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A review by themermaddie
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
5.0
pure campy horrific FUN! think: Stranger Things meets The Exorcist meets Carrie meets Jennifer's Body. loads of 80s nostalgia that was fun and cleverly worked into the book in a way i enjoyed despite not being alive in the 80s. i've had the ARC for this book on my shelf since 2016 and FINALLY got around to reading it/listening to the audiobook. as always, emily woo zeller did a great job with the narration, excellent intonation and performance when it came to all the begging and screaming >:)
this book is so spooky, excellent insular small town atmosphere with compelling side characters and Abby and Gretchen's friendship at the centre of it all. i love their friendship so much, it's just one of those lifelong world-ending connections that are so rare in life. all the creepy stuff that happens throughout the book is absolutely wild, and everyone's reactions to it makes you feel, alongside abby, like you're going fucking crazy. the unhinged nature of all these events builds up so slowly that by the time you get to the reallllllly wild stuff, it feels both inevitable and also shocking. there's the perfect amount of gore here imo, some of the stuff described here is truly vile and graphic, but at the same time the whole book is shrouded in a layer of teenage girl brain that's anxious and insecure and panicked and scared but also snarky and mean.
basically, we take on the devil with nothin' but sheer spite and the pure love that two teenage girls have for each other.
this book is so spooky, excellent insular small town atmosphere with compelling side characters and Abby and Gretchen's friendship at the centre of it all. i love their friendship so much, it's just one of those lifelong world-ending connections that are so rare in life. all the creepy stuff that happens throughout the book is absolutely wild, and everyone's reactions to it makes you feel, alongside abby, like you're going fucking crazy. the unhinged nature of all these events builds up so slowly that by the time you get to the reallllllly wild stuff, it feels both inevitable and also shocking. there's the perfect amount of gore here imo, some of the stuff described here is truly vile and graphic, but at the same time the whole book is shrouded in a layer of teenage girl brain that's anxious and insecure and panicked and scared but also snarky and mean.
basically, we take on the devil with nothin' but sheer spite and the pure love that two teenage girls have for each other.