ebook review: My Best Friend's Exorcism

Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act . . . different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil? 







My Review: 
Can we just talk about the cover for a minute? It's not pretty and really it's fairly basic, but it just fits the book. I love this cover so much and it is simultaneously one of the most plain covers I have ever laid eyes on. It's a yearbook page. With bad hairstyles. Granted it's unrealistic because in the Stepford era I'm sure no principal would allow a student to be facing backwards in the yearbook, possessed or not. But it makes a statement. It speaks to me. Good going, cover designer.

Now, the book. I have never lived in the eighties. Sure I was born in 93 but didn't really have lasting memories until 98, so I wasn't really influenced by the big hair thing and a lot of references in this book went over my head. So I liked this book for it's story. Do I believe a little girl doing drugs somehow got chosen by one of the highest ranking demons to be possessed? Eh, not really. A smaller demon would have sufficed. But the story was still good.

The gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) mix of moral, psychological, and spiritual dilemmas was well complimented by the occasional gross (as in icky, not gory) scene to remind you that this isn't an internal struggle. The one character that I just couldn't stand, though, was the Exorcist himself. Hated every word of him. Couldn't stand him a bit. But that's to be expected sometimes, I guess. Not every character is going to jive with you.
4/5