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A review by thecurseofchris
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
5.0
If I didn't have a hunch about it already, "Imaginary Friend" proves to me that I could never be on BookTok. If I did, I'd get in fights with people on there because they'd tell me how bad this book is and I'd have to let them know that they have no idea what they're talking about. Because this book is absolutely awesome!
Seriously, how does this book *only* have a 3.55 rating?! That is criminal! Look, I get that the horror genre isn't for everyone. There's a lot of unsettling content in this book. But everything about it is so captivating that even if you're creeped out or unsettled, you want to keep reading to find out what is going to happen next.
Chbosky's writing is incredibly well done (and it's elevated by the performance of the audiobook narrator). People complain about the book's length but that is exactly what makes it so special. It definitely has a "slow burn" aspect to it, but the chaotic payoff that you get in the climax *works* because you spent the last 500+ pages setting it up. Could the book have been trimmed down a little? Probably. But I think it'd lose some of its impact at the end if you did that.
I've never read Stephen King, but this is exactly how I would imagine one of his books to be like. I think most of the people who hated this book went into it with pre-determined expectations and let the twists & turns that occur fight against those expectations. Go into it with a fresh mind, and know that it's probably not going to go the way you think, and I promise you that you'll enjoy it much more.
Seriously, how does this book *only* have a 3.55 rating?! That is criminal! Look, I get that the horror genre isn't for everyone. There's a lot of unsettling content in this book. But everything about it is so captivating that even if you're creeped out or unsettled, you want to keep reading to find out what is going to happen next.
Chbosky's writing is incredibly well done (and it's elevated by the performance of the audiobook narrator). People complain about the book's length but that is exactly what makes it so special. It definitely has a "slow burn" aspect to it, but the chaotic payoff that you get in the climax *works* because you spent the last 500+ pages setting it up. Could the book have been trimmed down a little? Probably. But I think it'd lose some of its impact at the end if you did that.
I've never read Stephen King, but this is exactly how I would imagine one of his books to be like. I think most of the people who hated this book went into it with pre-determined expectations and let the twists & turns that occur fight against those expectations. Go into it with a fresh mind, and know that it's probably not going to go the way you think, and I promise you that you'll enjoy it much more.