Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

12 reviews

stobblin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

There's a reason why this is a classic and it showed by how easy it read and how compelling it was.

However, it very much is a product of its time and while I generally appreciate darker themes and shocking scenes in novels, some parts felt shocking just for the sake of shock. 

I'm glad I've read it at almost 30 and not at the first time I picked it up when I was 19.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Body horror, Blood, Death, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual content, and Vomit

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

devynvictoria's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting to. I am not a fan of The Exorcist movie, but I was recommended the audiobook multiple times so I finally gave it a try. It was great and the narration by the author was amazing. I love how much he fleshed out the characters before everything starts to go down hill— it made you really care about what was happening to them. The downsides were that I absolutely couldn’t stand the officer, and the ending was just a really underwhelming ending for a book that had been so enjoyable up until then.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Vomit, and Mental illness

Moderate: Murder, Drug abuse, Violence, Addiction, Medical content, Sexual content, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death

thespencerj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Blood, Alcohol, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Excrement, and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

grapes666's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I was surprised by my love for this. The author is a fantastic storyteller 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Excrement, Addiction, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Suicide, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse

There’s an infamous scene where a child is forced to inflict a pretty upsetting act and it’s basically impossible to appropriately and accurately describe in trigger warnings. So, WARNING WARNING WARNING

bearystarry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Very similar to the movie, which isn't a bad thing. The antisemitism was ... gratuitous and unneeded. Other than that and a few other brief things I enjoyed this a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Sexism, Incest, Medical content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Antisemitism, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Gore, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Vomit, Misogyny, Medical trauma, and Rape

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Racism

looneysoysauce's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Medical content

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Death of parent, Excrement, Grief, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Minor: Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism

thereadingdude's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Body horror, Cursing, Terminal illness, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual content, Medical content, Murder, Death, Gore, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Alcohol

poirot's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Vomit, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, and Excrement

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Suicide, and Addiction

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Brilliant example of a horror novel. Genuinely one of the best books i have yet to read in the genre. The horror isnt extremely in your face but it is still deeply unsettling. Its a bit of a slow burn. The way its written constantly challenges the notion of if Regan is truly possessed or just mentally ill, which mirror social beliefs and functions in a brilliant way. It really haunts you. The movie is, of course, iconic. But the way the book is constructed just flows and builds so much better. A must read for horro fans. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Child death, Xenophobia, Excrement, Suicide, Violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Medical content, Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, and Mental illness

meecespieces's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Death, Body horror, Excrement, Child abuse, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcohol and Child death

Minor: Addiction