My Best Friend’s Exorcism is a book about life in the 80s. It’s a book about demonic possession. It’s a book about classism. But more than absolutely anything, it’s a book about real, true, life-long friendship.
Abby’s parents have fallen from high places and she’s the poor kid at a fancy private school on scholarship. It’s a good thing she has Gretchen, her best friend, on her side because they’ve had each other’s backs for years and nothing could come between them.
Except maybe demonic possession.
When I opened this book, I expected a kind of scary and gory, mostly fun and silly read. I did not expect the wide range of emotions and intense connection to the characters that I felt. There was plenty of scary, creepy, and a few times I cried out and had to look away from the book (tw: BUGS). Perfect for the season.
This novel follows Abby as she tries to save her best friend when absolutely no one in her world is on her side. Gretchen’s religious parents won’t have their family embarrassed and no one is willing to accept the supernatural causes of Gretchen’s obvious personality changes.
Abby and Gretchen’s friendship really springs off the pages. I laughed along with them, loved their inside jokes, their parodies of Phil Collins…my heart ached when they fought, and tears rolled down my face as their friendship grew and matured throughout their life. I loved having my life-long friends to think about as I read this. I was tempted to pick up the phone and call multiple times and be like, “READ THIS BOOK NOW SO YOU’LL UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU.”
This is my third Grady Hendrix book and I did no expect to like it even more than I liked The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. But I did. I highly recommend this one for anyone who has ever had a BFF, for anyone who has felt like it was you and your BFF against the world.
Happy reading!
H.J. Swinford 