Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

46 reviews

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gun violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Outing, Physical abuse, Child death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Misogyny, Grief, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Bullying, Confinement, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Sexism

Minor: Racism, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders

aryelee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

What a novel! I have never seen an apocalyptic setting like this before, full of desperate people trying to survive while the worst of American Christianity sets out to cause more destruction. Truly an incredible portrayal of religious trauma, especially in queer folks who struggle with who they are and their place in the world when they find they can't stay in a place that wants them dead. Be warned that there is a LOT of body horror and gore in this novel, but it works very, very well to achieve its goal.

My absolute favorite aspect of this novel is how empathy is Benji's greatest strength. He does his best to connect to the teenagers in the ALC who take him in, he understands the pain of the monsters created by the Flood, he even empathizes with

Spoiler

Theo after his betrayal and attack, to the point that even I couldn't be mad at Theo when the rest of the Church had done so much worse, even to him.

 

This is a very dark world and dark narrative. I can see why this isn't everyone's cup of tea. But I flew through these pages, loved the writing style, and how people are the focus and the forces of the world/narrative. I'm fine without having a detailed explanation on everything! I don't need to know absolutely everything about the Seraph and how it's a monster, a separate being, inside Benji changing him while also being a metaphor for being trans while growing up in an environment that portrays transness as evil or monstrous. This is a very contained world; it's the remains of one town. There is a world still out there past the bridge, but we never cross it. Everything happens in one place, and we know all we need to know about it. Not once did I feel overwhelmed by the author trying to shove as much worldbuilding information on the page as possible. No, this took all the time it needed, kept a strong focus on Benji and Nick, and left off at a hopeful note.

Hell certainly did follow with us, but there's a life past hell worth living. Benji has made his way there despite everything. I hope the readers who need this book get there too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Genocide, Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Child death, Self harm, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, and Self harm

emjams's review against another edition

dark emotional 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: Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Child death

Moderate: Xenophobia, Self harm, Mental illness, Medical content, Abandonment, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Outing, Domestic abuse, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Animal death, and Alcohol

This book has basically every imaginable TW on it EXCEPT for sexual assault, but even that is briefly touched on. Benji has trauma from assault, but only from physical/emotional abuse, not SA.

justmehayleyb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Confinement, Child death, Bullying, Homophobia, Grief, Gore, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Death, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Death of parent, Genocide, Gaslighting, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Body horror, Self harm, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child abuse, and Blood

runes_reads's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

I loved all of the themes and ideas explored in this book! What it means to be good, what it means to be a monster, trans anger, righteousness, all of it! The main character is a trans boy, 16 years old. There's a TW at the beginning, which is always lovely. One of the main characters, Nick is confirmed autistic (page 64 and also on the blurb in the dust jacket). I didn't even realize that when I started reading, but his character is done so well- and that's coming from an autistic person. I do wish we got to see more of his POV, but that's completely subjective, because I love his character. The rest of the main cast is also made up of teenagers, and there's some major queer found family, one of my favorite tropes. I finished this book in two days, and did end up crying during it. It's not for the queasy or faint of heart. I will say, there are a lot of side characters, and I kept getting them mixed up. That might've been on purpose, because they are all teenagers. They're not going to act in entirely complex ways in this sort of situation. They should be in high school worrying about their next test. It was really a devastating book, I gave it a full 5/5.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Gore, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, War, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Genocide, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia

Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual content

michaelion's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The best books leave me speechless when it comes to the review. God damn, that was magnificent. I love when little gay kids are so engulfed with rage they turn into biblically accurate angel monsters and burn the world with their fury. Like as a queertrans that's just so real and true and ugh I love it. The only notable flaw was that the pacing felt fast. But then the story actually was fast. It takes place in a month. But it's such a minor flaw. Like yeah. Gay people do fall in love, do anything really, that fast. So real. So true. So real.

Spoiler

I can't tell you how fucking G A G G E D I was when they said we're gathered here to join these families in holy matrimony! I threw the book! I screamed and paused the audio!!! The utter and absolute shock!!! The audacity!!! I love it here!!!!!

If you loved this book for the same religious reasons I did then you'd love the song Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You by Gotye. And the music video!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Body horror, Deadnaming, Genocide, Violence, Hate crime, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Self harm, War, Vomit, Blood, Dysphoria, Death, and Confinement

Minor: Ableism and Racism

caspian_the_pauper's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Easily one of favorite reads but not for the faint of heart

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Self harm, and Transphobia

pewter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

Really enjoyed both the story and how it was written. It wasn't too colloquial but still had an organic narrative rhythm and some excellent lines. But mainly the world built here is not at all unimaginable, and the themes of found family and queer joy are easy to embrace and not hammy. I think this truly does encompass many of the dissonances we queer folk encounter, from our bodies to how people see us, to struggles with religion and Heaven. Wild ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Genocide, Deadnaming, Cursing, War, Medical trauma, Death, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Torture, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Confinement, and Child death

eggy_nb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

Going FERAL over this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Cursing, War, Violence, Homophobia, Hate crime, Torture, Genocide, Confinement, Child death, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Death, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Medical content, Gun violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

It’s very emotionally intense to read. The character has a lot of anger to get through and has trouble expressing that at times.