Imaginary Friend

Written by:
Stephen Chbosky
Narrated by:
Christine Lakin

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
94
Narrator
23
Release Date
October 2019
Duration
24 hours 35 minutes
Summary
Instant New York Times Bestseller
One of Fall 2019's Best Books (People, EW, Lithub, Vox, Washington Post, and more)
A young boy is haunted by a voice in his head in this acclaimed epic of literary horror from the author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Christopher is seven years old.Christopher is the new kid in town.Christopher has an imaginary friend.
We can swallow our fear or let our fear swallow us.
Single mother Kate Reese is on the run. Determined to improve life for her and her son, Christopher, she flees an abusive relationship in the middle of the night with her child. Together, they find themselves drawn to the tight-knit community of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It's as far off the beaten track as they can get. Just one highway in, one highway out.
At first, it seems like the perfect place to finally settle down. Then Christopher vanishes. For six long days, no one can find him. Until Christopher emerges from the woods at the edge of town, unharmed but not unchanged. He returns with a voice in his head only he can hear, with a mission only he can complete: Build a treehouse in the woods by Christmas, or his mother and everyone in the town will never be the same again.
Twenty years ago, Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower made readers everywhere feel infinite. Now, Chbosky has returned with an epic work of literary horror, years in the making, whose grand scale and rich emotion redefine the genre. Read it with the lights on.
Reviews
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Eric C.

The first half was good but then as the plot unveiled, I just got bored. I'm about 70% through and I don't want to read it anymore. I got a lot of Stephen King vibes from the writer, but I don't think he got it right. The book just seems like a mess, things happen that make me ask "Why?" It was bit disappointing.

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Doreen B.

I agree with another review poster. The book was at least 10 hours too long. And yes, it was stuck on repeat. Pretty much what the other reviewer said!!!

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Tina G.

I really enjoyed the book. Had some good plot twists. I think the narrator really did an excellent job putting a vocal emphasis on story.

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Sonya K.

Wow. I recommend this to anyone who likes good twists and the creeps!

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AmyShoff

This was a longggg listen but it was worth it. The narrator was fantastic and it genuinely felt like listening to different characters. The story kept me interested despite the length.

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Anonymous

I agree with what the other reviewers said: this book is way too long and too repetitive. It causes the reader to lose interest in it altogether. I got to where the plot felt like it should be wrapping up and there were still about 12 hours left, so I continued listening for another couple of hours, only for the same scenarios to keep repeating. I got so bored with it, I quit listening with around 10 hours left of it and I am not at all interested in how it ends. The narrator was ok at first, but after a while, her attempts to build suspense fell flat and her attempts to sound male when reading the male characters’ dialogue just became annoying.

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Ray A.

The book and narration were excellent. I was actually grateful it was so long. Everything was amazingly detailed and the storyline sucks you in.

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M3LI

Great book

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Lois R.

Great book. No bed time story here

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Shirley M.

This book was ridiculously long and monotonous. The same thing over and over and over and over and over again. I have to agree with another review writer, I kept checking to see how much longer I had to endure this story. It started out good and should have ended after about three hours unfortunately it went on much longer than that. At first it seems like a good theme but then it just in dragged on repeating the same scenes over and over again. I had to force myself to finish it and the end was is just as disappointing.

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Traci B.

I really enjoyed this audio book! It was long and could be monotonous, but I thoroughly enjoyed both the story & the narrator. It didn’t seem like a 24 hour listen. The creepy factor was well enhanced by the narrator’s take on the voices of some of the characters & the basic premise of good v. evil was complicated, yet so simple.

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Nicolas V.

Well it’s not Stephen King. It’s not Clive Barker. Though it’s influenced heavily by both. Parts are crazy scary. Could certainly use a bit of editing. The narrator is top notch. She kind of makes it really work. I had fun.

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Anonymous

First off let me say I love long books, but this one could have ended in ten hours, maybe less. I literally kept checking to see how much longer I had to listen. Good God did it drag, and drag, and drag. I feel the author attempted to write in the style of Stephen King, which is a mistake for anyone. There is only one King. The storyline was a good one, but the author lost it by giving the same analogies over and over and over, and adding unnecessary, and nonesechel stuff. It was like parts of the book were stuck on repeat. I mean how many times can you describe something as "The cool side of the pillow" or "Like a cat bringing a mouse to its master"? And the Deer....dude what is your deal with the deer? Yeah, I get what he was trying to do with the deer, but it was done very poorly and was not at all creepy, which is what I believe he was trying to achieve. Made no sense. This author needs to stick to stories about adolescents and teenagers because a horror writer he is not.

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