Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

62 reviews

withsquared's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

ezwolf's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I want to say that I can understand why this book has done so well and so many people have spoken highly of this book. But it really just wasn't amazing for me. I think part of it is because I'm not really a huge fan of post apocalyptic stories that are set so close to the actual event, plus I have been avoiding stories about pandemics for obvious reasons. A friend highly recommended I read this so I decided to give it a shot, but I just wasn't as enthused as I had hoped. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol and Classism

grey_jayne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I read this book for the Trans Rights Readathon and was barreling through it for the first 2/3. Granted, my life got busy so it's hard to know if I fell out of pacing or if the story slowed down but I definitely enjoyed things a little less as it was ending.

Holy Body Horror tho! The creature and mutation sequences are excellent. I think I honestly wanted more monsters than I got, but I am not sad about the abundance of body horror description. 

I do want to warn people that the hinge romantic edge of this story includes an abuser. This book is targeting messy emotions so I get why this is included but anyone looking for the romance may be appalled by this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

hazelwood's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I really, really enjoyed this book.  Benji was very relatable with his anger at the religion and the hatred that turned his world into hell. It gets messy when the people who raised you and loved you all your life are also the ones who want to watch the rest of the world burn. Sometimes you just want to turn into a monster and rip their throats out. Especially when they threaten your friends. And Benji gets his vengeance for every bit of disrespect they hurled at him and his friends in terrifying monsterous glory. So this was incredibly satisfying in that way, even though I personally prefer restorative justice rather than violent retribution as the solution to human conflicts. It was also very nice to watch Benji find solace in a found family of other queer kids. I will be reading any more books in this series or by this author, because wow I felt so seen here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

vagaybond's review against another edition

dark tense

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Alcohol

This book had a lot of things that would be described as extremely gruesome, graphic and horrifying. The protagonist has a terminal disease in which he is turning into a monster, and he routinely vomits up black sludge and parts of his internal organs. He has violent impulses and thoughts that become more and more intense as the story goes on. The cult is also pretty horrible and sacrifices children and cuts them in a ritual way, and uses scarification to put wings into their back. There is also strangulation scenes and scenes where skin and muscle sloughs off the protagonist's body.

cdelligatti13's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Transphobia, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Gun violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Child death, Misogyny, and Medical trauma

beanaroni's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

one of those books that I kept wishing I'd written the entire time I was reading it. andrew joseph white gets it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Eating disorder

this is a book that heeds a general body horror warning for its entire length, but please be cautious if you're particular about teeth (as I am).

there is an entire passage dedicated to the MC taking pliers to try to remove one of his monster teeth and it was pretty brutal to read.

lil_goblin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Kidnapping

sagareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A big queer rage book, and a little heavy on the gore and body horror for my personal enjoyment (especially given that I often read while eating). That's not a criticism, though -- just a matter of personal taste. The writing is excellent and the characters are very well-crafted, an authentic mix of messy, flawed, very human teenagers making the best of awful situations. I also appreciated the nuanced, visceral exploration of the book's dark themes, including queerness, transphobia, and religious fundamentalism. Definitely worth reading if you have a strong stomach, but don't go in expecting a happy ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Gore, Self harm, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

rorunyon96's review against another edition

The plot was messy, characters felt shallow and I felt a disconnect of someone from a religious cult adapting and yet not adapting all at once. Glad to see representation but the plot was just not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Dysphoria