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A review by simchareads
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
dark
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75
I loved the cheesy 1980’s coming of age, campy horror hybrid of this story & the cover art is brilliant! I grew up during the 1990’s so a lot of the pop culture references were pure nostalgia for me. Despite some graphic scenes, the story still felt light & readable to me. It’s great if you’re in the mood for a solid ‘friendship overcomes all’ trope.
The aspect that keeps me from scoring is perfectly is there was a build up to certain plot points that just never amounted to anything more than a minor, briefly mentioned detail that I think should’ve just been excluded i.e.All the suspense that was built up around possessed Gretchen wreaking havoc on Halloween amounted to minor events that were only briefly mentioned.
The main characters are all relatively privileged, white girls against the backdrop of 1980’s Charleston, SC. I only mention this because the lack of diversity or acknowledgment of racial tensions in the area may bother some people. There are particularly graphic eating disorder and animal death scenes in this book. There are a few homophobic & AIDS jokes sprinkled throughout the book that would definitely not be acceptable today, but they were common in casual conversation during the time period setting.
The aspect that keeps me from scoring is perfectly is there was a build up to certain plot points that just never amounted to anything more than a minor, briefly mentioned detail that I think should’ve just been excluded i.e.
The main characters are all relatively privileged, white girls against the backdrop of 1980’s Charleston, SC. I only mention this because the lack of diversity or acknowledgment of racial tensions in the area may bother some people. There are particularly graphic eating disorder and animal death scenes in this book. There are a few homophobic & AIDS jokes sprinkled throughout the book that would definitely not be acceptable today, but they were common in casual conversation during the time period setting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, and Suicide attempt
There are a few homophobic & AIDS jokes that are stated in the context of humor that was consider appropriate during the time the story takes place in.