[Portia’s Review]: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

A fast-paced, thrilling horror novel that follows a group of heroines to die for, from the brilliant New York Times bestselling author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires.

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.

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Grady Hendricks never fails to mix horror and some comedy together, and I absolutely love that. I also love the entire Final Girls concept, so anything related to final girls and I am THERE. I love horror, all types, and love love love series with a good final girl. (Nancy and Sydney are my top favorites. Especially Sydney because Scream gets very meta sometimes.) I should stop. I could go on about Final Girls FOREVER.

Anyway, I was on board for this crazy train. And crazy it was! I’m not going to give too much away, and in my opinion it’s relatively easy to figure out who is involved in the final girl takedown. But the journey there was gory and crazy and fast paced.

While each girl in the group has her own horror story (and movie made based on the horror story) you can definitely see which real world horror movies these girls stories are based around (Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, ect….). Then the book turns into its own slasher story. We are just along for the ride, on the run, and trying not to die along the way. There are some twists and turns that keep things exciting too!

I love how Grady Hendrix also tries to impart knowledge of final girl lore into his book. I appreciate that, as a lover of the trope.

So this was a fun read. The best trigger warning I can give is if you don’t like slasher horror movies and all the bad things that go along with those movies, you may want to steer clear of this. But otherwise, have fun!!!! 

Portia

Hi, I’m Portia! I’ve been an obsessive reader and pop culture addict my entire life, with a particular passion for horror and thrillers. I love being a part of the book community and can regularly be found working various book events. I’m an admin here at Ideally Inspired Reviews!

When I am not binge reading or obsessing over true crime podcasts and shows, I am a bar manager by night and a mom and wife by day. If I find any time after that, I love to travel, spend time outdoors, and fit as much live music into my life as possible. You can find me on Instagram @Ideally.Portia or TikTok @itsportiabitch.