What a great, fun, scary and kinda gory read. As a member of the "final girl support group," Lynette has pared her life down to a series of routines that allow her to continue existing, but little else. As things start to heat up and someone begins taking shots at the members of the group, Lynette takes it upon herself to save herself and everyone else as best she can. Once the setup and character creation occurs, the story is off like a shot. A great white-knuckled tear as she barrels from terrifying encounter to another.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix. All opinions are my own.

The description of this book instantly drew me in- I'm a sucker for a good, classic slasher film. This book checked those boxes for me, and then some. I had my suspicions of who "did it" early on, but was caught off guard with a large plot twist. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves cheesy horror films.

Couldn’t put this down. It was so cleverly plotted. I have a lot of opinions on the ending, and what it says about the real horrors of living. One star deduction for the hours lost not being able to sleep while reading it (that chapter in the museum I am looking at you).

Fans of any slasher movies will be able to tell where the different characters come from easily but the heart of the book is in just how far these final girls will go to survive. Delving into the psychological effects that come from being a final girl and having to face not just your own monsters but facing the monsters that come after you as well. Can we ever get past things that have been done to us?
The action of the book truly picks up in the third act and brings us to a satisfying ending where we are all the Final Girls.
The twists throughout will keep you guessing as does the authors use of an unreliable narrator. Unlike the ending of most slasher films the author actually gives us a sense of closure which was something I was not expecting but also very grateful for.

I have seen all of Grady Hendrix's books. And while they all sound very fun and right up my alley, I've never actually read one. I was excited to get to read The Final Girl Support Group. I am a huge fan of horror/slasher movies and thought the idea of "the final girl" was a fun one for a story. The book did not disappoint! This is basically a love letter to the slasher movies of the 80s and 90s. Any true horror movie fan will pick up on all of the easter eggs (like the fact that all of the women were named after the actresses that starred in those movies [with the exception of Neve Campbell, who instead is named after Julia, Neve's character from Party of Five])

The plot moved at a pretty quick pace which made the book feel like its own movie. There was a lot of action, a fair amount of violence (both, in flashbacks and in the present story), and some tense scenes. I was able to figure out who the killer was pretty early on, but that still didn't ruin the final confrontation.

Overall, I thought this was a fun read (but only if you're into horror movies) and I will look into Grady's other books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for a free ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I’ve loved all of Grady Hendrix’s books so far and this one is no exception. It was a fun, quick, gory read that paid homage to all the classic slasher films. But really what I loved most was the group of final girls that through thick & thin always stuck together. Hendrix just has an amazing way of creating female friendships that stick with you long after you finish reading.

I don't watch slasher movies, but the premise of this book was interesting enough for me to try it out.

The Final Girl Support Group is about a group of 'final girls' who go for group therapy because of their shared experience, which is being the final surviving member of massacres. The ones who are the only ones left standing when the movie ends and who avenge the death of their friends/family members. Think Neve Campbell in Scream (that's the only slasher movie I've watched).

This was my first Grady Hendrix, and to be honest, I was a little disappointed. The premise is super interesting, but this book came off as more thriller than horror, and not a fulfilling one at that. The characters are unlikable in spite of having been through unspeakable horrors, and the main character is halfway between a reliable and an unreliable narrator. The pacing of the story is fast but not gripping enough. The final scene though, is very well-done and redeemed the book a bit in spite of a predictable killer.

Read this one if you are a fan of slasher movies.
TW: Murder, gore and general gruesomeness that you expect from horror as a genre.

It took me a while to get into this story, in part because I couldn't read the book excerpts included between chapters. Once I did get into it, but story moved quickly... until the end. It just kept going. Overall I enjoyed it but I doubt that I'll read it again. The story just didn't stick with me.

I loved this authors last book and was very much looking forward to this book. Unfortunately it fell a bit flat and felt repetitive for me. Still a fan a looking forward to what comes next from this author.

I loved the idea of this book, with Final Girls inspired by movies we know and love such as Scream, Friday the 13th, Halloween, etc. The main character Lynette's story is inspired by one I have never heard of and now have to watch, Silent Night, Deadly Night. Anyway, while I loved the idea, unfortunately the book was just OK for me. I didn't really connect with or feel sympathy for Lynette or any of the other characters and I predicted one of the "twists" from the beginning. The story did pick up towards the end and overall it was a decent read, but just not my favorite. It was very violent with a lot of action and gore.

This book! This was exactly what a slasher is, in a book format. Full of horror, gore, creepiness and that extra bit of "this is kind of unbelievable" but that's what made this book fun for me.

The book is about a group of Final Girls that go to therapy together. What are final girls? They are the ones that did not die by the hands of the monster. They either kill that monster in the end and survive, or they just don't die and come back. Well, till the next movie when the monster is after them again. And when I say monster I mean, that crazy obsessed man that for some reason or another decides to go on a rampage for a night and kill everyone in sight.

So, the therapy. These final girls do not trust anyone anymore. Their lives have changed. But every single one is coping differently. Some are loners, living far away from other people enjoying what best they can while they can. Some are feeling in game. And some, well one is paranoid to no end. But therapy is the safe space where they share everything with each other.

And boom, a monster shows up and is trying to take each one of them while trying to turn them on each other at the same time. There's not enough preparedness when it looks like the monster knows them too well, too personally. So who is it? And who's gonna survive?

This book definitely turned me into a fan of the author. Now I just need to go catch up with all the backlist.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for my review copy.

My very first Hendrix novel & for the most part...it didn’t disappoint.

This is a story about Final Girls. In horror movies, the final girl is the last one standing after the serial killer makes their way through everyone else. The final girl is the only who fought back & ultimately killed the killer before they could complete the job. This book explores what happens to these final girls years after the events that made them that. We meet a group of final girls who meet in person once a month to attend their support group. But then one of the girls go missing...and all the girls’ nightmares come crashing back.

I want to start off by saying that I think this book would be 1000x better as a movie. We all know that books > movies but for this one, it would totally work better. There’s just SO many characters & although they are described extremely well, my mind was searching all corners of my brain for their faces. It’s like I NEEDED to see them all in person in order to make my connection to them real, so I could care about them.

The idea of final girls can no longer be used in books. This was the last book I’ll read about it. That’s my final thought on that.

This book kept me on my toes, though. It kept me guessing. It was crazy as f*** & all the women were also f****** crazy. At times, I laughed. At times, I was a bit creeped out. At times, I was confused.

However, I did really enjoy it. I actually liked the ending. As much as I read thrillers, I’ve started to stop even trying to guess the twists because it’s no fun that way anymore. I let the book process naturally & it allowed me to really enjoy this story from start to finish.

Final thoughts: should be a movie, suspenseful story, good twists, over the final girls scenarios.

Yes yes yes!! This is everything your slasher dreams are made of. If you are a die hard slasher fan - and I'm talking Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, Halloween. Need I name them all? This is the book for you! & if you have been dying for a true slasher novel, this is the one! Fans of Final Girls by Riley Sager will also be thrilled.

Grady Hendrix pays tribute to the greats by way of The Final Girl Support Group. Have you ever wondered what happens to the final girl after the credits role and she's left standing? A group of final girls who survived real-life massacres meet in a support group over the course of a decade working to put their lives back together. Then one girl doesn't show up to a meeting and it seems someone is after them all over again.

Get ready for some excellent references to the classic films, as well as some excellent slasher scenes. The writing is outstanding and fun. There are diary entries and newspaper excerpts interspersed throughout. Highly recommended to anyone looking for a solid read this Halloween season or if you're looking for an excellent slasher book because they are so few and far between. Highly recommended!!

Grady Hendrix delivers with the Final Girl Support Group. Punctuated by the clippings, notes, and diary entries that usually accentuate a Hendrix novel, this book picks up fast and keeps going. Hendrix is great at writing female relationships and in Lynette, Adrienne, Dani, Marilyn, Julia, Heather, and even crazy Crissy he’s run the gamut of cheesy horror film heroine tropes while still capturing each woman’s nuanced personality and survival coping method- no matter how screwed up it might be. Lynnette’s tale bounces from one extreme to the next, and takes as much of a beating as her poor skull. Every time she thinks she has the answers, she gets another beating and thrown in another direction. The ending is a shocker, and it wraps up predictably tidy, but not without all the Final Girls coming together one last time to beat the villains. Each Final Girl has become a woman with a gift, or a curse really: they survive. And when a Final Girl needs a friend, you help them out.

Grady to local and although his books are not my cup of tea, I absolutely LOVED The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. Because of that, I couldn't wait to read this. I have tried it multiple times. I'm over a quarter of the way done with it and it just is not holding my interest. I was really excited to read it and someone else suggested it to me but unfortunately, this is going on my "could not finish" pile.

I loved this book. The title first gave me some apprehension because it was so similar to one of my new favorite author's, Riley Sager, books. Final Girls. I'm glad I wised up and realized that there is plenty of room for more than one author to write about this horror story trope. I enjoyed this story so much I began reading it on my phone and continued doing so in every down moment I had until I finished it in two and a half days!

The Final Girl Support Group is your classic slasher film but in book format. I found it to be wonderfully paced, especially while listening to it on audiobook, however, the characters irritated me quite a bit. I had to keep reminding myself that they've been through some pretty traumatic stuff, so many of their actions would be understandable, but nevertheless, I was annoyed. There were also so many characters that it was hard to distinguish one from the other. I will say that the never-ending plot twists had me constantly turning the page and that ending? WOW!

Again, I hate most horror books, and again, Grady Hendrix made me love this horror book. I could not put this book down!!! I don’t want to spoil it by divulging too much about it, but please do yourself a favor and read this. And then go read all his other books. Thank you.

Maybe I wasn't in the mood, but this one just fell short for me. I enjoyed the drama of the girls and the idea that they remained in therapy, but overall, it wasn't enough to hold my attention and I ended up not finishing it.

The Final Girl Support Group is a twisting, turning, thrilling ride! I was hooked from the very beginning and rode this fast-paced story until the very end. The premise is interesting and I was kept guessing along the way. From the beginning readers are wrapped up in Lynette's life. She's a survivor, but unlike the other girls in her support group, her monster still lives. Each day is a series of routines she has created herself to ensure that she survives. Readers are left guessing if her perception is paranoia or actual reality. The dynamics of the "final girls" makes for a good read as well. While they are connected by what has happened to them, each has a different response which then alters their sense of the over all situation. Great read.