My Bestfriend's Exorcism bookclub discussion questions

 

The Book Detectives are on another case! This book is our Chief Feminist Officers choice. We meet once a week to discuss the hour and a half worth of reading that I assign each week. Here I will be providing the discussion questions that I make for the group so hopefully your book group will be able to see and use these to have a good discussion. Please know there will be spoilers!! I will try to separate out the sections as best I can so you can read sections as well as a club. 

Beginning to Sunday Bloody Sunday 

1. The demon that possesses someone in this book is the Devil himself, what do you think about this choice? 

2. Did you ever have a birthday party as a kid where you passed out invitations? 

3. What do you think of the way Abby and Gretchen became friends?

4. Why do you think Gretchen lied about her parents being in the witness protection program?

5. What do we think of Abby and Gretchen's best friendship?

6. What do you think about the Madonna incident? 

7. Abby and Gretchen have a fight on vacation, what did you think of this?

8. Abby has a perspective shift when they help Glee find her retainer, was it a good shift?

9. Was it really just a trip or did they all experience the supernatural?

Sunday Bloody Sunday to Paranoimia 

1. We get to see Abby's home life a bit more, what do you think of the contrast between her and Gretchen's home lives?

2. What did you think of Gretchen and her mother involving Abby in their fight? 

3. What do we think of Andy?

4. Why isn't Margret standing up for her friends against her boyfriend?

5. What did you think of the help Gretchen's parents gave to Gretchen?

6. What do you think of the strange occurrences happening around Gretchen?

Paranoimia to New Sensation 

1. Do you think Margret is right saying that Gretchen ditched them first?

2. What did you think of Abby's conversation with her mom?

3. What do you think Gretchen turning the wheel and Abby still staying and helping her says about their friendship?

4. The state of Gretchen's house is really concerning, how are her parents okay living like this?

5. Does any of Gretchen's recent new symptoms makes us think she is indeed using drugs? 

6. Abby tries to talk to Gretchen's parents but it goes the way her mom warned her it would, why couldn't they just listen to her?

 

7. What do you think of Abby's solo attempts at helping Gretchen? 

8. Will their friendship really be able go recover after this?

New Sensation to Like A Prayer 

1. Gretchen isn't being treated like an outcast anymore. Why is she being accepted when normally kids are so quick to hold grudges?

2. The Lemon brothers were annoyingly interesting, do we think Christian really could see the demon haunting Gretchen? 

3. Abby gets a hold of Gretchen's day book, what did you think of the transition from her bubbly writing to the chaos later in the journal? 

4. What do you think Margaret's and Glee's latest obsessions mean?

5. Abby tries to call Andy Solomon but gets Gretchen telling her that the person there isn't her, how will Abby be able to stop them?

6. Why did they include the trip to the donation center in the story? What did that add?

7. We discover that Gretchen never called Andy, who has she been talking to then?

8. What do we think of Abby's mom? 

9. That last scene with Glee was disturbing. How has she changed so much?

Like a Prayer to I Think We're Alone Now 

1. We finally get to the meeting between Abby and Chris (the exorcist), does he inspire confidence? 

2. Abby talks to Glee and Margret again, what did you think of those encounters? 

3. Why didn't Abby's parents believe her?

4. Abby starts being a little spontaneous, will this help her succeed again the demon?

5. What do you think of the 4 steps to an exorcism?

6. We learned the name of the demon in Gretchen, did we almost doubt Brother lemon during the exorcism?

I Think We're Alone Now to End 

1. Isn't it funny how Abby can't believe that Brother Lemon can exorcise the demon, when through out the book everyone has doubted her. If she truly believed in him do you think the process would have been easier?

2. Do you think its fitting that Abby has to face this demon alone in the end?

3. Was the court room scene sad? 

4. Since no one believed Abby all this time shes not going to open up again, will this make things better for her parents? 

5. Gretchen revels to Abby what she can remembers while the demon was in her, do you think only remembering snippets makes it so it really was the demon doing all those things? Or is Gretchen also responsible cause it was her body doing the actions? 

6. Abby and Gretchen have a very strong friendship, does that mean demons are weak against friendship? 

7. Did you like getting to see Abby's life all the way to the end? 

8. Have you read any other books with an exorcism in them? How does this one compare? 

9. Would you read this book again or recommend it to a friend?