Reviews tagging 'Blood'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

164 reviews

jessicalarson125's review

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Medical content, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder, Drug use, and Sexual violence

jerbarger's review against another edition

dark sad 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? Yes

3.75

At first, MY BEST FRIENDS EXORCISM really annoyed me because it felt like a man writing about teenage girls (which it is, obviously, but there often comes this sort of tone and misunderstanding of what it is to be a teenage girl—and sometimes even this underlying dislike). 

I also didn’t appreciate all the casual racism and references to sexual assault. I see what Hendrix was trying to do and set the picture of the South, but it wasn’t ever really indicted? Like it seemed he did not approve from the tone of the main character when she mentioned these things but it was totally glossed over and also THERE WERE ONLY WHITE PEOPLE, so tell me how this improves the conversation? It doesn’t. And it almost made me stop reading the book. 

With all of that being said, it is a rather interesting and unique coming-of-age story. Her best friend is possessed by a demon, but who’s the real monster? The adults who don’t believe children? Society? Classism? The way Abby goes from feeling like a child to having the understanding that we are all truly alone in this world is devastating. And that’s what MY BEST FRIEND’S EXORCISM did best. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Cursing, Rape, Drug use, Racism, and Slavery

Minor: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, Excrement, and Racial slurs

triggs4780's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Physical abuse, Torture, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Violence

amelia_horseman's review

challenging dark funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Death, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

ootoom's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted fast-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? Yes

4.0

What do Phil Collins, a 6 year old can of Coka-Cola, and Jesus Christ have in common? Guess you'll have to read the book to find out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Body horror

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, and Blood

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Drug use

aspiringvilliagewitch's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Animal death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Body horror, Blood, Rape, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Death of parent, and Cursing

intentional murder of a dog

ladyyaru's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Vomit

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood

roanjackal's review

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I found the book good overall. It felt a little dragging in the secon third but really picked up and became wild in the last third.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Fatphobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Rape

cuprum's review

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Rape, Physical abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Body horror, Blood, Animal death, Pedophilia, and Racism

bickleyhouse's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Another five-star read by Grady Hendrix, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. Hendrix's typical humor shines in this one, and just like the other two I have read, there suddenly reaches a point where things just aren't funny any more.

The book begins with adult Abby reminiscing over the past, and then immediately flashes back to years from childhood on to high school. The friendship between Abby and Gretchen begins when Gretchen is the only one who shows up to Abby's tenth birthday party. The relationship begins very awkwardly, but blossoms into a best-friend relationship pretty quickly. 

The story progresses as Abby and Gretchen get older, and eventually, the two of them become friends with Glee and Margaret, and all of them are students at a private school. Abby's family, however, is the only family that is not really wealthy. 

Something terrible happens one night, though, on a holiday weekend, when the four of them decide to drop some LSD and go skinny-dipping at the lake. Gretchen gets separated from the others, and basically spends the night out in an abandoned concrete bunker by the lake. That's when it all started. Gretchen really started having weird things happen, and, at first, chalked it up to flashbacks from the LSD. The thing is, none of the other three ever noticed any effects from the LSD.

Things get worse and worse for Gretchen and Abby, until one day, Gretchen seems back to normal and suddenly Abby is excluded from the rest of the group. That's as much plot as I will reveal, here, but I will say that the eventual exorcism scene is harrowing. 

I will also admit that the end made me cry. But I'll cry at just about anything, so there's that.

Definitely another great book by Mr. Hendrix, and I plan on watching the 2022 movie that was made. I am also excited to find that a TV adaptation is in progress for his Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Vomit, and Blood