Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - My Best Friend's Exorcism

*Can I just say first that Emily Woo Zeller is one of the best audiobook voice actors I’ve ever heard. The emotion, tension, and just expression of drama drove this story so well I don’t even want to attempt to read it with my eyes.*

I honestly loved this books so much. The childhood friendship was established so well, the progression of tension building into or resulting from at each terrible deed was palpable, and I was fully gripped by the end of the scene in the woods.

I’ve read one other Grady Hendrix novel and two things I’m absolutely certain of at this point are:
1.) He knows how to create characters and negative interactions that feel true to the worst parts of life
2.) He can spin truly disgusting imagery out of mundane things.

I don’t think any character but the exorcist is meant to be truly likable but I honestly feel shocked by how much I empathized with Abby - by how well Hendrix portrays the plight of a teenage girl realizing no adult in their life takes them seriously. I had just as many moments of frustration at her as I had for her and that went a long way into making Abby feel like such a real teenager in my eyes.

I could have ended the book two chapters earlier and been incredibly happy. Fast Car is a perfect closing chapter that gave me the happy ending I was begging for after experiencing so much stress through these characters. The true final chapter doesn’t work as strongly as a closer because I truly don’t think this book was in need of an epilogue. That said, I’m not angry at it’s direction and it’s a thematic bookend which is hard to be mad at.

There were a couple mentions that made me uncomfortable

, especially as a Black reader, like “slave day” and “you look like an Ethiopian”

but I recognize how they help form a picture of the time period and attitudes of the decade. As much as we recognize that the 80s were still part of that “different time” we like to pin on the Jim Crow era, I feel like it’s actually rare for me to see period media that doesn’t deal with race topics venture to establish it’s setting with not only the colorful pop culture references of the decade but also the outdated ideals. It’s uncomfortable and I do believe the 80s felt alive in the story without these inclusions but I also don’t believe I would argue strongly, if at all, to remove them.

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klfgasaway's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.75

The atmosphere is 10/10. Grady Hendrix can write a compelling novel. I loved how she distilled the essence of high school without making her characters too precocious, too self assured, or too dumb and without making me feel like I was reading YA. This felt like horror not YA horror.

I loved the music references and it was enjoyable but look at the trigger warnings. Not much gore or violence lots of gross.

1. The title is great. It’s flashy. It’s tight. It’s objectively a fantastic title. but once we get to the exorcism it’s like oh well clearly this is the climax and it’s probably going to work otherwise why call it that? I just think a different title would have been better for the book overall.
2. This book dropped a whole star because of good dog max dying on screen. I know it’s horror but killing a dog “on screen” better have a much better reason than this. Very subjective opinion here but yeah. Just a personal thing.
3. Loved how religion was portrayed in the book starting with the Bible at the birthday party. And with the twist on the exorcism itself. Brilliant.

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ashleycmms's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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gabbishy's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

The book was recommended to me by a coworker, and it was nothing like what I expected in the best possible way! The cover caught my attention immediately of course, and I was quickly sucked in by the characters, story, and writing. This is the first book I've read by this author, but I doubt it will be the last! A very captivating story about two best friends and the supernatural experience they shared.

My Best Friend's Exorcism was also my first horror-type novel, and I think the author was very successful in creating an atmosphere of suspense. I found myself genuinely creeped out several times while reading. As a former teenage girl, I found the way the main character was written to be spot on! It's easy to relate to and root for her while at the same time shaking your head at her whenever she does something dumb.

I honestly loved this book, and my only complaint relates to the ending...

I think the author hinted at/teased a lot of moments that made it seem like Abby and Gretchen had romantic feelings for each other, and I think it could have been very powerful if that had been carried through to the end since it was a point of conflict within the story and ultimately a part of the book's climax. It felt like something was being built up that was never resolved, so the ending felt disappointing to me in that aspect.

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chloseencounter's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

This is my second Grady Hendrix novel and I really enjoy their writing style. I expected (due to the quirky nature of the title) for this to feel a lot more YA but there were some parts that were genuinely disturbing and mature. Even though I grew up during the 90s/2000s the story still gave me a heavy sense of nostalgia for summers as a teenager, I felt that especially at the beginning when all the characters and their relationships were being established. It all felt very real and genuine, like people I would’ve known, friends I would’ve had, and things I would’ve done (or did without being possessed thankfully). The way the girls felt so real is what made this novel truly worth it for me. I know that some bits were wildly cheesy but I honestly enjoyed it a lot, the toss up between horrific and sooooo melodramatic was a good mix for me.

I also loved how the exorcist had said that most people just make up what they say during a deliverance and in the end Abby believed a lot more in Phil Collins than religion. As silly as that seems, it suited the climax for our main characters.

I really enjoyed the ending, because that too was realistic and truthful, it wasn’t a fantasy happily ever after but it was about as good as life and friendship gets. My only complaint is that I felt the first few chapters were a little slow, I wasn’t grabbed as immediately as I would usually like to be by a book but I also appreciated the time spent learning about the girls, their relationship with each other, their relationship with their parents, and the inherent differences in their lives being two separate economic classes. In the end I think the time spent paid off in making the reader care more about what may happen to them. I can’t wait to give more Grady Hendrix books a go and I’m excited to see the movie adaptation for this one soon!

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mallory10100's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

based on the cover, i expected this to be a campy fun horror, but it was actually quite disturbing. pay attention to content warnings!!

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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A cute and creepy book about 2 teenage girls and their love for one another overpowering even the most powerful of demons. I loved that the titles of each chapter were a 80’s song title. The characters were lovable even when they were being jerks. The story, while unbelievable, was fun and lighthearted and made me think of a campy 80’s horror film.

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littlefemur's review against another edition

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2.25

This book could have been amazing if it hadn’t resorted to cheap tricks like taking on the problematic language of the 80s. How unimaginative do you have to be to take us back into the past by using fucked up language? It was so hard to enjoy the story because fairly often I was jolted out of it by poor choices from a white man writing in 2016.

Here’s a sampling:
AIDS jokes

Weird gross sexualizing of a Black woman and making her a joke

Jokes about brain damage

Using the r word
A retro version of “no homo”: dearly but not queerly

Queer as slur

“Spazzing” out and “spaz” - this one was everywhere

AIDS jokes

Blackface

Sitting Indian style

Slave day

Casual fatphobia

“You look like an Ethiopian” to someone who’d lost a bunch of weight.

So edgy. Wait no, I meant unimaginative and disappointing.

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