Imaginary Friend Hardcover – October 1, 2019

Although I felt this novel could have been shorter, and a little less confusing in parts, it is definitely a great reminder of the triumph of the human spirit. An allegory for Christianity, and an example of the Hero's Journey archetype, this story shows how the devil and evil can twist the world through our own guilt and insecurities but there is always hope when we allow the Son to set us free.

This book surprised me with its adult thinking, and only small amount of adult content. I didn't want it to end, and was intrigued by the twist it took.

I started Imaginary Friends on Kindle -- and about 60% through the book realized how much I loved it and needed to own a physical copy that I can in turn re-read in the future. I was captivated from the start, and the transgression into more of a religious literary turn was huuuuge, and so smooth! Being the first book that I picked up to read by Stephen Chbosky, I am highly pleased and far from disappointed! I think I will have a lasting book hangover after this 706 page read! (I didn't realize it was a thick book until I bought the physical copy.)I found myself 25 pages until completion, and doing everything I could to stay awake and finish the book, but then doing everything I could to take my time and read the ending slow in order to keep the story alive. This book had me up at 2AM in the morning, telling my boyfriend about how great the book was and how I wanted to finish it, without finishing the story. I was physically and emotionally invested in this story line, while bringing the story to life in my dream while my eyes were shut.When I thought I had a grasp of where the story was leading, there would be a turn and something unexpected. To be able to write from many perspectives along the way, the pictured couldn't have been painted more perfectly than how Chbosky adapted it. I was able to grow a personal bond to each individual story contributer, and had my loves and dislikes about most characters. I am so glad I decided to buy this book on Kindle, and even more excited to have a physical copy to binge in the future! This will be a re-read for me down the road once I tackle more of my TBR.Imaginary Friend took me ~7.5 hours to complete from start to finish.

I circled around this book for a long time, but when I heard it was written by a fellow Pittsburgher, I decided to take the plunge.Where the book scored points with me:It was generally a good story -- good vs. evil, angels vs devil, heaven vs hades. It was suspenseful and intense. Everything you want in a book of this genre. Sure there is religious aspect to it, it literally has demons in it. But as a person who is not at all religious, I didn't feel that it was preachy or over the top in anyway.It takes place in my back yard. It was fun seeing places that I visit regularly and roads I drive on named in the book, even if the actual neighborhood/woods are fictitious.There is a twist around the climax that left me saying "WOW - did NOT see that coming!" It was done in a completely plausible way, kind of like in The Sixth Sense.Where it went awry for me:It is way. too. long. The hardback is 700+ pages. Small type. There were places where the description was just too much and didn't really add anything to the storyline. Additionally, some of the "battles" felt repetitious. I am sure the author wanted the reader to feel the intensity of the battle, but a few times, I was hoping that the demons would take out the main character, just so the book would end. He could have easily cut it to 550-600 pages by editing out some of that out.With that many pages and as a hardback, the book was HEAVY. Uncomfortably heavy. Sounds stupid, but I had a hard time finding a comfortable position to hold this book - definitely not one you can easily read in bed. Fall asleep and you might end up with a broken nose.Also, with the type set being so small, it was hard to read, especially if you have older eyes. (if the type had been a high pt., the book might have been 850+ pages, so I think it was a deliberate choice.)I am not sorry I read it, but it isn't a book I would recommend unless you REALLY love this genre.

To be upfront: this is a well-written novel and a had some good scares (my spouse can attest I had some weird dreams most of the nights I was reading the book). I appreciate the short, almost brusque sentence length of many of the sections, and the experimentation with paragraph form and punctuation. That said, that was for me ultimately undercut by Christian overtones that were so heavy-handed that I found myself rolling my eyes multiple times throughout the book, and that ultimately led to both a major plot hole towards the last quarter of the story and a climax and ending that were predictable in all the worst ways when it comes to a horror novel. Nevertheless, much of the creepy content was enjoyably unsettling and the experimentation with form was effective and interesting. But if, like me, you feel that Christian savior imagery is played out when it comes to horror, beware: the main character’s name is CHRISTopher.

I have never written a book review before but felt compelled to warn other potential readers to think carefully before spending a very long amount of time reading this. It is mostly graphic horror, most of which is repeated and repeated. I have rarely abandoned a book but had to stop at around 80% as couldn't take anymore. I enjoyed the first quarter of the book before it descended into non-stop gore; the theme of an imaginery world in parallel to reality was intiguing initially. I kept on reading for as long as I could as I imagined there might be a great ending / plot twist that could redeem it but am unable to read to the end. Unfortunately the story line and character development was just not there for me - and certainly not enough literary skill for me to see past the endless descriptions of streets running with blood and hordes of threatening deer.

A sophomore novel so badly written that it makes you wish you had never learned to read. It's almost as if Chbosky got onto that "Perks" movie set and started to believe the magic smoke Emma Watson was blowing up his rear end. He credits the Harry Potter star withinspiring him to come up with the ending to this tome; in the same breath he credits Stephen King for inspiring "everything else". Stephen Chbosky is about as close to Stephen King as E.L.James is to Gore Vidal. The plot is about a 7 year old boy apparently suffering from a magical sort of ennui. He feels the pain of the real world to the extent that the imaginary world gets stronger with each psychic nosebleed or mixed case of fONt. Imaginary Friend has to be the least imaginative work of fiction since Donald Trump last submitted a tax return. Not since the dreadful remake of Ben Hur has a cast this big had so very little to work with. For the love of God, somebody give Chbosky another Disney live action or zeitgeist YA novel (a la Palacio’s “Wonder”) to adapt. In the current climate, Chicken Little would be perfect for you, Stevie. You could sit and hypothesize about the sky falling whilst sitting in your tree house in those enchanted woods. Just stay away from those vicious deer with the razor sharp teeth, Stevie. I'm pretty sure that being on set with Julia Roberts is not a proven talisman against aggressive wildlife. I might be wrong about that one though. Then again, you can always ask that white plastic bag on a stick what he thinks. After all, he is your imaginary friend. Yours and yours alone.

This is Christian Fiction. And its advertised very, very deceptively. That being said, its bloody obvious a few pages in. I hated the book, and felt tricked after it. God, religion and rubbish. I doubt ill venture into SC again after this 700 paged train wreck.

The concept is sound but ultimately the book doesn't deliver against its potential. The characters are more like caricatures, especially the protagonist who just doesn't work as a seven year old. Like several other reviewers I feel the story would have had more impact of it were delivered in half the words. I found it frustrating, even patronising, to have the central thesis of good triumphs over evil to be restated over and over. The book has its moments, but I won't be recommending it to fellow bibliophiles.

First off, I would like to say that it has taken me 6 weeks to read this book. I would advise treating it like a meal with many small courses. Savour every last word but in short amounts of time (to avoid frustration). I enjoyed this book. The writing really is wonderful. The imagery is fantastic and leaves no unanswered questions ( I get frustrated with authors that leave things to the imagination. This is ironic considering the fact that I love reading and have done from a young age.) that I could find. This is definitly heavily Chrstian fiction. For myself, I can't stand being preached at, however it took me a while to realise what the book is actually about. This being said, the message does not detract from the fantastic story and something always pulled me back to it. I would advise not spending too much money on it. I managed to buy it for £2.99 and it was a birthday present so I can live with that.). I'm not sure at what point I realised the story was about how we all (mostly) create our own Hell but I do know that I was enjoying the supernatural side of it all so much that I wanted to read to the end.So try to ignore the reviews that give this 1 star and give the writer a chance. It's rambling and yes, could have been written with maybe 3/4 of the words but I think that it would have lost some of the magic if the writer had cut chapters.