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tifftastic87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Synopsis
Abby is a scholarship girl at a prestigious private school in South Carolina in the 80s. By the standards of the era and the region, she is an outcast. That is until a new girl comes to town, Gretchen, and becomes Abby's ride or die. Everything goes down hill when Gretchen runs off to the woods one night and comes back a little wrong. Gretchen's behavior starts spiraling out of control, none of the adults believe Abby and she finds herself ostracized and on the verge of expulsion. It all culminates when the only adult that believes Abby is a muscle bound, neon clad, evangelist. But will his faith and Abby's determination be enough to save Gretchen?
High Camp Tension
This was so campy and satirical that it really made the story for me. I have a lot of religious trauma around "deliverance" so was really pleased that it was handled in such a campy way, that made the uncomfortable bits a little easier to stomach. Every time I felt my stomach clenching there would be some sort of comedic relief. If that is not necessarily something that you look for in a horror, and I usually don't either, then maybe this one isn't for you.
Girl Crew
At first Abby is extremely unlikable, at least to me, she is selfish and whiny and somewhat rude. But she has a good moment where she makes a decision on who she wants to be and her character just changes from there to a very likeable, if not frustrating (stand up for yourself woman!), character. The friendship dynamic among the girls is actually pretty relatable to growing up in the 80s/90s. I don't know how teens treat each other now, but even in to the very early 00s this felt pretty true to form. I have heard from some reviewers that Grady Hendrix is "banned" from writing women after Final Girl Support Group, but I actually really liked how he did it here.
The Satanic Panic of it All
This, combined with the War on Drugs, was so perfect. I think this is what I wanted out of Whisper Down the Lane and was severely disappointed in that book. Abby is accused of selling drugs and committing satan worship, when she's probably the most quintessential high school student, but doing it all with perfect grades. Any time any of the kids has an emotion the adults are quick to ask "are you on drugs?" Which feels so, well, real. I have strong memories of very similar conversations in my youth.
In Short
I really enjoyed this book, I thought some of it could have been better. But only by bits and pieces. I really loved all of the chapters being named after songs from the era and how important music was to the story itself. I think this is a case where pop culture references were done very well. I would definitely recommend this to people who are new to horror, as it is very light on the horror. Though do check the content warnings.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Body shaming, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Physical abuse, Torture, Bullying, Classism, Mental illness, Grief, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Infidelity, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Rape, and Gore
snazzy10101's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Violence, Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Rape, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Drug use, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
ahopper7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Here is what I loved:
- the main theme of besties for life, especially the way it ended
- the 80s references (caveat for the unnecessary slang that is now problematic, see below for dislike)
- the exorcism was hilarious for me, top notch 80s horror comedy scene
Here is what didn’t work for me:
- overall the characters weren’t really likeable, like any of them, I feel like I can tell that a middle aged man wrote these teen girls
- the wholly unnecessary problematic language (e.g. DBNQ, the ‘r’ word, comparing someone that to an Ethiopian child, “slave” day, etc.); I get it, the story is set in the 80s, it was a different time, etc. but the book was still written in 2016 and those references do NOTHING to advance the story or add to it, so I found it off-putting and unnecessary
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Animal death
Moderate: Eating disorder, Bullying, and Rape
Minor: Slavery, Drug use, and Alcohol
amberbjorge's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Body horror, Vomit, Eating disorder, Torture, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and Animal death
smylieman's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Death, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Animal death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Eating disorder, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape
itsheyfay's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Eating disorder, Classism, Body horror, Animal death, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, and Drug use
Moderate: Kidnapping, Racism, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Gun violence, and Child death
Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse
pages_with_puppies's review against another edition
4.5
It was giving very much campy teen horror movie think Jennifers Body x Stranger Things. The chapter titles being songs was a hugely welcomed addition I was getting songs stuck in my head left and right.
The half star reduction was for that one scene near the end
I was a bit bothered at first by the way the author wrote and portrayed female friendships in teenagers but after a bit it definitely started to come off as a caricature and like it was being purposefully exaggerated not just a case of men writing women poorly. I was even able to relate to the girls and their friendships a lot although sometimes it did go a little far.
And lastly who said it was ok to make me cry at the end of a horror? That ending hit so much harder than I was expecting.
Would recommend if you are into the supernatural, 80’s, female friendships, coming of age.
Would not recommend if you are looking for a straight up horror with no deeper meaning.
Graphic: Bullying, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Rape, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Violence, Racism, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Car accident
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
This was a conflicting read for me. On one hand, I love Grady’s other works and really enjoy his writing. On the other hand….. Were these many slurs needed (*literally*) constantly? I get it’s the 80s, but everyone knows those slurs and bigotry went unchecked heavily back then and it’s included in this book as just throwaway jokes and not really any commentary about that of the time.
This book is essentially the story of someone’s best friend being slowly possessed more and more as time goes by and everyone around them just seems to.. Not care. She’s trying to kill others and being seriously down-right evil but no it’s everyone around her who’s the problem - including the main character.
This book is incredibly slow, the odd moments happening here and there and like 85% of the book is just the main character trying to get *anyone* to believe their - what seems to be - insane story.
I loved Horrorstör so when I saw this one was another of his highly acclaimed books I needed to read it. But now I’m just kinda… confused? The horror wasn’t overly good and I didn’t really feel like there was any tension there. The only parts I reacted to was the
The ending was certainly a mixed bag. Badly timed attempts at comedy in the middle of what should have been tense and emotional, even more slurs randomly thrown in, abuse and then a very emotional bittersweet ending slightly ruined by the fact they’re “just” best friends (very minor spoiler on this topic:
I think the ending could have saved a decent chunk of this book without the slurs and the “best friend” syndrome, but with those it kinda just fell a bit flat to me.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Ableism, Violence, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Physical abuse, Drug use, and Body horror
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Misogyny
beepbopbooks's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Drug use, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
camilasnbr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Gore and Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic friendship, Cursing, and Blood