The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix – A Book Review

Blurb:

In horror movies, the final girl is the one who’s left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her?

Lynnette Tarkington survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she’s not alone. 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, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette’s worst fears are realized―someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.

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

Author: Grady Hendrix

Publisher: Titan Books

Release Date: 13/07/2021

Pages: 400

Genre: Horror/Action/Thriller

My Chosen Format: Hardback

My Rating of ‘The Final Girl Support Group: 3 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon, Audible

Review:

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

Having never read a book by Grady Hendrix before, yet having heard big things, I was excited to dip into this love letter to the slasher genre. My main downside I had with the book, is that I was expecting a bit more realism to the characters/situations. If I had known that I should suspend my disbelief (as far as situations people find themselves in etc …) and approached this as the Slasher Movie novel it is, I think I would have had a much better time of things.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, I just don’t feel I got the full enjoyment out of it that perhaps others have. For the most part, The Final Girl Support Group is a fast-paced, enjoyable read that does just enough to keep you wanting to turn the pages. It takes a deep look into the mental traumas that survivors of mass murders would have to live with and how it effects their lives. Survivor guilt, anxiety, lives being lived with disability or just general states of near-constant panic are all explored.

The characters themselves are a mix of believable and stereotypical, and some of them do seem a bit shoe-horned as far as their actions and attitudes go to most of the things in the book. 

Once I learned that I needed to suspend my disbelief I had a much better time with this and couldn’t help but picture certain scenes as shot through a low-budget 80s film camera. These moments brought smiles to my face and nostalgia to my heart … I do enjoy a good slasher film.

Throughout the whole book I felt as though I had mixed feelings but, the ending left me feeling with a solid sense of enjoyment for the book I’d just put down. Things didn’t so much end in any special way, just in a way that I felt fit the tone of the book and helped me end on somewhat of a high note as a reader compared to the lower end of the scale I felt myself leaning towards.

The presentation of the hardback copy I have is lovely, with lack pages after each chapter giving little bits of slasher film knowledge or insights into the characters/storylines. Overall, like the film genre it’s based on, The Final Girl Support Group was a good bit of mindless fun. It just didn’t quite reach the lofty heights I’d hoped.