Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

266 reviews

evo_712's review

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Rape, and Vomit

Moderate: Eating disorder and Medical content

Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

she_ena'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

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

carrie_jneal's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

This is one of those pieces that makes me think “I’m literally just a girl” over and over again. I couldn’t put it down and was sobbing by the last ten pages. We have all been Abby and we have all been Gretchen. This will have you reflecting on every girlhood sleepover, inside joke, and late night phone call - wishing you could save them from slipping away. And it’s spooky asf of course!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Religious bigotry

nutmegandpumpkin's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

***major MAJOR emetophobia warning
**as well as those grossed out or who have a fear of bugs, worms, and parasites
*there is also vivid descriptions of cadavers opened up & dead fetuses

Not my kind of horror. It went more the gross route than scary/spooky route.

The cover and how I’ve heard people talk about this made me have much different expectations. I thought it was going to be Stranger Things meets The Conjuring. But it was more just 80s pop culture references meets The Exorcist with some high school girl drama.

I was disappointed to say the least.

None of the characters were likable apart from Abby (well most of the time anyways) and her mother. All the adults apart from Abby’s mother are infuriating. And actually, this book infuriated me many MANY times, and left me feeling extremely grossed out & ill even more times than that.

I will give credit where credit is due, the last two pages were very sweet and lovely.

I think he was going for 80s campy horror movie but it just fell flat and like he didn’t fully commit either. 

Don’t hate me but, dare I say, this was way overhyped

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Classism

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, and Suicide

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

mareikesrep's review against another edition

mysterious tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Moderate: Ableism and Racism

bethnash's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Excrement, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

bringmorecoffee's review

dark emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

The book does read exactly like a summer horror flick. It's giving Jennifer's Body, a little bit of Stranger Things, some of the vibes from the Fear Street series on Netflix. It was very fast paced, going through many years in a short amount of time while making it seem like a thoroughly fleshed out montage. 

Sometimes horror being set in the protagonist's teen years feels "overdone," but I think part of the digestible horror of it is how little agency a young adult has and how much they are never believed for the hardships they are going through. 

Anyway, the friendship that Hendrix shows us is one that I think most people have either experienced or had a taste of, which makes the pain of the story all the more potent. 

Very recommend for a fast, fun read. Like a good 90 minute movie. 

Spoiler ahead 

Hendrix really ended this book by rhetorically asking 

"What could be more holy than friendship? What could be more pure than the love of a young heart and a shared history? What is more evil than the world we live in and the things we do to each other, and what is a better light against that darkness than the spark of hope and belief in another person?" 

I was bawling, I was a wreck. As Abby recited every inch of their shared history to expel a demon from her friend, I cried because that love is honestly everything. I thought of every person I could exercise with this "incantation," every friend whom I love and could recite the building blocks of our relationship for. I hope that was Hendrix's aim, too.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, and Classism