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A review by mayapharaoh
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This one is not very good. I should have loved it. It's basically just Jennifer's Body in the 80s, but less fully developed. Some of the writing felt very much like a grown man taking a dig at teen girls. The ending felt rushed and underdeveloped.
I also found this one really drawn out. It didn't need to be as long as it was, I don't think, and for all its length, it never answered any of the questions I wish it had, or gave the characters any real satisfying development. The book is almost 400 pages long, and you never get to learn why or how Gretchen gets possessed. She just disappears one night, and hey presto, she's possessed. They barely even hint at it, past some vague Satanic Panic shit. And I'm sure you could refute that by saying "that's not important, the real important thing was Abby and Gretchen's friendship", but their friendship, like in a bad movie, is filled out in what feels like is mostly montage; a collection of saccharine flashbacks (and then flash forwards) and references to past events rather than actions.
As a sidebar, as others have mentioned, there's a lot of weirdly offensive one-liners and jokes in this one. I'm sure you could argue that it's "of the times", but straight up, if I'd read through this whole book with that stuff removed, I would not have said "it's not accurate to the 80s, where's all the racially insensitive, fatphobic, queerphobic, offensive shit?"
Hey, at least the cover art is unbelievably good. And I hear it's getting a movie? So maybe that'll be better than the book. Two stars, one for the cover art, and one for Good Dog Max.
I also found this one really drawn out. It didn't need to be as long as it was, I don't think, and for all its length, it never answered any of the questions I wish it had, or gave the characters any real satisfying development. The book is almost 400 pages long, and you never get to learn why or how Gretchen gets possessed. She just disappears one night, and hey presto, she's possessed. They barely even hint at it, past some vague Satanic Panic shit. And I'm sure you could refute that by saying "that's not important, the real important thing was Abby and Gretchen's friendship", but their friendship, like in a bad movie, is filled out in what feels like is mostly montage; a collection of saccharine flashbacks (and then flash forwards) and references to past events rather than actions.
As a sidebar, as others have mentioned, there's a lot of weirdly offensive one-liners and jokes in this one. I'm sure you could argue that it's "of the times", but straight up, if I'd read through this whole book with that stuff removed, I would not have said "it's not accurate to the 80s, where's all the racially insensitive, fatphobic, queerphobic, offensive shit?"
Hey, at least the cover art is unbelievably good. And I hear it's getting a movie? So maybe that'll be better than the book. Two stars, one for the cover art, and one for Good Dog Max.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Mental illness, Self harm, and Blood
Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Slavery, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol