Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

7 reviews

rosesofthespring's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

I wish it had wrapped up a few more plot threads, but overall an excellent novel. I'm not surprised that this one is so popular.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Cancer, Ableism, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Police brutality, Cursing, Misogyny, Stalking, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Moderate: Excrement, Kidnapping, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Racism, Torture, Cannibalism, Animal death, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship

There is a description of a previous ex-relationship with a huge power imbalance and considerable age gap. The younger party is 18.

thenovelbookshelf's review

dark 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

4.5

An absolutely enjoyable, fast-paced horror mystery thriller.
  
This has a great storyline, although it is unrealistic. The character and world building is so surreal that your brain is tricked into thinking you are read-watching a slasher-horror movie.
  
My high rating is partially biased as I grew up on the 90s/noughties slasher horror movies (IKWYDLS, Scream, Urban Legends, Halloween, & with Freddy & Jason) and loved watching 70s-90s horror movies (Leprechaun, Hellraiser, The Howling, Children of the Corn, Pumpkinhead, Phantasm)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Mental illness

Minor: Infidelity, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

nialiversuch's review

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

lyssylyssy's review

dark medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, and Gaslighting

bedtimesandbooks's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Cancer, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Stalking, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Cursing, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Racism and Infidelity

seawarrior's review

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

moontiaras's review against another edition

dark funny medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Infidelity