Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

58 reviews

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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: Yes

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dark emotional funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Borrowed a hardcover copy from my local library.

It's a good book, but I'm afraid it isn't much of a horror story the way I thought it would be. It's not like... scary? There are horror elements, but the possession mostly plays out in the social lives of these high schoolers in a subtle way; the obvious supernatural stuff is really few and far between, which is a shame, since it's what I was looking for.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between Abby and Gretchen by the end, and I have to say, they were written pretty queerly. I don't think it was "queerbaity" even though there's the whole "dearly but not queerly" thing— for one, that's a product of the 80s setting, and for another, that sentiment is denounced by the end of the story. There are a lot of parts in this that were pretty uncomfortable, but I wasn't exactly bored at any point and I was satisfied by the ending.

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional funny mysterious fast-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: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

There were some aspects of the portrayal of teen girlhood that felt disingenuous and shallow. That could have been an intentional point to make flaws in characters... But there were parts where I was like "... Oh yeah, this was written by a man" yk? At the end I deff cried tho. It was deff campy and a lot of build up. They should have kissed tho there was a lot of queer tension lol 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark funny 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: Yes

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dark tense medium-paced

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional sad 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

Brilliantly paced, this nostalgic ode to the ’80s really captures that high school feeling of friendship and teen spirit.

The writing is steeped in realism, locking you into the narrative. The characters are unique and loveable, so every moment is memorable with them. I’d have loved to have spent even more time with the friendship group, as it is just so real. It is a really fun time. 

The horror itself wasn’t as freaky or grotesque as I had expected, but honestly, not an issue whatsoever. It involves devil possession making someone act really antisocially, which might sound boring, but Hendrix keeps it freaky but also humorous.

In my opinion, the ending is
bittersweet. The good guys win, but perhaps the real horror is adult life. The girls move on, keeping in touch long-distance how they can. But they are never as close again as they were before that night at Margaret’s house. I was left feeling melancholy and nostalgic for my own high school and university friends who, while some I keep in touch with over the phone, many I haven’t spoken with since despite all the promises to each other that wouldn’t happen to us.


So really, a wonderful book that I heartily recommend for a great bit of slice-of-life X horror set in realistic portrayal of the 1980s USA. 


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