Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

21 reviews

kirstendo's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Sexual assault

mallory10100's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Excrement, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Addiction, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Ableism, and Gun violence

Minor: Death of parent, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infertility, War, Confinement, Racism, Medical trauma, Classism, Child abuse, and Bullying

i recommend this for spooky season!!

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Bullying, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, and Drug use

wertzuio's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The friendship in this book is beautiful. Especially the ending made me really emotional!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Vomit

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Rape

Minor: Lesbophobia

abyssgazesalso's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Drug use, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Gore, Cursing, Biphobia, Rape, Death, Racial slurs, Body horror, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

kelldel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Docking a point because Grady Hendrix is a coward for

not letting them kiss

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cursing, Bullying, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Blood, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Self harm, and Vomit

Moderate: Murder, Racism, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Car accident, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Cultural appropriation, and Homophobia

undeadwaifu's review against another edition

mysterious fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape and Lesbophobia

mayapharaoh's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

This one is not very good. I should have loved it. It's basically just Jennifer's Body in the 80s, but less fully developed. Some of the writing felt very much like a grown man taking a dig at teen girls. The ending felt rushed and underdeveloped.

I also found this one really drawn out. It didn't need to be as long as it was, I don't think, and for all its length, it never answered any of the questions I wish it had, or gave the characters any real satisfying development. The book is almost 400 pages long, and you never get to learn why or how Gretchen gets possessed. She just disappears one night, and hey presto, she's possessed. They barely even hint at it, past some vague Satanic Panic shit. And I'm sure you could refute that by saying "that's not important, the real important thing was Abby and Gretchen's friendship", but their friendship, like in a bad movie, is filled out in what feels like is mostly montage; a collection of saccharine flashbacks (and then flash forwards) and references to past events rather than actions.

As a sidebar, as others have mentioned, there's a lot of weirdly offensive one-liners and jokes in this one. I'm sure you could argue that it's "of the times", but straight up, if I'd read through this whole book with that stuff removed, I would not have said "it's not accurate to the 80s, where's all the racially insensitive, fatphobic, queerphobic, offensive shit?"

Hey, at least the cover art is unbelievably good. And I hear it's getting a movie? So maybe that'll be better than the book. Two stars, one for the cover art, and one for Good Dog Max.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcohol, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Slavery

kaylee1957's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Campy, dramatic, hilarious, thrilling horror novel about the power of friendship and demonic possession. The 80s theme is hilarious and well done. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

cyanide_latte's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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? Yes

3.25

Overall I'm not entirely sure where I stand with this one.  I enjoyed my time reading it for the most part, and Hendrix's writing style is fairly easily accessible.  I guess this book just wasn't for me, in the end?  It wasn't bad at all, but I couldn't really connect with or bring myself to care about any of the characters by the time we got to the eleventh hour, and it's one I think I am okay with never reading again. I'll likely be selling my copy to a used bookstore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit