Grady Hendrix is either a genius or bat s**t crazy and I haven't decided which. Yet here I am drinking the Koolaid, all engrossed in his latest thriller about final girls. I'm still all clenched up and my heart is racing even though the ride is over. If you are craving a fast paced, twisted, heart pounding, but uniquely satisfying suspense, this book is for you. But he ready to read it in one sitting as it is hard to put down.

Imagine if Laurie Strode (Halloween), Nancy (Nightmare on Elm Street), Sydney Prescott (Scream), basically all our favorite final girls from the slasher flicks were in group therapy together. That’s this book.
Except some new psycho is out to finish the job and pick them off one by one in the most absurd way possible! This book was crazy, but in a good way. All of the characters are super ridiculous and extra- total dark comedy Hendrix style. Once you adapt, it's a wild train ride from start to finish. I had to slow myself down to process what was happening several times. The chapter titles are all creative homages to horror movies with newspaper clippings/mixed media snuck in there to set the scene. I LOVED the creepy “museum of horror” section at the end (was taking notes for future Halloween posts). I had a lot of fun reading, it’s super gory so may not be for everyone, but for horror fans a must read!

Thank you NetGalley & Berkley Publishing Group for the arc! :)
The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix

I had high hopes of absolutely loving this book, so I wonder if my expectations let me down here. I did enjoy this book, but I was expecting something a lot more fast paced and chilling. That’s not to say that this was a bad book. I did enjoy reading it and the storyline, I just hoped we could have gotten there a little quicker.

**4.5-stars**

The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix's newest, inventive Horror story, revolves around the idea that final girls are real. The classic Slasher films we all grew up on, and have come to love, are based on the real-life horror stories these women survived. We're talking movies such as Friday the 13th, Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Nightmare on Elm Street, Leprechaun and Black Christmas.

Twenty-two years ago, Lynnette Tarkington, survived a massacare in her home. She is a real-life final girl. Since that time she has developed some unhealthy habits trying to stay safe. She's a bit paranoid and has trouble letting people in.

The only people she trusts are the five other women, and their therapist, in the Final Girls Support Group. This mixed-bag of trauma surivors have been meeting every month for more than a decade. They don't always get along, but they need one another. Their therapist does a fairly good job keeping them on track and seems to really care about their well-being.

When one of the women misses group, without explanation, Lynne fears the worst. It turns out, her fears are valid. A monster is back and he's come to pick off the final girls one-by-one. Lynne immediately jumps into action. She's been anticipating this for years and has a solid survival plan in place, but will she be the last final girl?

I found this story to have a completely unique premise and loved the use of mixed media sprinkled throughout that built-out the lore behind these final girls. As I have come to expect with Hendrix's novels, it is also full of his quick wit and dry humor. It's over-the-top, wild plotlines kept me completely engaged. Nostalgia for days!

I thought this book was extremely clever. The ending was insanity. So much fun. I am actually thinking about listening to the audiobook this Fall; maybe around Halloween. It's definitely a story I wouldn't mind revisiting!!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Books, for providing me a copy to read and review. It was one of my most anticipated books of the year and Hendrix didn't disappoint!

This boil definitely felt lore of a thriller than a horror but overall I did enjoy most of it besides when I got towards the end.

Will come back to update when I can process this book

I LOVED the premise of this book and was so pleased when I was given the chance to read it. The Final Girl Support Group is like if all the "final girls" of horror movies were brought together in a support group--but not the flat character we saw running from the masked man, rather, REAL people with real life issues outside of the fact they are final girls. The book centers around Lynn, who has gone to extreme lengths to keep herself safe. But when that all falls apart, when someone comes for her yet again, we see her as she must face the real world and figure out who is after them all.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it gets 4 stars from me. As much as the book was interesting and exciting, I ultimately didn't fully connect to the main character. That said, I will certainly read this author's next book, and can't wait to see what they have cooked up as a follow-up!

Grady Hendrix took all of the best slasher movies and brought their reinvented Final Girls in for Final Girl Support Group.

I’ve come to love Hendrix’s brutal writing, and this was no different. I was anxious reading the vivid imagery, and while I thought I knew the twist, I was surprised not once, but twice.

Bonus: The audiobook is read by none other than Adrienne King, so of course I had to purchase that format!

▪️Plot▪️ “Like his bestselling novel The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix’s latest is a fast-paced, frightening, and wickedly humorous thriller. From chain saws to summer camp slayers, The Final Girl Support Group pays tribute to and slyly subverts our most popular horror films—movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream.

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.”

▪️Rating▪️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Definitely a five star read that’s sure to make horror/slasher fans rejoice. I’ve been recommending it to everyone, and I’ll recommend his writing for a long time to come. Must read.

🔘Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for sending me a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

What if the final girls & scream queens of our favorite horror films attended group therapy? Ever since My Best Friend's Exoricism, I've found myself repeatedly impressed with how Grady Hendrix writes women, women's friendships, and feminine experiences. Hendrix' newest novel is no different: The Final Girl Support Group imagines the adult lives of teenaged girls who've survived massacres and family annihilations. When Dani decides to leave their group therapy sessions, Lynette works herself into a panic: her life is shaped by victimhood and, while the other survivors each yearn for ways to move on, Lynette is truncated in her past. Reclusive, agoraphobic, and acutely paranoid, Lynn stays ready so she doesn't have to get ready.

In other words, Lynette comes off as insane and she's more than a little unlikable. Just when you think she's due for a trip to the People's Pound™, one of the final girls is violently killed, setting off a series of twists and turns as the women discover they are all being hunted.

I loved this novel. Though I couldn't stand Lynn for most of the novel, Hendrix crafts such a satisfying character arc with his protagonist. She, like the other survivors, is absolutely flawed, but Hendrix doesn't excuse this: he embraces it and invites us to do the same as we cringe, perhaps even condemn, but ultimately root for a cast of difficult and problematic survivors. Each character (cheekily named after the actresses who starred in cult horror classics) copes with their trauma in different, believable ways and they all felt incredibly authentic. I feel as though each survivor could have been the protagonist of their own, different book, which really speaks to the richness of character they all have.

While some of the twists of this novel were predictable, I found their execution incredibly satisfying. Hendrix has a real gift for setting up the parameters for each of his narrative reveals. His twists don't come from out of nowhere. Between the central mystery, the effectively sprinting pace of the novel, and his command of character, The Final Girl Support Group is easily one of the best horror books I've read in a long time. Beneath a well-written and satisfying narrative are real thematic questions about the nature of gender, violence, and trauma in the horror genre, the weight of survivor's guilt, and the difference between surviving vs authentically being alive.

This is one of my most anticipated read this year and I honestly enjoyed it! It was entertaining and hilarious at times, a little bit intimidating and heartbreaking, mixed with thrill and action that I found my pulse racing in so many instances. And I can't help myself but root for the freaking plant called FINE!!. This isn't so much on the horror side but rather more of a thriller/slasher read. It may be a cliche read to some, but I really like that it portrays female empowerment and explores how each one copes differently with trauma and having endured brutal violence. I love how some situations can be relatable. There were unexpected twists and surprising revelations in this book that will keep you on the edge of your seat! Hendrix knows how to write a fantastic story and if you like thriller/slasher films, I think you will appreciate this book.

THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP • Grady Hendrix• Pub Date: July 13, 2021 • ⭐️⭐️💫 {rounded up}

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was weird. Parts of it good weird, parts of it “you’ve lost me” weird (or maybe even low-key a little boring).

One of my biggest gripes with this book is the characters. I struggled to tell apart the Final Girls. They all blended together. I could never really attach to anyone, nor did I feel like a got a real glimpse into their stories/who they were as people. This made it hard for me to care about what happened to anybody.

Additionally, this book just didn’t feel too thrilling? Idk. I think this is one of those rare cases where a movie version would be a better medium to tell the story, which kind of makes sense given that the book focuses on horror movies.

TL;DR: The premise was neat and the writing was unique, but the execution fell a little flat for me.

The characters are complicated, but also very easy to identify with. I felt the story dragged out a bit, but maybe that's just me. Definitely recommended to readers who like strong female character and/or slasher films.

This was a great, fast-paced read. I really liked how the fictional slasher films for each final girl connected to a real film. There were a fair amount of twists and I read this in a day. I recommend.

I was so excited to read this book and times it out so I could read it on vacation...and then had no time to read 😂

But I did finally finish it and man, what a fun horror book! (Is that an oxymoron?)

It's a little campy which works really well sue to the storyline. My absolute favorite part of this book is how anxious it makes you feel right along with Lynette because you don't know what happening or who is responsible which makes you doubt Lynette as she doubts herself! Is Lynette an unreliable narrator or is someone really setting her up?

As always, Hendrix's books are so well written and such a pleasure to read!

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC!!!

#bookreview #bookstagram #gradyhendrix #thefinalgirlsupportgroup #berkleybooks #bookishlife #girlswhoread #instabooks #reading #bookphotography #bookrecommendations #bibliophile #horrorbooks #campyhorror

Have you ever wondered what life would look like for your favorite final girls after they’ve escaped the blood bath? Hendrix explores exactly that in “The Final Girl Support Group.” I am an huge horror fan, so I had high hopes for this book and Hendrix only exceeded those expectations. I was hooked from the first page. The unique format of dispersing articles and blog posts commenting on the final girls and their franchises between chapters is such an effective choice.

In addition to the story’s being thrilling, the concept of finale girls being real forces the reader to genuinely consider what they enjoy about the slasher genre. Is it the strength of the final girl to survive? Is it the idea that only the girl “strong” enough to remain a virgin is strong enough to survive? Is it that a her virginity is what makes her worthy of survival? Is it the exploitation of and violence against young women? Would things be different if they were based on the traumatic experiences of real people? Would that change how fans feel about the genre? Should it change regardless of whether these women are real or fictional?

3.75 stars
Trigger Warning: PTSD, paranoia, stalking, murder, violence, betrayal, addiction & mental health.

This book made me feel all the paranoia and anxiety; the atmosphere was intense.

What happens when the horror movie is over, and the final girl goes off into the sunset? Lynn & five other women know because they were final girls, and the sunset is bullshit. They have had to pick up the pieces and try and get past their horrific pasts, and so the final girl support girl was born. When you aren't sure who to trust, knowing someone who has gone through the same thing as you has your back helps..... until one of them turns up dead and ghosts of the past might be coming back from the past.
Everyone loves a sequel, right?!

This is the first novel by Grady Hendrix I have read, and it was a very interesting concept because you always wonder about things like that. The atmosphere f this book literally was so intense I felt like I was running for my life, and I wasn't sure who to trust, even the narrator at one point. A few simple twists surprised me, and by the end of the book, I still have theories because the things behind the scenes of the story were just as interesting!

I will admit that it lost me at times and was either strange or a little boring (I could see what was going to happen next), and sometimes the characters were just a little flat -but I don't have any of the experience or have no real clue what they went through so I know this feeling is due to this.

This was Hendrix first work that doesn't have any supernatural undertones and I was concerned about that. I worried for no reason! This book was amazing. It was perfect for today's political landscape but its underlying message was timeless.
I loved the vibe of this book. I definitely felt the 80s horror movie vibe that this book was going for. I also felt like I was reading what would happen to many beloved final girls. It was just the perfect blend of the classic 80s horror and today's time of remakes and continuation.
My only real complaint about this book was I didn't find it as scary and git wrenching as some of Hendrix's other work. Usually their books are ones I can't read at night without nightmares but this book fell just a bit short.
Overall this was a great book! As usual Hendrix outdid theme. This book will definitely be highly recommended.

Ahhh - I gave this a chance until 43% and then there was a pretty awful of leaving someone in a park and I just could not get past this. I had to stop. The book felt incredibly meandering and the characters were hard to differentiate and I just struggled up to this. I just could not get in to or follow this book, but I really want to try more from this author.

Grady Hendrix is a fantastic writer and I have read several of his other titles so The Final Girl Support Group was definitely a highly anticipated read for me! The concept of following the final girls, who are the sole survivors of slasher films, after their traumatic experiences is brilliant. We follow the main character, Lynnette Tarkington, through her story and how she copes with everyday life in some very extreme ways and her interactions with other "final girls" in a monthly support group. There are a lot of twists and turns in this book that keeps you guessing at every turn. As a fan of Hendrix's other books, I really enjoyed the journey. Those that like the dark humor in some of his other books will find that aspect missing from The Final Girl Support Group, but it does not take away from the well-written story.

Every once in a while, a book will come along that makes you stop and say to yourself: “Now THAT is a GREAT f—ing idea.”

That was my immediate reaction to a brief synopsis I read for “The Final Girl Support Group,” the latest novel by the delightful genre-bending horror author Grady Hendrix. From those few sentences that laid out the concept for me, I knew that this was going to be a book that I not only liked, not only loved, but made me the tiniest bit jealous that I hadn’t come up with the idea myself.

It is a smart, self-aware narrative, one that does one of the cleanest jobs you’ll ever see in combining subversion of and affinity for the tropes of a genre. It embraces some of the basest impulses of the horror world and turns them on their head by endowing them with verisimilitude. It looks beyond the stories we’ve always seen, and by doing so uncovers a much deeper – and in some ways scarier – tale to be told.

To wit: When the credits roll in a horror movie, what happens to the one who lives?

Lynnette Tarkington is a recluse, paranoid and ever-vigilant ever since she was the lone survivor of a horrifying massacre. Once a month, she drives to a secret location – a church basement – and attends the same meeting she always does. For years, Lynnette and five other women – other lone survivors of different, but equally bloody and deadly incidents – meet with a therapist to work through the kind of unique emotional trauma that only the women in the room truly understand.

See, this is a world in which the slasher movies that terrorize and titillate audiences are based on true events. These women each survived their experience, whether it was a vengeful machete-wielding madman at a summer camp or a family of inbred cannibals in the Texas desert or a sociopathic teen with a hard-on for metanarratives or even a possibly supernatural monster who may or may not be able to invade dreams. They all lived … and they have to live with that.

And in this world, these final girls are celebrities of a sort. They are objects of fascination to the public, and while most people are content to watch the interviews, read the books and yes, see the movies, there are always a few who take their fascination to a much darker place.

When one of the women fails to show up for group, Lynnette is convinced that something bad is afoot – something that places all of them in danger. They keep the group secret for a reason, and if an outsider knows about it, no one is safe. Lynnette believes that the monsters never stop coming; even if you stop one, there will always be another to take its place. Perhaps now, one of those monsters seeks to finish the jobs that his predecessors failed to complete.

Like I said – great f—ing idea.

“The Final Girl Support Group” wears its affinity for the slasher movie on its blood-stained sleeve. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the genre will grasp the analogues that Hendrix has created – nods to “Friday the 13th” and “Halloween” and “Scream” and “Nightmare on Elm Street,” yes, but also more obscure offerings that made me chuckle even as the implications of their plots being reality-based had me wincing (in a good way).

It’s such a simple twist on the nigh-ubiquitous concept of the “final girl,” this idea that survival means that these people have to wake up the next day and every day and confront the grimly shattering reality of what has happened to them. It explores the trauma of that notion with admirable delicacy, even as the narrative gets increasingly wilder. Their suffering is never treated disrespectfully or as a joke; Hendrix’s commitment to that gives the book a heartbeat that it wouldn’t otherwise have had.

There’s a groundedness here that really elevates the proceedings. Hendrix goes to great pains to offer up details that illustrate the ways in which our culture might deal with (and ultimately adapt to) living in a space where these sorts of things actually happen. Once the baseline premise – that slasher movie big-bads are real – is accepted, the rest feels extremely plausible. A culture of celebrity admiration? Sure. A dark undercurrent of that culture populated by unsettling weirdoes? Uh-huh. Academic research? Movie franchises? Yes and yes. Thanks to the conscientiousness of the author, you buy it all.

There are also aspects of the book that dig into the sociosexual nature of society’s relationship to this type of story. What is it that drives these men – they’re always men – to commit these heinous acts? And what is it that compels so many to consume these stories when they’re told? Final girls are survivors, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t also victims – where’s the line when it comes to the possible exploitation of their trauma? Ultimately, that trauma belongs to them and them alone, regardless of how it might be shared.

Hendrix also isn’t afraid to get gory – an obvious must when telling a story like this – and he really leans into the fundamentals to great effect. And he juxtaposes that violence with moments of emotional engagement and dark humor, giving us a book that always keeps us just the slightest bit off-balance, as if we’re wandering a dark hallway or forest path and not entirely sure that we’re alone.

All that, plus it’s one hell of a good story, a propulsive narrative thoughtfully advanced and featuring some genuine and well-earned surprises.

“The Final Girl Support Group” is a great concept well executed. Grady Hendrix shows himself to be a master craftsman here, bringing together an encyclopedic knowledge of and genuine affection for his blood-spattered inspiration to create something surprisingly thought-provoking, deftly funny and undeniably weird. Read this book.

good horror book and figuring out who the killer is. This book had me guessing who was hurting all of the girls. I liked that they were a motley group and helped each other out. They all had their issues with their killers . I enjoyed this book alot.