Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

28 reviews

hippievamp's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Classism

multiplyoctopi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, and Alcohol

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content

escape_to_reality's review against another edition

• 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

This story is about a post apocalyptic world where a cult calling themselves Angels has wiped out most of the population. It explores the journey of Benji, a young trans boy who escaped the cult. The themes and characters feels very real, and the story feels very personal to the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Gore, Transphobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Animal death

libraryofemerson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

a LOT of body horror in this but i found that i didn’t mind it too much. i would love to know what happens next!!! the idea of the Seraph and the Graces and the Flood was sooooo so interesting. the lapsed (trans) christian in me was THRIVING while reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Transphobia, and Vomit

Moderate: Death of parent and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Alcohol

parasolcrafter's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

this book is truly fantastic. its gory, its brutal, and it pulls no punches & softens no blows as it tells its story and this makes it the most visceral telling of queer personhood i can remember reading.

going through the story as benjis body is rotting from the inside, transforming into something he never wanted to be, never asked to be, never consented to be is such a horrific way of showcasing what its like to be trans and to not be allowed to be yourself; what forcing down the purest version of yourself does to you, how it can kill you. it was done so beautifully and so tragically and it just...illustrates it so well. the ultimate conclusion of benji becoming seraph, the end form of what he was turning into the whole story, was done so wonderfully, as well; how he gets taken over by rage and bloodlust when hes back in the cult he was raised in, how seraph awakens then as hes back to the abuse and transphobia he was raised in...it truly is poetic. he ends up the savior the Angels raised him as, only he's not their savior and he never was.

and nick...oh, i truly do love his character so much and i only wish we got into his mind more because hes such a beautifully written autistic character, which is, sadly, a rarity. hes so authentically written and represented and i felt so much of myself in him and his subtleties. his hatred of being touched, his stimming, his masking, his constant need to have it all together even when he wants to fall apart...it was so well written and i truly appreciate him so much. hes so, so special 💖

this book has so much heart and hope, and even though the story is over, i know these characters can claw into the dirt and pull themselves from the Hell theyve been plunged into. i know that they can survive and, as said near the end, maybe they can even grow up. its the least they deserve.

the small issues i have with this book - i felt the writing was a bit weak at points and i wish benjis time in the ALC was a longer portion of the book because i do feel that part was lacking; we dont get to know much of the other characters as much as i'd like - definitely dont retract from how much i enjoyed it because what the book does and the story it tells are much greater than any flaws it has. thank you Andrew Joseph White for this wonderful book 💖💖💖

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death

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

peroxide_princes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

I had the pleasure of reading this book shortly after it came out, and I am so glad it jumped off the shelf at me. This book is so powerful and fast-paced, and speaks not only to my trans trauma but my catholic trauma as well. A disgusting and epic story of survival in the very darkest of times. This book truly made me fall in love with AJW’s writing! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Chronic illness, and Cursing

refrejarator's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I cannot believe I have lived this long without reading a book about characters like me - queer, autistic, trans, and angry. This felt like coming home in a way I can't quite explain. I am so deeply moved by this story and so thankful to be alive in a world where stories like this can be created and enjoyed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

elfinafroghat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

 i . am pretty mixed about this book. i wish it was better, mostly. the storyline and concept is incredible and that part of the book is done so well but the characters are lacking and the discussion of queer, especially trans, and autistic characters felt weird to me. this is an own voices book so i don't want to critique that section of it too much - everyone's experience is their own - but i just, personally, wasn't a fan of how these traits were covered, as a queer autistic and trans individual myself. i am still interested in reading this author's second book out of curiosity but i was left wanting more from this one. the pacing was off, there was about 100 pages from roughly page 150-250 that felt really slow to me and almost made me want to stop reading all together, but i kept reading to see how everything concluded and it got better but not perfect still. the imagery was repetitive and unclear, there was a lot of metaphors and descriptive language that were said a lot but i struggled to picture what things looked like most of the time - which is not something that's usually a problem for me. overall, i'm not upset i read this book, im glad i did, i think i would even recommend it to certain people if i felt like they would enjoy it, but it wasn't really for me, and i just wish it was done a little better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol