Review: My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

BOOK STATS

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Title: My Best Friend’s Exorcism
Author: Grady Hendrix
Genre: Horror
Audience: Adult
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Emily Woo Zeller
Length: 1o hours (330 pages)
Publisher: Quirk Books
Release Date: May 17, 2016
Source: Audible
Recommended for fans of: Heathers
Content Warnings: harm to animals, attempted suicide

SYNOPSIS

1988. Charleston, South Carolina. 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.

MY THOUGHTS

Y’all. I am SHOCKED that I loved this book because I was not a fan of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. However, the satirical, campy depiction of 1980s teens really worked for me. I owe a lot of my love for this story to Emily Woo Zeller’s narration on the audiobook. She absolutely nailed the tone of the book and was perfect for the character.

This is story of demonic possession, but Grady Hendrix did a fantastic job of making you doubt whether Gretchen was actually possessed. The story had the perfect blend of creepy weirdness and typical teenage angst. This isn’t a scary horror novel, but it does have disturbing moments. Watch out for gross body horror and animal cruelty.

This is definitely cheesy, but that’s why I loved it so much. How many other horror books are built around the power of friendship and 80s pop culture icons? This book is weird, disturbing, and emotional, but ultimately so much fun.