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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Originally posted on the book blog Creature From the Book Lagoon.
"Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act…different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?"
Well… I finished this book about a week ago, and I’m still not sure exactly what I want to say. There are several things I liked about it, but, I don’t know… sadly it just ended up kind of being meh for me. I really loved Mr. Hendrix’s Horrorstor novel, and perhaps was expecting My Best Friend’s Exorcism to by on the same level as that…? I don’t know. Even after having a week to think on what I didn’t like about this book, it still is hard for me to put my finger on what exactly that was.
Let me talk about the good things. It was an awesome homage to the 80s. You constantly had 80s pop culture dropped on you. Movies, tv, music… even things like the type of telephone they had or the way they did their hair… It felt very authentic. And if you loved the 80s, you will have a ton of fun picking out uber 80s moments mentioned throughout the book.
I also really enjoyed how the exorcist and the exorcism it’s self were very unconventional. It was amusing but also refreshing to see something so wildly different from all the other exorcism books out there. You really have not seen anything like it before. I’ve seen a lot of people complain about Brother Lemon, a very jock-like body builder exorcist… but I personally thought he was pretty funny and very fitting to the 80s.
There were a few spots that could be considered triggers for people. I know I did not like the animal deaths throughout the book. Very big turn off. Also, there were a few disgusting parts that were pretty vile. I don’t mind (non-animal) gross stuff, but I could see some people feeling pretty icky after reading it.
I listened to the audio and it was narrated by Emily Woo Zeller. Like the way I feel about the book, I’m having a hard time deciding how I feel about her performance. I think she nailed the whiney kid / teen girl.. but, I don’t know… I felt a little underwhelmed by the over all performance. Again, I can’t really put my finger on why I feel that way.
For some reason, My Best Friend’s Exorcism just fell a little flat for me. I think, maybe some of the problem for me was that it chronicled the entire friendship of the 2 main characters. There was a LOT of build up before we even got to the the possession. After the exorcism, it continued for an explanation of their friendship for the rest of their life AND it got kinda long winded and depressing! It just felt like a lot of info dump about their friendship and less time spent on the actual possession. Yes, you got to really FEEL the strength of their friendship, that’s true… but it just felt like the actual possession and exorcism didn’t get nearly enough time and details perhaps. I don’t know.
While I enjoyed the 80s references and some of the unconventional exorcism methods, the over all story felt a little meh to me. I didn’t really like the animal deaths and I felt like there wasn’t nearly enough time spent on the actual possession. It wasn’t a horrible book, but it wasn’t a great book. It is hard for me to point to why I didn’t like it, other then it just left me feeling a little disappointed.
"Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act…different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?"
Well… I finished this book about a week ago, and I’m still not sure exactly what I want to say. There are several things I liked about it, but, I don’t know… sadly it just ended up kind of being meh for me. I really loved Mr. Hendrix’s Horrorstor novel, and perhaps was expecting My Best Friend’s Exorcism to by on the same level as that…? I don’t know. Even after having a week to think on what I didn’t like about this book, it still is hard for me to put my finger on what exactly that was.
Let me talk about the good things. It was an awesome homage to the 80s. You constantly had 80s pop culture dropped on you. Movies, tv, music… even things like the type of telephone they had or the way they did their hair… It felt very authentic. And if you loved the 80s, you will have a ton of fun picking out uber 80s moments mentioned throughout the book.
I also really enjoyed how the exorcist and the exorcism it’s self were very unconventional. It was amusing but also refreshing to see something so wildly different from all the other exorcism books out there. You really have not seen anything like it before. I’ve seen a lot of people complain about Brother Lemon, a very jock-like body builder exorcist… but I personally thought he was pretty funny and very fitting to the 80s.
There were a few spots that could be considered triggers for people. I know I did not like the animal deaths throughout the book. Very big turn off. Also, there were a few disgusting parts that were pretty vile. I don’t mind (non-animal) gross stuff, but I could see some people feeling pretty icky after reading it.
I listened to the audio and it was narrated by Emily Woo Zeller. Like the way I feel about the book, I’m having a hard time deciding how I feel about her performance. I think she nailed the whiney kid / teen girl.. but, I don’t know… I felt a little underwhelmed by the over all performance. Again, I can’t really put my finger on why I feel that way.
For some reason, My Best Friend’s Exorcism just fell a little flat for me. I think, maybe some of the problem for me was that it chronicled the entire friendship of the 2 main characters. There was a LOT of build up before we even got to the the possession. After the exorcism, it continued for an explanation of their friendship for the rest of their life AND it got kinda long winded and depressing! It just felt like a lot of info dump about their friendship and less time spent on the actual possession. Yes, you got to really FEEL the strength of their friendship, that’s true… but it just felt like the actual possession and exorcism didn’t get nearly enough time and details perhaps. I don’t know.
While I enjoyed the 80s references and some of the unconventional exorcism methods, the over all story felt a little meh to me. I didn’t really like the animal deaths and I felt like there wasn’t nearly enough time spent on the actual possession. It wasn’t a horrible book, but it wasn’t a great book. It is hard for me to point to why I didn’t like it, other then it just left me feeling a little disappointed.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Christian parents sees daughter crawl on the walls and the roof while doing full head rotations.
Also them : puberty am I right? Girls am I right? Bad friends am I right? drugs am i right?
Also them : puberty am I right? Girls am I right? Bad friends am I right? drugs am i right?
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
I docked a star because the dog is killed. While they are appropriately haunted by the ordeal, it's a tired trope; I've started calling it Checkov's Dog.
This was just ok. It had its moments but, for me, it dragged on a little.
SO GOOD oh my gosh not only was the pacing of the story perfect and the horror actually scared me and was actually scary and I just love Grady Hendrix’s writting style and the comedic horror and how the book had an 80’s song as the title and the 80’s setting was perfect definitely done perfectly and I had 0 issues with it and I enjoyed it A LOT
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This was a really fun read and I haven’t read a book that fast in one sitting in a loooong time. That being said I feel like so much was lacking with plot. I need more info on things!! First half was good but the rest could have been stronger.
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced