Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

152 reviews

ccoterie's review

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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.

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concon95's review

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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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laurenexploresbooks's review

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

3.5

This was a challenging work for me. I personally did not find this work to be enjoyable due to the mass amount of gore and trauma porn throughout the work. I appreciated the last 20 percent of the work, but again I felt like I did not fully get to connect with characters within this work. I kept going out of anger and horror than enjoyment. 

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alexdefel513's review

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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


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bwest6377's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I wanted to love this book but found myself struggling to finish it. I really loved the concept but there were so many details the story became hard to follow. I did enjoy the twist and the final chapter, but the middle/main scene lost my mind interest because it felt way too minor detail oriented rather than focused on the main plot, like a flashback scene in a movie. I would 100% watch a movie adaptation of this book, but just unfortunately not my favorite 

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hauntedantiqueshop's review

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mysterious 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

1.0

I really am sick of being a hater but damn, it’s just SO easy. 

ALL of the characters are annoying and unlovable, their backstories are just copy and pasted classic slasher movies that were chopped and screwed the TINIEST bit. There’s no originality to them whatsoever, even down to their names. I get it’s supposed to be an homage but it feels more like borderline plagiarism or parody. Not to mention that some of the specific movies he picked to steal from are unrealistic in real life scenarios. There's like five bad guy fake outs, it’s overkill once you finally get the big (predictable and also just straight up taken from Scream 4 and 5) picture. There was a weird feminist take he was halfassed trying to make but it felt insincere and patronizing. Killing the only black character first (off screen!), having her buy her movie rights and not fix the whitewashing of her own trauma, and then having her be a hypeman hallucination for a white woman to survive, TO THEN let one of the masterminds behind her death into their support group is just in such bad taste. There really isn’t a redeeming quality of this book for me.


tldr: I’m revoking Grady Hendrix’s writing privileges. He’s going in the chokey.

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tabea1409's review

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.0


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narbine's review against another edition

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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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mothmania's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0


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win_bin's review

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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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