QUICKISH TAKE: Okay, so let’s talk about Grady Hendrix’s THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP. I mean, what even was that?! A fever dream of a book, I found the story to be incredibly entertaining in a “batshit, bonkers, what is happening, why can’t I stop turning pages” kinda way, and I think the polarizing reviews circulating on #bookstagram are a sign that I wasn’t alone here in simultaneously loving and loathing this book.⁣
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The story revolves around a group of “final girls”- young women who have survived massacres- think Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween or Adrienne King in Friday the 13th or Heather Langenkamp in Nightmare on Elm Street (had to Google those last two!)- who band together and form a support group in the wake of surviving each of their own respective real life horror movies. When someone begins killing off members of the support group, the women must band together, confront their past traumas, and live to fight another day one more time.⁣
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Fun concept, and classic Grady, he does a nice job playing with classic horror movie tropes in a really fun way (even for someone like me who hates scary movies). That being said, this book is all over the place…tone, character development, whacky twists (I’m sorry, did you say summer camp panic rooms!?), and some over-the-top gore (a flashback scene featuring the main character is possibly one of the more f*cked up things I’ve read…and not in a way that is additive to the story at large). I did love the interlude at a final girl museum from hell, but half the time I was reading this book, I thought the characters were imagining what was actually happening, and the ending reminded me a lot of another recent horror movie that tried (and failed) to flip the slasher genre on its head (no spoilers!).⁣
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Overall, if you’re a fan of Grady or the horror genre, there are definitely some things to dig about this one, but it’s probably more of a buyer beware situation. As for me, it was definitely an entertaining vacation read!

[4.25/5] Like all of Grady Hendrix’s stories (at least the ones I’ve read so far), this was a very unique read. It definitely gives off the ‘80’s slasher’ vibes it promises - but with a modern twist. I didn’t love it as much as The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Vampires, but it still had that Hendrix feel to it that makes a story compulsively readable.

What I liked:
-interesting plot (if a little predictable at the end, but only some parts)
-unique voice
-epistolary story style with letters, articles, etc. scattered throughout (this is my jam 👏)

A few parts did feel a bit repetitive, and I wanted to get to know the side characters better. But overall, it was twisty, action packed, and dug deeper than just a story looking to scare, with themes ranging from the effects of trauma to society’s obsession with killers. Definitely worth reading if you’re a horror fan!

**Thanks to Berkley Publishing for the gifted e-ARC.

Every horror movie has a final girl, the one who was brave enough or maybe just lucky enough to make it through to the end. But real life has final girls, too, those who managed to outlast a serial killer's final attempt to take yet another life. Those girls may have survived the killers, but certainly didn't come through their experiences unscathed. Five who have been meeting monthly with their counsellor are seriously paranoid, but, this time that doesn't mean someone isn't out to get them. They seem to be disappearing one by one, and the police are pretty convinced that one of them is the murderer. Wild and clever, witty and engaging, this one had me listening non-stop. The final girl theme seems to be popular right now, and this one is one of the best.

As a fan of late 70’s, 80”s and 90’s slasher flicks Grady Hendrix did not disappoint me.

I get a kick when I can’t figure out if the narrator is reliable or not. This is a busy book with a lot of bits going back and forth between past and present and that makes it confusing to follow.

Horror gory thrillerfans would love this because the characters will remind you of the classic horror slasher movies.

Six final girls meet once a month in a support group. When one of them ends up dead Lynette loses it and her actions causes a chain reaction that filters through the group.
Overall I had a blast reading this book.

I struggled to get into this book, but I am so glad I stuck with it. The Final Girl Support Group ended up being such a fantastic book with a shocking ending. I look forward to reading more by Grady Hendrix.

I have never read a bad Grady Hendrix book. I must say, this one might be one of my favorites! I couldn’t predict it, and that’s a good thing when it comes to horror! I will DEFINITELY be purchasing this for my library, and we will likely be using it for a future book club. Couldn’t recommend it more!

𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙴𝙽𝙷𝙰 | The Final Girl Support Group - Grady Hendrix

Muita gente sempre elogiou a escrita desse autor e eu já fui ler esse livro com certa expectativa e terminei achando que eu perdi um tempo precioso e essa é a pior sensação que um leitor pode sentir.

Lynnette faz parte do grupo de "final girls", que nada mais são do que garotas que sobreviveram a dois massacres quando ainda eram adolescentes e que mataram seus algozes. Algumas delas fazem parte de uma espécie de grupo de ajuda. Durante anos elas tentam apoiar umas as outras, apesar de não confiarem em ninguém. Cada uma delas viu a morte de perto e matou seu monstro. Acontece que agora anos depois elas parecem ser o alvo de novo e Lynnette fará de tudo para que todas elas saiam ilesas mais uma vez.

Primeiro eu preciso dizer que esse livro é uma grande bagunça narrativa. Até o meio do livro absolutamente nada faz sentido fora da mente obsessivo compulsiva da Lynnette e quando as coisas começam a encaixar o que seria mais interessante que seriam as histórias das garotas acabam atropeladas pelo enredo. E o final eu não vou nem comentar o quão não faz sentido.

Ao nos apresentar a pessoa culpada por trás dos crimes e de todo o plano a coisa fica mais ilógica e irreal ainda. Simplesmente não faz sentido.

Fora tudo isso, temos personagens até bem estruturados. Lynnette, por exemplo, me deixou bem agoniada em alguns momentos. Também preciso falar sobre as outras garotas, todas elas com histórias bem interessantes que por si só poderiam ter trazido mais substância para a narrativa.

Enfim, esse livro vai ser adaptado e eu acho que há uma grande possibilidade de ser daqueles raros casos em que a adaptação é bem melhor que o livro.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix is a slasher mystery, that uses a mash up up all our favorite final girls from the movies. It was fun to find out the girls origins and from what movie franchise they were from. The movie slashers depicted in this book are Halloween, Friday The 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream, and the outlier is Silent Night, Deadly Night. I like what was done with each character, and how these events were eventually made in to Slashers themselves. The dialogue is really fresh and flows so well. There's a good deal of humor that lands for the most part. The mystery is good I don't know if everything lined up, but it was fun. The flow of the novel is steady, when there's slow moments in action, the fun witty dialogue made up for it. Mystery aside the real meat of the story is hope do these women cope with the loss of friends and the choices they made that fateful night. This is my second second Grady Hendrix novel, the first was My Best Friend's Exorcism, which had plenty of witty dialogue and was totally 80's but not as strong of a plot of The Final Girl Support Group, which I ended up liking quite a bit better. I got to read The Final Girl Support Group thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix was published on July 13 2021.

The Plot: Women who survived mass murders were left the final girl in their massacre have all started a support group. The group has existed for 16 years seems to be barely held together, they don't so much talk about the tragedy but the film series that have been inspired by them and internal squabbles. One member Adrienne failed to show, Dani says this is her last, Lynette tries to hold it together, and says Heather needs this, and is close to using again. The group turns on Lynette saying we were here cause we thought you needed this, it is revealed that Lynette was not a true Final Girl she didn't stand up to her bad guy she played dead and the police killed him. Lynette is falling apart when the group finds out that the missing member Adrienne was murdered by a mass murderer and Chrissy a new final girl murdered him. Soon all the women are targeted, will this be Lynette chance to be a real final girl?

What I Liked: I like that the characters are inspired by movie final girls Dani represents Halloween, Marilyn represents The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Adrienne represents Friday the 13th, Heather represents A Nightmare on Elm Street ,Lynette represents Silent Night, Deadly Night, and Julia represents Scream. I loved the fun chapter titles all inspired by a title from a slasher franchise. The idea is smart, I don't know if it was inspired by the current Halloween and what they are doing with the character of Laurie Strode, but it is interesting seeing where every character ended up. The dialogue is really witty and fun. The fast moving pace made this book a breeze.

What I Disliked: The twist are fun but it doesn't all make sense, once you know everything. This is a big pet peeve for me. I though the visit to the lost final girl was good for action and making Lynette not be a victim, but it felt like it was from another book, it didn't gel with everything that came from before.

Recommendation: Do yourself a favor and check out this book, it has a fun meter of 11. I had a slight issue with some plot points but, the fun out weighed my apprehensions. The Final Girl Support Group was released weeks away from another Slasher novel My Heart is a Chainsaw from Stephen Graham Jones which I would easily pick The Final Girl Support Group. Where I feel both added to the Slasher genre, the flow, the characters, and dialogue make The final Girl Support Group the winner in my opinion. I rated The Final Girl Support Group 4 out of 5 Stars. I will add We Sold our Souls by Grady Hendrix a little bit hire on my TBR.

I enjoy the way that Hendrix plays with the horror genre in a humorous and thought provoking way. This book is definitely more for horror movie fans as it pays homage to many classics, so not being familiar with them would take away from the story. As a horror fan, I really liked this story and was quick to purchase it for myself. My library has also purchased it for our horror fan community.

I enjoyed Horrorstöre so I was excited to read The Final Girl Support Group. This thriller contains flawed characters, horror movie, and adoration. Overall, I really enjoyed this story! I loved the author’s creative storyline and fast paced writing style. Though I didn’t really like any of the characters, they were all written really well. I didn’t see any of the twists and turns coming which made this an enjoyable read.

One thing I need to point out about this book that I don’t typically point out is the reading format. If you read this book, I highly recommend reading the physical copy and not the audio or the ebook. I initially got a free audiobook copy from @prhaudio, but I could stand the audiobook narrator. She kept emphasizing random sentences and some of the voices she did for the characters distracted me from enjoying the book. I did try the ebook thanks to @berkleypub for the free copy, however, there is an image page at the end of each chapter which is difficult read, but you can read these in the physical book. I ended up getting the physical book from the library which ended up being the best choice.

I liked this book - didn't love it but liked it. I am rating it 3 star book. Hendrix is a good author. He knows his fans and writes material that they enjoy - horror with a touch of humor. It isn't as good as some of his other material but still good.

I think you have to be a certain type of reader for this book and I am not that type of reader. I started reading and read about 50 pages and then stopped. It was too much of a horror story for me but if you like reading in this genre the layout and set up of the story is very well done.

This is my third Grady Hendrix book and I keep reaching for them because they are so creative and flip the horror genre on its head. His books have you thinking about things a little differently and for that I'm a fan. Hendrix also seems to weave through his horror a commentary on our society and women and the very REAL horrors they deal with.

In this story, we are immersed in the world of Final Girls and slasher films. If you are a fan of the genre of films, the characters and their backstories will ring very familiar to you. As a fan, I knew and was familiar with their stories (based on slasher films like Halloween, Scream and Texas Chainsaw Massacre just to name a few) but would you enjoy this story if you weren't as knowledgeable of the genre? To me, none of the characters really had individual personalities and I inserted what I knew from their respective movies to flesh them out. But how would that work if you didn't know the movies? I don't think it would.

With my criticism aside, it was a fast paced and very violent (hello, slasher?!) novel that if your a fan of the genre I think you'll enjoy. However, it wasn't my favorite Hendrix novel. Creative for sure but missing something more to me.

I will however take our main Final Girl, Dani's advice "One is none, and two is one".

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 is my first book by this author and I really liked it! I loved all the horror movie references and how Lynnette viewed the world since she was a final girl. I got the characters a little mixed up at first but eventually sorted them out. The writing style is addictive with a unique concept and I loved all the tension and twists! I also liked the inserts between the chapters (interviews, news articles, reviews, etc) since they added useful background information and more depth to the story. This thriller was fast-paced, gory, and entertaining! Definitely excited to see what this author has in store next!

I love Grady Hendrix! He truly knows how to make you really care for characters while telling a chilling story at the same time! This story was very fast paced, anxiety inducing, yet satisfying at the same time. Every time I pick up one of his books I become so invested in the characters and story.

The final girl is the true heroine of any horror flick and this book is a wonderful homage. Outsmarting and outlasting even the most crazed and blood thirty villians. This book is everything I had hoped it would be and more. Smart, feminist, scary and thrilling. Horror movie fans will really appreciate the references. 5 out of 5!

This was a super intense read! Perfect for Halloween due to all the callouts to slasher films. Scary and emotional - couldn't put it down.

anyone who loves a good horror movie will enjoy this book! it would be the perfect halloween read! This was my first Grady Hendrix book and I was addicted right from the first chapter!

Okay... the premise of this one immediately drew me in. I always wonder 'where are they now' when it comes to some characters, so I loved 'seeing' the lives of these final girls after the events that made them what they are.

Sadly, this just didn't click with me. I don't know why... I was just bleh after finishing it. The use of transcripts and other media was different and did lend a unique twist.

I don't read much horror so I thought I just wasn't getting it, but after reading some similar reviews I feel better about my rating.

This is totally objective! There are also some reviews out there that are stellar so don't let anything deter you from reading something you genuinely want to read.

Sadly I did not enjoy this book. I was so bored. I hated the writing. I hated the characters. This was a DNF for me.