Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

516 reviews

mcwattsup's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

What a fun read for a horror book! A great satire of the slasher films we’re all familiar with that gives the women terrorized in those stories the power 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Violence, and Gore

_kaylinconn's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

Yet another Grady Hendrix that depicts girlhood/sisterhood so beautifully - and it’s written by a man!

The beginning was very very slow. In truth, this book doesn’t get very engaging until about halfway. You feel like you’re going crazy with Lynnette, but not necessarily in the “fun” way. (If that can exist) 

That being said, I love the honesty in this book. It doesn’t shy away from the trauma that would surround a victim of these type of crimes, and it asks some really great questions about society. Why do we glorify these crimes? What does it say about us that women are the primary victims, and the survivor has to be the “virgin” type? I love that it called out the failings in our media over content that supports this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gun violence, Gore, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

gamerreaper13's review

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

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

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

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

melshoo's review

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

I liked the unreliable narrator and how her paranoia, justified or not, is meant to put you on edge. As with many thrillers, I felt that the story tried to have too many twists, which in itself can be predictable. I probably would have enjoyed this more if I was a horror buff and knew the context behind the final girls.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

_lish_'s review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Murder, and Gore

titan_reads's review

dark emotional 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

Loved that many of the characters were older women who seemed a bit forgotten! There were times I was bored and wished the pace was faster. The book was a bit predicatable but I enjoyed it overall especially the horror history feel. I've never read a book by this author and would try another one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Gun violence