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A review by sage_alexandra
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was, cute. The first half+ of the book was pretty strong. It's definitely made for fans of classic slashers from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Literally. These women and their stories are essentially copies of the movies they are nodding to.
Scream-> Stab (could've been a bit more original, seeing that the Stab franchise exists within the Scream universe)
Friday the 13th-> Summer Slaughter
Nightmare on Elm Street-> Deadly Dreams
Halloween-> The Babysitter Murders
My favorite was "Panhandle Meathook" aka Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The 6 women in this support group are also named after the actresses who played their characters, or after supporting actresses. (Julia Campbell = Neve Campbell; Heather DeLuca = Heather Langenkamp).
Between each chapter is a photo page: movie reviews, excerpts of interviews, police reports, etc. Definitely adds to the book.
The reason this gets a 3 rating is mostly due to the ending. Spoilers ahead:If you've seen Scream 5 (2022), then there's your ending. Although I just googled to confirm, TFGSG was published in July 2021, 6 months before Screa/V\, so I guess Ghostface is the copycat. Even so, you don't find out How they managed to do everything. But also, the horror from these franchises just wasn't here. This book was cute as an homage to Final Girls in media, but in the end, I would've preferred originality. This concept but with teens and early 20-somethings, fresh out of surviving their horrors, with original concepts. A lot of tropes are overdone, but it wouldn't be hard to come up with "new" slashers.
Scream-> Stab (could've been a bit more original, seeing that the Stab franchise exists within the Scream universe)
Friday the 13th-> Summer Slaughter
Nightmare on Elm Street-> Deadly Dreams
Halloween-> The Babysitter Murders
My favorite was "Panhandle Meathook" aka Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The 6 women in this support group are also named after the actresses who played their characters, or after supporting actresses. (Julia Campbell = Neve Campbell; Heather DeLuca = Heather Langenkamp).
Between each chapter is a photo page: movie reviews, excerpts of interviews, police reports, etc. Definitely adds to the book.
The reason this gets a 3 rating is mostly due to the ending. Spoilers ahead:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Alcohol
Minor: Racism, Lesbophobia
Major plot spoilers: I guess we're just not going to talk about the younger kid's trauma comic and how much he actually knew about his older brother's plans????? Also Heather and "Dream King"..... she literally went to sleep and then magically appeared in time to save Lynette. There's obviously some actual Freddy Krueger supernatural action going on, but we Do Not Learn about it.