I liked it, although it took me awhile to get there. I had to keep re-reading to certain parts because the main character Lynnette was a little off. Once I understood her character a bit more, I got over that. There were twists that were for me unpredictable which is why I would recommend this book to my horror/thriller loving friends! If you love scary movies, you will love this book.

One Sentence Summary: All the slasher movies rolled into one epic slasher book!

Reminds Me of: An R.L. Stine Point Horror paperback for adults who love slasher movies!

Three Reasons You Should Read This:
1) The pace is relentless!
2) The possibility of an Unreliable/Unstable Narrator
3) The girl power that exhibited by the collection of final girls that will not be taken down by some idiot with a knife/ax/hook/etc!

One Thing You Should Know Before You Pick it Up:
You might want a physical copy for easier access to refer back to passages. Because each girl has her own "crisis" through two separate events, plus the details of current plot, I found myself wanting to refer back to certain storylines for characters which is never as easy with an ebook!

Content Warnings:
A lot of violence on page, injury details, manipulation, mental health issues and trama,

Overall:
I really enjoyed this reading experience. I never really felt like I had any idea where the plat was going to go next, which in the case of a horror/thriller book, is makes for a thrilling read! I would recommend this title to anyone looking for a thriller, anyone who loves movies like Halloween or Scream, and anyone who read Fear Street as teen!

The Final Girls Support Group was one of my most anticipated reads for this year so I was excited to get this ARC. The slasher movie nostalgia alone was enough to spark my interest. This was the answer to that ever present question of “What happens to the lone girl survivor after the movie?”

This book was definitely a thrill ride. I think one of my favorite things about the story was the hilarious banter and relationships between the Final Girls. It was like Scream Queens meets Golden Girls and I loved it. I wanted a lot more of it and felt it was lacking in that sense.

The last third of the book stayed on course with typical slasher flick plot twists and a very drawn out ending scene. I wasn’t a huge fan, but it did fit the theme here.

What a dark and engaging novel!

This is my second Grady Hendrix novel and I’m always captivated by his writing style. His horror movie allusions were on point and well-done with a plot so interesting. The entire novel was easy to fall into and entertaining.

4 stars

I have decided I really like the final girl trope. This book is super campy. I love the clips of documents and things after every chapter. They weren’t really necessary for the story but they were a nice added touch.
This was a fast read. It was another buddy read and I read the majority of the first half in one sitting. I didn’t want to stop but I had to make myself. Then I read the majority of the second half in one day.
It started out seeming that Lynette was an unreliable narrator who kept making bad decisions. But in the end, she finally figured things out for herself.
I think this book was the right amount of horror, humor, satire and thriller. It was like watching a movie except I didn’t have to worry about jump scares (I hate those).

Whoa. This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read! It took me about halfway through to really get into and get invested, but once I did I really enjoyed the wild ride.

Lynnette is a “final girl” - a girl who survived a brutal series of murders. She and a few other final girls have been meeting for over fifteen years for support group therapy. When one of the final girls misses the meeting and winds up dead, Lynnette fears the worst. Sure enough, it soon becomes evident that someone (or a group of someones) is after the remaining final girls and picking them off one by one.

This was a pretty action packed novel. Some scenes were quite gruesome and a lot of the book definitely felt like an 80s slasher film. I loved the use of the mixed media formats in between the chapters and wish there had been more of that. I also wish there had been more histories about the final girls. For much of the novel I worried that this was a sequel because so much of the story felt implied like I should already be familiar with the characters and their stories.

While I enjoyed the story overall, I couldn’t give it higher than three stars because for some reason I struggled to visualize much of the story. Ironically though, this book definitely triggered some wild dreams! Likely because the details about the murders were quite graphic and over the top.

I haven’t read Hendrix’s other works but I’ll be curious to see how they compare.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel.

Special thanks to Berkeley Publishing for the ARC of this book for my honest opinion.

What a great idea. I loved The Southern Girls Guide to Slaying Vampires also (and I'm not a fan of vampire movies)!!! Also not a fan of slasher movies anymore, though I've seen them all, But what an awesome idea for Grady Hendrix to write a book on the Final Girl, aka the last girl standing at the end of the movie.

In this book Lynette is a Final Girl, a girl who survived a massacre. She joins a group with other badass final girls and they all are badass in their own way. All survivors of serial killers, slashers, and the like. Lynette and the other girls meet and support one another, but when one final girl has gone missing, what to do? And being a Final Girl once is a feat, being one twice is a miracle. Final Girls are scary too because they have already been through some shit.

I highly recommend!

Bravo to Grady Hendrix once again! I love the books and can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

I am a MASSIVE fan of Grady Hendrix, and his new book, which not exactly in the same quirky horror vein as his others, does not disappoint.

Being a “final girl” means that you are the last person to survive a murder massacre. Remember all of those horror movies in the 80s where everyone would die except the ONE GIRL? This is about a support group for those 80s girls, years later.

There are always new final girls, and there are always women who no longer want to be connected to other final girls. This thrilling, heartstopping book is about what happens when these two clubs meet.

Full of grit and LOTS of violence and graphic images, this book also entertains and satisfies the horror fiend and the literary aficionado alike.

DNF @ 10%

The concept of this book was interesting: all of the cult classic 80s horror movies are all true stories and all of the final girls are in a support group together. It was the basis of the plot, however, the author doesn’t really expound on it past that. The main character, Lynette, doesn’t have much of a life outside of the support group. She follows the same routes home, only goes to get groceries or the mail on certain days, and still lives every day with the expectation that someone is going to kill her. It’s gotta be hard living with that mindset day in and day out… and it was hard reading about. We’re introduced to other final girls that had managed to heal and form some semblance of a life, but Lynette acted like the incident that scarred her happened recently. Reading this story through the eyes of someone constantly on edge was more than a bit unsettling. It was especially frustrating (and what ultimately had me calling it quits) when she started falling into the stereotype trap: doing stupid shit like the girls in horror movies that think running upstairs from the maniac with a knife is a great idea.

<I>I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i>

Ok, I feel like I just got off the crazy train. This book not only had me guessing all the way through and throwing giant curve balls at me, but I couldn't figure out who was crazy. I'd think this character is just crazy, then I'd think maybe I've gone crazy. It was all so good up until the very end. Way to give me a book hangover Grady!

Grady Hendrix did it again! I enjoyed this story so much! In this book, the author paid homage to slasher/horror films with final girls. If you didn’t know, a final girl is the last person alive in a murder spree and usually kills the killer and of course, lives to tell the tale. The Final Girl Support Group is exactly that - a support group for Final Girls. There were 6 of them plus their psychiatrist, and although it was supposed to be a highly confidential group, one of the Final Girls got her sequel (the killer came back) and finished her off. Soon after, the rest of them experienced incidents that led Lynette to believe that someone is attacking the Final Girls and wants them gone. Lynette’s technically not a Final Girl, since when her killer murdered her whole family, she didn’t get a chance to kill him. She was actually left for dead —- hanged on a mantle by being pierced through antlers😱🦌🦌🦌Lynette tried to find out who wanted them dead. And as she solved the mystery, we also find out the stories of each final girl. All of them suffered a great tragedy, but it was interesting to read how each dealt with the aftermath in their own ways. Just as the author’s previous novel My Best Friend’s Exorcism, there were newspaper clippings and other attachments included in the book to give credence and also background on our characters. I really appreciate the author for adding these. The whole book did not bore me, in fact it felt like watching a crossover of the different well-known slasher films with a satirical injection. I can actually picture that scene where the girls united and had their “moment” together — it’ll be perfect as a netflix original!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻It’s definitely not a scary book for me, but there are gory and creepy details so this might not appeal to every reader. If you enjoy Scream, Halloween or Friday the 13th or you’re a child of the 80s/90s and are familiar with slasher movies, you might like this.

Rating: 4.5/5

I loved this book because of the twists and surprises. This book was all over the place, but in the best, easy to follow, way possible. I loved when the Final Girls got together to solve the mystery. The chapters bounced around to give context on each Final Girl and how they became one, but it also showed how the aftereffects led to where they are today. Each woman lived a vastly different life from the next one, yet they all had one thing in common that carried them through - they survived.

So horror is completely out of my wheelhouse but I feel this is more thriller with gore than straight up horror. I loved his book (🍑🧛) last year because hello…it was set in the South in the 90s! What I think Grady Hendrix does so well is his humor and pacing. It is always a fast read having you turning the pages to see what happens next and the personalities he gives the characters are so matched up with they way they speak that they seem so real. I always chuckle when reading his books which is interesting considering the topics. I will admit that I never watch horror films so parts that talked about those in this one went over my head but I still enjoyed it and wanted to know what happens to this band of misfits aka final girls. It was a crazy ride and I think I will always read what Hendrix’s writes next.

Posted on Instagram @carolinehoppereads and goodreads

Ugh, kill Em’ all, please.

⏰ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫: A group of six real-life Final Girls get together monthly for support. A final girl is that last girl in a horror movie who survives but these women survived the real deal. But then final girls start dying, and the horror returns…

💡𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Oh this was disappointing. One of those books I don’t understand the high ratings. My issue started with this whole final girl premise - I understand this trope in movies, but in real life? I couldn’t name a single final girl. Unless there’s some weird dark web thing around this the premise doesn’t pass muster - who knows any REAL final girls? Can you name one? Do they have infamy where weirdos stalk them regularly (and aren’t there laws against that?) It wasn’t plausible in ANY way - first that these girls exist. Most serial killers IRL aren’t discovered by a “final girl” or killed by one. Then the fact that 6 of them all live in Los Angeles? Uhhh… not plausible.

From there my issue was with our protagonist who basically runs around town like a chicken with her head cut off (figuratively, not literally), accusing person after person and failing and flailing. I understood her mental health and OCD tendencies from surviving a horrible attack, but since the book did t focus on that she came across as just stupid. This book had such potential but just didn’t deliver for me.

The writing is shambolic - so much that I often had to review what I just read, with flashbacks and flash forwards, it’s important to give the reader context and it seemed disorganized and unconnected in places. Scattered.

Toward the end, I basically kind of hoped they ALL died.

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗠𝗮𝗴𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

📚𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Mystery

😍𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: If you “light” read and suspend a lot of disbelief.

🙅‍♀️ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: Anyone like me who can’t handle lack of realism.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review.

I’m gonna be in the minority with this one and I’m totally fine with it. I didn’t love this despite it being one of my most anticipated of the year. I’m rounding up to 3 stars from 2.5 based solely on the little scripts and notes etc that were included. The titles of the chapters were kinda cool too-they were all reminiscent of 80s/90s slasher films like Scream. I loved Southern Book Club Guide to Slaying Vampires so I went into this with possibly too high of expectations and it didn’t even come close sadly. If you’re a fan of camp, this is for you.
Lynette views herself as not a “real” Final Girl even though she has created her entire current existence based upon being one. She lives in a barred apartment and takes 3 hours to get anywhere so she can make sure no one is following her and is on constant alert that someone is going to kill her. The only people she interacts with are the other girls in the support group that her therapist created for her and all the other survivors of serial killers. The group has been going for several years and none of them seem to be getting any better. There is very little in the way of growing by any of the girls and the therapist seems completely unprofessional. There’s a lot of violence and slashing and the camp sort of balances it out I guess, but it just didn’t work for me overall. This was too “goofy” to take seriously as a horror story but not goofy enough to be not a thriller either. Still not sure where to classify it. I think it’ll probably make a cool Netflix movie though.
Thanks to Berkley Publishers and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix needs to be made into a movie! It was full of action and suspense and I loved all the nods to horror in the 1980’s and 1990’s. There are some really deep thoughts and ideas in the book too, which I found surprising. You can not think too deeply and just enjoy the horror movie vibe or actually think about some of the things (like with Crazy Chrissy) and fall into a deep rabbit hole. To me, that shows a lot of depth in a story.

I also thought it was amusing how each Final Girl’s tale of terror correlated with a different horror movie franchise like Scream, Friday the 13th, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. These were fun to see as a horror fan, and for those who don’t watch/read a lot of horror, then it’s a good introduction to these classics… and hopefully the horror world will gain some new fans.

There was one little thing about knowing the killer very, very early on that almost had me give The Final Girl Support Group four stars instead of five. But the twist made up for it, along with the final showdown. And other readers, especially those not into horror, may not figure it out so early.
The other thing that disappointed me (and this is not the author’s fault at all, so I wouldn’t have given a lower rating because of it) is that I could not read the murderabilia that were after each chapter on my very old Kindle Touch. I imagine those with newer e-readers will be able to see it just fine.

I’m looking forward to seeing what other kinds of horror that Hendrix comes up with next.

As a fan of Grady Hendrix and the humorous horror-filled worlds he creates, I couldn't wait to read his latest, The Final Girl Support Group.

This book wasn't quite as funny as his others, more subtle-y so, but I think that lends to the fact that this work is an homage to pop culture slasher films. Simply more deadly. Like his books, Horrorstor and My Best Friend's Exorcism, The Final Girl Support Group is packed with pop culture insides that make the setting and characters like a trivia game for readers. Fans of the horror genre will love how he references their favorite flicks. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre becomes Panhandle Meathook. Scream becomes Stab. Even the author's acknowledgments read like a Simpson's credit reel of a scary movie.

If you're looking for some gory escapist reading, The Final Girl Support Group is a super quick read. Each chapter break includes some bonus visual content as well - excerpts from reviews of the horror films made off the girls' darkest moments, transcripts of witness testimony, and more. Even the chapter titles themselves play on slasher series franchise titles.

There are a lot of characters and film plot references so you may need to make a cheat sheet to keep all the names straight, but the personalities of the final girl support group are strong enough that they become more clear as you keep reading.

Despite references to so many classic horror films, the ending may still surprise you. Hendrix fills the book with plenty of twists and delightful deceits. Don't let that sway you that all the girls are safe though. Blood will be shed!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a great book! I loved the premise, and the fast pacing had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Would definitely recommend this to fans of horror - whether book or movie.

Brilliant concept that just did not come across on the pages. This was probably my most anticipated read of the summer. I love 80s and 90s horror flicks and to think of all the final girls together seemed like the perfect recipe for fun and lots of blood. What I found was a boring story about lackluster characters. Lynette didn’t seem like a final girl at all. She seemed weak and annoying. I think it’s time I move on from this author.

I really didn’t know what to expect from this book because I didn’t read the synopsis before starting it. I knew that final girls are those that are the sole survivors of horrific crimes and that they usually kill their tormentors. I was very intrigued by the title of this novel alone.

I devoured this book. It reads quickly and it kept me captivated by the story of this group of final girls who are mostly older now and still struggle to adapt to everyday life. This is a true thriller with aspects of psychology which made for a wonderful mix. It is not a psychological thriller but it is a great read. I highly recommend it.