Grady Hendrix books never fail to entertain! A quick and fun read about that one girl that survives in every horror movie. Thank you for the ARC.

Oh, how I wanted to like this book!!! 😩😩
Unfortunately I couldn’t get the ground running with this one. The premise was fantastic, sadly the execution was not. I was bored with the opening chapters when the final girls have their group therapy and argue over the free food. Then I completely lost it when the protagonist goes home and starts talking aloud to her houseplant 🤦🏻‍♀️ As you can imagine I had a problem with plausibility and couldn’t connect with the characters. I have heard a lot of hype about Hendrix and have brought two of his previous books. I hope they’re better. Because I found this one so lacklustre.

This book was really disappointing unfortunately.

The concept of this book is really cool. I enjoy the final girl trope so I was excited to read this book.

However, I just did not click with any of the characters. There were quite a few characters so I ended up getting confused at times as I mixed them up in my head.

The writing was okay but there were quite a few occasions where I was bored and wanted the story to progress further.

There was plenty of action, however, it didn't feel fast paced and seemed to take me a long time to get through.

I liked the letters and extracts dotted throughout the book. I found they helped add to the story and made it more interesting.

However, overall I just did not like this book. It had a great idea but it just didn't do anything for me unfortunately.

TW: murder, violence, death, suicide references and mental illness

A final girl is the sole survivor in a horror film. They stand alive, battered, bloodied and bruised at the end, after defeating the monster in the mask. They fight back to survive again and again and again, Six real life final girls meet on the first Thursday of every month with their therapist. Their stories inspire some of the best and worst slasher films that littered 80s and 90s cinema. The meeting is Lynette's crutch, she relies on the group and their shared trauma for camaraderie. Lynette lives in constant fear after a man slaughtered her family in 1988. When one of the women fail to turn up to group for the first time in almost 20 years, Lynette's fears are slowly realised, someone is coming for them, one by one.

Grady Hendrix is so skilled at weaving humour and social commentary into the fast paced narrative. Hendrix pokes fun at the media's fixation on tragedy and observes the overwhelming anti-feminist message present in older slasher films.

This book is a must read for fans of horror. There are so many nods to the classic films we all love, from the titles of the chapters to the characters names, the weapons and locations. Think Friday the 13th, Scream, etc.

I've spent the last few days in bed, wrapped in a blanket, full of a head cold whilst its been grey outside, reading this book. I'm feeling autumnal, I'm feeling the spooks and the scares. This is the perfect read for this time of year!

Thanks so much Titan for sending me a copy to review, sorry its taken me so long to get to it!

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going in with this – I thought it sounded amazing, but I am a horror wuss so was also apprehensive. Luckily it was exactly what I hoped for – a book version of the 80s and 90s slasher films. On paper this translates more to thriller than horror – and without any of the jump scares! So I was fine 😉

This really leans into the genre, and gave me what I expected. Lots of paranoia, lots of twists and turns, and lots of red herrings! I really enjoyed some of the more mystery elements about who was behind it all. And the running around, scared for your life moments translated pretty well to the page.

The only thing I didn’t love about the book is the lack of character connection. We don’t get to find out that much about Lynette, and even less about the other final girls. Ironically the one I think we got most insight into is Chrissy and she was barely in it! Lynette is a fun main character though, because she’s so paranoid and we get to see her her actions backfire against her when things really kick off.

I did see the twists coming but not til quite late, and it definitely made for a good thriller. I’ll be keeping an eye open for more books by Grady! 4 stars.

Grady Hendrix has already made a name for himself as a pre-eminent horror scholar; The Final Girl Support Group is, frankly, showing off. How many horror movies has this man seen?! Enough to ask 'what happens to the survivors after the credits roll?'
Hendrix's novel is a realistic and sensitive portrayal of trauma. His heroines- they are absolutely heroines- have suffered terribly at the hands of nightmarish men, and now survive by their own rules. Hendrix is clear that there are right and wrong ways to grieve- lack of support, be it familial, professional or financial, is a big theme here- but he doesn't cast judgement on those who seek to profit from or hide from personal trauma. I am praying to every elder god that his next book features Heather and her encounters with the Dream King, the Freddy Krueger-esque villain who may have given 'his' Final Girl his supernatural power...until then, I'll keep working my way through Hendrix's Paperbacks from Hell collection!

I loved the idea of a story from the perspective of final girls who managed to survive a horrendous killing spree and this did not disappoint! Told from the POV of Lynette who watched her family get killed while she was impaled on deer's antlers, this book is full of murder and offers a unique insight into the minds of survivors of these brutal massacres.
There are also lots of twists and turns that you never see coming which ensures you keep reading on until the last page. This is a fast paced book that has so many twists that you never know who to trust and can easily be read in one or two sittings.

I was a little let down with this one, and it wasn’t what I was expecting, given that I love the author. I found it a bit of a slog to get through and it certainly wasn’t horror as it was marketed to be, it was more of a cat and mouse thriller.

I think the aspect I found most disappointing within the story was the characters. I was expecting really strong bonds between the characters and I just didn’t feel them, this with the fact that I didn’t really like the main character just didn’t make me invested in the story.

I also really wanted to see more of the support group!!

I felt the pacing and the plot were a bit all over the place too. Many things just didn’t work for me with this one, but I will of course be picking up whatever Grady Hendrix puts out next!

This has to be my favourite Grady Hendrix book to date.
You don't necessarily trust any of the characters but nonetheless you're still held in suspense for every twist.
Each of these characters are twisted by their final girl experiences, they've all dealt with it differently and can definitely be at odds with each other. Nonetheless there's a strong emotion of sisterhood throughout the book.

For some of the plot twists I think you have to suspend disbelief at their connections a little, but honestly I think that's with most thriller/mystery books and movies.

I thought there was some really great points raised about the genre of horror slasher films and it's portrayal of women and the glorification of serial killers over the remembrance of their victims.

This is the first I’ve read of this author – although I was intrigued by his previous release The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Vampire Slaying. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this one, so it was my first meeting with this author’s weird and wonderful mind.

And what an experience it was! This genre isn’t really my usual thing, it’s a kind of blend of horror with satire, littered with popular culture references throughout.

We all know the final girls from from the movies. The one girl who makes it through, surviving the gruesome massacre and taking down the bad guys. This is the story of what happens next.

The final girls in this story all lived out their traumatic experiences that made them famous years before. Some have moved on with their lives more than others, but all still get together once a month for their Group. It’s a chance to talk through everything with others who can understand, and over the years they’ve become a kind of broken family with a strong bond.

This book is a bit of a homage to classic horror films, and each of the women’s stories draws heavy inspiration from them, from Nightmare on Elm Street to Scream, and I’ll definitely be doing some nostalgic rewatching of some of these to refresh myself on their stories. But our main protagonist is Lynnette. Lynnette has struggled to adjust to life after being the sole survivor of her family slaughter. She lives in a constant state of paranoia, keeping the outside world at length and living in a self-imposed cage. She’s convinced that “Out there in he world it’s a non-stop murder party and if I make the slightest mistake I’ll wind up dead.”

So when she becomes convinced that someone wants to bring down the final girls, is it just a product of her delusion? Or is someone really back to finish the job?

This book is packed full of action, drama and fun (and quite a lot of gore). Some characters I loved, and some of the villains I loved to hate. It’s dripping with sass and punchy one-liners; “If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, then reliable handguns with a lot of stopping power are a final girl’s.”

But at the heart of it, Hendrix has created some strong fiesty heroines who are true survivors and I loved reading about their dysfunctional relationships in this wild ride.

This had me on the edge of my seat for every single chapter.

What a book! I wanted to start my spooky reads a little earlier this year and Grady Hendrix was on my list of authors to try in 2021.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this when I first picked it up as I don't really like "horror" books but loved the idea that there was a support group for women who survived an attempt on their life. I didn't find it too harrowing, there was definitely enough description to make me wince at times but that was oddly a bit of a thrill for me!

The "extracts" from magazine, books and interviews, gave the story a more realistic feel which even had me questioning whether I should Google the extracts!

An absolutely fantastic read for me and I look forward to trying more from Grady Hendrix!

What can I say about Grady Henrix’s work that hasn’t already been said. I am a huge fan because you never know what to expect as he has a unique way of looking at things and brings these to the pages expertly.

This is the second Final Girl book that I have read, the first being Riley Sager’s Final Girl which was excellent so I was interesting to see what Henrix would bring to this. I have loved what Henrix has done with the genre of vampires and exorcisms and I was keen to see how he would make this his own and I can say, he definitely made this his own.

The book starts out ok and although the book centres around Lynette Tarkington and the most paranoid person you have to share the next six hours with but it works as she is a final girl that has survived a slasher attack along with others in her group. Now what sets this apart is that we have an author who loves the genre and has really done his homework. We have nods to Friday the 13th, Halloween, Silent Night, Deadly Night, etc and he interweaves these into each of the survivor’s storylines. The book does unfold and the first few chapters are a bit confusing as to try to figure out who is which and which girl survived what horror but Henrix solidifies this as the story moves forward.

Henrix has given each of these survivors their own surviving mechanisms and ways to cope with the horror that they lived through as they move forward with their lives and this is where Henrix really shines. Each girl is unique and their personality ticks come across as realistic creating a three dimensional characterisation often lacking in their film counterparts. The PTSD syndrome that each of these girls have seems real and gives the book life.

The plot takes off pretty much from Chapter Three onwards and this is where the meat of the story takes off. We are left wondering if our main girl is running on full cylinders or is this a figment of her imagination and Henrix does this expertly. He creates a lot of twist and turns and red herrings that gives this book merit and spirit and really enjoyed how he was able to take the many threads and weave it into a fully rounded horror mystery without losing any narrative. This is not a simple feat and Henrix pulls this off excellently.

Overall, this is a strong book and another winner for me. What could have been a simple, we seen it before story about the Final Girl, we get a unique book with plenty of knowing glances, winks to the reader who love this genre (I am a fan of slashers) and a story that pulls you forward into this world making it real. I love how Henrix takes a subject and makes it his own using horror, home grown storytelling and mystery and blends them together in a winning mixture. The beginning may seem like a misstep but it does find its footing and runs through woods, twisting plots and unlike a final girl, never trips and falls over. This is a fun read and would highly recommend it. Can’t wait for his next release. I would give this a 4.5 but as we can only score full stars, I will raise it to a five.

🔪 The Final Girl Support Group - Grady Henrix

T.he blood has dried, the bodies are being cleared, the
H.orror is over. The Final Girl sits in the back of an
E.mergency vehicle after surviving the bloody, murder

F.illed night. But what happens to these Final Girls once the
I.mminent danger has passed, the sirens have faded and
N.ews crews have lost interest?
A.lone in the world, scared and hurt, our surviving
L.adies form a support group with the help of the

G.enuinly amazing Dr Carol. This group meets
I.n person every month for 16 years. But our support group is in
R.eal danger. Someone has planned a vicious surprise for our
L.adies and once again they must fight for their lives!

S.uprisingly different from his previous writings yet
U.nsuprisingly brilliant. The Final Girls Support Group is
P.erfect for fans of classic slasher movies.
P.lenty of murder, gore, suspense with some brilliant twists in the
O.ngoing 'who is doing this?' murder mystery.
R.arely do I become so involved in a story, using one of
T.he Final Girls as a vehicle to explore what its like to

G.row up in a world where you fear for your safety every day
R.eally brough some current issues to the forefront for me.
O.verall this story is less horror and more slasher thriller.
U.psetting scenes and triggers including abuse, torture and murder.
P.erhaps the best book Grady has Written to date!

At times, I’ll read books that remind me exactly why I love this genre, and why I feel privileged to be able to read these books, whether it’s an arc direct from an author or accessed via NetGalley. This is a NetGalley title from Titan, and my thanks go out to them not just for this, but for the other titles they have sent my way, too.

The Final Girl Support Group is full of nods and references, which even if you haven’t seen all the movies touched on here will still be familiar if you know the genre. And if you have seen them all, well, there’s likely a lot more you’ll pick up on.

Because you’re on this website, you’re likely a horror fan, and therefore likely know all about the Final Girl. But just in case you don’t, the Final Girl is the term used for the girl who survives the massacre, usually against all odds. They’re the ones who emerge victorious, sometimes killing their tormentor – or thinking they’ve killed them – or just escaping, though never unscathed. There is a fascination with these characters, often crafted by men but admired by women as survivors. We love them, don’t we? In all their various forms.

And in The Final Girl Support Group, we see their lives after the massacre. After the sequels, after the killer has had another go, after their lives have been taken and twisted into spectacles. Lynnette Tarkington is a Final Girl, and her torment has defined her life since she survived a massacre twenty-two years previously. But she’s not alone, and she attends the support group with five other Final Girls and a therapist, all putting their lives back together.

Of course, nothing can remain peaceful in a Final Girl’s life for long. What really intrigued me almost instantly about this book is how different the girls are from one another, and the variety in their back stories. Their circumstances and stories would be familiar to any slasher fan, but Hendrix still makes them stand out from their movie counterparts. As in real life, each woman’s reaction to her trauma is vastly different, as they all learn to cope through their own unique ways.

The story really is written as a slasher, and we feel the same sort of beats throughout as we would in a film. Lynnette is a great point of view character, with a heavy dose of unreliability, as she seeks to hide things from the group and from the readers. But despite this – or maybe because of her very real human vulnerability – we’re made to feel totally on her side throughout, as the characters scramble to make excuses for what they might be experiencing, as Lynnette cycles through different explanations, and urges the others to believe and trust her.

Lynnette’s past very much influences her present, and it’s shown through her attitude, personality, and actions, really enforcing the idea it is a weight she carries. With the other women, they have all dealt with their trauma in various ways, and there is a lot of consideration gone into ensuring each of these women feel very real, and very different. Each Final Girl stands out from the others, only the horrific incidents of their past the one thing they have in common.

If you’re a fan of slashers, you definitely need to pick this up. It’s an excellent book, which plays with the Final Girl trope while feeding into it, making it different but using the core elements to create a book full of tension and realistic characters. This is an absolute must-read.

Hendrix does it again…..

This man is just an absolute masterpiece of a writer and I’ve enjoyed every book he’s ever written

This is no exception. If you loved final girls by Riley sagar and any other book frok
Grady then definitely pick this one up!!

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 is a real-life final girl who 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 actual 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.

How many times have you seen this at the end of a slasher movie? Survivor turns to face the future with a determined stance. Confident in the knowledge she has destroyed her own personal demon, she can now deal with anything life throws at her. The screen fades to black and they all live happily ever after. It’s a lovely dream, isn’t it? Triumph over adversity and all that. Sadly, it just doesn’t ring true for me. How could it? Picture the scene; various friends and family members have been dangled on meat hooks, dismembered with chainsaws and then hacked into small pieces*. After all that physical and mental torture, you are somehow expected to just move on, to grin and bear it. Seems a bit far-fetched doesn’t it? If it were me, even though I can confirm I am not a perky teenage cheerleader, I know I would be traumatised beyond belief.

What happens to the survivors of movie type massacres? When all the media furore has died down and their story has passed into the realms of urban legend, how do they cope? Are final girls destined to become objects of curiosity, and in some cases ridicule? Can sharing with a group of like-minded social pariahs offer any sort of healing? The premise of The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix focuses directly on that idea.

After her brush with death, Lynnette has gone the Sarah Connor/Laurie Strode route when it comes to her rehabilitation. Always armed, her home has become a fortress. Isolated from everyone and everything, she knows she will be safe. If she needs to disappear, her escape plans have been checked and double-checked. Lynnette has survived once and she is damn sure she is going to survive again. She may sound like a complete bad-ass but, truth be told, Lynnette is so crippled by anxiety it doesn’t matter how prepared she is. Through the course of the novel the evolution of Lynnette’s character is particularly poignant. We see twenty years of shock finally give way to the other stages of grief that she has kept locked away for so long.

In an effort to hang onto something normal, Lynnette goes to group therapy once a week. The other members of the group are more than just friends, they are a dysfunctional sisterhood bound by violence. Each one has suffered similar experiences to Lynnette and are the only ones who can ever hope to relate to her. As a reaction to their various origin stories, the final girls support group have found their own coping mechanisms. There is everything from out and out denial to escape via copious amounts of pharmaceuticals. Others prefer head-on acceptance or using the need to care for others as an emotional safety blanket. Each survivor has found a way to continue existing. In particular, I found the character of Heather entertaining. The narrative is sprinkled with darkly comic moments that will make you laugh and then shift uncomfortably when you realise this probably isn’t something you should be laughing about. What can I say? Survivors and brutal honesty make for deliciously snarky bedfellows. Heather certainly embodies exactly that attitude.

Exploring one of horror’s most popular tropes, the plot is perfectly executed. There are so many little nods to all the classic movies of the genre. It’s all subtly done but they are there should you choose to look for them. I loved it all. You’ll spot character names that are just slightly different to their movie counterparts as well as references to events and places that all sound vaguely familiar. Feel free to start counting. See how many you can spot and we’ll compare lists later. This novel is a love letter to all the shlocky bloodfests that have become cults classics. If names like Wes Craven, Tobe Hopper and Sean Cunningham are familiar, or you appreciated the recent Netflix trilogy Fear Street then I reckon you’ll get a kick out of this.

The Final Girl Support Group is published by Titan Books and is available now. Highly recommended.

I’m going for the easy option this week when it comes to my musical pairing to accompany this novel. The soundtrack to The Final Girls by Gregory James Jenkins hits every serial killer note you could possibly hope for. I especially like the John Carpenter-esque synth that pops up from time to time.

*Probably so a clan of inbred sub-human nutjobs have something in for dinner.

Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book (now released)
My first book by this author did not disappoint! A very realistic horror story that was full of twists and turns to keep the reader hooked. I loved how creepy the plot was and each character had an element of uncertainty of whether or not we could trust them. I think this completely depicts the horror stories that come to life in films. I can definitely see this being adapted into a spin off horror film 🤞

Oh the mixed media elements were stunning! 😍 really added a realistic touch, I'm going to have to buy a physical copy of this one just so I can admire it

This book was just not for me. Not being a fan of slasher movies, I still delved into it with excited anticipation but just came away disappointed. This book bites off more thatn it can chew with a lack of character development, predictable twists and an unbelivable plot.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

I really wanted to love this one. I absolutely loved The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires and couldn’t wait to get my hands on more Hendrix. Getting approved for this on Netgalley felt like Christmas coming early. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me.

The women who survive massacres by fighting off and killing the assailant are known as final girls – a classic trope used in horror films and books. The Final Girl Support Group follows the life of Lynette Tarkington, a real-life final girl who attends a support group with other women who have survived similar experiences. One day, one of the group members doesn’t attend the meeting and news breaks that she has been killed. Slowly, Lynette discovers that someone knows about the support group and is trying to destroy all of the final girls one by one.

Okay, how good does that premise sound? But the execution just wasn’t there. There were a million secondary characters in this, so I really struggled to remember who was who. The plot was very shallow – there was hardly any description about each of the final girls’ back stories and so much of the story was completely irrelevant? There is a pretty grim scene in the middle of the book – I’m not sure how to say it without it being a spoiler but I’ll try – a very minor character dies in a public place and is then kind of assaulted by a creepy old man?? The scene added absolutely nothing to the story, so it just felt like it was grim for the sake of being grim.

The characters lacked depth and there were so many unended plot lines, for example the main character is super obsessed with a plant which she then just abandons for like 60% of the book?? Just not for me unfortunately.

All of that being said, I buddy read this with @what.katie.reads and she loved it. It got her out of a reading slump so maybe I’m being a bit harsh and just comparing it to how great Southern Book Club was??? Check out her review if the premise sounds interesting to you!

Thank you @netgalley and @titanbooks for this eARC in return for an honest review.

I've been a big fan of Grady Hendrix's writing for a long time and am thrilled to his crusade to bring back horror as a written genre in bookshops finally taking root at a new publisher. The Final Girls Support Group is slightly higher concept that his previous books, taking place in an alternate world where all those slashers of the 70s and 80s were based on true events. We see analogues of Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Hallowe'en,and even Scream and their sole survivors are now the Final Girls: deeply traumatised celebrities who meet once a monthfor group therapy with a psychologist who 'collects' final girls. Until, someone starts hunting the final girls, forcing them to fight for their lives yet again.
Hendrix balances the propulsive thriller, the mystery, the sensitive portrayal of traumatised women trying to survive and the fun pastiche of slasher films with a confidence and a charm that kept me gripped. My only reservation was wanting a little more evil in the ending, but I understand why it ended as it did.

Hendrix is, with a couple of others, at the forefront of this 2020s horror revival, and I absolutely love to see it.