A group of 6 "Final Girls" meet once a month for a group therapy session that seems more like a place to argue and insult each other than to recover from past trauma. Now someone is out to kill them all... I guess because that is what's supposed to happen, the slashers in horror movies keep coming back no matter how many times you manage to kill them and survive. But who is it? Which monster has found out about the group? Who is coming to kill them after all this time? Or maybe it's more than one person. What if it's several all working together? Now it's up to Lynette to find out who is after them before there is no one left to save. They never considered Lynette to be a true Final Girl because she didn't have to kill her attacker to survive. Maybe this time she will outlive them all.
I really wanted to love this book more than I was able to. It was a great idea and I'm not entirely sure why it missed the mark with me. I think it is partly because the characters in this book are heavily "borrowed" from or at least based on the survivors of old slasher movies that I enjoyed. Because of that I already had my own ideas about their personalities and the way they might behave. In this book, these survivors mostly do not like each other, or themselves so I didn't like them much either. It also felt more like an action/thriller to me than a horror. There were lots of exciting action scenes but nothing that was really scary.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

THIS WAS SO GOOD. SO GOOD!

I loved everything about it. The classic slasher film references, the classic final girls references, the classic horror movie killer references. I was hooked from the beginning and I loved how easy it was to read- the writing, the plot and this meta world we were thrusted into. I came to like-and hate- the characters because they were so well developed and the anecdotes of how they became “final girls” was SO interesting. Definitely definitely will go out and buy my own copy.

Also as someone whose favourite movie to watch during Halloween is Halloween (1978) this book was a GEM.

I first learned about Grady Hendrix when I saw Horrorstor on a library shelf and picked it up on a whim. I adored his prose right off the bat. It feels special to be working in a library and therefore have access to an ARC of his newest book. The first thing I noticed in Grady Hendrix’s writing is his empathy for his characters. They are all clearly loved by their creator, which is what gives them all so much strength. Hendrix also writes with a very distinctive and jovial voice which is consistent through all of the books I have read from him and serves as one of the few strong connections between each of his books. They are all wildly unique, and if not for the tone I would struggle to tell that they were by the same author. Each of his books is varied in a way that surprises me, since the quality of his writing is immutable. The concepts are wildly different, but at its heart each of his books is just about how much he loves different kinds of horror.

The scares are there, but they are the kind that, fittingly, go along with a slasher movie. Characters make mistakes that leave you excited, and energized waiting for the consequences. Just because you are tense and afraid doesn’t mean you can’t also be grinning and having a good time. I never dreaded turning the page, but I always regretted having to put it down. I read the book in three sittings, and honestly wish I had the time to do it in one. In the mix of fun allusions to famous movies and real history Hendrix manages to include some very pointed arguments about the sociology and politics of the slasher genre. It is refreshing to read a nuanced perspective on such a pulpy genre coming from within the genre itself. If I were as good a writer as Grady Hendrix there would have been a cringeworthy “The call was coming from inside the house!” goof there, but I will just let you assemble that one yourself. The Final Girls Support group follows the various survivors of some of the tent pole slasher movies, which proved to be a fun little meta game I could play with myself where I tried to guess which movie each Final Girl was from before the book made it clear. If you enjoyed any of his prior books, then you will enjoy Final Girls Support Group. I for one loved it, and will be spending the rest of the summer watching some slashers.

#TheFinalGirlSupportGroup #NetGalley
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3998182159

"Ever wonder what happens to those final girls? After all their plans go belly up and all their weapons fail? After their defenses crumble and they've been shot in the head? After they've trusted the wrong people, made the wrong choices, and opened themselves up at the worst possible moments? After their lives are ruined and they're left at thirty-eight years old with nothing in the bank, no kids, no lover, and nothing to their name but a couple of ghosts and a handful of broken down friends?" These, in a nutshell, are the questions that The Final Girls Support Group aims to answer and I think it does so brilliantly!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Grady Hendrix's books are some of my favorite books of all time and TFGSG is no exception. It's a fast-paced story that jumps immediately into the heart-pounding plot from the very first page and leaves you breathless right up to the end. As with Grady's other books, there were moments in TFGSP that made me laugh and moments that made me clutch my pearls in shock and terror, all while revealing gasp-worthy twists along the way.

If you've read and enjoyed Grady's previous book, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, I think you'll find some similarities, especially in how the various final girls work together throughout the story. At one point, one of the characters even claims that they are all in a book club to avoid suspicion.

I read this book cover-to-cover in a day and thoroughly enjoyed it! If you're looking for a book that you can't put down and keeps you guessing until the end, I think you're going to enjoy The Final Girls Support Group.

Such an original and clever concept! And yet, I fear my expectations were too high. All of the tropes are there to be skewered. All of the action is believable and well paced. But I was unable to connect to any of the characters, unable to root for them. But what really disappointed me was the lack of indictment of these ridiculous slasher film clichés. At a time when the thriller industry must examine its motives and publishing output, I had hoped that this title would offer some thought and sharp insight about the unrelenting violence against women found in its pages. Poking fun is not enough. One note: I read this on a Kindle and was unable to read the article snapshots, transcripts and other chapter front pieces - perhaps this contributed to my disappointment in the book's tone.

As a fan of My Best Friend’s Exorcism and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires I was excited to receive an advanced copy of The Final Girl Support Group. The Final Girl Support Group focuses on Lynette, who survived an attack as a teenager. Every month she meets with a group of women, like her, are the only survivors of an attack by a mass murderer. Each of them is an inspiration for a slasher movie loosely based on their experience. The other survivors, for the most part, have done their best to move on and for some, even profit from their gruesome experiences. Lynette, on the other hand, has been living in ultimate survival mode barricaded in her apartment. It is all well and good until it appears that someone is after members of the Final Girl Support Group and Lynette is the only member who puts together what is happening.

This book pays its respects to classic slasher movies and I highly recommend it for fans of that drama. I would also say that it is a quick, fun read that would make an excellent book to bring along on your summer vacation. Huge thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book! I am happy to share a review.

I absolutely love meta horror stories, and this book takes meta to the next level. Even the chapter numbers are an homage to horror movies–each labeled as a “sequel”, with a subtitle that’s eerily similar to sequels in popular 80s horror movie franchises.

Hendrix casually adds depth to every scene he writes with dry humour and off-hand comments that simultaneously worldbuild, give insight into characters and their motivations, propel the plot forward, and send me into a fit of giggles. For instance, Lynette, the hero of the story, keeps a gun in her fanny pack. The imagery of this alone still puts a goofy grin on my face, and I finished reading this book days ago.


The book is also chock full of socio-political commentary, though not so much that it feels preachy. For instance, parts of the story are poking fun at the media’s obsession with tragedy. There’s commentary on the 80s slasher flicks and how they skew towards an anti-feminist message. Between each chapter we’re treated to an epistolary-style snippet from a variety of sources, from support group notes to police interviews and book excerpts written on the Final Girls. These snippets, while not necessary to read to enjoy the story, provide insight into the world that Hendrix has created, giving us backstory without bogging down the pacing of the present-day events. These snippets are a bit more obvious with the messaging, somewhat like taking a sledgehammer to your head with commentary on the impact of horror movies on society.

Each of the women of the Final Girl Support Group are former final girls–getting up there in age–and they all have trauma that they’ve been dealing with in group for the last sixteen years. As I mentioned earlier in this review, this book is incredibly meta, and it’s obvious that certain women come from pasts eerily similar to those of final girls from real-life 80s slasher flicks. Scream, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre… There are countless easter eggs that had the horror fan in me squealing in delight (For example, Julia Campbell is clearly inspired by Neve Campbell’s character in Scream).

Each of the Final Girls have been dealing with the aftermath of their attacks in different ways, which is dark and gritty and adds a bit of realism to an otherwise humorous and light horror story.

The entire book is told from Lynette’s point of view. Lynette is a fascinating protagonist–almost an anti-hero. She’s a final girl, though we’re informed early on by one of the other women in her support group that she isn’t a “true” final girl. She’s incredibly flawed. She’s paranoid to the point where you know the life she’s created for herself lacks any pleasures. She has her plant “Final Plant”, which she’s nicknamed “Fine”, who she talks to. And it talks back. While this all adds quite a bit of comedy to this horror comedy, it’s also incredibly sad, and I couldn’t help but root for her the entire storyline, despite her flaws. Lynnette is self-centered and a coward. Her character arc over the span of the book is quite well done, but I can’t say more about it, at the risk of spoiling major plot developments.

I highly recommend this book to all horror fan, as it has a unique premise, an incredible writing style, and a fast-paced, compelling plot.

One of the fondest memories of my youth was wandering around the video store. I grew up in a small town without much to do, so my options were limited: spend all night being a pain in the ass to the wait staff at the diner, driving around looking for haunted landmarks from Weird New Jersey magazine, or watch horror movies until it got bright outside.

No matter how many times I visited the same neighborhood store I wandered the same aisles, picking up each VHS box, admiring the cover art, reading every tagline (“They’re dead, dangerous… and rarin’ to party!”), and hoping against hope that a new entry would appear on the shelf. When I heard that Grady Hendrix’s new novel was about the Final Girls from classic horror films of my youth, adding it to my queue was a no-brainer.

It’s a great ‘what if’ concept. In the book’s world, each horror movie franchise—Friday the 13th, Halloween, Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silent Night, Deadly Night—are all based on a true story. In the book, these movies have different names, but there are actual Final Girls stemming from the same horrific events that you’re seeing in these big screen films.

These Final Girls have met for therapy sessions once per month for sixteen years. Unsurprisingly, each of these women has dealt with their experience in vastly different ways. Most have sold the rights to their stories to Hollywood, launching horror movie franchises and living off the royalties. But after so many years in the same therapeutic circle, the threads between the group members start to fall apart, and some bad things start happening to those involved.

We see the story through the eyes of Lynette, the survivor of the Santa Claus massacre of Silent Night, Deadly Night. Years after surviving the first massacre, Lynette was tragically the target of a second violent assault and now lives in constant fear and paranoia. (Julia, another member of the Support Group, was also a victim of a second attack – the details of which you can you see in the book’s version of Scream and Scream 2, a la Sidney Prescott’s story.) Lynette only leaves her house once a month to go to the support group, and once every two weeks for food. Any time she leaves the house, she is armed to the teeth, doubles and triples back using public transportation, and cuts herself off from all communication. Before the reader knows her story, her actions may seem like a mental sickness, though it’s understandable considering the trauma of her past. But as the story progresses, her paranoia is no longer in question; the question is if she is paranoid enough.

Beyond this setup, the less that is known about the plot, the better, as Hendrix leads the reader through a maze of twists and turns that flirt with 80’s tropes before subverting them, and occasionally inverting those subversions to keep things razor sharp. It’s a wild ride, and a passionate love letter to 80’s slasher movies and psych horror whodunit films. I’ve never come across a protagonist quite like Lynette; she has a perfect amount of advantages and flaws that allow for the reader to both cheer for her while also juggling so many other possibilities of potential outcomes as each chapter adds another surprise bombshell to the mix. If there’s one thing this book never runs out of, it’s surprises.

One area I think the book suffers is the closing sequence. I liked all the decisions that were made regarding the characters’ fates, but the setting of the final events went off the rails. The tone of it felt off from the rest of the story, especially a couple of ideas that happened in the final scenes that felt like they belonged in an entirely different book. Even so, this is a book that fans of thrillers will enjoy, and fans of the genre will devour.

In The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix has captured the essence of renting a blood-soaked VHS video store gem that will keep you up all night with a wicked and satisfied smile on your face. "The Final Girls… have seen their Final Days!"

Thank you to Berkeley and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a horror wimp. I hate horror movies, body horror, jump scares, all of it — but only when it’s on screen. I am guilty of reading horror movie synopses and so I have devoured Hendrix’a books. But this one was almost too much to stomach, even for me! I enjoyed the tension and the mystery and doubting our paranoid and at times out of her mind narrator, but by the end I wanted the blood to stop flowing. The horror that Hendrix writes…dude, are you ok?

The concept of this book is pretty interesting. Imagine that all of our slasher franchises were inspired by real murders that splashed the headlines. Halloween, Scream, Friday the 13TH, all of them taken from the lives of real girls who survived and killed the monsters. You get the Final Girls. It’s a great concept!

I do think this has a lot going for it. It’s very similar to The Southern Book Club’s Guide etc in that it’s a group of women terrorized by men and the patriarchy in general. I think it has the same problems too — a few overgeneralizations, unnecessary brutality, women being belittled for their efforts to stay alive even as the narration is meant to be on their side, and lots of women getting hurt and dying in awful ways. But The Final Girl Support Group got under my skin more because there’s no supernatural reason for the horror that occurs in this book; it’s just men deciding that they want to kill women and so they make it as awful as possible. It’s a violent, violent book and so I give it 3 stars only because I think maybe it was a bit much — the lines were blurry on what was too much. We got some murders recounted as vividly as if we were watching it but others were too horrible. I don’t know what to make of that.

So, three stars. And I still hate horror movies.

This is one of the best love letters to slasher films that I have ever read. The twists and turns make this engaging enough on its own and the nods to different horror franchises are fun Easter eggs throughout. I read through most of it in one sitting because I just had to know how it ended, just when you think you know who is behind everything another twist slams into you and changes course.

Really enjoyed this one! If you're a fan of Grady Hendrix, you've got to read this. I've read another book recently about FINAL GIRLS and this one is far superior. trademark wit and dark comedy reign supreme in this novel that horror movie fans will eat up with a spoon!

This book is 10000% an homage to horror movies of all kinds. If you are a fan of those films, you really should read this book. I haven’t seen too many, so I know I missed some of the little references and nods, but I could appreciate some of them, which was fun! This story takes place in a world where there are real “final girls” who have survived various killing sprees. They all meet together in a support group and have done so for over 16 years. Then one day, one of them is killed, and they realize that someone - or multiple someones - are going after these final girls. This is a story of survival, and just a little bit of murder.

I can see where this would be an awesome movie. All the twists and turns and gore. But it wasn’t super scary to read, which I liked. I haven’t gotten to read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires yet, but I really should. I like the writing style of this author, and even though I am not a huge horror movie fan, I was able to enjoy and appreciate this book.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This was frustratingly hard to read on my Kindle paperwhite due to the images of text that intersperse with the chapters. I understand why those pages were done that way, as metatext commentary with magazine articles and book flaps and the back of VHS tape sleeves. Grady Hendrix loves that kind of stuff. But is was inaccessible to me because the text was too small to read and there was no alt-text. I'm honestly surprised that accessibility was overlooked here.

The rest of us are survivors. You were always just a victim.

Adrienne was a counselor at Camp Red Lake when nine of her friends were murdered . . . . .

Julia’s killer was the Ghost – who turned out to be her boyfriend . . . .

Back in the ‘80s Dani’s older brother hurt their babysitter one night . . . .

Marilyn’s past had a lot to do with straight razors and being forced to wear a leather suit made out of human skin . . . . .

Heather had a run-in with the Dream King . . . .

And Lynette???? Well, let’s just say she was on the naughty list . . . .

They thought their nightmarish pasts were behind them, but now . . . .

Someone’s coming for final girls.

I arrived just a little late to the Grady Hendrix party having skipped Paperbacks From Hell entirely, not feeling Horrorstör much at all and kinda halfway wrongreading My Best Friend's Exorcism as well. But then I found the best book club of all book clubs which was The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires and I knew I was going to fall all over myself for whatever Hendrix came up with next. I am so happy to report this did not disappoint. So much stabby shooty bloody good timey fun..

Many thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the early copy of this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC which I received in exchange for an honest review!

This book was 100% on my most anticipated release of 2021 because Grady Hendrix has quickly become one of my favorite authors. The whole idea of seeing how the “final girl” deals with life after they survived their horrific was a fantastic concept! If you are familiar with the horror genre specifically horror slasher films then you will get a great kick out of all the tropes in this book.

The book follows a group of women, all survivors, all the final girl in their own story, as they meet for group therapy. Each one of these women has handled being the “final girl” differently. Their therapist has been working with these women for years now and it seems that many of the women, except for the main character Lynette, are feeling that group therapy isn’t working for them anymore. At this potentially last meeting, they find out that one of the final girls has been murdered. This sends the main character down a rabbit hole, trying to survive a possible new threat and trying to figure out who is coming after them.

This was a high 4 star for me and it possibly would have been a 5 star but there were several times the main character annoyed me unfortunately so I couldn’t make it a 5 star. I still highly recommend this book and any other Grady Hendrix book out there!

Classic horror movies always have a final girl: the young virginal woman who doesn’t go into the woods to investigate the strange noise, the one who doesn’t run upstairs to evade the psycho killer, the one who knows they always come back. A final girl is always prepared for the return of her would-be killer.

Lynnette Tarkington survived the massacre of her family and her boyfriend 22 years ago. Now, she attends monthly meetings with five other final girls for a group therapy session. The trauma has impacted every aspect of their lives; while some are attempting to put their lives back together, Lynn has an escape plan for almost every scenario she can think of. When one of the women fails to show up for a monthly meeting, Lynn knows the group is in danger. Someone knows about the final girls and is plotting how to get rid of them, one by one.

Lynn doesn’t know who to trust but she knows she’ll still be standing, maybe bloodied and beaten, when the sirens fade and the credits roll.

I grew up with teen slashers like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer and love the genre of campy thrills that is updated for each generation.
Grady Hendrix never fails to make sharp, self-aware horror novels full of pop culture and badass female characters that rewrite the overused damsel in distress act so often followed in the past. The Final Girl Support Group is a gory homage to the cinematic scream queen and I adored everything about it, from the characters to the clever chapter titles. I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy campy horror and thrillers.

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Final Girl Support Group is scheduled for release on July 13, 2021.

The Final Girl Support Group is a fast-paced read that keeps the action going from start to finish. Lynette is accused of being paranoid and unable to let go of the past, as evidenced by her preparedness to escape any situation and reluctance to leave her apartment, but it soon becomes apparent that she had the right mindset all along. The story Hendrix tells is twisty without becoming contrived, all the while paying homage to slasher movies and the public's fascination with survivor stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me to review an advanced copy of "The Final Girls Support Group".

If you are a fan of slasher movies, you will love this book. There were Easter eggs throughout for people who pay attention to the slasher movies of the 80s and 90s. As a huge fan of movies such as "Scream" and "Friday The 13th" I devoured this book.

Pretend slasher movies were based on real people and those girls at the end are who the book follows. These "final girls" have years of trauma and they each react in different ways. Heather numbs herself with drugs and alcohol, Chrissy sells memorabilia and is obsessed with the men who are in prison and the murders themselves. Lynette, our main character, hides out and is always on high alert. When someone starts to kill off members of their support group, only Lynette believes it to be an attack on all of them. Soon, things happen that cause the rest of them to believe it. Lynette finds the most recent "final girl", 16 year old Stephanie, and takes off with her to find out who is behind the attacks.
This book is full of twists and I believe it would make a great movie. As I read it, I was casting the characters in my head and I loved that the book followed adult characters as they deal with the aftermath of their attacks, even years afterwards. I didn't see the end coming and I highly recommend this book to fans of thrillers, slasher films, horror movies and to everyone who enjoyed Grady Hendrix's previous works.
The only downside was it was too short. I wanted more and I wanted to see more of what happened to the characters after the end.

This isn't really my go to genre, but the premise of the book was really intriguing to me and I'm glad I picked it up. Such a fast paced book that kept me on the edge of my seat. Our protagonist doesn't always have the best judgement of people, so figuring out who the enemy is (because we really can't tell if Lynn is just a little crazy) was fun for me. I'm not really into horror films, but I think this would make a fantastic one.