, just not great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Murder, Death of parent, Blood, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Cancer, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Addiction, and Self harm

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Mass/school shootings, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

andrearutz98's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Death, and Physical abuse

Minor: Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Addiction, Death of parent, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Child death, Drug use, and Excrement

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

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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

nicjmorrow's review against another edition

I just couldn't. Everyone was evil, everyone was the monster, every character was evil and just a bad person and crazy. I couldn't. The tension is non stop and I just could not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Murder, Drug abuse, and Gun 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.

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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