Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

52 reviews

mickraine's review

adventurous dark lighthearted tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Excrement, Medical content, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, and War

elsebeok's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Medical content, and Kidnapping

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.0

Very meh. Not as good as I had hoped since I generally liked The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. There were a few issues that gave racism for no real reason. And the idea of a guy writing about young girls, especially young girls in a semi-sexual-esque traumatizing way, doesn't sit super well with me. This doesn't deserve the hype. It started out semi promising, then it got pretty slow, then it picked up and was a let down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

emmreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

5.0

This is some glorious campy Grady Hendrix goodness and I absolutely cannot wait to watch the movie adaptation. That isn't to say that it isn't chock full of trigger warnings, including but not limited to animal death, abuse, self harm, and the works. However it is a horror book and these aren't added in just for thrills. I'd categorize this as a guilty pleasure book, especially as a 90s baby, because it feels like this perfect mix of Mean Girls with demonic possession (Or She's All That if she turned into the devil when she took off her glasses). That being said, I can't in good conscience recommend this for the faint of heart. But if you're like me and like reading the synopses of horror movie Wikipedia articles, I'd say you'd really enjoy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Self harm, Vomit, and Medical content

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Gore

maddox22's review

dark tense slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kurumipanda'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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma

Minor: Body shaming, Infidelity, Rape, Terminal illness, and Forced institutionalization

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

lovelymisanthrope's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

This was the second book in my mini Grady Hendrix readathon. I was very excited to pick up this book and enjoy the movie adaptation afterwards.
"My Best Friend's Exorcism" follows Abby, a young girl in high school in the 1980's. Abby and her best friend, Gretchen, have been best friends since the moment they were thrown together at Abby's birthday party. One night, after some skinny-dipping and recreational drug use, Gretchen starts acting different. Abby is concerned that Gretchen is possessed, and Abby will do anything to get her friend back from the clutches of a demon.
This book was filled with some great representation from the 1980's, and it was very atmospheric and nostalgic for anyone that went to high school in the 1980's. Abby and Gretchen's friendship is something to be coveted. Despite being so young, they will do ANYTHING for each other, and I think this is something to aspire to have with someone.
This book definitely had horror and there are some scenes some people might find disturbing. Grady Hendrix is so great at what he does, and I seem to be enjoying everything I pick up from him! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

horizonous's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Mental illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Blood, and Car accident

◦ Mental illness = PTSD

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