Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

289 reviews

veganmermaidsera's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

This book kept me gripped from pages 100 to the end. I couldn’t put it down, which is not something that happens to me often.
If you’re looking for a perfect spooky read that is scary and slightly gory, but also silly and campy, and is a true testament to friendship (and don’t forget all the 80’s song references), then you must read this!!!
I teared up at the end.
My first Grady Hendrix read and I shall be reading more!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

The first few chapters are about how Abby and Gretchen became friends, which made for a slow start to this novel. Hendrix is always so creative though! This has a fully planned out yearbook with photos and notes to the students/quotes as if it’s a real yearbook. Plus newspaper articles, photos, cards-loved the mixed media! I also loved that the chapters are 80s song titles ☺️

Now what I didn’t like and why it’s not rated higher:

1). Very dragged out with the event that makes Gretchen possessed not happening until about 100 pages in and then only the last 100 pages have any action.
2). Overly descriptive with telling over showing at times-the book could’ve been 100 pages shorter-plus it got to be repetitive. I got to the point where any super detailed paragraphs I would skim and I couldn’t wait for this book to end 🙊
3). I finally understand when people say his female characters aren’t well written 😂 these FMCs were soo weirdly written at times and they almost don’t feel real. We get to know Gretchen but that’s it, our narrator Abby we don’t really know as well, even though we’re following her journey.
4).

Honestly with how hard core Christian Gretchen’s parents are and the fact that it’s during the Satanic Panic I don’t know how they didn’t jump to the “she’s possessed” or a satanist conclusion at all

Hendrix’s books are hit or Miss for me since I didn’t like this one very much and DNFd We Sold Our Souls, but I loved Horrostör and Final Girl Support Group. So we’ll see how I feel about his others 🙊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, and Sexual assault

mangofraiche's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Body horror

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Classism

lizziemarie01's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

arthomas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.25

This horror story was the perfect way to transition from summer to fall reading. It really felt like an 80s movie and the detail painted a pretty vivid picture of the decade. Some sections of this book were particularly gruesome and made my skin crawl and there are definitely a lot of trigger warnings! Even though I knew what direction the book was going in, I was still surprised with what happened along the way. Bonus points for making me cry in the last 3 pages! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jordanog4's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

hxlleann's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, and Alcohol

lonerangerl30's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

Overall, the story of Abby and Gretchen’s friendship (and an exorcism) was well worth reading. I did not expect to feel so much at the end of the story, so it was a nice surprise after such an intense journey! I  appreciated many of the characters, who often provided a glimpse into the challenges of being a teenager during a different time period than my own. 

I would suggest checking content warnings prior to reading, as some parts of the book were very descriptive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Racism

Minor: Death of parent

nat20charisma's review against another edition

The mentions of (TW)

rape

were too much for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Rape, Self harm, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Drug use

menagerie_of's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, and Classism