Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

186 reviews

kgpierce's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I really love rural southern imagery and this book was great for that. I really liked the complex deep connection between the 2 main characters, the author does a great job of depicting the silly, sweet, and beautiful depth of the intimacy between childhood best friends. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Racism

spacedadsammy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This wasn’t what I expected. It was far less an 80s horror and more a teen drama. The last quarter of the book was GREAT but the rest felt like filler just to get there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Gore

Moderate: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

Minor: Misogyny and Homophobia

romy_f's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

This is my second  Grady Hendrix book. while the book is labeled as horror, it's not really. there are some scary elements, maybe because of our expectations and previous experiences with Hollywood movies, but the story is more suspense than scary. It's not even a story of exorcism as much as it's a story about friendship and the glorious 80s.  

I am not a big fan of exorcisms but I have seen a few movies here and there. 
The exorcism in the novel might as well be the best exorcism scene ever.  Never thought I'd tear up during an exorcism but here I was with tears in my eyes and it got more and more towards the end of the book. 

 I Can't decide if this scene was better or the one from The Chilling Adventure of Sabrina Spellman. Oh and the one from Practical Magic! 

bear in mind this is a book about exorcism so some gore should be expected 

The audiobook is amazing !! The narrator did a good job being serious when the role required it and being funny and lighthearted when the scene called for it. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Self harm, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Rape, Child death, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Drug use

writewithapendragon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

I love Grady Hendrix’s writing and stories but I wish he could complete a book without including sexual assault. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Body horror, Cursing, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Animal death, Car accident, Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Torture, Child abuse, Alcohol, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Violence, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Death, Body horror, and Forced institutionalization

Genre-typical content for a horror book, hits a lot of 80s slasher tropes and some gore.

ralibbey13's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Bullying, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, and Self harm

kimberlina82's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Gore, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Violence, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, Eating disorder, Excrement, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

nothoughts_mt's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I would highly listen to the audiobook version of this! The narration done by "Emily Woo Zeller" is PHENOMENAL!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Eating disorder

Moderate: Body shaming, Self harm, Gaslighting, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual assault

Moderate Anorexia, Food disorder mentions:

I do not remember the exact chapter, but near the end there is a GRAPHIC scene where one character is confined to a bed due to her eating disorder. And within that there is a mention of intestinal parasites

kellygracejackson's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Torture, Body horror, Eating disorder, Excrement, Sexual assault, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Fatphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

bugspillow's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Blood, Eating disorder, Animal death, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Mass/school shootings and Kidnapping

haley_mil_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Racism, Sexism, Body horror, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal death and Sexual assault