My Best Friend's Exorcism

A Novel

By: Grady Hendrix

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

A heartwarming story of friendship and demonic possession.

The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since the 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.

©2016 Grady Hendrix (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Coming-of-age adult thriller

Do not listen while eating. As grusome as "Carrie". One of the best so far -this year I

Fluff, but entertaining

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to someone who wanted something fun and distracting to read.

Pleasant surprise!

I read on Reddit’s r/horrorlit that this was a good book and I was excited to see it included in my audible membership. I usually don’t enjoy books or movies where the main characters are teenagers but this was a well written, engaging horror book. It kept me interested the whole way through and I turned it on to listen whenever I could which is when I know I really like a book!

A coming of age for four young friends.

I read this book because I had just finished Horrorstör, another novel by the same author that I enjoyed. Like that book, the plot is normal for the first half then runs off the rails. I agree with others who said that there were way too many "Abby said" and "Gretchen said" but the narrator did a fine job with the performance of what she had been given to present. For me, this story was like Stephen King's "Stand By Me" meets "Silver Bullet". The relationships felt real and the story was enjoyable. This book is worth the download and I hope that you enjoy it.

Amazing nostalgia

This was an amazing fun book with an amazing voice actor I loved it 10/10

I would read it again and I tend not to do that

The narrator was good most of the time but lacked skill in expressing intense scenes. Without spoiling when she would raise her voice but not raise it. The best I can compare it too was like a yell whisper which would pull me out of the story every time. For the rest of the story though the narrator did a great job at acting out the story.

The story was great but now that I think about it certain parts could have been removed to move the story along. There were certain parts that felt like a trudge and unnecessary. That's my only complaint about the story which really is not much of an issue if you like the characters.

AWESOME

Part coming of age story, part horror story, and part satire of the absurdity of the Reagan 80's

A Devil of a Good Read!

If you, like me, are obsessed with the 80s nostalgic goodness/monster movie madness that is Stranger Things, this book is for you! It’s the perfect blend of humor, old school jams and gloriously cliched horror movie tropes. I mean come on, how could I say no to an exorcism story that uses The Go Go’s “We Got the Beat” as a pivotal plot point? This book was so totally bitchen, I don’t even know where to begin. How about I break it down for you like this?

The gist: It’s true that this is a horror story involving demonic possession. However, Satan takes a second seat because this is really a story about a life-long friendship that was cemented at an ET-themed Skate-Land birthday party. Nothing will stop our fearless protagonist, Abby, from saving her BFF from sinking deep down into the demonic underworld! On her quest, she faces down the legions of evil, including back-stabbing frienemies, oppressive parents and the worst school principal ever! With the power of Phil Collins, VC Andrews and Belinda Carlisle, she and Gretchen are going to beat this demonic bitch! Why? Because together, they’ve got the beat! Sorry not sorry, couldn’t help myself.

“I love you, Gretchen Lang. You are my reflection and my shadow and I will not let you go. We are bound together forever and ever! Until Halley’s Comet comes around again. I love you dearly and I love you queerly and no demon is bigger than this!” --Abby

What worked: I loved everything about this book, especially all the totally radical pop culture references. I had so much fun joining Abby and Gretchen as they sprayed their bangs sky high with AquaNet and tooted along in their super cool VW Rabbit convertible while making up their own lyrics to Phil Collin’s swoony love songs. This was such a fun satanic-themed trip down memory lane and I was so sad when it rolled to a surprisingly tear-jerking stop.

Eighties artifacts aside, Abby is the absolute best part of this book. It’s hard to believe she was created by a dude because I felt like we were soul sisters. I could totally relate to her many trials and tribulations—from criminally-negligent parents to horribly disfiguring acne to her VC Andrews obsession! I was pulling for her every step of the way, and she just kept tugging at my heart as she battled her enemies and sacrificed everything to save the one and only person she truly loved. I was expecting a tongue-in-cheek horror spoof, but instead I got a wallop of emotions that have been dormant for more than 20 years! Oops…I just gave away my age, didn’t I?

I also really appreciated the girl-power theme, which is thankfully becoming a current trend in books and movies. Men are no longer needed to save damsels in distress—and to that I say YA, YA, sistas!

What didn’t work: There’s an upsetting chapter involving a dog. Skip that chapter.

Added bonus: I listened to this book on audio and the narrator Emily Woo Zeller is totally righteous, dude!

Meh

I thought the performance was mediocre as well as the story. In parts hard to listen to.

Friendship

A unique look at friendship. At times the main character, Abbey, was a bit annoying.