I'm a Grady Hendrix fan and continously handsell and restock his books in my bookstore. Horrorstor gave me pure popcorn pleasure. Southern Book made me, a hardened reader, cry at the end with emotion for the characters. I apologize for finding The Final Girl mediocre compared to its predecessors.

As a fan of horror films and books, I thought I knew what to expect from a novel featuring final girls. I knew there would be action...gore...a more than a heaping spoonful of female badassery. But I didn't expect Lynne's bright neurosis. I didn't expect the exploration of survivor's guilt, of moving on from serious trauma, of not giving up on people who want to give up on themselves. Grady Hendrix has taken the trope and turned it on its end, which we expected, but he also took care in crafting wonderful, flawed, beautiful, realistic female characters. A must-read for any horror fan!

I've never been a huge fan of slasher movies, but this is an exploration of what happens to the "final girl," or the last one standing after the credits roll. The Final Girl gives an in-depth glance at the damage done to these women, even 15 years after the movie ends.

This one surprised me. It was interesting, different, and I thought about it when I wasn't reading.
Hendrix gives a unique spin on a familiar trope - excellently weaving in the premise that the slasher moves we all know are based on these fictional women's experiences. It was fun to piece together which woman goes with which film franchise.

Overall, a great story.

Another winner for Grady Hendrix

I love the nostalgia of this book! It was a bit more gore than previous books of his, but I dont mind, having grown up on the classic slasher movies. Great twist ending and overall just a good horror novel.

A great book that was a lot of fun to read. Having grown up with 80s horror, I had a great time finding all the nods to the genre.

It took me a bit to get through this one, but once I did I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely for people who are fans of horror movies/slasher films. I was thrown for a loop by the ending and found it to be an exciting page turner.

This was an action-packed authentic story about survival and the importance of life - I loved it! I enjoyed the souther book club more, but this one felt more realistic

The conceit was good, but the twists back and forth were hammy and poorly executed. It made me deeply depressed and its lesson was a little obvious. But it was still an enjoyable read.

I am a Grady Hendrix fan! Grady added just the right amount of gore and suspense. Many times I had that creepy, gut-wrenching, no-please-don’t feeling.

Lynette Tarkington is part of a counseling group called The Last Final Girls. All the girls have survived unimaginable horror and massacre. They are all the last girls standing. They meet to keep each other sane and safe.

Then one of them goes missing and the monsters are at it again! The story is told from Lynette’s viewpoint and boy is she determined and strong-willed, even though she’s scared shitless.

There is a big cast of characters. Some are truly deranged and people are not what they seem. Thrilling, scary, and somewhat insane.

The Final Girl support group was a fun, riveting novel for any nostalgic horror fan out there. I will warn that it can drag, but the main character (in my case at least) was interesting enough to prevent that. If you are NOT a fan of pop culture references, horror references, etc. This book has plenty of them. The author’s love of the genre is clear within each novel written, and it is just as present in this book.
The trope of the ‘final girl,’ is meant to be rewritten by taking place years after the initial incidents. However, the book isn’t too deep with its characters. It is more of a fun read, similar to the author’s previous books. Despite this, I relate to Lynn deeply as a woman with a deep anxiety disorder, and thought she was quite funny and interesting to read about.

A lot of the same issues here as with TSBCGTSV...

It's obvious that Hendrix holds a lot of knowledge about the horror genre, but he struggles to revamp the tropes he chooses to write about into something that is truly worth reading.

Unfortunately, even with the potential in all his synopses, Hendrix's characters (who are usually female) and the messages surrounding their terrors are shallowly executed in a way that makes it painfully apparent he is writing from an outside perspective. The idea to focus on final girls after their "15 minutes of fame" are over is smart. However, doubling down on the same old formulas, with a little trite commentary ~as a treat~ and shoving half-baked ideas into a new slasher set up, does not make the self-aware horror that this story seems to think it is.

Book synopsis from the publisher:
Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece.

But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.


The Final Girl Support Group is the perfect book to read during the Halloween season. Who doesn't remember the cheesy horror movies of the 80s and 90s? I was terrified of them when I was a kid, but now I look back and see just how cheesy they were. The Final Girl Support Group is a throwback to those movies and what happens after the credits roll. Lynn Tarkington is eccentric. Being a "Final Girl" for Lynn means always being prepared for more "monsters" to find her and Lynn has gone to great lengths to be prepared. I don't blame her, I suspect I would be the same way if I were Lynn. Heck, I kind of am in some regards and I am not a Final Girl. The book was fast-paced, but I struggled with getting through it, it wasn't as gripping as I had hoped. The ending didn't even really provide a shocking reveal, it just felt meh.... CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS


Bottom Line - Just like the horror films of the 80s, The Final Girl Support Group may be enough to entertain you for a few hours or it may leave you shaking your head, wanting something more. At the very least, it will immerse you in the nostalgia of the horror movies gone by.


Details:
The Final Support Group by Grady Hendrix
On Facebook
Pages: 352
Publisher: Berkley Books
Publication Date: July 13, 2021
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

It was ok. I'm a fan of horror/thriller books, but not necessarily movies. I spend a good deal of the book trying to pair the characters with their movies. It made it a little hard to follow. But overall, I enjoyed the dark humor in the book. I thought it was a bit slow and slightly predictable. But it was still an enjoyable read.

Dnf. I do not appreciate pop culture references in books. However I do recognize there are people out there that do and will be sure to recommend this to them.

Hendrix should be crowned the king of dark horror with humor. No matter how many times I pick up one of his books, I am never lacking for chills, wit, or dynamic characters. THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP is no different. This book takes the slasher genre and makes it something unique. A bloody good time.

This book dragged a bit for me. The beginning and middle were a bit slow, but the end was worth it. I was NOT expecting the ending at all.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

This one through me for a loop! I did not predict the crazy ending of this one, but man it was so good! If you're a fan of the horror/thriller genre, Hendrix does it well. Between this book and the Southern Book Club's Guide, you can't go wrong.

Overall I really enjoyed this! I'm a Grady Hendrix fan, so I knew I'd like it before even going into the novel. I think my favorite aspects were the pacing and the characters. I thought it was definitely a page-turner which is always good for a thriller/horror. There were moments that had my heart racing and forcing me to turn the lights back on!

fast-paced, brutal, kind of creepy, but fun - this was a quick and enjoyable read. I thought it was predictable about 75% of the book, but the end surprised me (in multiple ways). A really fun book, especially for fans of slasher movies (& books).

Definitely not a boring book. It got started and kept up a nice pace until the end. It does have some gore and violence so if that is not your thing, you might want to read another book.