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A review by dylanhenning
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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? N/A
3.5
This is the second Grady Hendrix book I’ve read and while I definitely enjoyed this books more than the previous one I read (Horrorstör) I don’t think I’ll be in any rush to pick up another one by him.
I understand this book and many of Hendrix’s books are horror-comedy which is fine, I just wish this had more of either one. It was lacking in comedic moments and the horror didn’t really come in until the last third of the book.
This story is set in the 80’s and mostly centers on a group of teenage girls who are hanging out one night and they try drugs. One of them (Gretchen) gets separated from the rest and they eventually find her nearly naked, and scared hours and hours later.
Eventually our main character and Gretchen’s best friend Abby starts noticing her friend behaving differently and her appearance and overall hygiene is changing and she is trying to get the other friends and even adults in her life to pay attention to these changes and do something about it. I won’t spell out the whole plot but eventually Abby believes that her friend is possessed by a demonic entity and the only way to save her is to perform an exorcism.
Let’s break this down into some of the things I liked and disliked about this book:
Liked
• the setting. I wasn’t alive in the 80’s but this book oozes with 80’s references and touchstones like shopping malls, cringey satanic panic propaganda, call waiting being a luxury. It’s just little things that make this feel truly like an 80’s story.
• the friendship. This book has some of the best written teen friendship I’ve seen in a while. It felt true to how teens are and how fickle and dramatic they can be but also how loyal and dedicated they can be. There are a couple paragraphs towards the end that really beautifully encapsulates what happens when those teenage friendships become adult friendships and how even though the relationship has changed and evolved over time it can still be just as meaningful and strong.
Now what I didn’t really like:
• Abby is our main character and so we’re experiencing everything through her eyes and most of the time she is confused and out of the loop which leaves us the reader also confused and out of the loop. That can be frustrating because sometimes we have information the main chat doesn’t have and it feels like the narrative is just wasting time trying to get Abby to the conclusions she needs to be at to launch the next part of the narrative.
. The lack of comedy or horror. I said it earlier in the review but this book doesn’t have much of either one and it suffers a bit because of it. There weren’t many laugh out loud moments and when the horror elements hit they hit hard (especially in the last third of the book) but those moments were so few and far between that this book can feel dull at times.
Overall this is a pretty decent 80’s teen possession story that might be good for folks that can’t handle too much horror. I would definitely recommend checking out the trigger warnings for this first though. There are some elements here that aren’t presented as sensitively as they could be so just be aware going in to expect those moments or avoid them entirely if that’s something you’d rather not read.
I understand this book and many of Hendrix’s books are horror-comedy which is fine, I just wish this had more of either one. It was lacking in comedic moments and the horror didn’t really come in until the last third of the book.
This story is set in the 80’s and mostly centers on a group of teenage girls who are hanging out one night and they try drugs. One of them (Gretchen) gets separated from the rest and they eventually find her nearly naked, and scared hours and hours later.
Eventually our main character and Gretchen’s best friend Abby starts noticing her friend behaving differently and her appearance and overall hygiene is changing and she is trying to get the other friends and even adults in her life to pay attention to these changes and do something about it. I won’t spell out the whole plot but eventually Abby believes that her friend is possessed by a demonic entity and the only way to save her is to perform an exorcism.
Let’s break this down into some of the things I liked and disliked about this book:
Liked
• the setting. I wasn’t alive in the 80’s but this book oozes with 80’s references and touchstones like shopping malls, cringey satanic panic propaganda, call waiting being a luxury. It’s just little things that make this feel truly like an 80’s story.
• the friendship. This book has some of the best written teen friendship I’ve seen in a while. It felt true to how teens are and how fickle and dramatic they can be but also how loyal and dedicated they can be. There are a couple paragraphs towards the end that really beautifully encapsulates what happens when those teenage friendships become adult friendships and how even though the relationship has changed and evolved over time it can still be just as meaningful and strong.
Now what I didn’t really like:
• Abby is our main character and so we’re experiencing everything through her eyes and most of the time she is confused and out of the loop which leaves us the reader also confused and out of the loop. That can be frustrating because sometimes we have information the main chat doesn’t have and it feels like the narrative is just wasting time trying to get Abby to the conclusions she needs to be at to launch the next part of the narrative.
. The lack of comedy or horror. I said it earlier in the review but this book doesn’t have much of either one and it suffers a bit because of it. There weren’t many laugh out loud moments and when the horror elements hit they hit hard (especially in the last third of the book) but those moments were so few and far between that this book can feel dull at times.
Overall this is a pretty decent 80’s teen possession story that might be good for folks that can’t handle too much horror. I would definitely recommend checking out the trigger warnings for this first though. There are some elements here that aren’t presented as sensitively as they could be so just be aware going in to expect those moments or avoid them entirely if that’s something you’d rather not read.