The Final Girl Support Group

⭐️⭐️⭐️
3 Stars= It was an enjoyable read

TRIGGER WARNING(S): VIOLENCE, MURDER, GROOMING, SERIAL KILLING

Everything about this book seemed so promising: the cover, the synopsis, and the idea. There were so many things in this book that should have made it a five-star read for me:

Final Girls ✅
Slasher Movie References ✅
Reference to My Favorite Slasher Movie Scream ✅✅
Bloody Vibes ✅
Serial Killers ✅

But even with all of those pieces in the story, it still fell flat. I know a lot of people felt like the final girls background stories being based off of popular 80s and 90s slasher films seemed lazy and uncreative on Hendrix's part, but I actually enjoyed that and thought it was pretty fun and clever. That still wasn't enough to save this story for me.

For the title of the book literally being The Final Girl Support Group. We got an extremely little look into the actual support group.

I often got confused about whether I should be laughing or serious during the “humorous” parts of the book. The jokes and twisted humor just weren't it. It was like Hendrix was trying to be quirky, but the vibe was all off and confusing. Was this supposed to be a satire, parody, serious novel, or all three? The whole thing just gave off “trying too hard” feels.

The main character, Lynnette, was very unlikable and bordered on being unbearable. Unfortunately, the whole story is told from her point of view. I can understand how going through something as extreme as watching your whole family get killed will mess you up mentally and no doubt leave you with post-traumatic stress disorder, but Lynne was over the top with it. And I have generalized anxiety disorder, so for me to say someone is too paranoid might be saying a lot. I mean, she literally had a cage in her apartment separating her front door from her living room.

I could have lived without going through her constant thought process about why she did the things that she did. Her bus routine for getting around town and things like that She constantly threw herself a pity party and tried to make all the other Final Girls seem more mentally unstable than herself. I mean, what was up with her plant “Fine” and that weird friendship? For somebody who tried to live so cautiously, Lynnette made a lot of flat-out stupid decisions. I also didn't like how she always tried to blame the things that happened to her on others. Nothing was ever her fault. A prime example is when the other final girls and Dr. Elliott found out about the book Lynne wrote, were pissed off (rightfully so), and confronted her about it. She always said, "Nobody was supposed to read that" or "I wasn't actually going to publish it." But she still wrote the book and that was still how she felt about her peers. Just because it was never supposed to be published doesn't make it okay.

I would have enjoyed learning more about the other characters' back stories instead of getting tidbits about them sprinkled in here and there, and I would have loved to have this story told from multiple points of view.

Three things were so unbelievable I almost had to laugh:
Marilyn, Heather, and Lynnette breaking Michelle out of hospice. That would NEVER be allowed. They weren't related to her in any way, and the staff didn't even know who the three women were. There is no way in hell it would be that easy for them to leave the hospice facility with her and just drive off.Lynnette gaining access to Stephanie's house by using an EXPIRED fake driver's license on her father. I would think he would be so relaxed about people entering his home after his daughter just escaped the clutches of a serial killer and the whole kidnapping scenario. That was just wild and so far-fetched, it was idiotic.Lynnette magically being cured of her panic attacks after getting attacked by Stephanie and Skye. Especially after she lived in fear of her own shadow and the whole human population since she was sixteen years old. I wish it were that easy. If it were that simple to get rid of them, I wouldn't be taking the medications I do.

I wish this book lived up to its hype, but it just didn't. At one point, I was hoping the killer would stake Lynnette out so she wouldn't even be in the equation as a final girl anymore.

I know a lot of people who enjoyed this book, including my husband, whom I love dearly, and I love that for them. If you enjoyed it, I am truly glad you did. I just wish I could too.