What if those 80s slasher films were all based on real Final Girls. Would you want to know what happened to all of them after the credits roll and the sequels are done and their stints on talk shows are over? Well, this book does just that. This is The Final Girl Support Group.

What did I think could be better?
I think the book relied too heavily on unreliable characters with mental health issues where the word "crazy" was thrown around too often. I felt like a lot of these ideas are utilized too often and I am not a fan of mental health being used as a plot line in this way. Also, I didn't find myself truly rooting for any character, which is what I look for in a book.

What I enjoyed?
The book was fast paced and had my adrenaline pumping the WHOLE TIME, just like an actual 80s slasher film. There were some twists I definitely didn't see coming. There were villains. There was action. There were female characters fighting back and overcoming trauma throughout the book. Also, I feel like you get a great understanding of the relationship between all these "Final Girls," even though you only get the perspective of one of them.

If you love 80s slasher flicks? I think you'll love this and you should give it a try!

3.5 stars rounded to 4 for Netgalley!

Trigger Warnings: PTSD, Trauma, Violence

I'm a huge fan of Grady Hendrix and devoured all his books this past summer after reading My Best Friend's Exorcism. This book is no different and kept me glued to its pages and on having to make myself slow down so I wouldn't miss anything! Loved the story and the characters and as a fellow South Carolina native I'll forever be a fan of Grady!

This book was simultaneously a satirical masterpiece about the horror industry and an allegory of the female experience. Lynnette was an unlikely, and sometimes unwilling, heroine who grew to be more than just a victim. Mixing in multimedia about fictional horror stories (which believe me, I googled because I thought they were real!) made this book so immersive. I'd recommend this to any classic horror fans or any thriller junkies. Amazing!

I loved The Final Girl Support Group. I have watched so many classic slasher movies, and this novel explores what happens to the girls who survive. The dynamics of the group are so relatable- the friction, the love and the trust when shit hits the fan. Also, it's funny.

Grady Hendrix always manages to write fast paced, well crafted thrillers/horror and he does it again here. The characters are well developed, with clever nods to classic slasher film heroines and actresses. Anyone who likes horror films and true crime will appreciate all the little mentions of genre classics and real life serial killers. He manages to indulge this love without making it grotesque and adds a lot of feminist themes and questions about why men kill women and why we enjoy watching it and reading about it. He doesn't reprimand horror fans, as he is an obvious one himself, but doesn't shy away from questions about what drives us to like it so much.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Penguin Random House for the ARC of The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix. Like most of Hendrix's work, The Final Girl Support Group kept me on my toes. I found the main character, Lynette, an interesting character who suffered greatly at the hands of not one, but two evil men. As her story continues, I second guessed everyone (including her) and wondered whom I could trust. That kind of guessing makes for a great thriller, and brings attention to the media and how as a society we focus on *mostly* the "bad guys." It leaves us questioning...what happens to victims and how do they cope?

This is my first Grady Hendrix novel, and I wasn't entirely sure what to expect: will it be funny, like a horror spoof? Or will it be straight-up horror? This ... is a mix. Let me say first that Hendrix is a good writer. The setup of the novel is pretty genius: 6 women in a support group group for survivors of mass murder events (Final Girls), and what happens when someone starts trying to kill them (AGAIN. Most of these women have already undergone two "revenge" style mass killings, rendering their stories the perfect fodder for the slasher films of the 1980s-90s).

It's a quick romp of a read, with a nice level of unputdownable-ness (my kindle telling me there's only half an hour left in the book is a great motivator to keep going), and snappy dialogue. Is the story believable? Hell, no (at least I hope not). But it sure is entertaining, even if I didn't really love the ending and am still pondering the questions that Lynnette, our Final Girl heroine (of sorts) poses about who is responsible, and why. It also gave me new perspective about how survivors deal with guilt and navigate their lives post-trauma, and how I generally take my own security for granted on a daily basis.

Altogether enjoyable, especially if you don't think too hard, which you don't want to do anyway in a story about repeated mass murders and the survivors of same.

Another thoroughly enjoyable Grady Hendrix book full of the scares, thrills and classic horror tropes turned on their heads that I've come to expect from him. This book was fast paced and focused in on a particular character and her personal trauma, similar to Southern Guide. While I didn't feel as strongly connected to the characters in this book as Southern Guide, it was still a wild and thrilling romp. Reminiscent of 80s slasher films, this book will entertain even the most well versed horror fan.

Having loved Grady Hendrix’s last book, I was eager to read Final Girl Support Group. His writing and a book full of twists and turns make this a great book to read.

Mr. Hendrix has done it again!. This might be his best book yet. What happens to final girls when they aren't girls anymore...genius idea!

I loved the Southern Book Club's Guide, so I was super excited to dive into Grady Hendrix's new novel. The final girls support group was a trauma unbeknownst to most, so the first half of the book was full of twists and turns that kept me glued to the pages. However, I couldn't stick with the last half. It could have been that I was personally distracted, so I don't want to say the book was bad, because it did not let up on the adrenaline factor! I just had a hard time finishing. I'll still look forward to more books from Hendrix.

The references to classic horror films were super fun. Just like a slasher film, once the action began, it was pretty relentless. The twists and turns kept things exciting and I liked the main character, though I’ve never seen the movie she’s based on.

This was great fun and I’m so thankful to Berkeley for the chance to early read it. The twists were well executed and I loved the interview transcripts/articles that broke up the book. Tying each of the girls to a well known slasher film franchise was really enjoyable to see play out. Docking one star because the pacing felt a little off— slogging at times— but I greatly enjoyed this book!

Grady Hendrix has done it once again with his latest book, THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP. Hendrix serves us all the 80s and 90s slasher realness and you can tell he had so much fun putting this one together. There are so many great throwbacks and callouts with the character names, chapter titles, backstories of the final girls, etc. As usual, Hendrix throw on his own twists and turns while paying homage to the nostalgic tropes and patterns we have grown to love.

I had such a fun time trying to figure out who was doing what in this book. My theories were constantly changing as each chapter laid out different red herrings and provided me with new information to have me scratching my head. Each page I had to know what our final girl(s) was going to do next and I loved each time a connection to a famous movie, character, or trope would be made. It felt like this book was made special just for me as I am OBSESSED with slasher horror movies. I hope all other slasher fans will feel the same way - as it really can't be expressed in words how special reading a book is that is so entertaining you connect with on so many levels!

4.5 stars!

Thanks to Berkely and Netgalley for giving me a digital ARC of the book!

If you are already a fan of Grady Hendrix, then you won't be disappointed by his latest novel. This one has all the hallmark features of a classic Hendrix horror story. A good solid novel that I liked, but could not quite love.

Hendrix is clearly aware of the tropes of the slasher genre and plays into them in a way that feels fresh and fun. I enjoyed the backstories to the final girls which were all clearly inspired by classic slasher movies like Scream & Halloween.  In this novel, he turns those paradigms on their head in this fiercely feminist story, depicting both the strength and vulnerability of these victims. Like in his previous books, Hendrix once again demonstrated that male authors are perfectly capable of creating well developed, fully fleshed out female characters. The main character reminded me a lot of Laurie Strode as she was portrayed later in life in the Halloween sequel. Despite getting older, this final girl stayed strong and vigilant against the possibility of an attack that could come at any time.

For reasons I have never quite been able to articulate, I always like and appreciate Hendrix's stories but something always holds me back from fully loving them. This is sadly the case again. I just did not fully connect to the characters or plot, depsite loving the slasher subgenre. I have no technical criticisms of this novel, but I just can't give it full stars based on my reading enjoyment and experience. 

Needless to say, if you love Hendrix's other books then you will definitely enjoy this one. If you are new to his work this is a fine place to start and very representative of the rest of his work. 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

I am a huge Grady Hendrix fan, but this book was incredibly disappointing for me. It's more thriller than horror, and the storyline is all over the place. There are huge glaring plot holes that the entire premise relies on, and so many moments and character decisions feel disconnected from reality. One example is Lynnette's decisions about where to go next. Each step along the way seems randomly picked and for a pretty decent part of the book, she is making plans for a final showdown at one woody retreat but instead ends up going to another woodland camp retreat. This is just one example of the baffling writing choices that should have been parsed down and simplified by an editor.

This book had the same issues with it that Riley Sager's Final Girls had with it--it just lacked real human emotion and understanding of trauma. This was a huge surprise to me because of how much Hendrix's earlier books really resonated with me, particularly The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires and My Best Friend's Exorcism, both novels focused on women and their response to trauma.

I’m a huge fan of Grady Hendrix and this book did not disappoint. I was hesitant about our main protagonist at first, but she grew on me. If you are a fan of the 80/90’s horror movies you are in for a treat. Grady really did his research and left no stone unturned for that genre.

After reading The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, I knew anything Grady Hendrix writes would be a winner. The Final Girl Support Group takes everything you love about slasher classics and puts a new spin on it. A must read! Will be purchasing for the library's fiction collection.

As someone who loves horror but is not a big thriller fan, I was a little hesitant to read this book - but I'm so glad I did! Even when I thought I knew what was going on, there was always one more twist around the corner. Definitely kept me guessing right up until the end!

I spent an alarming number of hours when I was in middle and high school in the late 80s and early 90s holed up in various friends’ basements watching slasher movies, and this book felt like going back to that time, with fewer prank calls and no parents yelling at us to shut up and go to sleep already.

The six Final Girls in the weekly support group are based on classic horror franchises (like Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th) and they are all mentally and physically scarred from their experiences with their monsters. The main character, Lynette, is a seemingly overly paranoid survivor of a family massacre, but it turns out Lynette’s paranoia is entirely justified, and she goes to impossible lengths to save herself and the other final girls from the new monster hunting them all.

(This book is *not* to be confused with Riley Sager’s “Final Girls” - that book was enjoyable enough, but this one was something special.)

Thank you so much for the ARC - five giant stars!

Review will be posted on IG @leavemetomybooks closer to publication.