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A review by afterplague
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I was really looking forward to this one, and it just didn't live up to my expectations at all. I'm thinking that Grady Hendrix just might not be the author for me. I'll give him one more chance, but this one was pretty rough for me.
I'm not saying that the book was completely irredeemable or anything like that. I was just incredibly frustrated with the sexual assault aspect of the plot. I'm going to go into some spoilers here, so if you'd like to remain unspoiled please be aware.
I wouldn't say it's a spoiler to mention that Gretchen, the titular "best friend" becomes possessed by a demon. The book is literally called "My Best Friend's Exorcism." But, as the possession is beginning to take hold, Gretchen starts acting strangely and through her rambling Abby, the main character, gets the idea that Gretchen was sexually assaulted and THAT's why she's changing.
Grady Hendrix is a man, and in both of his books I've read rape has been a main plot point. I'm not saying that as a man you can't write about rape, you can. It's also not uncommon in the horror genre, but I don't think that Hendrix treats it with the gravity that one should while writing about the topic, especially in this novel.
Abby tries to tell Gretchen's conservative Christian parents about it and they accuse Abby of trying to slander Gretchen's reputation and kick her out. She tries to tell a teacher and gets the same response. Everyone ostracizes Abby, and this plot point end with Abby just deciding the best thing to do is to keep her mouth shut about it. What is Hendrix trying to say with this plot point?
It is the 80's, and I understand that sexual assault wasn't treated the same way back then. However, this plot point is very serious for the ultimate answer in the book to just be "Abby ruined her life trying to help her friend who she thought was raped, and everything would've worked out the same or BETTER if she hadn't said anything." I would also like to remind you, Gretchen WASN'T RAPED. I don't understand why this plot point is in the story. It was SO frustrating to see everyone around these TEENAGERS do nothing except brush it under the rug. I can accept that if the whole story was coming to a point about it. If maybe the story was fully a metaphor about sexual assault utilizing a demonic possession as a framing device... maybe that would be okay. But 100% of the Grady Hendrix books I've read so far have involved rape, and it starts to feel a little weird coming from anyone but especially a male author.
There were some parts I actually enjoyed about the novel. I think that the way Gretchen's possession progressed was really unique from what I've seen in other demonic possession stories. The way that Gretchen was being used as a vessel to not only inflict pain on herself, but also those around her was really fascinating to witness as well. It seems realistic as to why a demon would possess a person in the first place.
I also loved the Christian strongmen. That actually threw me back to my childhood where a group of these guys would tour my church once a year or so. I actually have a SIGNED bandana from these dudes. I wish I could remember what they were called!
The ending of the story was also interesting. The answer wasn't religion, but instead friendship. I think the author did a good enough job setting up Gretchen and Abby to the point where I found their friendship really sweet and believable, and the way they ended up was really heart-warming.
I'll give it to Hendrix, his writing is good! It's gross and horrifying, but I wouldn't say I was scared at any point. The worm thing was basically the worst of it. Oh also, dog death. Sorry. I usually don't enjoy animal death, and I thought this one was really unnecessary. It was done to shock the reader, and I wasn't particularly impressed by it.
I just wouldn't recommend this one. Maybe if you have some nostalgia around the original 1980s Exorcist movie, but I wasn't even alive when that movie came out so...
The cover absolutely slaps, though. Whoever designed this cover to look like a VHS cover, I love you and I think you deserve a massive raise!
I'm not saying that the book was completely irredeemable or anything like that. I was just incredibly frustrated with the sexual assault aspect of the plot. I'm going to go into some spoilers here, so if you'd like to remain unspoiled please be aware.
I wouldn't say it's a spoiler to mention that Gretchen, the titular "best friend" becomes possessed by a demon. The book is literally called "My Best Friend's Exorcism." But, as the possession is beginning to take hold, Gretchen starts acting strangely and through her rambling Abby, the main character, gets the idea that Gretchen was sexually assaulted and THAT's why she's changing.
Grady Hendrix is a man, and in both of his books I've read rape has been a main plot point. I'm not saying that as a man you can't write about rape, you can. It's also not uncommon in the horror genre, but I don't think that Hendrix treats it with the gravity that one should while writing about the topic, especially in this novel.
Abby tries to tell Gretchen's conservative Christian parents about it and they accuse Abby of trying to slander Gretchen's reputation and kick her out. She tries to tell a teacher and gets the same response. Everyone ostracizes Abby, and this plot point end with Abby just deciding the best thing to do is to keep her mouth shut about it. What is Hendrix trying to say with this plot point?
It is the 80's, and I understand that sexual assault wasn't treated the same way back then. However, this plot point is very serious for the ultimate answer in the book to just be "Abby ruined her life trying to help her friend who she thought was raped, and everything would've worked out the same or BETTER if she hadn't said anything." I would also like to remind you, Gretchen WASN'T RAPED. I don't understand why this plot point is in the story. It was SO frustrating to see everyone around these TEENAGERS do nothing except brush it under the rug. I can accept that if the whole story was coming to a point about it. If maybe the story was fully a metaphor about sexual assault utilizing a demonic possession as a framing device... maybe that would be okay. But 100% of the Grady Hendrix books I've read so far have involved rape, and it starts to feel a little weird coming from anyone but especially a male author.
There were some parts I actually enjoyed about the novel. I think that the way Gretchen's possession progressed was really unique from what I've seen in other demonic possession stories. The way that Gretchen was being used as a vessel to not only inflict pain on herself, but also those around her was really fascinating to witness as well. It seems realistic as to why a demon would possess a person in the first place.
I also loved the Christian strongmen. That actually threw me back to my childhood where a group of these guys would tour my church once a year or so. I actually have a SIGNED bandana from these dudes. I wish I could remember what they were called!
The ending of the story was also interesting. The answer wasn't religion, but instead friendship. I think the author did a good enough job setting up Gretchen and Abby to the point where I found their friendship really sweet and believable, and the way they ended up was really heart-warming.
I'll give it to Hendrix, his writing is good! It's gross and horrifying, but I wouldn't say I was scared at any point. The worm thing was basically the worst of it. Oh also, dog death. Sorry. I usually don't enjoy animal death, and I thought this one was really unnecessary. It was done to shock the reader, and I wasn't particularly impressed by it.
I just wouldn't recommend this one. Maybe if you have some nostalgia around the original 1980s Exorcist movie, but I wasn't even alive when that movie came out so...
The cover absolutely slaps, though. Whoever designed this cover to look like a VHS cover, I love you and I think you deserve a massive raise!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Animal death