My Best Friend's Exorcism

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A story about true, deep friendship, one that can stand the test of time and the powers of evil, and also about an exorcism, one that was fueled not by the power of God and all his saints, but by the powers of friendship, love, memories, and the little things that tie us to one another.

I spent much of this book cringing in horror because I felt so bad for Abby. She was always a true friend to Gretchen, and she seemed to be getting the short end of every stick - accused of drug dealing, lying, stealing, breaking and entering, kidnapping, cruelty to animals, and more, it didn't seem like there was anything that was going to save her.

In the end, her perseverance to their friendship paid off, and it was great to see Gretchen fighting to maintain their friendship after everything, when their parents wanted to keep them apart. I loved the way they became friends, and I loved how close they were.

I also appreciated, though, that we got a small glimpse in their later years, and I think the way their friendship evolved over time is very true to life - you still keep up, but it becomes much less frequent, where daily phone calls turn to voicemails turn to texts turn to emails turn to facebook likes. But when something big happens, you are there in a second, and it's like no time has passed at all. "...although those inches may add up to miles, sometimes those miles were only inches after all." I love that Gretchen was the one there for Abby at the end, taking care of her. Things weren't perfect ever, but the point was that they tried.

It was interesting, the ways that the demon had an impact on those around it - it claimed it was trying to make people happy, but really it was finding a way tear them down using the things they wanted the most - for Margaret, it was her diet; for Glee, it was her crush on the teacher; for Abby, it was her very friendship with Gretchen.

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