Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

24 reviews

jj_whatsherface's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

any book containing the phrase "Tommy Cox, defend us in battle," is an automatic win.

And then defeating the devil with a soda can, an eighties song, and the power of love is just the cherry on top.

Beautiful book, perfect cast, made me feel both happy and a little disgusted at the same time. A beautiful encapsulation of the 80s satanic panic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Toxic relationship, Blood, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Religious bigotry, and Car accident

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

writewithapendragon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

I love Grady Hendrix’s writing and stories but I wish he could complete a book without including sexual assault. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Genre-typical content for a horror book, hits a lot of 80s slasher tropes and some gore.

themissyreads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This one Creeped me OUT. Made me CRY. Had genuine social commentary and did a spin on an old story in a way that felt New and Different. 5/5 would reccomend. Check the TW/CWs tho. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation

Restrictive dieting, parental neglect, discussion/referenced Satanic Panic, referenced divorce, Institutional violence, powerlessness,

Main Character Death (but not the way you think)

grunbean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A great read for the spooky season. I found myself lost in the story and figuring out where it was going next. 

Though I wouldn’t pick it up if you don’t like bugs! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use and Car accident

immovabletype's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

this almost feels like horror magical realism for much of the book and I love that about it. and though this didn't occur to me until I'd finished it has that element of Buffy that I love so much, where the monster is a metaphor for growing up. in this case it's specifically about female friendships, and was done so well. it felt pretty darn authentic to my experience growing up in the 80s/90s, and how those friendships could feel so fraught and so full of love at the same time. how do you know these things, Grady Hendrix, you are a man

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, and Sexual content

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Car accident, and Death of parent

tifftastic87's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

I was surprised by this one. I saw such mixed reviews from the reviewers that I usually align with that I didn't have high hopes, but I went in with open eyes. I am so pleased that I did.

Synopsis
Abby is a scholarship girl at a prestigious private school in South Carolina in the 80s. By the standards of the era and the region, she is an outcast. That is until a new girl comes to town, Gretchen, and becomes Abby's ride or die. Everything goes down hill when Gretchen runs off to the woods one night and comes back a little wrong. Gretchen's behavior starts spiraling out of control, none of the adults believe Abby and she finds herself ostracized and on the verge of expulsion. It all culminates when the only adult that believes Abby is a muscle bound, neon clad, evangelist. But will his faith and Abby's determination be enough to save Gretchen?

High Camp Tension
This was so campy and satirical that it really made the story for me. I have a lot of religious trauma around "deliverance" so was really pleased that it was handled in such a campy way, that made the uncomfortable bits a little easier to stomach. Every time I felt my stomach clenching there would be some sort of comedic relief. If that is not necessarily something that you look for in a horror, and I usually don't either, then maybe this one isn't for you.

Girl Crew
At first Abby is extremely unlikable, at least to me, she is selfish and whiny and somewhat rude. But she has a good moment where she makes a decision on who she wants to be and her character just changes from there to a very likeable, if not frustrating (stand up for yourself woman!), character. The friendship dynamic among the girls is actually pretty relatable to growing up in the 80s/90s. I don't know how teens treat each other now, but even in to the very early 00s this felt pretty true to form. I have heard from some reviewers that Grady Hendrix is "banned" from writing women after Final Girl Support Group, but I actually really liked how he did it here.

The Satanic Panic of it All
This, combined with the War on Drugs, was so perfect. I think this is what I wanted out of Whisper Down the Lane and was severely disappointed in that book.  Abby is accused of selling drugs and committing satan worship, when she's probably the most quintessential high school student, but doing it all with perfect grades. Any time any of the kids has an emotion the adults are quick to ask "are you on drugs?" Which feels so, well, real. I have strong memories of very similar conversations in my youth.

In Short
I really enjoyed this book, I thought some of it could have been better. But only by bits and pieces. I really loved all of the chapters being named after songs from the era and how important music was to the story itself. I think this is a case where pop culture references were done very well. I would definitely recommend this to people who are new to horror, as it is very light on the horror. Though do check the content warnings.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, and Sexual content

smylieman's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

pages_with_puppies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional lighthearted sad slow-paced

4.5

I absolutely love (most of) this book. It’s campy and fun for the first half then gets seriously nuts in the second half. Like I almost forgot I signed up for a horror book.
It was giving very much campy teen horror movie think Jennifers Body x Stranger Things. The chapter titles being songs was a hugely welcomed addition I was getting songs stuck in my head left and right.
The half star reduction was for that one scene near the end

most books where the dog dies gets a reduction im a strong believer that the author could have made their point in another way rip max you were loved

but besides that I had no other major qualms with this book. 
I was a bit bothered at first by the way the author wrote and portrayed female friendships in teenagers but after a bit it definitely started to come off as a caricature and like it was being purposefully exaggerated not just a case of men writing women poorly. I was even able to relate to the girls and their friendships a lot although sometimes it did go a little far.
And lastly who said it was ok to make me cry at the end of a horror? That ending hit so much harder than I was expecting.
Would recommend if you are into the supernatural, 80’s, female friendships, coming of age. 
Would not recommend if you are looking for a straight up horror with no deeper meaning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Drug use, Car accident, and Death of parent

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, and Cultural appropriation