Let's Talk About Books

Fun fact: I used to have "The power of Christ compels you!" as my ringtone for whenever my devoutly Catholic grandparents called me. I thought it was hilarious.

For those who haven't seen the movie, The Exorcist is about a twelve year old girl, Regan McNeil, who begins to display signs of demonic possession. The plot revolves around her mother, an actress, as she tries to help her daughter and a priest who is seriously questioning his faith as they both converge with a battle with the supernatural.

I wasn't too sure I'd like the book since I'm fairly lukewarm to the movie. It never really scared me and I found it kind of boring the first time I watched it. As you might expect, the book was definitely better than the movie. I loved it. It was so hard to stop reading it because I was dying to know what happened next. It's a compelling and intricate mystery. Is Regan mentally ill or is she really possessed? Can Karras save her when doctor after doctor has failed? It's great and cringeworthy and intense. 

The biggest drawback to the book is it gets off to a very slow start. The first two chapters are so slow to get through that I almost gave up on the book entirely. Once you push through those chapters though the pace really picks up. There are a few other points where the plot slows down, nothing much really happening. If it weren't for these slower parts, I'd probably give the book 5 stars. 

Another drawback is the demon. That's the one area where the movie is superior. In the book, I didn't find the demon that scary. He was just crude and spoke too much. Frequently I was like, okay, why are you giving this speech? It has no point and it's not even scary. I liked how the movie kept it simple. The character was more effective that way.

Overall though this is a terrific book. If you liked the movie, you will definitely love this book. 

Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Check it out if you'd like a good paranormal mystery.