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A review by constantcatreader
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
5.0
Where to even begin? This book was a roller coaster of CONSTANT ACTION! I was exhausted after reading this one. It is a LOOONNNGGG read with a lot of details, but I feel like it was worth it all!
I love this book because it connects so much with Christianity and our battle against Satan. It really stresses how manipulative and evil Satan truly is and how he will do anything to turn the tables and make us think God doesn’t love us. The author does a great job of connecting the story to the Bible. Just look at the names of the characters David and Christopher: they symbolize King David and Christ. The tree in the clearing where the tree house is built represents the tree of knowledge. There are other references, but I don’t want to spoil anything.
The characters were very well fleshed out. I fell in love with Kate, Christopher and his friends, Ambrose, the sherif, and even Mary Katherine. The author did a great job of building up backstories and showing us just what each character was thinking and feeling. Kate and her son Christopher are such pure characters, you can’t help but love them, cry, and root for them every step along the way. Christopher loves his mom and tries to always do what’s best for those around him. His mother is a BAD ASS, who fights for her son constantly. Then, we have Ambrose who is a grouchy, but honest old man who just wants to find peace in the death of his brother, David. We also have the sheriff who is kind and protecting, yet angry at God because he doesn’t understand death. I also like Mary Katherine who is worried that God won’t love her if she isn’t perfect. All of these characters are so realistic and breathe such life into the story.
The story itself is detailed with Chbosky’s beautiful writing. He uses figurative language and sensory details to really bring the story to life. He creates a strong mood with the voices of the devil speaking to everyone in town and manipulating them to think evil thoughts about themselves, others, and God himself. He also convinced them to do evil things. The book is flat out creepy, gruesome, and scary throughout the entire run of the book. I laughed, cried, and gasped while reading this book. All the emotions are there and it’s so hard to put it down. Chbosky does a nice job of writing in small bursts where many of the endings of the chapters leave you wanting more. Many last sentences of chapters leave you with that suspenseful, tingling feeling of super creeped out vibes.
There are so many lessons to be learned through this amazing adventure of good v evil. The big theme would be to love others and forgive everyone, no matter what. Satan does a nice job of taking bad events and making us want to blame it all on God. The devil does a great job of twisting words and stories, and making the truth seem like death when in reality, the light destroys the darkness.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
“You cannot fail...it was his promise. He looked at his mother and thought, I will protect you.”
“She said that the world can try to take anything from you. But you have to give it your pride.”
“What if they were all alone? And there were no stars except the sun? And what would happen if the sun burned out? And our shooting star could be seen millions of years from now? By a little boy with his friends building a tree house. And eating cold Oreo cookies or whatever it was the people out in the universe ate. Do all stars and souls go to the same place in the end?”
“We can swallow our fear or let our fear swallow us.”
“The nice man was in a grey suit. He looked flawless. Not a mark on his skin. Not a scar on his body. He smiled a kind smile, his teeth perfectly intact. He wore a bow tie. And he had green eyes—sometimes.”
“Adults are bad at remembering how powerful they can be because somewhere along the line, they were shamed for their imagination.”
“God loves everyone, so you can’t be God. You’re the devil.”
“And I’m not the Virgin Mary...I’m Job.”
“I’m not afraid anymore because heaven and hell are not destinations. They are decisions.”
“She felt at peace because she would believe in Him for the rest of her life. Not out of fear. But out of love. Mary Katherine was free.”
“They were holding themselves. The mailbox people weren’t the nice man’s soldiers. They were his slaves.”
“They were inside the valley of the shadow of death, but the valley was not a place outside of them. It was inside. The valley is us.”
“God is not a murderer, daddy.”
“She felt the world’s madness. The evil that made God cry at night.”
“The power of God was love. ‘I forgive you,’ he repeated.”
“It doesn’t take violence to kill evil. It takes good.”
“He wasn’t a God. He was a coward.”
I love this book because it connects so much with Christianity and our battle against Satan. It really stresses how manipulative and evil Satan truly is and how he will do anything to turn the tables and make us think God doesn’t love us. The author does a great job of connecting the story to the Bible. Just look at the names of the characters David and Christopher: they symbolize King David and Christ. The tree in the clearing where the tree house is built represents the tree of knowledge. There are other references, but I don’t want to spoil anything.
The characters were very well fleshed out. I fell in love with Kate, Christopher and his friends, Ambrose, the sherif, and even Mary Katherine. The author did a great job of building up backstories and showing us just what each character was thinking and feeling. Kate and her son Christopher are such pure characters, you can’t help but love them, cry, and root for them every step along the way. Christopher loves his mom and tries to always do what’s best for those around him. His mother is a BAD ASS, who fights for her son constantly. Then, we have Ambrose who is a grouchy, but honest old man who just wants to find peace in the death of his brother, David. We also have the sheriff who is kind and protecting, yet angry at God because he doesn’t understand death. I also like Mary Katherine who is worried that God won’t love her if she isn’t perfect. All of these characters are so realistic and breathe such life into the story.
The story itself is detailed with Chbosky’s beautiful writing. He uses figurative language and sensory details to really bring the story to life. He creates a strong mood with the voices of the devil speaking to everyone in town and manipulating them to think evil thoughts about themselves, others, and God himself. He also convinced them to do evil things. The book is flat out creepy, gruesome, and scary throughout the entire run of the book. I laughed, cried, and gasped while reading this book. All the emotions are there and it’s so hard to put it down. Chbosky does a nice job of writing in small bursts where many of the endings of the chapters leave you wanting more. Many last sentences of chapters leave you with that suspenseful, tingling feeling of super creeped out vibes.
There are so many lessons to be learned through this amazing adventure of good v evil. The big theme would be to love others and forgive everyone, no matter what. Satan does a nice job of taking bad events and making us want to blame it all on God. The devil does a great job of twisting words and stories, and making the truth seem like death when in reality, the light destroys the darkness.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
“You cannot fail...it was his promise. He looked at his mother and thought, I will protect you.”
“She said that the world can try to take anything from you. But you have to give it your pride.”
“What if they were all alone? And there were no stars except the sun? And what would happen if the sun burned out? And our shooting star could be seen millions of years from now? By a little boy with his friends building a tree house. And eating cold Oreo cookies or whatever it was the people out in the universe ate. Do all stars and souls go to the same place in the end?”
“We can swallow our fear or let our fear swallow us.”
“The nice man was in a grey suit. He looked flawless. Not a mark on his skin. Not a scar on his body. He smiled a kind smile, his teeth perfectly intact. He wore a bow tie. And he had green eyes—sometimes.”
“Adults are bad at remembering how powerful they can be because somewhere along the line, they were shamed for their imagination.”
“God loves everyone, so you can’t be God. You’re the devil.”
“And I’m not the Virgin Mary...I’m Job.”
“I’m not afraid anymore because heaven and hell are not destinations. They are decisions.”
“She felt at peace because she would believe in Him for the rest of her life. Not out of fear. But out of love. Mary Katherine was free.”
“They were holding themselves. The mailbox people weren’t the nice man’s soldiers. They were his slaves.”
“They were inside the valley of the shadow of death, but the valley was not a place outside of them. It was inside. The valley is us.”
“God is not a murderer, daddy.”
“She felt the world’s madness. The evil that made God cry at night.”
“The power of God was love. ‘I forgive you,’ he repeated.”
“It doesn’t take violence to kill evil. It takes good.”
“He wasn’t a God. He was a coward.”