Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

19 reviews

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

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

This was definitely more of a feel  good horror than I was expecting, and the ending fully made me cry. I liked the pacing and was rooting for Abby throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Rape

renpuspita's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

  The premise and execution of My Best Friend's Exorcism remind me of Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampire. A female heroine vs a big baddie in the form of man. Although, I think Hendrix might use the basic of Exorcism for Southern since this book released first. However I reduce the star because

why the dog die? WHY and WHYYYY Hendrix? Is that scene necessary? IS IT????? .

Just like Southern and Horrorstor, I admit that Hendrix is one of few male authors that their book I'd read that can write female characters. Exorcism's heroine is literally a teenager and the 80's setting kinda bring nostalgia although the said nostalgia is more like songs that I know (Like a Virgin, Against all Odd). Reading this book test my patience, because the way Abby, Gretchen, Margaret and Glee written. Because, they ARE teenager. Teenager supposed to be annoying, I suppose. There are some scenes when Abby act so stupid I want to smack her head, but I remind myself, Abby is a teenager. I act stupid too in my teenager era, lel. 

The core of this book is ofc like stated in the title, is the friendship between Abby and Gretchen. Yes, their motto "I love you dearly but not queerly" is kind of problematic although in the end they amend that. The test that Abby and Gretchen endured, especially from Abby's side is extraordinary. Reading the scenes when Abby attacked by demon-Gretchen in which Abby shunned by her friends remind me when in Southern's BC Patricia's sanity also questioned when she accuse James Harris for being a vampire. To said my emotions doing a roller coaster is an understatement. Just like Horrorstor, this book also filled with many 80's things, such as band poster, radio logo, pamphlet, etc. 

As for the exorcism, we got the exorcism. BUT, not the way I imagine at first. The demon got banished by

the power of friendship and love between Abby and Gretchen

, it's so campy to read and left me dumbfounded. As per Hendrix's tradition, so many disturbing scenes to read. The scene when Margaret throw up something something disgusting will make me questioning any diet supplements and it's make me shudder just for imagining it. Contrary to Horrorstor and Southern BC, the creepiness factor is not much so if you don't like ghost, this book don't have ghost in it. Only demon, a nasty demon that love to bring discord and chaos. The 80's setting also mean there's racism like the scene when Abby tell Margaret that she look like Ethiophian because Margaret is so thin because of her sickness make me go WTF. Yeah, so many offensive things happen so proceed with cautions and please check the TW/CW list first.

If I ranked Hendrix's book that I had read, this book ranked the third. Southern BC still number one for me, followed by Horrorstor. If you want to read about horror that have possession on it with at least a decent exorcism scenes and the roller-coaster emotion that follow, My Best Friend's Exorcism might be right up of your alley. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Racial slurs, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

Minor: Rape

izypup's review

emotional inspiring sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kimberlina82's review

dark funny hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

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

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

intentional murder of a dog

ksuazo94's review

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Blood, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Eating disorder

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

nessafurtado's review

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

If I could give 10 stars I would. I finished it in one sitting; I could not stop reading I needed to know what happened - “will Gretchen be ok? I can not believe Abby made such a rookie mistake omfg!!! IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING? “ were some of the things I caught myself saying while immerse in this story. I highly recommend this book; made me feel nostalgic for a time I wasn’t even born (80s), made me feel happy, confused, sad and a longing to have a friendship like Abby and Gretchen. 
Ps. It’s about demonic possession - the demon does some crazy not family friend stuff so be aware there’s may be something triggering for you.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol

tiernanhunter's review

dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, and Cultural appropriation