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Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Blood, Car accident
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical content, Toxic friendship
What stood out most, though, was how the cruelty of the time shaped the girls’ experiences. The apathy, ignorance, and casual cruelty from family, friends, teachers, and authority figures were just as awful—if not worse—than the actions of the demon. The story unflinchingly portrayed the racism, rape culture, and exploitation of young girls in the 1980s, capturing a world where they had no allies, not even each other.
Some things didn’t work for me. The inclusion of images like magazine quizzes and food journals felt like a good idea in theory, but their sudden appearance late in the story and abrupt disappearance made the concept feel out of place and unfinished. The ending also
Despite its flaws, this messy, imperfect story accurately depicts the terror and heartbreak of being young and vulnerable in a cruel world.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
**as well as those grossed out or who have a fear of bugs, worms, and parasites
*there is also vivid descriptions of cadavers opened up & dead fetuses
Not my kind of horror. It went more the gross route than scary/spooky route.
The cover and how I’ve heard people talk about this made me have much different expectations. I thought it was going to be Stranger Things meets The Conjuring. But it was more just 80s pop culture references meets The Exorcist with some high school girl drama.
I was disappointed to say the least.
None of the characters were likable apart from Abby (well most of the time anyways) and her mother. All the adults apart from Abby’s mother are infuriating. And actually, this book infuriated me many MANY times, and left me feeling extremely grossed out & ill even more times than that.
I will give credit where credit is due, the last two pages were very sweet and lovely.
I think he was going for 80s campy horror movie but it just fell flat and like he didn’t fully commit either.
Don’t hate me but, dare I say, this was way overhyped
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Classism
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Suicide
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Eating disorder, Rape
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit
Moderate: Ableism, Racism
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Animal death, Eating disorder
Minor: Rape
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Excrement, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol
Sometimes horror being set in the protagonist's teen years feels "overdone," but I think part of the digestible horror of it is how little agency a young adult has and how much they are never believed for the hardships they are going through.
Anyway, the friendship that Hendrix shows us is one that I think most people have either experienced or had a taste of, which makes the pain of the story all the more potent.
Very recommend for a fast, fun read. Like a good 90 minute movie.
Spoiler ahead
"What could be more holy than friendship? What could be more pure than the love of a young heart and a shared history? What is more evil than the world we live in and the things we do to each other, and what is a better light against that darkness than the spark of hope and belief in another person?"
I was bawling, I was a wreck. As Abby recited every inch of their shared history to expel a demon from her friend, I cried because that love is honestly everything. I thought of every person I could exercise with this "incantation," every friend whom I love and could recite the building blocks of our relationship for. I hope that was Hendrix's aim, too.
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Classism
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Blood