Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - My Best Friend's Exorcism

I am so surprised by the unanimously positive reviews of this book on Goodreads that I need to add my thoughts on the book.

At first, the story seems great, but the moment Gretchen becomes possessed the book took a turn to the worst. While having a gripping, fast-paced style, the second part was difficult for me to go through. While alp reviews focus on the friendship as a core of the story, in its majority the book shows everyone gaslighting Abby, without really making any comment on the real-life significance of the issue. I wish the gaslighting was carefully orchestrated by the demon, since for me it made for the most gut-wrenching part of the book, but the characters just ignore Abby without much reason - it seems all adults hate her just because it is convenient for the plot.

Finally, although the whole story is almost exclusively female-centered, it fails to be in any way feminist or diverse. For example, Abby is the only one trying to help her friend, but in the end, it is the male exorcist who needs to save the day. Someone else already pointed out the unnecessary racism, which the author casually excuses with the "it was the 80s" phrase. The biggest offender is the brief scene including Slave Day at school, when some students get to humiliate others, which is absolutely unnecessary (the bullying depicted during it could have just as easily taken place on any other day). Similarly, 80s setting seems to jusrify for the author the omnipresent fat phobia and body shaming, making you wonder if he does not share these prejudices himself.

However, I know that many people will enjoy it for its decent writing and fast pace, but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth, all for the wrong reasons.

Content Warnings

elsebeok's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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chelseylb1988's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No

5.0

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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Very meh. Not as good as I had hoped since I generally liked The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. There were a few issues that gave racism for no real reason. And the idea of a guy writing about young girls, especially young girls in a semi-sexual-esque traumatizing way, doesn't sit super well with me. This doesn't deserve the hype. It started out semi promising, then it got pretty slow, then it picked up and was a let down.

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alba_marie's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

OMG I love Grady Hendrix. He is SUCH a weirdo! But his books are such a good type of weird that he's becoming an instant-read for me.

This is now my third book by him – after The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires and Horrorstör and I have loved them all.

One thing that seems important to Hendrix is voice – or lack thereof. Giving voice to the silenced, and pointing out the unfairness of those whose voices are dismissed or even taken away. In the Southern Book Club, he gives voice to under-appreciated 80's housewives who are repeated dismissed by their husbands when they attempted to bring their new neighbour's bad intentions to light. In Horrorstör, he gives voice to minimum wage employees who are often overlooked by society simply because they are defined by their jobs. And in this book, he gives voice to 80's teenagers – particularly teenage girls – whose fears and concerns and attestations are repeatedly ignored and belittled and even punished by their parents.

Hendrix is also quite clever in addressing the issues surrounding sexual assault without actually including a sexual assault. In the Southern Book Club, the vampire was used as a stand-in for a rapist – particularly in terms of how the women's accusations were treated by men.

Something similar happens here in My Best Friend's Exorcism... demonic possession is a stand in for unwanted bodily assault. He is more overt in this one, actually calling out rape. Adult reactions are similar in this book as Book Club – those in power do everything they can to deride and punish the accusers because in making their accusations, they are essentially rocking the status quo.

At times challenging, darkly comical, thought-provoking and gross, the book, designed to resemble an American 1980s yearbook, is certainly a standout, and I recommend this (or any) of Grady Hendrix's strange but superb horror books.

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melliedm's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-paced

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

3.5

A gross, fast-paced, campy story of friendship in the face of growing up (and demons).

Felt like the sapphic undertones were purposeful (lampshades! Lampshades everywhere!), but completely unfulfilled. How you can go from DBNQ to DAQ and then tell me how they ended and miss the chance to complete the sentence is a disappointment. But it was a fun read despite that.

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redhothabanero's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

I wish we got more about their friendship at the beginning of the book. Gretchen gets possessed early on and so we don't get to see them be the kind of best friends that they are at the end of the book. Overall, it was fine but forgettable.

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kshertz's review against another edition

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dark funny tense 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

4.0

It’s hilarious and gruesome. Only Grady Hendrix pulls that off flawlessly. It was a fun flash back to the 80s and I related being the elder millennial that I am. I loved the jokes. This is horror though. It starts out easy enough but by the end I was gagging. I could visualize way too much.

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