The Final Girl Support Group — Spoiler-Free Review

Author: Grady Hendrix. Pages: 352. Genre: Horror / Thriller

SJR Quick Take

⭐ Overall: 3/5
🔪 Scare Factor: 2/5
💔 Emotional Impact: 1/5
📖 Would I Read Again? No
💬 Would I Recommend? Yes—with a warning

What Is The Final Girl Support Group About?

A Final Girl is a woman who survives a mass-casualty event and defeats—or simply survives—the monster responsible. In The Final Girl Support Group, we meet a group of women who know exactly what that means. Heather, Julia, Marilyn, Dani, Adrienne, and our FMC, Lynnette, have been attending group therapy together for almost 16 years.

Yes...16 years with the same therapist. I had some concerns about this, but that's not for now. The women are a bit catty and can be very harsh with each other. They're also all still dealing with what happened to them in very different ways. Lynnette is especially dependent on the group, although I don't think she fully realizes how much she needs it.

When one of the women mentions that maybe they should call it quits, Lynnette panics and starts talking about how ending the group would affect everyone—but not necessarily how it would affect her. Then the group receives some disturbing news, and Lynnette becomes convinced something is wrong. But is there actually something to be afraid of? Or is Lynnette just being paranoid?

Overall Reaction

I give this book a lot of grace because I went in with very high expectations. I'm a huge horror movie fan. Scream is my favorite franchise, and I've met almost the entire cast from the first one, minus David and Drew. I've seen all the I Know What You Did Last Summer, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street movies, and I've even met Amanda and Heather! So when I saw a book centered around Final Girls, my expectations were HIGH. This was also my first Grady Hendrix book, so I had no idea what to expect from his writing style.

Characters

We're immediately thrown into the world of Lynnette, who I would say is an unreliable narrator of events. I won't spoil anything here, but her story about the other women and how they represent themselves may say more about her than them. Lynnette is skeptical and terrified of almost everything. She has essentially locked herself away from the world outside of these group meetings. She has routines for making sure she isn't followed, exit plans, and very complex security measures at home. I had sympathy for her and everything she's experienced, but I also found her extremely frustrating at times. Because we're experiencing the story through Lynnette, there were moments when I wasn't sure what to believe either.

And it wasn't just Lynnette giving me feelings. The other Final Girls? The police? The therapist?!

Mhm. We're saving all of THAT for Cover to Cover.

There were also some conversations around what actually makes someone a “Final Girl,” and I had feelings about that, too. It reminded me of when women say, “I gave birth, and you had a C-section.” Birth is birth! And mass death is mass death. No matter how you survived, you survived!

World & Storytelling

One thing I really enjoyed was how we slowly learned more about these women and the horror-movie franchises connected to their stories. Throughout the book, we get things like newspaper clippings, articles, and other little pieces of information surrounding the Final Girls. As a horror-movie fan, I liked these additions. They helped build the world around these women and gave me little pieces of information without everything being dumped into the main story at once. It also played perfectly into one of the things that kept me reading: trying to figure out what the hell was actually going on. I'm usually very good at following the trail of breadcrumbs in a book.

Not this time. I genuinely had trouble figuring out where this story was going.

Pacing

This is where I struggled. The first half of the book was hard for me to get through. Lynnette's constant uncertainty and lack of confidence, along with some of the decisions being made around her, made for a frustrating read at times. Around the halfway point, though, I became much more invested and wanted to know what the hell was actually going on. That's when the book became much easier for me to get through. Unfortunately, the ending wasn't my cup of tea. I'm obviously not going to tell you what happened, but after becoming more invested in the story, I wanted more from where everything ultimately landed.

Scare Factor — 2/5

For a horror/thriller, I didn't find this book particularly scary. There are deaths, violence, and descriptions of dead bodies, so we're definitely dealing with horror material. But did it actually scare me?

No. For me, the uncertainty of trying to figure out what was happening worked better than the actual scares. If you're looking for something that's going to have you checking underneath your bed before you go to sleep, this isn’t that book.

Emotional Impact — 1/5

I felt bad for these women and everything they've survived, but nothing about the story really hit me emotionally. Nothing made me want to cry. If anything, I spent more time irritated with the characters and some of their choices than emotionally over them. And after almost 16 years in therapy together, if y'all haven't figured out your shit... Maybe something else should be explored.

Final Verdict

⭐ 3/5

The Final Girl Support Group didn't quite hit the mark for me. I went into this as a huge horror and slasher fan with very high expectations, and while there were things I enjoyed about the concept and storytelling, there were also things that frustrated me. This was my first Grady Hendrix book, though, and I'm not familiar enough with his writing style to know whether this particular book just wasn't for me or whether his writing isn't going to be my thing.

I'm willing to try one more before I decide.

Would I Recommend It?

Yes—but with a fair warning.

I'm giving this book 3/5 stars, so this isn't a glowing recommendation. If you love Final Girls, slasher movies, unreliable perspectives, and trying to figure out what's actually happening alongside the characters, I still think it's worth giving this one a try. My issues with it may not be your issues with it.

Would I Read It Again?

No. I'm glad I finished it, but once was enough for me.

Ready to Go Cover to Cover?

Because I left A LOT out. The therapist. The other Final Girls. Lynnette. Some of these decisions. And that ending?!

Mhm. We need to talk about it.

Cover to Cover is coming next.

Until the next chapter,

Happy Reading,

S. J. Robinson

Interested in reading this book? Check out my Bookshop.org link here.