A heartwarming story of friendship and demonic possession. The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act...different. She's moody. She's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she's nearby. Abby's investigation leads her to some startling discoveries--and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil? Like an unholy hybrid of Beaches and The Exorcist, My Best Friend's Exorcism blends teen angst, adolescent drama, unspeakable horrors, and a mix of '80s pop songs into a pulse-pounding supernatural thriller.
If you are a fan of 80's nostalgia, My Best Friend's Exorcism will fulfill your 80's cravings. I think the only two references from my childhood that are missing in My Best Friend's Exorcism are Caboodles and Aquanet.
My Best Friend's Exorcism is the first work of fiction I've read by Grady Hendrix. I obviously read and loved Paperbacks from Hell {review}, but I didn't read Horrorstör when it was released. I see now that was a mistake.
My Best Friend's Exorcism is accurately billed as Beaches meets The Exorcist. I don't normally get scared reading horror books, but I've decided exorcisms scare the shit out of me. That's the one thing in media that really gets under my skin.
The twist with My Best Friend's Exorcism is the point of view. We are seeing Gretchen's possession from the point of view of her best friend Abby. This is Abby's story of how she met her best friend, saw the changes in her, and basically saved her soul. It's a life long story and not one that I expected to find inside My Best Friend's Exorcism.
Abby is the hero of the story, but that girl should have died at least 26 times by the end of the book. She is the girl in every horror movie that runs up the stairs instead of out of the house. Repeatedly. But I love her. Zits and all.
7/10: Recommended Read
Sounds like a perfectly scary read for this time of the year. I will add it to my wishlist.
ReplyDeleteLynn :D
Definitely a good mood read. :)
DeleteHorrorstör is one I missed too. Sounds like I need to add both to the list. :) Great review.
ReplyDeleteYes, we both need to remedy Horrorstor, I think.
DeleteHa ha! Look at that cover! If I was a bigger exorcism fan I might try this one just for all the 80s references.
ReplyDeleteIt's a treasure trove of 80s nostalgia.
DeleteI read this last year and looking at it now, kind of wish I had this cover. I really liked this book except for one thing....SPOILER ALERT SO PEOPLE STOP READING. Why the dog stuff? Was it really necessary. It really ticked me off and I think I even Tweeted Hendrix and said I loved his book but he could have left that part out. I did like Abby and liked the rest of the story.
ReplyDeleteSPOILER REPLY FOR BARB'S EYES
DeleteMax was a good dog, Barb. You know what happens to good dogs in this awful genre of ours. (Uuugh!)
I love that you tweeted your anger at Hendrix. LOL.
Now I'm kicking myself for skipping this one when it was over at NG. This cover is so much better than the previous one.
ReplyDeleteI love that you guys are mentioning the cover. The original cover made me pass it up on NG, too. Check Overdrive if your library uses it. That's where I got it from.
DeleteI thought Horrorstor was a fun read, but this one sounds even better. Love that it has all those 80s references! :)
ReplyDeleteI need to see if my library has Horrorstor, too. I missed out on that one!
DeleteIf you liked this, then yes you should definitley check out Horrorstor! I liked that one a lot, and actually thought it was much stronger than My Best Friend's Exorcism, even though that was fun for the 80s nostalgia :)
ReplyDelete~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
Great to know that you liked Horrorstor more than this one. I really need to go back and read that one.
DeleteI had a blast with this book! And I highly recommend Horrorstor, I liked it even more than this one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation! I'm hoping I can get that one through my library as well. It seems like a fun, quirky read. I love hearing that you liked it any more than this one.
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