Book Review | The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre 22 years ago. For 16 years, she’s been meeting with five other final girls in a support group. That is until Lynnette realises someone is after them, determined to take their lives apart again.

Ever wonder what happens to those final girls? After the cops eliminate them as suspects, after the press releases their brace-faced, pizza-cheecked, bad-hair-day class photos that inevitably get included on the cover of the true crime book? After the candlelight vigils and the moments of silence, after someone plants the memorial shrub?

The Final Girl Support Group is a love letter to 70s and 80s slasher movies, and the final girl trope. The final girl characters in this book are familiar because each of them is inspired by a specific movie such as Friday The 13th and Halloween. It’s super meta, making references to character backgrounds from those movies which will undoubtedly appeal to fans of said movies.

The book opens with the group’s therapy session and surprisingly, it’s the only therapy group scene we get. The other characters – Dani, Marilyn, Heather, and Julia – are dropped into the book without introductions as if the reader is expected to already know their backgrounds. Trying to figure out their history and specific incident that led them to being the final girl made the story feel disorganised at first. Their therapist, Dr Carol Elliot, is a blank page but I do wonder how effective her role is when the characters don’t seem to have changed much after all these years.

The storyline mainly follows Lynette while the others play supporting roles, so unfortunately we don’t get to know the other final girls beyond her recollection and snippets of articles, interviews and news. I found her unconvincing because for someone so paranoid she behaves really recklessly and naive. There’s a point here to be made about stunted emotional growth and her inability to move on but the book doesn’t push too hard on that. The tone of the story vascillates between serious and humorous, with an element of satire but I never felt it lands properly. I wish the storyline is more subversive instead of being another reiteration of a slasher horror.

On the plus side, I enjoyed the gritty action sequences and strikingly gory memories that haunt the final girls. There’s a standout scene with an estranged final girl that’s super chilling and nails the criticism about true crime consumption. I also liked the way the villain’s identity is revealed. The book explores trauma and survival, and takes a sharp look at media representation and how the public views final girls. I wish I loved this book more but there’s enough here to leave a mark. This would make a great TV show though, and it’s already in the works!

The Final Girl Support Group is a solid addition to the slasher horror subgenre and will appeal to fans looking for a new take on the final girls trope.

CW: graphic violence

I received a digital copy from the publisher and Netgalley for review purposes.

About the author: Grady Hendrix

Photo by Kyle Johnson