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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
||FIRST PART OF THIS REVIEW WILL BE SPOILER FREE||
My Best Friend’s Exorcism was such a fun book with lots of light hearted funny interactions with characters, mixed in with a decent amount of horror that leaves you truly horrified.
It serves its purpose as a fun 80’s inspired possession flick well and goes above and beyond, doing a really good job at expanding these characters personalities and lives to help the reader connect further. It is also pokes fun at a lot of the fun moral panics that were occurring around this time.
While in truth my real rating would have been a 3.5/5 stars, that’s just because I felt there were a lot of things that could’ve been added to the book, but it also is serviceable without it. If you are looking for a fun horror novel with good characters and some nice scares, this is for sure worth a read!
||SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT||
While I really did enjoy the time spent with this book, I felt it lacked in some areas. I think Glee needed to be expanded about a lot more than she was for me to actually care what happened to her. She fell in love with a priest and tried to off herself, womp womp. That’s honestly how I felt towards her character. Same goes with Margret and Wallace, you couldn’t have made them slightly less shitty? I get that they are playing into their stereotypes, but with how much the author was subverting them throughout the book, I was waiting for a turn around.
I don’t have many negative things to say about this book, so let’s go into the things I loved. On page 203 when Gretchen’s hand is writing without the demons knowledge to try and reach out to Abby for help, such a well written scene that does such a good job to deliver a scare and build tension as you realise how far things are spiralling. As well as Margret’s increasingly frantic and manic calorie entries in her diary, as you can literally see her falling further into the depths of her eating disorder at the hands of Gretchen.
The reveal of the Andy’s phone number written inside of Gretchen’s day diary being somehow connected to the real Gretchen being suppressed by the demon was such a shock. Thought it was a very clever twist. The chapter titles too were fun little cryptic nods to what was going to happen in the chapter, little drops of foreshadowing that I always appreciated.
The themes of racism and class divide were pretty surface level, with as far as anyone getting into either topic was “You hate me cause I’m poor >:(“ or “You only like me cause I’m rich! >:(“ really being the most it’s talked about (other than Abby’s parents) I’m glad the author included those things.
To end on a positive note however, I loved the way Glee’s attempted suicide was handled. When you first pick up the book and examine the cover, you see someone being thrown or jumping off a huge clock tower. So obviously reading that Glee is in a similar position, you prepare for the worst. So when it eventually gets intervened and she’s saved. You breathe a sigh of relief and realise that the very cover of the book was out to deceive you and that nothing could be trusted. Was I overthinking that? Maybe, but I don’t care. This book was so much fun, and I will be lending it to a friend to read!
My Best Friend’s Exorcism was such a fun book with lots of light hearted funny interactions with characters, mixed in with a decent amount of horror that leaves you truly horrified.
It serves its purpose as a fun 80’s inspired possession flick well and goes above and beyond, doing a really good job at expanding these characters personalities and lives to help the reader connect further. It is also pokes fun at a lot of the fun moral panics that were occurring around this time.
While in truth my real rating would have been a 3.5/5 stars, that’s just because I felt there were a lot of things that could’ve been added to the book, but it also is serviceable without it. If you are looking for a fun horror novel with good characters and some nice scares, this is for sure worth a read!
||SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT||
While I really did enjoy the time spent with this book, I felt it lacked in some areas. I think Glee needed to be expanded about a lot more than she was for me to actually care what happened to her. She fell in love with a priest and tried to off herself, womp womp. That’s honestly how I felt towards her character. Same goes with Margret and Wallace, you couldn’t have made them slightly less shitty? I get that they are playing into their stereotypes, but with how much the author was subverting them throughout the book, I was waiting for a turn around.
I don’t have many negative things to say about this book, so let’s go into the things I loved. On page 203 when Gretchen’s hand is writing without the demons knowledge to try and reach out to Abby for help, such a well written scene that does such a good job to deliver a scare and build tension as you realise how far things are spiralling. As well as Margret’s increasingly frantic and manic calorie entries in her diary, as you can literally see her falling further into the depths of her eating disorder at the hands of Gretchen.
The reveal of the Andy’s phone number written inside of Gretchen’s day diary being somehow connected to the real Gretchen being suppressed by the demon was such a shock. Thought it was a very clever twist. The chapter titles too were fun little cryptic nods to what was going to happen in the chapter, little drops of foreshadowing that I always appreciated.
The themes of racism and class divide were pretty surface level, with as far as anyone getting into either topic was “You hate me cause I’m poor >:(“ or “You only like me cause I’m rich! >:(“ really being the most it’s talked about (other than Abby’s parents) I’m glad the author included those things.
To end on a positive note however, I loved the way Glee’s attempted suicide was handled. When you first pick up the book and examine the cover, you see someone being thrown or jumping off a huge clock tower. So obviously reading that Glee is in a similar position, you prepare for the worst. So when it eventually gets intervened and she’s saved. You breathe a sigh of relief and realise that the very cover of the book was out to deceive you and that nothing could be trusted. Was I overthinking that? Maybe, but I don’t care. This book was so much fun, and I will be lending it to a friend to read!
slow-paced
𝐕𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬:
➤ Horror Comedy
➤ 1980s Nostalgia
➤ Supernatural
➤ Adolescent Drama
𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
This was so unreasonably slow? It felt so much longer than 300 pages. Although the slowest part was the first third, it did a decent job setting up the 1980s retro vibes that are promised on the cover. This is the one thing I thought was delivered well. Sadly everything else felt unnecessarily long winded with two characters who felt entirely unmemorable.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was alright, get compelling towards the middle but slowed right down at the end. Not sure I enjoyed how the author landed the plane but alas it was a fun read.
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
I had a lot of fun reading this and loved the nostalgia. I didn't find it too scary or realistic as it gave me 80s teen movie feels and that kept me hooked.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pretty graphic but not gratuitously which I appreciate! A good story and some things I did not see coming!
dark
funny
hopeful
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
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this book. I had heard a lot of good things about Grady Hendrix’s writing so i wanted to see what it was all about. Overall, i think Hendrix’s writing style flows really well and makes for a quick paced and comprehensive read. However, as is the case in my experience in reading books by male authors is that there is always a small sense of sexism in the under tones. Writing teenage girls is a tricky one, and for the most part I think he portrayed that experience well, but sometimes it left me thinking too long about what that scene added to the story.
This was one of the first horror books I have read, and I think it is definitely a good story for a beginner of the genre to start with. Definitely check trigger warnings before going into it!
This was one of the first horror books I have read, and I think it is definitely a good story for a beginner of the genre to start with. Definitely check trigger warnings before going into it!
I really enjoyed this book. I had heard a lot of good things about Grady Hendrix’s writing so i wanted to see what it was all about. Overall, i think Hendrix’s writing style flows really well and makes for a quick paced and comprehensive read. However, as is the case in my experience in reading books by male authors is that there is always a small sense of sexism in the under tones. Writing teenage girls is a tricky one, and for the most part I think he portrayed that experience well, but sometimes it left me thinking too long about what that scene added to the story.
This was one of the first horror books I have read, and I think it is definitely a good story for a beginner of the genre to start with. Definitely check trigger warnings before going into it!
This was one of the first horror books I have read, and I think it is definitely a good story for a beginner of the genre to start with. Definitely check trigger warnings before going into it!
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes