Reviews tagging 'Death'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

95 reviews

james1star's review

dark hopeful mysterious 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

4.25

On the whole this was a very decent read and one I would recommend. The story follows Abby, an outsider who’s poor in comparison to others in the rich town and school she attends, who befriends the new girl Gretchen, a bit weird and has religious parents controlling her life. When they’re older they go skinny dipping, Gretchen gets lost and the next day starts acting weird which continues… what’s going on with her? I won’t say any more on the plot but it is quite creepy, strange and gets under your skin a bit. You do want to know what’s going on but does feel a bit slow picking up from the 200 page mark. 

My only real qualm with the book is that what went down doesn’t get fully explained so it’s a bit annoying and some parts towards the end are slightly frustrating. Additionally, it is a little gross and some of the horror-elements weren’t too much to my liking as it’s not really my genre. The best parts and what I throughly enjoyed was the exploration of the girl’s friendship, the coming of age nature being in their teens and also the 80s references which were spot on - I love books set in this decade and Hendrix did a great job with the music, film, fashion and cultural references. Whilst it’s not a new fave I do want to check out the author again and will certainly be doing so. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Murder, and Classism

jennxreviews's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

laura_nel13's review

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Classism

mangofraiche's review

dark emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Body horror

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Classism

janetsuzanne's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Gore, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

arthomas's review

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.25

This horror story was the perfect way to transition from summer to fall reading. It really felt like an 80s movie and the detail painted a pretty vivid picture of the decade. Some sections of this book were particularly gruesome and made my skin crawl and there are definitely a lot of trigger warnings! Even though I knew what direction the book was going in, I was still surprised with what happened along the way. Bonus points for making me cry in the last 3 pages! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

hxlleann's review

challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, and Alcohol

haileyhardcover's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Not my favorite Hendrix, but a really good read nonetheless. The middle of this one kind of lagged for me. Things really ramp up in the final third, though, and I really enjoyed it from that point on. It’s gruesome and sad and yet also heartwarming? I may or may not have teared up while reading the last few paragraphs (I did). 

Very happy to give this book a permanent home on my shelves! Also can we talk about the cover?! Stunning. It makes me think of IT, probably because of the balloons. I love it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

librosdeunamestiza's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Este libro muy fuera de mi zona de comfort me sorprendió totalmente. 
La historia se ubica en la década de los 80s en un pueblito estadounidense bastante conservador e hipócrita, del tipo que esconde los desastres debajo de la alfombra y nunca más los menciona.
Las pistas de patinaje, los peinados y maquillajes, la música y el pánico religioso/satánico ochentero no faltaron.
Cada capítulo tiene el nombre de una canción famosa de la década y me pareció una excelente idea, muy bien pensados. No son ni largos ni cortos, pero se leen volando, al igual que todo el libro.

La narración en primera persona de Abby es muy atrapante y adictiva. 
Me gustó como protagonista. Empaticé un montón con ella y sentí que realmente llevó la trama sobre su espalda con sus decisiones y acciones.
La representación de las amistades y de transitar la adolescencia en el colegio secundario me pareció acertada en muchas cosas.

Los eventos que ocurren son muy perturbadores, repulsivos y traumáticos, me pusieron nerviosa y asqueada, pero nunca me sentí con miedo, así que diría que es un terror ligero.
El terror se va desarrollando de a poco, una cosa horrible a la vez. La trama me sorprendió constantemente, dando giros inesperados y desesperantes. 
Realmente lo recomendaría.

Trigger warnings: violencia, abuso sexual, trastornos alimenticios, consumo de drogas, violaciones, muerte, asesinatos, tortura, muerte de animales, descripciones gráficas, racismo y homofobia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

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