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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
N/A
funny
fast-paced
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
silly
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry
This was so fun! I sincerely enjoyed every bit, especially the nods to Wisconsin. A good spooky read that really touches on the bonds of female friendship.
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was incredibly frustrating to me.
I have seen reviews and even the text it’s self praise the strong female friendships I. This book and wowie that is just simply not what we get.
Amy is a relatively young mom who spends the entire book judging every single character she meets including her besties around the cul-de-sack who her relationship is ment to be strong enough to save one of her “own” from a demonic possession.
It’s made worse that she comes shockingly close on several occasions to realizing she is selfish and needs to change but does not. At one point she volunteers the head a school carnival and realizes the pressure it put on her but never once connects the fact that this pressure might be mirrored in the “mean girl” of the neighborhood. At one point she realizes she’s taken her possessed friend for granted but instead of genuinely wanting to help her because she loves her it’s quite clear that it’s so her own community doesn’t leave her. She not picks all the other characters and decides out of the neighborhood that her and her three friends who she sees as unconventional as the only worthy women.
Amy seems to hate being a mom and it’s definitely in the genre of miserable mom horror. She seems ok with her husband and that’s uhhhhhh something. The comedy doesn’t hit for me.
If you like the concept from the back Grady Hendrix has two similar and imo better books about the same thing essentially in My Best Friends Exorcism and the Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. Rachel Harrison writes about friendship in a horror setting with far more care with a toxic friendship that has actual improvement, and Tatiana Schlote-Bonne writes about mean girls with an actual bite while also exploring their motives.
I gave this books a two because admittedly some of the actual horror was pretty satisfying. Maybe this could work as a whimsical horror movie but as a book unless possession comedy is precisely your brand of horror I doubt this one will hit.
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really really hope someone buys movie rights to this because it would adapt to screen beautifully. The perfect mix of gentle horror and humor.