The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**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!