My first impressions (Writing down my first impressions of the book. NOT an in-depth review. Reviews base on personal enjoyment.)
RANK: Beautiful

This book is good but it drags.

The Narrator did a fine job. I really like her energy and her voices. The only problem I had was that she uses the same male voice and so some of the male characters start to blend.

I like the methods that Possessed Gretchen inflicted upon her friends. Lying to giving someone poison. The friendship between Abby and Gretchen is believable and made me cared about them. When the Horror happens it pretty scary. The author did a good with the horror.

My biggest problem with the book is that it took too long to get to the horror. Since I was listening to this on Audio, it took around 45% for the book to pick up. I wish the Author would focus less on the mundane life of both characters. Also, Slave Day and Abby calling some an Ethiopian after someone lost a lot of weight was uncalled for. It had no bearing on the story.

Also there was two plot points that were bring up twice and then drop and never had a role in the story. Molly was killed for a cult and the man in woods

Overall. Somewhat fun book but drags too much to be fully enjoyable.

I love Grady Hendrix!!! The end made me cry, I love girl friendships ( )

"You are my reflection and my shadow and I will not let you go."

What a spooky, creepy read. I read this one in one sitting, starting in the evening daylight and finishing at odd hours of the morning in the complete dark. It was the perfect setting.

Gretchen's missing night and the terror Abby went through searching for her was just the beginning. Gretchen's decline and seeming madness was so horrible to read through Abby's eyes. As everything slid farther and farther and even worse, I wasn't sure I could finish the book. But I'm so glad I stuck with it. Abby's nightmare of all of her friends and what they went through (that dog and worm scene. Oh. My. Goodness.) was awful and perfect for my October horror reading.

This one did not disappoint and reminded me of just how special friendship is that last through the years - to have that one friend that knows you at all your different stages of life and loves you anyway. ( )

POSSIBLE TRIGGERS Demon Possession
The wonder of friendship supersedes all other powers when an ancient demon possesses a teenage girl. Grady Hendrix is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. He adds to his winning streak with a nostalgic, if blood-soaked, horror story to grab the hearts and memories of those of "Generation X". “The Exorcist is dead!”, we read in the first line of the story...and Abby Rivers, a middle-aged divorcée, begins to reflect back on the friendship that has pretty much defined her, her whole life. In flashbacks, Abby recalls meeting with her best friend, Gretchen Lang, at her 10th birthday party in 1982. This party forever sealed their friendship. The majority of the story is set in 1988 and is an unabashed love remembrance of all the things that drove the parents crazy, but the young folks loved and JUST HAD TO HAVE...like big hair, heavy metal, and all the other pop-culture trappings of that era. I thought it clever that Grady Hendrix used song titles from that era for chapter titles, everything from “Don’t You Forget About Me” to “And She Was.”. Things go really off kilter when Abby, Gretchen, and two other friends set off to a cabin in the woods to experiment with LSD. Gretchen disappears and when she returns...she's not the same girl that left.... she's changed The author walks a fine line in his portrayal...leaving the story open and allowing the reader to doubt or wonder, if Gretchen is actually possessed or has simply fallen prey to the vanities and duplicities of high school and perhaps her youth. He also has managed to capture and make us remember all the frustrations of adolescence, as Abby seeks adult help in her plight and is relentlessly dismissed by the adults. She finally finds help in Brother Lemon, a member of a Christian boy band, the "Lemon Brothers Faith and Fitness Show", who agrees to try and help her. When Abby’s demon finally shows its true colors in the book’s denouement, it’s not only a spectacularly grotesque and profane depiction of exorcism...remember all those gruesome, gory scenes from the Exorcist movie and then multiply them by about a thousand, then let that picture sit in your brain. I do have to admit that this was a truly inspiring portrayal of the resilience of the bond of friendship. In spite of how much I like this author and have now read almost everything he has written, I truly warn that this book is certainly NOT for all readers, but anyone that may want to travel back to 1971 and relive William Peter Blatty’s infamous "The Exorcist" shouldn’t miss this one.

As someone who grew up in this era and who has a lifelong bestie - although neither of us was possessed by demons - yes, this was a lot of fun. It also kept us guessing for a while over whether she was really possessed by a demon or just teenage angst. (Spoiler: it’s a demon.). I also liked the inserts/excerpts from pamphlets, news articles, journal entries, etc. I really enjoyed the twist about how they handled the demon at the end. I feel like I should have seen it coming, but it was still very satisfying. Hendrix really does do the human element very well. ( )