Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

157 reviews

leahopkins's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is the second Gradx Hendrix book I've read (first one being my best friend's excorcism) and I am starting to become a fan (though mbfe was better). 
I thought the concept was very interesting and an entertaining twist of the genre, especially since the final girls' backstories/franchises actually take heavy inspiration from existing horror movies. I am not a very big slasher connoisseur (I have only watched the first scream movie), so I had a lot of fun using my very limited knowledge and the power of Google to figure out what movies the different characters were references to. The characters themselves were fun as well, although I wished they were fleshed out a little more. Lynette especially was a very interesting protagonist because of here intense paranoia, which made the reader question whether you could trust her or if all of this conspiracy was just happening inside her head.

I have to say though, it was a little unnecessary that Adrienne, the only black character, dies first. Yeah, I get that it's supposed to be humouring the slasher trope of "black dude dies first", but I would have really appreciated seeing more (/anything at all) of her, because based on what we got to know of her, she seemed like a very likable and caring character.

There were a lot of different twists, some more foreseeable than the others

(for example, Skye being the killer didn't shock me at all, but when it was revealed that Steph was also involved I was truly surprised)

and it was very fun trying to keep track of all the plot points and connections. However, in the middle part of the book, I thought it was slacking a bit and I had trouble staying engaged. The characters of Garrett and Chrissy felt a little out of place and at times even surreal

(the part where they visit Chrissy, her weird final girl museum and her homicidal boyfriend felt more like a bad dream than anything else. Same thing with the scene in which they leave a dead Michelle in a park with some old man.)

. 
I really enjoyed the ending.

I liked that noone died, and the scene in which a heavily injured Lynette runs away from the killer to distract him from the others was very well written and almost moving. The last chapter itself also felt very touching, because it showed the characters healing, physically and mentally.

Overall, this was a very fun read and I am excited to put more of the author's work onto my TBR.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Cancer, Medical content, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Excrement

chasingpages1's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Torture, Mental illness, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Blood, Car accident, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Gaslighting, Addiction, Drug abuse, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child death, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Kidnapping

Minor: Confinement, Police brutality, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, and Cursing

abmochapman's review

adventurous dark tense 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

3.0

The Final Girl Support Group has such an interesting premise and didn’t necessarily disappoint, even though it was not exactly what I expected. It is, of course, mirrored after slasher movies and  it focuses more on those themes than the support group itself. There is only one session with the main cast of final girls before their world starts to fall apart, again. From there, the plot inches forward until about halfway when it picks up and the book feels almost impossible to put down. The number of incredible, almost ridiculous twists is dizzying. As compelling as the climax is, I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief. The resolution is gratifying, but still, I am left with so many questions and pieces that don’t seem to fit together.

As other reviewers have said, that may be because The Final Girl Support Group doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. Is it a parody of slasher movies, or is it meant to be taken seriously as a thriller? Is it an ode to the genre, or is it a satirical deconstruction? Reviews praise it as having accomplished both, but I am a bit more conflicted. To me, the novel does not subvert its tropes as much as it relies on them.

The main character, for example, is overly-cautious to recorrect the naivety that she blames for her final girl status. Yet, it is also her irrational and naïve choices that lead her once again into the arms of the monster. She should not have been able to survive but by some miracle, she does.

Like the movies, it’s compelling but unbelievable.

Perhaps the best function the novel serves is to highlight our society’s disgusting obsession with and gross exploitation of victims of violence. The novel explicitly asks readers, “what does it say about us that so much of the entertainment we consume is about killing women?”. The plot, too, confirms the harm that movies and media that glorify mass murder can cause. It’s a very necessary conversation, and one that I am glad the horror genre is having. It’s interesting, though, because the novel is so self-aware except about how it might also contribute to the problem. Doesn’t it also exploit the phenomenon of violence against women (and our morbid curiosity about it) for entertainment and profit? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Stalking, Terminal illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Police brutality, Excrement, Grief, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts

lycheejelly's review

mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Sexism, Gore, Vomit, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Violence, Bullying, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Car accident, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

Minor: Self harm, Cursing, Police brutality, Ableism, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Confinement

multiplyoctopi's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Police brutality, Stalking, Blood, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Torture, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Car accident, Medical content, and Grief

pkc's review against another edition

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Part slasher, part study in trauma, this book is as empowering and emotional as it is grisly! I really didn’t like the protagonist for the first 100 odd pages, but she grew into her skin. I don’t think it had the balance of horror and reality that Hendrix’s other books that I’ve read had, but I enjoyed it all the same. I’d have scored higher if not for the slower start.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Medical trauma

leeghlee's review

challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Confinement, Violence, and Cancer

Moderate: Death of parent, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual content, Stalking, and Suicide

Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, and Mass/school shootings

sarahbiegelsen's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Body horror, Terminal illness, Murder, Mental illness, Violence, Torture, Death of parent, Child death, Grief, Gore, Cancer, and Blood

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Confinement, and Car accident

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Cursing

brittreadsinadhd's review

adventurous 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

4.5

It's a slow burn at first but worth it. You really have to pay attention to the characters at the beginning because they are referenced all throughout. It's a Support Group after all. But I found it hard to remember the stories of some of them. Also warning ⚠️ there's a lot of graphic depections of gore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Torture, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, and Grief

lilawsahar's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

The characters were so annoying. I hate them all equally. Why were all their personalities pretty much the same? 

The subject was so interesting but the plot of the book was so boring. I liked that the book was about final girls, but I didn’t like how it was pretty much like any other thriller. It felt so basic for such an unique idea. 

I could not follow the action scenes at all. I just kept jumped over fighting scenes because I had no idea what was going on. His descriptions were weird and hard to follow and his transitions were terrible. I hated the mixed media between chapters too. It didn’t really add to the story. 

It felt like a man wrote a book trying to relate to women and missed the mark completely. Women are scared of men. That’s the only thing he got right lol. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Drug use