Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

53 reviews

chloebear21'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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Slavery

its_jess_m's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Slavery, and Murder

randomspirits's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Alcohol

elonn's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.5

This was a story about friendship, trauma, and the horrors of both the supernatural and the real world. The bond between the two main characters felt authentic, and I appreciated that the girls in the friend group weren’t typical female stereotypes found in most high school or coming-of-age stories. It also accurately captured how school friendships are often based on proximity rather than shared interests—the girls barely liked each other but were still “friends,” which felt very true to real life. I also loved how

the final exorcism drew on symbols of Abby and Gretchen’s connection

. The power lifter evangelists made me laugh as I vividly remember guys like that performing at church as a child.

What stood out most, though, was how the cruelty of the time shaped the girls’ experiences. The apathy, ignorance, and casual cruelty from family, friends, teachers, and authority figures were just as awful—if not worse—than the actions of the demon. The story unflinchingly portrayed the racism, rape culture, and exploitation of young girls in the 1980s, capturing a world where they had no allies, not even each other.

Some things didn’t work for me. The inclusion of images like magazine quizzes and food journals felt like a good idea in theory, but their sudden appearance late in the story and abrupt disappearance made the concept feel out of place and unfinished. The ending also

dragged on unnecessarily into old age, and the lack of resolution around Molly’s murder felt like a missed opportunity.

Despite its flaws, this messy, imperfect story accurately depicts the terror and heartbreak of being young and vulnerable in a cruel world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

maddierose0709's review

dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, and Vomit

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, and Slavery

Minor: Child death, Drug use, and Suicide

elleyena_rose's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.5

I wanted to like this book.  I really did. The pitch was promising, the cover and art inside are great (though some of the images are unreadable on kindle). I love 80s media like Heathers and all the songs in the book, and it's ultimately about the power of friendship (and that's one of the few things that caused me to boost my rating to 2.5 stars)

But some of the language and jokes at the beginning, while likely accurate for the time, weren't necessary to the plot and could/probably should have been cut. Thankfully that either dropped off quickly (or I just stopped noticing it when the descriptions got more graphic and I got ill while reading). 

Just as some reviewers don't understand a rating less than five stars,  I don't understand how anyone could rate it at a 4 or 5. This book ultimately wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

CW because animal death was not clear enough

the possessed character kills her dog

also there's graphic descriptions of

tapeworms

coming out of someone's mouth

jj_whatsherface's review

dark funny hopeful inspiring medium-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

5.0

any book containing the phrase "Tommy Cox, defend us in battle," is an automatic win.

And then defeating the devil with a soda can, an eighties song, and the power of love is just the cherry on top.

Beautiful book, perfect cast, made me feel both happy and a little disgusted at the same time. A beautiful encapsulation of the 80s satanic panic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Toxic relationship, Blood, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Religious bigotry, and Car accident

veganmermaidsera's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book kept me gripped from pages 100 to the end. I couldn’t put it down, which is not something that happens to me often.
If you’re looking for a perfect spooky read that is scary and slightly gory, but also silly and campy, and is a true testament to friendship (and don’t forget all the 80’s song references), then you must read this!!!
I teared up at the end.
My first Grady Hendrix read and I shall be reading more!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

therealjessica's review

medium-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? Yes

0.25

I don’t know why I keep giving this author a chance. Once again it’s clear that Hendrix cannot write female characters well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Minor: Slavery

elindseyr190's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Medical content, Dementia, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Gaslighting