Imaginary Friend

This book was amazing. It started off slow and I almost gave up on it. But the twists kept me going. I loved every single page!

Ok so this was a LONG book. And as a fan of Stephen King I should've been prepared.Christopher and his mom are on the run from his moms abusive boyfriend. They stop in a small town in Pennsylvania doing their best on the minimal funds they have. As a new kid Christopher is immediately the butt of the jokes from the classroom bullies, but he does make 3 friends, twins Matt and Mike and Eddie.But something weird is going on in the woods near the school. Christopher goes missing for 6 days and is rescued by a nice man that no one knows.But the bice man isn't of the real world. He's of the imaginary world. And their friendship sets in motion a chain of events that will flip the world upside down and tear the town apart.The book had great themes of good and evil and loyalty and betrayal. There is a HUGE plot twist that actually makes the length of the book all worth it.There are a lot of different points of view and minor characters who have great importance to the stories progression.

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.

So, I haven't read a book like this in a while! The story took me somewhere else. The way the author writes made me smile, which not enough books do! Definitely worth the long read...which didn't feel very long to me. I didn't want it to end!

The media could not be loaded.  Comprei o livro, chegou super rápido bem embalado.Eu já tinha lido umas 3 páginas do livro e super já me prendi a trama, agora que chegou vou terminar de ler, são tantas páginas, garanto que e uma mais cativante do que a outra, super indico.

Lo compré a un muy buen precio y llegó en perfecto estado 😃

Nice quality

A really interesting read, long but enjoyable. I'm not religious in the least but I enjoyed the "God" aspect of it. Would really make for a great HBO or Netflix series, especially is Chbosky directed it. Definitely recommend.

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.