Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

34 reviews

fanboyriot's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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

Read For:

✓ Exorcism

✓ 80s Horror

✓ Teen Angst 

✓ Childhood Trauma 

✓ High School Setting

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗

Had decent hope for this after watching the movie but the book was disappointing.  While there were more details in the book, it overall felt a bit lackluster.

The build up dragged out for a bit longer than I would have liked.  The set up started out good enough but when it came down to the actual plot it felt like we would always learn something we should have already known.  And of course the dog death seemed unnecessary; it added nothing to the plot and felt too much like a last minute shock factor.  Lastly, the ending was disappointing, all of that just for friends to drift away?

Spice Level: n/a

Angst Level: 💧💧

POV: Third Person

Release Date: 17, May 2016

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

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

alisiakae's review

dark mysterious fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Classism

dobbyssocks421's review

dark funny tense fast-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 cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Cultural appropriation

spacedadsammy's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This wasn’t what I expected. It was far less an 80s horror and more a teen drama. The last quarter of the book was GREAT but the rest felt like filler just to get there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Gore, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Rape

Minor: Homophobia and Misogyny

ksuazo94's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Blood, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Eating disorder

lostinworlds's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• 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 shaming, Drug use, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Medical content

sea_sea's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I did enjoy the book a lot, but sometimes it was a little to gory for my taste. Still it was really well written and a great book for spooky season! 🎃 

I didn’t really get how they exorcized the demon in the end? It kinda just seemed like “yay! The power of friendship saved the day” ? Idk maybe I’m being nitpick-y 
Also Abby and Gretchen were definitely more than friends ;)

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Ableism

skylarkblue1's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.75

Content Warnings: Racism, Ableism, Homophobia, Gore, Body Horror, Vomiting, Blood, Sexual Assault, Animal Death, Suicide Attempt/Thoughts, Drugs/Drugging, Violence, Death, Misogyny, Virginity Tests, Child Abuse

This was a conflicting read for me. On one hand, I love Grady’s other works and really enjoy his writing. On the other hand….. Were these many slurs needed (*literally*) constantly? I get it’s the 80s, but everyone knows those slurs and bigotry went unchecked heavily back then and it’s included in this book as just throwaway jokes and not really any commentary about that of the time.

This book is essentially the story of someone’s best friend being slowly possessed more and more as time goes by and everyone around them just seems to.. Not care. She’s trying to kill others and being seriously down-right evil but no it’s everyone around her who’s the problem - including the main character.

This book is incredibly slow, the odd moments happening here and there and like 85% of the book is just the main character trying to get *anyone* to believe their - what seems to be - insane story.

I loved Horrorstör so when I saw this one was another of his highly acclaimed books I needed to read it. But now I’m just kinda… confused? The horror wasn’t overly good and I didn’t really feel like there was any tension there. The only parts I reacted to was the

tape worm scene

just because of the graphic description rather than any actual horror or tension that was built up.

The ending was certainly a mixed bag. Badly timed attempts at comedy in the middle of what should have been tense and emotional, even more slurs randomly thrown in, abuse and then a very emotional bittersweet ending slightly ruined by the fact they’re “just” best friends (very minor spoiler on this topic:

despite literally saying this exact phrase in a serious way “I love you queerly” (yes, in a slur way but still. It was written to be taken seriously)

.

I think the ending could have saved a decent chunk of this book without the slurs and the “best friend” syndrome, but with those it kinda just fell a bit flat to me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Cultural appropriation