21 magical science fiction and fantasy books to read in summer 2021
By Lacy Baugher
Summer 2021 release: The Final Girl Support Group – Grady Hendrix
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires comes another exciting new spin on a classic horror trope: The Final Girl.
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?
Grady Hendix’s The Final Girl Support Group is both an homage and takedown of slasher films from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream. It follows six “final girls” who’ve met for group therapy for twenty years. These women managed to survive the unthinkable—but the worst night of their lives was only the beginning.
The official synopsis has more details about the story.
"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."
The Final Girl Support Group is available on July 13.