Reviews tagging 'Child death'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

38 reviews

maddierose0709's review

dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, and Vomit

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, and Slavery

Minor: Child death, Drug use, and Suicide

jj_whatsherface's review

dark funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

any book containing the phrase "Tommy Cox, defend us in battle," is an automatic win.

And then defeating the devil with a soda can, an eighties song, and the power of love is just the cherry on top.

Beautiful book, perfect cast, made me feel both happy and a little disgusted at the same time. A beautiful encapsulation of the 80s satanic panic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Toxic relationship, Blood, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Religious bigotry, and Car accident

celery's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

justagir1's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, and Classism

Minor: Drug use

mysticmadness's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This is my second  Grady Hendrix book. while the book is labeled as horror, it's not really. there are some scary elements, maybe because of our expectations and previous experiences with Hollywood movies, but the story is more suspense than scary. It's not even a story of exorcism as much as it's a story about friendship and the glorious 80s.  

I am not a big fan of exorcisms but I have seen a few movies here and there. 
The exorcism in the novel might as well be the best exorcism scene ever.  Never thought I'd tear up during an exorcism but here I was with tears in my eyes and it got more and more towards the end of the book. 

 I Can't decide if this scene was better or the one from The Chilling Adventure of Sabrina Spellman. Oh and the one from Practical Magic! 

bear in mind this is a book about exorcism so some gore should be expected 

The audiobook is amazing !! The narrator did a good job being serious when the role required it and being funny and lighthearted when the scene called for it. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

writewithapendragon's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I love Grady Hendrix’s writing and stories but I wish he could complete a book without including sexual assault. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Genre-typical content for a horror book, hits a lot of 80s slasher tropes and some gore.

ralibbey13's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

triggs4780's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

angelfoodcakes's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, and Vomit

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child death, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

brittanylee0302's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

1.5 stars out of 2
 I dont even know where to start...
 This book had the potential to be good but it freaking tumbled off a cliff. The characters were all awful, in the beginning the girls are 10 & by the time of the exorcism they're sophomores in high-school, BUT they still seemed to act like 10 year olds??? Like I'm not sure what Grady Hendrix thinks girls in high-school are like but im afraid he doesn't actually have a clue. & this book was so vulgar & focused on female anatomy & sexualized in just weird ways??? & if I had to hear about a "maxi pad" in one more reference, I think I would have lost it. The exorcism part was okay, but Gretchen speaking like Bugs Bunny & a few other characters really ruined it for me. & why was Abby's fully grown mother also so terrible? Like all these characters were absolutely awful. This is my second try at a Hendrix book & I think its my last. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gun violence, and Vomit

Minor: Child death and Suicidal thoughts