Reviews with content warning for Car accident - My Best Friend's Exorcism

3,5. La verdad me ha sorprendido bastante! Después de la decepción de The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires no me esperaba que este me fuera a gustar. La razón por la que no le doy 4 estrellas es porque me da mucha rabia cómo están escritos los personajes antagonistas, pero por lo demás ha estado muy bien (el capítulo 22???

la forma en la que describe todo lo de los gusanos buf buuuff

Que maravillaaa, casi poto en el coche). Mis dieces a la narradora, lo hace genial!

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owenwilsonbaby's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

"The devil is loud and brash and full of drama. God, he's like a sparrow."

This was camp and fun! I loved it. Scary enough to be a quick, compelling read but not so disturbing that it interfered with my love for the characters. Hendrix's depiction of teenage isolation and anxiety was at times painful to read but delicately amplified the wider horror plot and tropes at work. The real demon is high school!!

Not going to articulate this very well but I think this book's willingness to tackle both the joy and terror of growing up in the eighties is its primary strength. There's a romance and excitement to the setting and time period but it avoids indulging a simplified, homogenised version of the American past that Myke Bartlett identifies in media like Stranger Things. Its exploration of class, racism, ableism and rape culture works to create an uneasiness at the heart of this horror story. Abby has to face down the devil whilst also battling prejudice and a lack of understanding from her peers and the adults in her life.

I don't have many criticisms, and those that I do have I think I can put down to the fact that this book is first and foremost oriented towards young adult readers and therefore written with a different demographic in mind. I did at times wonder if the story may have benefited from the complexity of exploring queerness (hence Abby's penultimate 'dearly and queerly!' confession) but I can appreciate the centring of platonic love and female friendship when recent nostalgic outings like Stranger Things and the IT movies seemed to, at least initially, explore male friendship. All that said, I really enjoyed this book. It made for a good break from long reads, and the pacing, prose and imagery were particularly fantastic.

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gabbishy's review

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

The book was recommended to me by a coworker, and it was nothing like what I expected in the best possible way! The cover caught my attention immediately of course, and I was quickly sucked in by the characters, story, and writing. This is the first book I've read by this author, but I doubt it will be the last! A very captivating story about two best friends and the supernatural experience they shared.

My Best Friend's Exorcism was also my first horror-type novel, and I think the author was very successful in creating an atmosphere of suspense. I found myself genuinely creeped out several times while reading. As a former teenage girl, I found the way the main character was written to be spot on! It's easy to relate to and root for her while at the same time shaking your head at her whenever she does something dumb.

I honestly loved this book, and my only complaint relates to the ending...

I think the author hinted at/teased a lot of moments that made it seem like Abby and Gretchen had romantic feelings for each other, and I think it could have been very powerful if that had been carried through to the end since it was a point of conflict within the story and ultimately a part of the book's climax. It felt like something was being built up that was never resolved, so the ending felt disappointing to me in that aspect.

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lilacerie's review

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I was anticipating this book for a while because I've recently become interested in horror despite how easily scared I can get but was disappointed because of the disgusting shock-value racism I'd read and that seems to only get worse the farther into the book you get. Its framed as woman-centric horror that incorporates explorations of girlhood, I have never read anything like that and was really moved by the way people spoke about that subgenre (not limited to books but also in film/tv). I was tentative to get into something too intensely realistic like a psychological horror so I went for this book because it was marketed as being about female friendships and campy but undercut with some serious themes (think Jennifer's Body). But let me be honest, I wouldn't have started reading it if the cover wasn't as amazing as it is, the graphic designer did an incredible job but that's where my praises end.

In one of the first few chapters Hendrix writes 'That was the moment. When Gretchen stopped lying to Abby about the Witness Protection Program, when Abby showed Gretchen her dad’s secret sex fetish for large black women, when Abby wrestled with Gretchen on her parents’ bed. Starting that night, they were best friends' right after a really bizarre gross description of a black women. The fact that the fetishization of black women is something that's made light of in a book written by a white man is sickening , I checked if there's a lot of antiblackness all throughout the book as I just had a sneaking suspicion there might be and I was 100% right. They have a 'slave day' during their school spirit week where white students 'buy' other students as slaves and a skinny character is described as looking 'Ethiopian' which is just revolting and as a black girl I simply won't put myself through this especially during black history month.

There are also instances of sexism, ableism, homophobia, sexual violence, fatphobia, classism, disordered eating and bad handling of rape culture but I'm unsure of the extent of each as I barely read it.

Excerpt From: Grady Hendrix. “My Best Friend's Exorcism.” Apple Books.

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kelldel's review

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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

5.0

Docking a point because Grady Hendrix is a coward for

not letting them kiss

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grimviolins's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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