Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

24 reviews

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

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

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

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

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

wolfism's review

dark emotional sad tense

4.25

I can't relate to the book in some ways. I was not born in the 80s and I'm not from the US. So I'll have to trust Grady Hendrix it was like that. Many sentiments, attitudes and behaviors were appalling to me, although not unfamiliar, even growing up in the 90s and 2000s. In a way I liked that he did not sugarcoat anything, seeing as in recent years the 80s have been pretty romanticized a bit too much without balancing it out in mainstream media. 

I wouldn't call it an enjoyable book. Just seems the wrong word for it. But I liked it. I was definitely emotionally invested starting half way in. It was also rage inducing. It was infuriating, especially the adults. It didn't even have anything to do with refusing to believe someone was possessed by a demon. We didn't even get that far with them. I did consider if the demon might have warped their senses, but I'm not entirely sure. 

It deals with a lot of heavy shit. It's very dark and I rarely could find the fun in the story that some mentioned. There were a few slightly funny moments, but for me it was very overshadowed. I would not tell anyone "Here read this book, it's a fun, nostalgic read set in the 80s". Sometimes it was painful to read. It made me really emotional. The light in this book was Abby and her friendship with Gretchen. If you have a Abby in your life, man, hold on to them. She made mistakes (some she can't be blamed for because she is a child, was desperate and thought naturally grown-ups could be trusted with things), she wasn't always nice, she did wrong. She was a teenager. Such a good character in my opinion. It was impactful which is always good. I can imagine reading it for a second sometime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

chicaso's review

adventurous dark emotional funny 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: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

lancemama's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

izypup's review

emotional inspiring sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

aspiringvilliagewitch's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Rape, Blood, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Classism

intentional murder of a dog