Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

7 reviews

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

There's honestly not much to say here. Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White is a fantastic book that had me gripped from the dedication page all the way until the end. I read it so quickly that I had extra time on my hands I didn't account for because I thought it might take me a little longer to read. The pacing was fantastic, the switch between character points of view was masterful, I loved all the little in-universe epigraphs, and, of course, the writing was amazing.

White definitely knows his craft because the descriptions of the horror and apocalyptic world were disgusting and terrifying how realistic he made it all seem. The commentary of current society and religion and politics, and how adults actually act like kids and the kids are forced to grow up faster than they were supposed to, was so on point it hurt. The fact of the matter is that the world depicted in Hell Followed With Us actually feels like a possibility in our future is insane. 

As well, White is the first author who has been able to write LGBTQ+ characters with a modern tone/use of internet knowledge and slang without me wanting to rip my hair out in frustration or cringe at the attempt. He actually made it believable that a character can have xe/xem/xyr pronouns and not seem out of place, or for a character to outright state they're trans without a long tirade on what it means to be trans. He made it seem natural and normal, which it is.

Truly, hats off to Andrew Joseph White for accomplishing what so many authors have attempted with not great success. I look forward to reading his new book, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Blood, Eating disorder, Torture, Terminal illness, Abortion, Dysphoria, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Child death, Murder, Gore, Vomit, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Violence, Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content, Ableism, Misogyny, Confinement, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Outing, Body shaming, and Chronic illness

foiblesandfiction's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I've been sitting on this review for a couple of weeks because I'm just not sure how I feel about the book.

I loved it.  I also didn't necessarily like it.  And maybe those are two different things, just like we are able to love people without liking them, which makes sense for me because my mind tends to personify all books.  Books have feelings, too.

This story sank it's teeth right into my religious trauma, and the resonating ache from that is why I love this story so.  The character names, the Bible verses, the rules and judgements and negative self-talk.  I felt, I feel, all of that.  It's all very twisty and knotted up in my chest so I won't be able to say very much more than that, to be honest.  Too raw, too messy. 

Forget about the body horror, my issue was the Christians lol

Sorry Christians!  Kind of.

Why I disconnected from this story was due to the writing itself.  It's gorgeous and it's also a lot.  It doesn't read like the first-person point of view of a sixteen year old kid.  Unfortunately, this kept taking me out of the story.

Recommended for fans of Ava Reid.  If, like me, you found yourself highlighting entire paragraphs of The Wolf and the Woodsman, or disturbingly delighted at the cannibalistic horror of Juniper & Thorn, you'll find something to enjoy in this young adult horror novel as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Outing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Grief, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Biphobia, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Racism, Child abuse, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Misogyny

davidbythebay's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

This was a solid book that was outside my usual genre. It's definitely got the elements of a true horror nightmare, and yet the queer elements, self reflection, and romance lightened it just enough. I liked how it progressed and never felt that the plot dragged, but I did feel that the ending was a little too much gripping the seat, waiting for the final battle and not enough with the battle and aftermath. And that's where things fell apart for me a bit. Still an absolutely stellar and strong novel, but I just felt a little rushed at the end and left feeling a little too much like there is something missing at the end.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Death, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Blood, Deadnaming, Genocide, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Death of parent

shutupaboutbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

"Maybe the Flood has given me something in return for my body: the anger I never let myself have as a little girl, the rage I swallowed down every day of my life. It feels like it’s slotting into place where it was meant to be all along." 

This book was incredible. I put it off for awhile and I'm so mad at myself for doing that. 

The characters in the book are phenomenal. Even in extreme circumstances they feel very relatable. The representation was so well done. Trans rep, gay rep and autism rep. The romance was so pure 

The horror in this book was disgusting. I loved it. If you can't stomach gore do not read this book! The setting was so eerie and the graces were just disgusting. 

Overall, an insanely good book! I highly recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body horror, Death, Religious bigotry, Dysphoria, and Transphobia

Moderate: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

queersubtext's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Gore, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Transphobia, Genocide, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Dysphoria, Vomit, Grief, Domestic abuse, Torture, Physical abuse, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Deadnaming

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Body horror, Gore, Transphobia, Vomit, and Blood

Moderate: War, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Ableism

snowydaze'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? It's complicated

5.0

 I received an e-ARC of Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Overall, this book is probably one of my favorite ones of the year so far. It has everything one could ask for in a dystopian novel without having it feel too similar to the rest of them. There's a cult that takes over the world and a badass group of queer kids that work together to better their current situation. The main character, Benji fits perfectly into that category of morally gray in the best way. Furthermore, the cast of characters within the LGBTQ+ center is diverse and dynamic with at least a bit of character shining through for more than one character.  Additionally, there are neopronouns used for one of the characters, which is refreshing and not seen too often. Plus, there's an autistic character who's allowed to exist without his autism being treated like a character flaw. There's also that aspect of religious trauma and coming to terms with how a religious upbringing both affects and fits into one's identity.  

I will say that this book does have an unbelievably long list of trigger warnings and is filled with a lot of gore. It truly fits into the genre of horror and as such does get very dark at times. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Self harm, War, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Confinement, Deadnaming, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt