“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?”
“This book packs all the magic of a summer horror flick.” – Bustle
👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼 yes yes yes yes! At first I was going to wait until October to read this but I’m glad I read it now. It honestly could go either way since it sets during the school year. I had seen this book on the shelves, but in the previous edition cover, and kept saying nah I’ll wait. I hadn’t seen it around social media too much. Then I saw Cody, from Cody the Reader, on Instagram talk about it and then I saw this edition! I was sold by the cover alone! I was born in 1981! I love the 80s, and the 90s. So the day I got it in the mail I started it!
Oh man! This book packs a punch! Brings back all the feels and memories of my childhood! I constantly kept saying “omg I remember that!” Or “omg I had that too!” Or “omg I remember listening to them too!” 😱😱😱 below I’m going to quote a few of my favorite parts that brought back some feels. It’s doesn’t really spoil anything major but skip if you want:
“It’s twenty years ago and she’s bombing over the old bridge in a crapped-out Volkswagen Rabbit, windows down, radio blasting UB40, the air sweet and salty in her face.” 🙊🙊 I adored, and still do, UB40!
“They could. Then they had dinner at Chi-Chi’s and Abby’s dad pretended it was his birthday and the waiters came out and put a giant sombrero on his head and sang him the Mexican birthday song and gave them all fried ice cream.” 😢 this one brought back feels about my dad. He died when I was 14 years old. I remember doing Chi-Chi’s for his birthday. I remember the picture of him in the sombrero hat. I miss him.
“Hefty, Hefty, Hefty…..wimpy, wimpy, wimpy.” Oh that commercial! A total favorite of mine! I always use to go around repeated that as a kid 🤣🤣
So anyway I’m pretty sure you can see where I’m going with this review! I adored this book. It was so much fun! Even once we got into the story about the possession! Grady didn’t try to hard with this (unlike another Exorcism story I tried to read this year, A Head Full of Ghosts, which was so horribly done).
I adored all the characters. They were true to how things were in the 80s and how rich white people acted and so forth. I really don’t have a complaint about any of them!
Some people complained about the few racists and homophobic remarks made in here. There was not a ton and in all honesty it made the story real. I mean this is a story that takes place in the 1980s, in the south, in a very rich, white, upscale area and private school. 🤷🏻♀️😕 so ummm…yea! While of course I’m not racist, a bigot or homophobic but I do appreciate when an author keeps true and real to the era the story was written in. If people can’t handle the truth then they should grow some thicker skin.
I would love to see this on the big screen! But….I want to see it in 1980s Friday the 13th/1980s horror movie style. None of the 2017 graphics and technology.
This is by far one of my favorite reads of 2017 so far! I love everything about it from the cover design to the story itself! Amazing job Grady! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Anyway this was a solid 5/5 🌟
Also here is what the back of the book looks like. 
Adventures Between Pages 