Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley publishers for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love cheesy horror movies, and while I tend to find the slasher genre a bit meh, the concept for this book sounded like a lot of fun (for the reader, not for the characters!). A bunch of final girls form a support group, and then slowly start getting killed off again.

I figured out the biggest twists early, but that didn't really diminish the entertainment value of the story and the journey to the end. I do wish we'd had a little more after-the-fact closure, but I think the ending did justice to the characters and who they were, and I liked the growth in the heroine.

Was it as good as The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires? No, I don't feel that it was. Would I recommend it? Yes, it was still very entertaining.

Four stars!

What if the final girls from every horror movie you remember met up to try to get past their trauma? That is the basis for this story of thrills and scares.

Lynnette survived a horrific attack against her parents, little sister and boyfriend as a teenager, and as an adult, lives a hermit-like existence of always checking behind her, locking every door and window, having multiple escape routes and no friends beyond her support group - a counselor and five other women who have been through the same thing and lived to tell about it. All of them have witnessed their story become part of pop culture and been made into movies, seen their "monster" be turned into a pop icon, and even had betrayal from within. When one of the final girls says she's not going to come to group anymore, Lynnette feels like her world is spiraling out of control. But when one of the members doesn't show up, it appears a sequel is in the works once again, as terror has arrived at a small camp and their friend was one of the body count. But as each woman gets targeted, Lynnette soon realizes that someone who knows too much is trying to pick them off one by one, and there may not be anyone she can trust. As she decides to try to help a young girl who just went through her own ordeal, will Lynnette be tempting fate and will her past finally catch up to her?

This is an ode to the slasher movies of the 80s and 90s, and readers will easily be able to pick out who each character is supposed to be. For those who ever wondered what would happens to those Final Girls once the movie ended, this definitely explores that thought. It also explores trauma and overcoming it as well. And there's plenty of creepy scenes to enjoy. This needs to be made into a movie ASAP.

I thought, from the title and description, that this would be more tongue-in-cheek than it ended up being. I spent the book very concerned for all the characters and didn’t get a satisfying resolution.

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

3.5 - This was a very interesting book all around. I loved the premise of a different type of thriller that you never read about these days - slasher sort of thriller. It was enjoyable to read and the writing and character development was well done. I was on the edge of my seat through a lot of this book. I also didn’t guess the ending which is always awesome. Things I didn’t like were that some thing didn’t quite add up for example one of the characters is so paranoid that she has a cage built around her front door but didn’t do anything ab all her windows. Additionally, said character goes to write a super secret book which wouldn’t align with her degree of paranoia. Overall, it was a good quick read but nothing that I loved.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix is another riveting work of horror by one of my current favorite authors. This time around, Hendrix has decided to explore slasher tropes and the psychological trauma of violence. Hendrix focuses on six amazing heroines who are true survivors of mass-murderer rampages whose experiences inspired the splatter-film franchises that saturated horror cinema in the 1980s and ’90s, earning them minor celebrity. However, when one of the six is murdered decades after she escaped her assailant, and others come under violent assault, Lynnette Tarkington—herself a survivor of the Silent Night Slayings of 1988—realizes that someone is trying to orchestrate an extravagant final girl finale. But is the killer a garden-variety homicidal maniac, a deranged superfan of the films, or someone more knowledgable and intimate with their group?

So who is orchestrating this final girl finale? And why? The answer might genuinely shock you.

As usual, Hendrix does a great job playing with popular culture by subverting popular culture's (unhealthy?) fascination with the slasher genre. And Hendrix has always written women characters well (a rarity for a male author) but here he shines. All the heroines are deeply fleshed out and believable - flaws and all. Lynnette, in particular, with her paranoid existence comes across as a resilient and strong character while everyone around her questions her insanity.

Really this book goes out to all the battered and bruised “final girls” out there, whose trauma goes unseen. It's about how these women are tough, resilient, and adaptable.

It's also an exploration of when interest in true crime/horror becomes an unhealthy obsession.

The Final Girl Support Group is a fast-paced horror thriller featuring strong heroines, one that plays with the tropes of the slasher genre. If you're looking for a "fresh" take on the slasher, read this one!

Thank you so much to #Netgalley, #BerkleyPublishingGroup, and the talented @Grady_Hendrix for the ARC in exchange for my honest reviews.

A final girl is the sole survivor of a horror movie...
the one who fought back, AGAIN and AGAIN defeating the killer, to be left standing, bloodied and bruised, but ALIVE, as the credits roll.

One problem…I never liked slasher movies like Friday the 13th, Chucky or Scream.
Too gory, too silly, too OVER THE TOP.

So, WHY did I read this when I was invited to? Simple.

I LOVED ❤️ the author’s previous book-“The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires”!!

So, I had to give it a try!

Unfortunately, although this book pokes fun at these movies, it lacks the HUMOR and LOVABLE characters of the other.

I did not feel like I really got to know the FINAL GIRLS, and although they meet the first Thursday of every month with their therapist, I didn’t feel the same camaraderie as in the book I mentioned-

Not even when Lynnette Tarkington, one of the survivors, realizes that the members of the group have become targets for a new deranged killer, and she makes it her mission to save them.

Perhaps it is because we mostly got to know the others through excerpts of police transcripts, newspaper articles and emails, and on my KINDLE the font was too small and too dark to read most of them.

I may have missed out on some of the story because of this...🤔 Hopefully that is corrected for the final copies of the book.

This book is gory, silly and OTT-just like the slasher movies-as it is meant to be!

But, this time, my lack of enthusiasm for those movies, did translate to my lack of enjoyment of the book!

I am just not the right reader THIS time, though true fans of the pop culture of slasher films, should enjoy this a lot more! Available July 13, 2021.

Thank You to Elisha at Berkley for providing a gifted copy through NetGalley.

It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

This was such an exciting read! I loved the whodunnit of it all. I was convinced at each turn of events I knew who did it and why it made sense. I have read several of Grady Hendrix's books and they just keep getting better. I think this one might be my favorite. I love the Final Girl trope and this was just a really fun twist on it. I had trouble putting this book down!

Read if you: Are enjoying the small wave of historical horror novels being published, were a fan of 80s horror slaher movies, or are a Grady Hendrix fan.

Librarians/booksellers: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires was a big hit; this will be anticipated by his fans!

Many thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had trouble getting into this one. Hendrix is one of my favorite authors, and his ability to create female characters I can consistently root for is unparalleled. He doesn't disappoint. Every female character he writes is nuanced, deeply flawed, and totally heroic. I love his characters, his dialogue, his writing feels fluid and natural. But there was something specifically about the pacing on this one that feels off--there are ten different plot twists and none of them hit successfully--they were either too obvious, or too loaded. And if you think that's intentional to play off the predictability of slasher films, that's fine, but it's not clever. I constantly felt like something was being SAID about female portrayals in slasher films, but the message took a back seat to the non-stop action movie of it all. It's my least favorite Hendrix, but even a least favorite Hendrix is better than the best Sager. If Riley Sager ever reads this, please don't hate me--I religiously read every book you write, but Grady Hendrix is OG.

I have wanted to read a Grady Hendrix book on the recommendation of several friends and colleagues and I'm glad The Final Girl Support Group was my first. The author has a clear love and understanding of what makes a compelling slasher horror as well as the issues the genre raises about trauma, feminism, the deification of monsters, the flattening of the lives of victims, and the numbing power of the sequel after sequel cycle. To raise and engage with all these issues while still keeping the story a tense and page turning slasher itself is so smart and genuinely fun for a fan of horror.

Wonderfully Grady Hendrix! Loved the tie in to the old Slasher flicks. the main character was a little hard to get behind as a hero, but I really liked that about this book. Plenty of twists and turns. Kept me guessing right up to the end.

I think this is the best Hendrix book yet, and that's saying something. more detailed review coming closer to publication, but do put this one on your top read list.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for an ARC for my honest review.

I wanted to like this one so much. I am a huge horror fan and have always loved the "final girl" over the serial killer. As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew I had to request to read this book. However, the story fell flat for me. I was really interested in all of the "Final Girls" backstories, but unfortunately, you get little glimpses of them here and there. Other than Lynette, you don't really get to know the other "final girls". There really isn't a chance to get to know them or to understand their trauma.

You also don't really get an explanation behind the real killer's motivation until super late into the book and by then, it was too late for me. If the character developments were more fleshed out, I might have cared a bit more about them.

Overall, I did like the premise of this story, but the character development really lacked here. I am going to give this one 2.5 stars.

The final girl. The one that survives. That fought back and and took down the killer. Lynette is one of them. She has lived every second of her life since in constant fear of who could be lurking around any corner. She spends 3 hours taking a different route home from her support group in case someone tries to follow her. She has a panic room in her house, and nobody, not even the government knows where she lives. Suddenly it seems like someone has it out for the final girls though. Can they survive again?

Holy shit balls what the fuck? OK, that is what I said when I finished this book, and multiple times while reading it. I really want to know what goes on in Grady Hendrix’s head on a normal basis, because this was some messed up stuff. All that to say…I loved it! The therapist felt so weird to me from the very beginning of the book. Their support group just bickered with each other. After 16 years shouldn’t Lynnette have received some sort of help to deal with her anxiety? It just felt off to me. The fact that she was still so incredibly anxious about leaving the house and her safety was so sad, but apparently necessary! Overall though, this book kept me on the edge of my seat, reading way past my bedtime to find out what was going to happen.

Grady Hendrix once again has knocked it out of the park. Holy hell what a ride. I will say that in his next book I wouldn’t mind seeing a main character that at least one person believes. This is his third book where the storyline is a character no one trusts. But damn, in the end I didn’t even care. I didn’t even see the twists coming on this one.

It’s so, so great when you find a book that completely takes you in and demands that you sit on the edge of your seat for every last moment of it? This is one of those books for me. And I must issue a content warning: this book explores some dark themes. But as a Grady Hendrix fan I wouldn’t have wanted anything less!

OH MY GOD. This was a five star read if I've ever read one!!!! Jesus. I can't even begin to describe how freaking awesome this book was. Talk about a riveting spin on the classic "final girls" tale. I had a feeling I was going to love this book and I was right on ALL accounts! This story has not just one final girl, but SIX who all became a final girl in varying ways (all in reference to popular scary movies that you can't help but appreciate). Between each chapter are clippings of interviews, movie scripts, etc. that reference the characters and give some more insight into what they experienced that gave them their title. Just when you think you have finally figured something out....BOOOOOOM. Another plot twist gets smacked in your face where you wouldn't expect it. I seriously could not put this book down and I was so sad when it ended. I LOVED IT. LOVE IT LOVED IT LOVED IT. Highly recommend if you like thrillers that make your heart race and one that takes you on a WILD ride, then this is the book for YOU!

I have heard a lot about Grady Hendrix and its safe to say that I am now a huge fan!!! Thank you so much to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Grady Hendrix for an AWESOME advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion!

Overall it was a great read, definitely will have a niche following. It was a little jumpy and hard to follow some of the storylines and how they were connected. I like that this book, like Southern Book Club, followed the same pattern of women supporting women no matter how FUBARed that ends up being. 3.5 stars

"The Final Girl Support Group" is about the Final Girl Support Group, a group of women from all walks of life that have been brought together by a therapist to work through their traumas and have someone to lean on. However, the group is not necessarily in a good place, with lots of drama and anger amongst the various members. Soon, the women find themselves to be the target of a killer that is hellbent on destroying them all! The problem is that not everyone believes this to be true, and then they all turn on the narrator and fellow "final girl" Lynette after bombshell secrets from the past are revealed. Can Lynette figure out the culprit and warn all of the other girls before it is too late?

This book has some legitimately scary moments and held me in suspense for the majority of the time. It also plays with horror film tropes in new and fun ways while constantly subverting the readers' expectations. You'll have fun deciphering which characters represent which "scream queens" from favorite horror films (one character, Julia Campbell, is quite cleverly named... see if you can figure it out). I could not recommend this novel enough, especially if you are a fan of the slasher film genre! Grady Hendrix has quickly become one of my must-read authors, and this book cements his spot on that list for me!

This book was absolutely AMAZING. I could not put it down. Plus, there were TWISTS AFTER TWISTS. I absolutely LOVE when a book does that! The book made me feel Lynette's anxieties so much. I genuinely felt that I WAS Lynette multiple times. This is getting a perfect score from me!




Also, I caught one type on the book. It was towards the end when Heather, Lynnette, and I *THINK* Stephanie are talking. The person talking was Stephanie, but the book said that Heather was the one talking by mistake.