Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

197 reviews

melonni's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

izypup's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Vomit, Eating disorder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Grief, Animal death, Gun violence, Body horror, Suicide attempt, Violence, Torture, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Drug use

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Murder, Infidelity, Body shaming, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Cursing, Confinement, Blood, and Alcohol

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

chezler24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-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

5.0

 I could not put this book down towards the end! My co-workers recommended this book, and it seemed like something right up my alley. Friendship, demons, and that nostalgic 80's setting - I mean it's a perfect recipe for a good ol' teen horror flick (nod to the cover for looking like an old VHS tape sleeve). As a reader, we are seemlessly dropped into the 80s and got to watch Abby and Gretchen's friendship start and grow over the years which makes the gut-wrenching, heart-breaking events hit even harder over the course of the the book. [Brief Side Note: I can understand why Hendrix touches on some of the casual racism present at this time so as not to create this fictionalized, sugar-coated 80s that I think so many of us are often presented with. That and the whole satanic panic set the scene for America at this time but, more specifically, this town whose residents are consumed by appearance, judgment, and "moral" superiority. It was shocking to read but I also felt like I should mention it here because it stood out while reading and added to the setting/background.] Friendship is an overaching theme the book starts and ends with. Abby and Gretchen as children often tried to determine best friends vs all right friends vs acquaintances, and, while they don't do this explicitly as they get older, the delineation bewteen fairweather friends and true friends is evident especially after the demon has wrecked havoc on their friendgroup. I was stressed for Abby as her friends, her family, the school, and slowly the entire town turned against her. That was part of the reason why I had to keep reading. I couldn't leave her when her life was slowly going into free fall. As far as endings go, I was pretty content with it. Honestly, I was just relieved it wasn't a sappy "and they all lived happily ever after" ending. It seemed relatively realistic even with the way their friendship continued into their adult years. Despite the supernatural elements, this book just felt REAL and relatable. Going to enjoy re-reading this book in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Death, Medical content, and Body horror

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

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

pjgilmore's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death

b00murded's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

felt like watching a movie in my head. Soundtrack and all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death and Bullying