You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
novicki's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Self harm, and Blood
thatsssorachael's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, and Vomit
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Rape
Minor: Alcohol
kimberlina82's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
glitchblack's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
gen_wolfhailstorm's review
- 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
4.0
Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller
Unabridged
This was such an entertaining read. The relationships, both toxic and pure, was such a fantastic study of high school life, but added in sinister atmosphere with the whole possession plot (which reminded me of Jennifers Body mid way through).
It wasn't really that scary but the scene with Good Boy Max the dog made me feel sick.
The manipulation of Gretchen as she became deeper consumed by her demon was interesting to see, especially when no one else could see what was happening other that Abby.
I thought the ending about friendship was so sad and true and it wrapped up perfectly, with closure, as I like my stories to do.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
tifftastic87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Synopsis
Abby is a scholarship girl at a prestigious private school in South Carolina in the 80s. By the standards of the era and the region, she is an outcast. That is until a new girl comes to town, Gretchen, and becomes Abby's ride or die. Everything goes down hill when Gretchen runs off to the woods one night and comes back a little wrong. Gretchen's behavior starts spiraling out of control, none of the adults believe Abby and she finds herself ostracized and on the verge of expulsion. It all culminates when the only adult that believes Abby is a muscle bound, neon clad, evangelist. But will his faith and Abby's determination be enough to save Gretchen?
High Camp Tension
This was so campy and satirical that it really made the story for me. I have a lot of religious trauma around "deliverance" so was really pleased that it was handled in such a campy way, that made the uncomfortable bits a little easier to stomach. Every time I felt my stomach clenching there would be some sort of comedic relief. If that is not necessarily something that you look for in a horror, and I usually don't either, then maybe this one isn't for you.
Girl Crew
At first Abby is extremely unlikable, at least to me, she is selfish and whiny and somewhat rude. But she has a good moment where she makes a decision on who she wants to be and her character just changes from there to a very likeable, if not frustrating (stand up for yourself woman!), character. The friendship dynamic among the girls is actually pretty relatable to growing up in the 80s/90s. I don't know how teens treat each other now, but even in to the very early 00s this felt pretty true to form. I have heard from some reviewers that Grady Hendrix is "banned" from writing women after Final Girl Support Group, but I actually really liked how he did it here.
The Satanic Panic of it All
This, combined with the War on Drugs, was so perfect. I think this is what I wanted out of Whisper Down the Lane and was severely disappointed in that book. Abby is accused of selling drugs and committing satan worship, when she's probably the most quintessential high school student, but doing it all with perfect grades. Any time any of the kids has an emotion the adults are quick to ask "are you on drugs?" Which feels so, well, real. I have strong memories of very similar conversations in my youth.
In Short
I really enjoyed this book, I thought some of it could have been better. But only by bits and pieces. I really loved all of the chapters being named after songs from the era and how important music was to the story itself. I think this is a case where pop culture references were done very well. I would definitely recommend this to people who are new to horror, as it is very light on the horror. Though do check the content warnings.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, and Sexual content
snazzy10101's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
vreyna20_2004's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I’ve heard people saying how this is how they talked during the 80s and that it’s totally okay and that’s why they love this book. Grow up. Honestly. This book may take place in the 80s but the book was written in 2016. If you can’t do the math I’ll help you, that’s 7 years ago. And the author (a WHITE CIS-MALE mind you) wrote this book should’ve been my first red flag but it was free to hear so I didn’t mind it. Besides the whole fetishization of Abby’s father’s part with having a big black woman on a vhs tape, the school having a “slave day”, Abby and Gretchen having to say “Dearly But Not Queerly” just to say they love each other, the casual mention of slurs, and the purity talk (I don’t mind this since everyone had the right to choose when to sleep with someone), and worst of all the blackface. Also some people on Goodreads are saying that cancel culture is gonna cancel this book. No one is saying that they’re canceling Grady for writing this. The issue is him contributing into it and using the excuse of “we did this back in the day” well this was written 7 years ago he knew not to put the r-slur in the book but he did. He also knew not to put the over sexualization of a black women (which thanks to porn is still happening). The reason why people bring such topics up in their reviews is to warn others to not read this if they don’t want to. And I haven’t seen a page in the book with trigger warnings. I only found out because of tiktok that this would happen.
But besides all that, the one thing that made me not give this not even a 2.50 rating was the fact that Christian Lemon confessed to the crimes and that Good Dog Max died. I would never forget Grady Hendrix.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape and Violence
Black face. It has black face and fetishization of black women.thehhugg's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Eating disorder, Gore, Self harm, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
sydneynorman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Racism, Blood, and Alcohol