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A review by writteninthestarwars
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
2.75
I've been a fan of Stephen Chbosky since I was 18, when I first read Perks of Being a Wallflower. Though the genres of Perks and Imaginary Friend are vastly different, I found that they deal with similar themes of love, resiliency and faith. Unfortunately, Imaginary Friend never quite matched Perks for me.
Coming in at roughly 850 pages, this book could easily be at least 200 shorter just based on how repetitive and long-winded some aspects are. Even so, I would have been more accepting of the unnecessary length if I'd liked the story itself more. Many horror tropes are overused, and the Christian allegories are incredibly, incredibly heavy-handed. It was almost as if Chbosky didn't trust readers to read between the lines and understand his meaning if he didn't spell it out for us. There are only so many times you can compare "the sun" to "the Son" before it becomes trite (and Chbosky crossed that line about 300 pages in). I've seen lots of people praise this book for blending an exploration of hope and humanity into a horror story, but ... that's what horror does. The best horror books are able to do this without specifically pointing it out.
I have a lot to say about Chbosky's dedication being to all mothers, and the main character's mother being the only woman in the book who wasn't a stereotype or made to ridicule in some way, but that's for a longer review.
Still, I did enjoy elements of this book. Chbosky created a truly captivating place in the imaginary world before it turned into a one-to-one allegory. And I was intrigued enough to want to know the end, so that has to count for something.
Coming in at roughly 850 pages, this book could easily be at least 200 shorter just based on how repetitive and long-winded some aspects are. Even so, I would have been more accepting of the unnecessary length if I'd liked the story itself more. Many horror tropes are overused, and the Christian allegories are incredibly, incredibly heavy-handed. It was almost as if Chbosky didn't trust readers to read between the lines and understand his meaning if he didn't spell it out for us. There are only so many times you can compare "the sun" to "the Son" before it becomes trite (and Chbosky crossed that line about 300 pages in). I've seen lots of people praise this book for blending an exploration of hope and humanity into a horror story, but ... that's what horror does. The best horror books are able to do this without specifically pointing it out.
I have a lot to say about Chbosky's dedication being to all mothers, and the main character's mother being the only woman in the book who wasn't a stereotype or made to ridicule in some way, but that's for a longer review.
Still, I did enjoy elements of this book. Chbosky created a truly captivating place in the imaginary world before it turned into a one-to-one allegory. And I was intrigued enough to want to know the end, so that has to count for something.