Reviews tagging 'Racism'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

114 reviews

yesica's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

What I liked:

I liked the way Gretchen's parents reacted to the hearing about their daughter possibly being raped. Its a way of showing how not all parents react the same.

Thought out the story we see how much Abby cares about Gretchen's well being I also like how realistic her reactions to what was going on were. You sadly doing find a lot of realistic reactions in Horror novels.

What I didn't like:
What immediately took away 2 stars for me was

how casually the group of friends talked about one of the brothers drugging  and raping girls in the back of his car.

Overall:
Overall this book made for an okay audiobook to listen to while in the car or while doing chores but I could not bring myself to actually sit down and read the actual book.
Even though I did not always enjoy the book and reading it felt like a chore at time I will admit that it did have a very satisfying and realistic ending. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Fatphobia, and Vomit

Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Gun violence

rainbownp's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-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

4.25

**excuse the scatter brain review. I'm on my phone and multi tasking but wanted to write something before I forgot. I'll try to remember to do it from my computer next time.

**This was a book I bought based on recommendation from a bookstore employee and I'm not disappointed. 

This falls into the horror genre but I love how the author took the time to develope the main character of the book and show what new friendship looks like.  The horror part is supernatural but not "watch out for the thing under your bed" after you're done scary.  It is still interesting and is based off the obsession and rumors around satanism in the 80s. 

That being said, this book is based in North Carolina in the 80s in a wealthy area and has some of the discomforts to go along with it. They aren't a huge part of the story but passing mentions. 

You'll also hear a lot about the music, hobbies, etc.  It's very authentic to the time and he really spent the time making the building of the friendship between the two main characters silly and fun, as it happens in real life. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death and Eating disorder

Minor: Racism

jerbarger's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.75

At first, MY BEST FRIENDS EXORCISM really annoyed me because it felt like a man writing about teenage girls (which it is, obviously, but there often comes this sort of tone and misunderstanding of what it is to be a teenage girl—and sometimes even this underlying dislike). 

I also didn’t appreciate all the casual racism and references to sexual assault. I see what Hendrix was trying to do and set the picture of the South, but it wasn’t ever really indicted? Like it seemed he did not approve from the tone of the main character when she mentioned these things but it was totally glossed over and also THERE WERE ONLY WHITE PEOPLE, so tell me how this improves the conversation? It doesn’t. And it almost made me stop reading the book. 

With all of that being said, it is a rather interesting and unique coming-of-age story. Her best friend is possessed by a demon, but who’s the real monster? The adults who don’t believe children? Society? Classism? The way Abby goes from feeling like a child to having the understanding that we are all truly alone in this world is devastating. And that’s what MY BEST FRIEND’S EXORCISM did best. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Cursing, Rape, Drug use, Racism, and Slavery

Minor: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, Excrement, and Racial slurs

antonebooks's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.0

Disappointed. I loved this author’s retail horror novel but this one missed the mark for me. It had interesting themes it seemed like he wanted to explore but terrible execution. 

Also there were just too many instances of racist remarks or events that were completely unnecessary  in connection to the story. Why did we, the reader, need to know about the MC’s dad having a porn fetish for black women and then have it written off as a ludicrous joke and why is there a “slave day” at the MC’s school? None of this is ever mentioned later or adds to the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Vomit, and Racism

cuprum's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Rape, Physical abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Body horror, Blood, Animal death, Pedophilia, and Racism

angelfoodcakes's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Vomit, and Bullying

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Body horror, Drug use, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

emmareeser's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Racism

black_cat_iiix's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, and Eating disorder

Minor: Racism

crispr_breadboard's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Gun violence, Self harm, and Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Racism, and Drug use

teresavanc's review against another edition

dark tense

• 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? It's complicated

2.0

In all honesty, I got this book because of the beautiful cover, and I was wanting to read something spooky for October. I did not realize that the author is the same one who wrote the southern book clubs guide to slaying vampires, a book I hate vehemently. I even wrote in my review of that book that I would not read anything by this author again and if I had made that connection earlier, I would not have bought this book.

As much as I hate his writing, the first half of the book gave me hope. I found the parallels between sexual assault and demon possession to be an interesting take and very poignant. And then he just lost all this momentum. The actual exorcism fell flat, cheesy, and lazy. Body horror has a time and place, such as with Margaret, it feel disturbing but appropriate. Within the exorcism, it felt cheap, just added in for the shock value. 

In the end, I didn’t hate the book as much as his other, but I am deeply disappointed. He had so much going for him in the first half of the book and fumbled it. He chose the lazy way out and used a generic exorcism template instead of doing something unique and creative. And the very end where they began listing major pop culture moments from the 80s - cringey and a cheap shot at nostalgia. 

I have learned from my mistake. 
Fool me once, fool me twice, there will not be a third Mr Hendrix. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Vomit, and Torture

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Alcohol, Eating disorder, and Rape

Minor: Racism