Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

227 reviews

elmay09's review

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Loved it! I grew up on R.L. Stine, and Grady Hendrix makes me feel like I’m back on Fear Street. Goosebumps for grown ups! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

madi_danger's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This book was better than I expected. It had the fun campiness and 80’s charm that I was expecting, but also delivered in more horror than I thought it would which was a pleasant surprise for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Blood, and Car accident

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Toxic friendship

alyshaautumn's review

emotional funny medium-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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

james1star's review

dark hopeful 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

4.25

On the whole this was a very decent read and one I would recommend. The story follows Abby, an outsider who’s poor in comparison to others in the rich town and school she attends, who befriends the new girl Gretchen, a bit weird and has religious parents controlling her life. When they’re older they go skinny dipping, Gretchen gets lost and the next day starts acting weird which continues… what’s going on with her? I won’t say any more on the plot but it is quite creepy, strange and gets under your skin a bit. You do want to know what’s going on but does feel a bit slow picking up from the 200 page mark. 

My only real qualm with the book is that what went down doesn’t get fully explained so it’s a bit annoying and some parts towards the end are slightly frustrating. Additionally, it is a little gross and some of the horror-elements weren’t too much to my liking as it’s not really my genre. The best parts and what I throughly enjoyed was the exploration of the girl’s friendship, the coming of age nature being in their teens and also the 80s references which were spot on - I love books set in this decade and Hendrix did a great job with the music, film, fashion and cultural references. Whilst it’s not a new fave I do want to check out the author again and will certainly be doing so. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Murder, and Classism

whitelotusreads's review against another edition

fast-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? It's complicated

0.25

i didn’t find the story particularly compelling and it was too corny for my taste - just not for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Homophobia and Racism

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

midnight_chronicle's review

dark 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? Yes

5.0

I had such a fun time reading this! I had a little reading slump but every moment I had I wanted to read this book. So good, lots of horror elements but also some fun relief. Truly amazing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit

Moderate: Eating disorder and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts

jennxreviews's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

cole_ms's review

dark lighthearted reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I found this novel slow and definitely in need of some edits. Parts of the story went on for an unnecessarily long time without any importance to the rest of the novel. I will say, once it picked up it was quite scary. Much scarier then any of Hendrix's prevous works. The ending was beautiful though. The final chapter had me in tears. I think I'd like to read a Hendrix novel that is just sad. That may destroy me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault and Vomit

ahh_listen's review

emotional funny hopeful tense slow-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Classism

dummythicc's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was hard for me to read at times, I'm not sure if it is because the book is stuck between comedy/horror, and I couldn't get a good grip on it. 

If you like 80s nostalgia and a good exorcism story, this book will definitely interest you. For me, the writing was a little too juvenile at times, and the ending was kind of lack-luster. But I still enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt