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MY ⭐️ RATING: 4/5
Format: Audiobook
BOOK DESCRIPTION
From the New York Times best-selling author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, this unholy hybrid of Beaches and The Exorcist blends teen angst and unspeakable horrors into a pulse-pounding supernatural thriller.
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?
MY REVIEW
After reading December Park, I had an inclination to read more in the horror/suspense genre, particularly stuff set in the 80’s, so when I was doing some digging to make my 10 Books to read if you love Stranger Things, I came across this one and had to add it to my TBR because this screamed what I was looking for. Not only that, but the cover just spoke to me, it just gave that vibe that I had to read it. The title also gave me throwback vibes of one of my favorite movies as a kid in the early 90’s, My Boyfriend’s Back!
My Bestfriend’s Exorcism is a semi-campy Jennifer’s Body meets The Exorcist teen story, set in the 80’s. If you grew up during this time or fell in love with Stranger Things because of its 80’s themes, then you are going to get hit in the face with a nostalgia bomb without it being overbearing. The heart of this book is about the unbreakable teen bond that tested by a demonic possession and a good dose of dark humor with a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-like teen angst (yes, Buffy is 90’s, still works though.)
“Where everyone was desperate to be an individual, but they all were terrified to stand out.”
The story is well written, but what really sells the whole thing is the authentic feeling friendship between Abby and Gretchen. These two grapple with their identities and all the usual social pressures of high school. When the supernatural bits ramps up, the loyalty of their friendship is put to the test. The eighties setting really brings everything to life without feeling forced, filling the pages with perfect nostalgia through the music, clothes, and teen culture that make the whole world feel real.
Some of the criticism I have is that it never felt very suspenseful until near the very end. It wanted to be, but it just wasn’t. I’m also a whispersync/immersion reader and unfortunately, because the file size was so large, the kindle app on my phone and tablet kept crashing, so I had to do an audio only listen. So if your preference is to read ebook, you may want to try a kindle tablet or physical copy. I do have to say that Emily Woo Zeller’s performance narrating the story was very good, giving each one of the characters their own voice and filling out their personalities. I also decided to watch the movie adaptation after I finished my listen and it was not a good adaptation, but the movie did a better job selling the exorcism part.
Despite all that, My Best Friend’s Exorcism is a quick, entertaining read that I’d recommend to anyone wanting to go down that 80’s rabbit hole or wanting to read a campy horror story with a strong emotional core of the bond between best friends, with some decent dark humor.
Wolfmantula.com 