Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Exorcist: 40th Anniversary Edition by William Peter Blatty

13 reviews

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

blacksphinx's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

My feelings are complicated. I cannot possibly assign a star rating to this book.

The book itself reads more like a modern thriller than a horror, moving at a quick pace with constant swerves. The dialogue is quick and often witty. I had seen the movie a couple of times but I had forgotten what a long and winding path there is to the iconic scene chosen for the movie's poster. The language in this book astounds me. Blatty has some amazing turns of phrase, and the way he writes when following the third-person perspective of Father Marrin was exquisite. It's a true page turner to this day. It's not perfect: the character of Dennings is completely absurd, having our doubting priest character be ethnically Jewish sure is a Choice, and the ending is jarringly abrupt. I'd like to read another novel like it. 

And yet... Like how Psycho and Silence of the Lambs both explicitly state that the serial killers in the movies are not trans, and yet still fed into and reinforced narratives of bigotry about trans women, I can't help but think about this book in relation to the Satanic Panic. This book was published nine years before Michelle Remembers acted as the torch igniting the pyre of that horrid moment in history, but I can't shake the feeling that it was one of many logs present in that fire. The characters in this novel are absolutely convinced that the Black Mass exists, that blood libel is on some level real, and that in the moment it was published there were groups out there doing ritual sacrifice. Did you know when put under the highly suggestive state of hypnosis to "recall repressed memories", many people actually wind up recalling movies they've seen? How many people were convinced they were abused by a satanic cult when they were actually remembering scenes from the movie adaptation of this book? Is that the fault of the book, or the society the book was published in? I don't know and I can't stop thinking about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, and Abandonment

Lots of misogynistic slurs. I didn't know you could be racist against Germans but this book proved you could!

beanformation's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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? No

4.5

It was much more informative about the process you have to go through with the church to get an exorcism and the history of demonic possession in history. I thoroughly enjoyed the book as a book and as a horror fan! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

gnraud's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

Very, very good book. It's very intense and it's a lot more graphic than the movie in a lot more ways. If it were a direct movie it would be NC-17.

Read it when you have plenty of time to put the book down and process what you just read; in a place where no one can glance over your shoulder and see obscenities; and nowhere near mealtimes. 

I recommend reading an ebook instead of paper, if you can. This has some pretty intense vocabulary ("inchoate presentiment", anyone?) and it would have been very helpful to be able to define them quickly. There are also some snippets of other languages (ie, Latin during liturgy) and I'm sure it would be much easier to translate in an ebook! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Deportation

devynrj's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A heavy and immaculate slow burn. It was honestly a bit hard to get into at first, the writing and voice of the characters is very specific in a way that was a bit hard for me to read before I got used to it.
I love the realistic build up and interpretation of Regan’s symptoms. It really kept me hooked. We all have a pretty good idea of what’s going to go down based on the prologue, title, and popularity of the film, but it was still very engaging and interesting to read exactly how it would play out. 
Because of the slow burn nature, there were some points where it felt like we were just treading water and the story sort of plateaus, but it really does pay off eventually.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcoholism and Homophobia

chale19's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Murder

anemonima's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

father Karras, you will be missed

 

I went into this book completely blind, I had a very vague idea of the plot and I'm happy I didn't watch the movie before. 

I found a bunch of well constructed characters, with believable fears and motivations, and also some secrets. I really liked that possessiZvn wasn't their first and only explanation. 

I was expecting something more gory but now I'm glad it wasn't like that. 

My favorite character was Karras, I love finding a great character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit

Minor: Homophobia

enderchilde's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Homophobia

looneysoysauce's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism

rbrtvzz's review against another edition

dark hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Mental illness, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Homophobia and Antisemitism