Book Review: Stephen Chbosky's Imaginary Friend

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy of Stephen Chbosky’s novel, Imaginary Friend, in exchange for an honest review.

Strange things are happening in the small, Pennsylvania town of Mill Grove. The town has been plagued with missing children spanning over several generations, inspiring urban legends. Kate Reese is escaping an abusive relationship and she decides to make a fresh start for herself and her seven-year-old son, Christopher, in Mill Grove. On the surface, it appears to be an idyllic town, but soon Christopher is swept up in the horrors that have befallen other children of the community. It all begins when Christopher makes an imaginary friend that he names “The Nice Man.”

I love horror and I have never been legitimately freaked out until Imaginary Friend. The horror and graphic imagery is on a level that almost made me quit the book. I’m quite honestly shocked by how much Chbosky’s novel affected my sleep and invaded my imagination. He’s an incredible writer.

Chbosky’s story assaults the reader in multiple ways. He balances intense descriptions that leave little to the imagination, with gaps that allow the reader to imagine the worst. I read that Imaginary Friend is in development to be made into a movie or TV series. I don’t think that I could handle it and I seriously can’t imagine how any visual could match or be worse than what I was creating in my mind. The action, especially in the last half of the story, is virtually non-stop and at a break-neck pace. I kept catching myself holding my breath from the intensity. There are several great plot twists that I did not see coming.

Imaginary Friend is one of the most unexpected books that I have ever read. It’s a roller coaster ride. I think I was caught off-guard primarily because it is so vastly different than Chbosky’s best-selling novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I loved The Perks of Being a Wallflower and was excited to see his much-anticipated follow-up. I’m sure many readers will pick up Imaginary Friend, based on their love for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and they may be left disappointed. The books are so dissimilar and horror, especially this level of horror, is not going to be everyone’s cup-of-tea. However, it’s awesome that Chbosky wrote a wildly different type of story. He took a risk. He wrote the story that he needed to tell. I have so much respect for him.

My only criticism is that the story felt long. It is long, coming in at around seven-hundred pages. The pacing wasn’t slow, but it was too long to live in that particular story world. It’s a stressful read and I wanted out. It also suffers from a glut of action at the end of the story, pushing Imaginary Friend to continue beyond the point of where it felt like the story should have ended. It was along the lines of an action movie that has one too many explosions or car wrecks, or the horror film when the villain rises from the dead, but in this case, it was several resurrections too many.

This criticism aside, I found Imaginary Friend to be a highly memorable read. Chbosky has a unique voice and a crazy brain for horror writing. You’ll never look at deer the same way. It will also make you reevaluate any imaginary friends that your kids might have at the moment.

It was so darn creepy, that I have the chills just writing this review!

Book Review - Chuck Palahniuk's Damned

I've just experience my first heartbreak as an aspiring writer.

Last weekend, I was browsing in Barnes and Noble, when I came across Chuck Palahniuk's Damned. I'm a fan of Palahniuk and Damned, now in paperback, had slipped my attention. I picked it and read the description. Devastation. The story seemed to be remarkably similar to the novel that I'm currently writing and one that I have been workshopping. 

I calmed myself. Maybe it just seemed to be similar. I bought the book to check it out for myself. Although it is very different than what I'm writing ( and hell, just Palahniuk's tone is so unique to him), there are enough similarities to make me rethink key components of my story.

Heartbreak. 

PLOT - Thirteen year old Madison Spencer is the newest arrival in hell. The daughter of an eccentric celebrity couple, her life on earth was mainly lived as another accessory for her parents. Fat and awkward, popularity has not come easily to Madison. She is unsure of how she died, but she suspects that it may have been a marijuana overdose, occurring while getting stoned with her adopted Russian brother. 

Hell is a confusing place. Demons run rampant and are quick to devour and torture the deceased, only to have the dead reappear for more torment. It's easy for most people to land in hell. Honk your horn too many times or litter and you might not get a pass to heaven. The landscape is littered with rotten candy, mountains of toe nail clippings and rivers of hot saliva. Telemarketers work from hell, communing with the living through phone surveys. 

It's hard enough being an awkward thirteen year old girl, but Madison must figure out why she is in hell and how to live in her new existence. 

LIKE - I liked Palahniuk's vivid imagination in describing hell. It's disgusting and hilarious. Palahniuk's unique style of wit is on every page of the story. I grew to like Madison as our unlikely heroine and I liked her Judy Blume style of writing letters to satan to start each chapter. I'm glad that at the very end of the book ( I'm not going to spoil it), he explained why hell has so much candy. It was a cleaver little twist. I liked the transformation of Madison's character. She's a kick-ass towards the end!

DISLIKE - In all of the imaginative details, the stakes got lost. Other than the demons at the start of the story, the characters didn't have a sense of urgency or danger. The consequences were low, which made my interest wane. Along with the stakes, the general plot played second fiddle to the creative details and humor. This isn't to say that Damned wasn't a fun read, but it could have been a more compelling read. The story ended with a "to be continued" and I'm not sure if I would continue with the story. 

RECOMMEND - If you're a Palahniuk fan, you're going to have to read Damned. This book would have definitely crossed my path at some point. However, if you've not read a novel by Palahniuk, don't start with this one. I enjoyed Choke or Invisible Monsters.