Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

28 reviews

banana_milkshake's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

3.5

I was first drawn in by the incredible cover but this ended up being a good, fun read. It was the first horror book I've read and though it didn't have too many scary vibes as expected, I still enjoyed it and it was fun reading about the development of Abby and Gretchen's friendship. It definitely showcased the mind set of people in the 80's especially opinions towards woman in power and SA.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Vomit, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Misogyny, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Drug use, Bullying, and Alcohol

kelldel's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

Docking a point because Grady Hendrix is a coward for

not letting them kiss

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cursing, Bullying, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Blood, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Self harm, and Vomit

Moderate: Murder, Racism, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Car accident, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Cultural appropriation, and Homophobia

cyanide_latte's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Overall I'm not entirely sure where I stand with this one.  I enjoyed my time reading it for the most part, and Hendrix's writing style is fairly easily accessible.  I guess this book just wasn't for me, in the end?  It wasn't bad at all, but I couldn't really connect with or bring myself to care about any of the characters by the time we got to the eleventh hour, and it's one I think I am okay with never reading again. I'll likely be selling my copy to a used bookstore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

banrions's review

dark reflective 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

3.25

THE LAST LINE OF THIS BOOK DIDN’T HAVE TO COME FOR ME LIKE THAT. it took me a while to get into this, it wasn’t a perfect book, the casual 80s racist, sexism, and homophobia were certainly with the period the book was set in, but it was hard to read at times. That said, what a beautiful love story to female friendship. That lest paragraph hurt in a very good way.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

henrygravesprince's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Animal death, Racism, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Bullying

Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Body horror, Body shaming, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Vomit

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship

maximauve's review

dark funny 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Body horror, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Torture, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder

Minor: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Mental illness, and Gun violence

ellenigrace's review

2.5

Parts of it I really liked and the setting is well realised, but my overall feeling is that there was too much vile and nauseating body horror, violence against teenage girls, and unnecessary slurs/racism/homophobia for this to be a fun horror read for me. Back to exclusively reading horror not written by men, I guess.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

coffinfinite's review

dark emotional 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

I went into My Best Friend's Exorcism expecting a fun horror romp with some 80s nostalgia. Instead I found a harrowing tale of evengelical Christian purity culture amplified by the satanic panic of that same era. While the nostalgia element was still present for the pop culture of the time, the oppressive nature of the 80's Southern American values and prejudices are what really power the story of Gretchen Lang's possession and the havoc that it wreaks upon the lives of her friends.

The friendship between Gretchen and perspective protagonist Abby is what lends the book much of its emotional weight. Together they face injustice and violence at the hands of the incompetent and sometimes malicious adults who control their lives, and the sense of hopelessness that grows as the book progresses is palpable, and where much of the true horror comes from. By the book's conclusion I was far more frightened by the small minded mentality of the story's town than I was of the literal demon sowing chaos there.

I would highly recommend this book to those who love Final Girl horror, to those who enjoyed both The Exorcist and Mean Girls, and to anyone who wants to see why purity culture is a far bigger threat to young women than Satan.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Vomit, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, and Rape