A review by violetturtledove
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

adventurous 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

5.0

I had a brilliant time reading this one, it felt like point horror for adults. It's cheesy and nostalgic, sweet but also very disturbing. It's darkly funny, full of horror tropes but also has some original twists and unique set pieces.
There's a certain flavour of gaslighting specific to teenage/ high school fiction (or maybe it's not so different, but I remember seeing it in books a lot when I was a teen). It's just so easy for someone who's still legally a child, lacking authority, confidence and experience, to be disregarded, to not be believed, to have their words twisted or not be allowed a voice at all. This book has plenty of that but I didn't find it too distressing to read (maybe I'm old and jaded now) and the frustration and urgency kept the tension in the story really well. With each development I immediately wanted to know what happened next.
If I was going to quibble over anything, the opening and closing segments from 'modern' times don't quite match up, and a lot of the supernatural stuff isn't really explained, it's just taken for granted that you know that these things happen in a possession story/movie. But honestly it was too entertaining for those things to bother me much. 
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