Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

43 reviews

lovelydeadgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Alcohol, and Classism

allhailursula's review

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? No

1.0

So while i get that the bad parts of this book were "a product of the 80s" This book is NOT.
The author didnt HAVE to include Slave Day in the schools spirit week. 
The author didnt HAVE to use offensive language that may have been used back in the day.
The author didnt HAVE to write this book about young girls in a terribly flat, vapid, and boring way.
The author CHOSE to use homophobic language and situations. 
The author CHOSE to include enough 80s references to bait readers into a sense of nostalgia that it distracted from a lacking plot.
The author CHOSE to include abelist stereotypes as a "comedic moment"
Id almost say that by adding those things the author shows a lack of creativity in navigating between making something offensive and feel like the 80s and something thats not offensive but still feels true to the time period. He didnt have to write those things, he chose to do so.

I am not sure how this author was able to make a jam packed book, filled with fast paced plot moments boring but he did. 

If you like nostalgia porn and can read offensive material for the sake of fake authenticity then by all means. This captured the essence of a 80s possession horror to a T.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest and Suicidal thoughts

melliedm's review

dark funny fast-paced

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

3.5

A gross, fast-paced, campy story of friendship in the face of growing up (and demons). 

Felt like the sapphic undertones were purposeful (lampshades! Lampshades everywhere!), but completely unfulfilled. How you can go from DBNQ to DAQ and then tell me how they ended and miss the chance to complete the sentence is a disappointment. But it was a fun read despite that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Slavery

redhothabanero's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

I wish we got more about their friendship at the beginning of the book. Gretchen gets possessed early on and so we don't get to see them be the kind of best friends that they are at the end of the book. Overall, it was fine but forgettable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mrsmonty503'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

2.0

Overall this book is a 4⭐️. The writing/plot/story and characters are what gives it a 4⭐️. I also really enjoyed the pop culture references through out the story. 

This was WAY better than The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. 

There was a heavy presence of religion; which is appropriate since the story is about an exorcism. 


Below is why I gave it a 2⭐️. 

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 Now I know the this is not the first time Grady has killed animals. I just can’t get behind a senseless animal death. 

IT DIDN’T ADD TO THE STORY AT ALL. THIS WAS NOT NEEDED. MAX DID NOT HAVE TO DIED. 

With all the said, it’s a 2 ⭐️ for me dog.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism

the_comfy_cosy_corner's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookishgoob's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

nikogatts's review

dark emotional hopeful tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

cosyinyellow's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.25

This book was a disappointment for me, due to the lack of horror. I'm a pretty wimp of a person when it comes to horror things, and I thought it wasn't scary at all. If you like light (slightly silly) horror, this book might be for you though! It focuses more on the friendship dilemma and the MC's struggle with being the only one who knows what is happening with bestie.

The writing in this book is not my favourite, if I'm honest. It reminds me of American 80s/90s "teen" films. I also didn't like the characters in the book. Abby was supposedly a really nice person, but I didn't really get that vibe from her. Even though I felt bad for her home situation, I still thought she was annoying and ungrateful. Her mother was cool in that one scene though.

I admit. This is one of the times when I definitely picked up the book because of the gorgeous retro cover.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Sexual content

kuhnja's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

One of the best books of the year, and my first Hendrix novel! This one I’ll buy for sure. I listened to the audiobook and it was good!

Above all this book is about the power of friendship. A perfect balance of Halloween spooky, 80s nostalgia and satanic panic nonsense and a beautifully honest portrayal of coming of age and female friendships through your life. 

It made me laugh, swell with pride and tore at my heartstrings. This book had everything. What a perfect spooky season read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence