Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

21 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Not my favorite Hendrix, but a really good read nonetheless. The middle of this one kind of lagged for me. Things really ramp up in the final third, though, and I really enjoyed it from that point on. It’s gruesome and sad and yet also heartwarming? I may or may not have teared up while reading the last few paragraphs (I did). 

Very happy to give this book a permanent home on my shelves! Also can we talk about the cover?! Stunning. It makes me think of IT, probably because of the balloons. I love it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

celery's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

wolfism's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

4.0

I can't relate to the book in some ways. I was not born in the 80s and I'm not from the US. So I'll have to trust Grady Hendrix it was like that. Many sentiments, attitudes and behaviors were appalling to me, although not unfamiliar, even growing up in the 90s and 2000s. In a way I liked that he did not sugarcoat anything, seeing as in recent years the 80s have been pretty romanticized a bit too much without balancing it out in mainstream media. 

I wouldn't call it an enjoyable book. Just seems the wrong word for it. But I liked it. I was definitely emotionally invested starting half way in. It was also rage inducing. It was infuriating, especially the adults. It didn't even have anything to do with refusing to believe someone was possessed by a demon. We didn't even get that far with them. I did consider if the demon might have warped their senses, but I'm not entirely sure. 

It deals with a lot of heavy shit. It's very dark and I rarely could find the fun in the story that some mentioned. There were a few slightly funny moments, but for me it was very overshadowed. I would not tell anyone "Here read this book, it's a fun, nostalgic read from the 80s". Sometimes it was painful to read. It made me really emotional. The light in this book was Abby and her friendship with Gretchen. If you have a Abby in your life, man, hold on to them. She made mistakes (some she can't be blamed for because she is a child, was desperate and thought naturally grown-ups could be trusted with things), she wasn't always nice, she did wrong. She was a teenager. Such a good character in my opinion. It was impactful which is always good. I can imagine reading it for a second sometime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

chicaso's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

lancemama's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

izypup's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

aspiringvilliagewitch's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Rape, Blood, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Classism

intentional murder of a dog

lotoblanco's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

The Details:
Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller
Unabridged 

This was such an entertaining read. The relationships, both toxic and pure, was such a fantastic study of high school life, but added in sinister atmosphere with the whole possession plot (which reminded me of Jennifers Body mid way through).

It wasn't really that scary but the scene with Good Boy Max the dog made me feel sick.

The manipulation of Gretchen as she became deeper consumed by her demon was interesting to see, especially when no one else could see what was happening other that Abby.

I thought the ending about friendship was so sad and true and it wrapped up perfectly, with closure, as I like my stories to do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mtnest's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction and Mass/school shootings

demon possession