Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

103 reviews

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

peskilanim's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Drug use

kimberlina82's review

dark funny hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

jacob_dion's review

dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jerbarger's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.75

At first, MY BEST FRIENDS EXORCISM really annoyed me because it felt like a man writing about teenage girls (which it is, obviously, but there often comes this sort of tone and misunderstanding of what it is to be a teenage girl—and sometimes even this underlying dislike). 

I also didn’t appreciate all the casual racism and references to sexual assault. I see what Hendrix was trying to do and set the picture of the South, but it wasn’t ever really indicted? Like it seemed he did not approve from the tone of the main character when she mentioned these things but it was totally glossed over and also THERE WERE ONLY WHITE PEOPLE, so tell me how this improves the conversation? It doesn’t. And it almost made me stop reading the book. 

With all of that being said, it is a rather interesting and unique coming-of-age story. Her best friend is possessed by a demon, but who’s the real monster? The adults who don’t believe children? Society? Classism? The way Abby goes from feeling like a child to having the understanding that we are all truly alone in this world is devastating. And that’s what MY BEST FRIEND’S EXORCISM did best. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

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

approx37bugz's review

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

felt like watching a movie in my head. Soundtrack and all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death and Bullying

littlewishling's review

dark funny 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

4.0

I’m not a huge horror fan but this was a fun introduction to the genre. Hendrix has written a lovely mix of horror and comedy that feels accessible to a newbie with fun characters and an interesting and engaging plot.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

spookytaco's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Classism

lagaialettrice's review

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol