Book Review: My Best Friend’s Exorcism

My Best Friend’s Exorcism

Grady Hendrix

Quirk Books

336 pages

Abby and Gretchen became best friends in the fifth grade over a failed ET birthday party at the roller rink. They are now in high school and part of a foursome of girls that all consider each other to be BFF (think Mean Girls meets Heathers). Until one night when Gretchen disappears during their middle of the night shenanigans. When they find her a few hours later, she seems different.

The other two girls blow it off, but Abby can tell right away that something has happened to Gretchen. As the weeks go by, her behavior becomes stranger and stranger. She can’t sleep, she stops caring about her appearance, and she even spews vomit exorcism style all over the front lawn of the school. It’s clear she is possessed by the devil, but no one believes Abby, so she is left on her own to help Gretchen.

This is not my typical fare, but I saw it on Litsy (another new obsession) and thought it seemed fun. I promptly reserved a copy at the library, and I’m so glad I did. This is definitely one of those books where the physical book is far superior to the ebook. It’s hard cover and modeled in the fashion of a yearbook. The endpaper even looks like that of a yearbook, with all the signatures, notes, and doodles teenagers often leave for one another. At the end of the book, there are even a few pages of yearbook ads with personalized messages. This, along with the abundance of 80s references, really made this book stand out.

As for the actual story, it was fun and different. I would consider this to be a good palate cleanser for when you’re in between heavier books.