Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - My Best Friend's Exorcism

5⭐️

Tigger Warning ⚠️
* dead abused animals
* rape talk
* Demon Possession

Summery

Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since they were 10yrs old. It's the summer of 1988, and as teens, they are coming into their own. Growing up and doing all the things they have always been told not to. They are young. They are honor students. They are invincible. Until they aren't.

Gretchen is from the right part of town. Her parents belong to the right social clubs. They go to the right church. These kind of things don't happen to people like them.

Something is definitely wrong with Gretchen, but only Abby seems to understand that it's so much more than teenage angst. Gretchen is changing. Acting strangely. This isn't Gretchen.

My Thoughts

Wow!!!! I loved it. The 80's child in me couldn't get enough. It is written exactly like the old style horror movies before the world was all AI and CGI. When movies were gritty and you could feel the fear of the actors. When you could relate to the bumps of an old car on a dirt road because it was really being driven, not special effects. This book is corny and cheesy in all the best ways!

Abby is the perfect example of a true high school teenager. Imperfect skin, worrying about her grades, and just trying to fit in. She is real and authentic. She shows true friendship to the extent she is willing to go to to save the people she cares about, even when it seems they no longer care for her. The author wrote her with such clarity that I could picture her walking down the school halls, hanging with friends, and bopping along to the soundtrack of life. It was easy to empathize with her. She is likable. She grows as the book goes along.

There is no doubt that Hendrix can write! This is the second book in a week that I have read by him, and as soon as I finished, I jumped online to order another. He protays horror in the way it should be done. The way I remember it growing up. Hitchcock and The Omen sprinkled in with some vibes of the movie The Craft. All the nostalgic feels with this read while keeping me turning pages and a breakneck speed. Goosebumps all grown up.

Content Warnings

ninubean's review

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dark funny 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

4.75

There were some really corny moments, but sometimes the 80's are corny. I've been reading some duds lately and this book made me realize those books have bad editing/writing. Gary Hendrix made me feel like I was watching an entire movie and by the third act, I couldn't put it down. I'm a big fan of 80's/90's horror movies and you could probably spot the tropes a mile away if you are too; it never took away my enjoyment of this book, though! Hendrix's blending of horror and teen drama tropes of the time kept me totally hooked.

Many bizarre characters and moments had me laughing out loud. At the same time, many moments felt so real that they made me teary - Abby's helpless discovery that the world is unfair and, despite it all, doing all she could to fight against it, not for herself but for her best friend. Some of Abby's panicked, misguided decisions had me cringing, but then I thought to myself 'What else could she do?'

It's everything I want in a horror comedy - absurd, tummy-twisting, and just enough heart to bring it home.

Content Warnings

shaunashares's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

fromtheyellowchair's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Content Warnings

sucitta's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-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

4.0

There are some unresolved storylines, which is annoying as a reader. Overall, it’s a great story on friendship.

Content Warnings

ynadavis's review against another edition

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challenging medium-paced

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

0.5

If you catch me reading another Grady Hendrix, book, please assume that *I've* been possessed.

Like it's so easy to compare him to Riley Sager in the men using androgynous names to write exclusively female main characters club but at least Sager doesn't include discussion of sexual violence against literal children in all* of his books?

* Don't come at me if it's not ALL of them, this is book three of three at this point and I'm over it.

Content Warnings

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