Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

670 reviews

ed_moore's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.25

“This is the quiet of the dead, the kind of quiet coloured by the creaking of rope and the rush of water and wind, all the things that aren’t the quiet that makes the quiet so loud it hurts”

The setting of Andrew Joseph White’s ‘Hell Followed With Us’ is simply incredible. The story follows a trans boy, Benji, who has been turned by a far right Christian extremist group who brought upon ‘the flood’ on judgement day and committed the genocide of nine billion ‘heretics’ into a monster called the Seraph that’ll bring them religious salvation. The dystopian backdrop to the story was so captivating and the world White creates around his band of rebel queer teenagers who try to exist in this reality against the force of The Angels is so harrowing yet fantastically crafted. It is however very unsettling and White does not hold back with the gore and body horror. Be warned this book is full of mutilation, disease, creatures that are made up from decaying corpses and general violence, but it does add to the horrifying religious apocalypse that White creates. 

The story is primarily told through the perspective of Benji as he battles with being accepted as a boy and the monster that is growing inside him, however there are occasional other perspectives that didn’t feel overly necessary. I would have been happy with a consistent story from Benji’s perspective. It also often shows only the aftermaths of violence and battles rather than the events themselves which I felt was a small loss. The story however was captivating and the dystopian worldbuilding some of the best I have ever read. 

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knittyreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-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

3.5

This book is more action-focused than the previous book I read from this author, which made it a bit harder for me to get into it. However, I love how this more fast paced, dystopian action is used to discuss heavy topics and character development in a more natural way.

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lulaabees's review against another edition

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

2.0

really strong concepts, poor execution. i get what the author was going for, but this book suffers from weak prose, messy pacing (i kept having to go back and reread previous paragraphs because the flow was frankly... bad), and gore that often feels more aesthetic than heartfelt. i would have liked more exploration of the themes and character, less blood and sinews flying around for what sometimes felt like the sake of it.
but it did make me feel something, as a trans (and autistic) person. of course it did. i just expected a LOT more, and a LOT better.
i will say as a final note though that the final fight (specifically, the moment where the interiority of the main character and what happens on the outside while fighting overlap) felt really cinematic and was pulled off pretty well.

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eliof's review against another edition

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dark 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

What a beautiful gorgeous book. Holy shit. Visceral and angry and cathartic and gory and hopeful.

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ewinnk's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25


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aplemus's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

3.75

this is surprisingly healing in a gay kid kicked out of church for being different and still has a holy kind of vengeful spite they needed to release kinda way

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aspen_suxs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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


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hippievamp's review against another edition

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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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sp00fs's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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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c_hamdete's review against another edition

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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

4.25

This book took me back when I was fourteen years old, and I was so angry. In a way, I think I faced my teen self. I, like Benji, realised that my existence is outside of the binary of this cis heteronormative society. Like him, I hurt people I loved because I trusted the wrong ones. Like him, I thought I'd found love just for it to turn the other way around. Like him, I wanted to make people proud and to love me, even if it meant to hide my true self. Like him, I felt like a time bomb. Like him, I was so hurt and angry, I still am sometimes. But like him, I learnt to stand up for myself, to be proud of who I am, and to fight for what I think it's right. 
I would've liked to read more chapters from Nick's point of view. I would've liked to know more about the ALC members. I would've liked to know more about Benji's life before The Judgment Day, specially about his dad. And I think it would've been great if there were chapters from New Natzareth's people point of view, like Sister Kipling or Benji's mom.
 I expected to find an epilogue at the end of the book, just to know what happened with The Vanguard, with the ALC and other Angels. But overall, I really liked this book. The characters are very well constructed, each feel unique, flawed and beautiful. Most importantly they feel like kids, kids trying to be grown-ups, but kids nonetheless. Which I think is difficult to achieve, most of the time, when authors try to write teenagers they often seem annoying, immature, cringey and childish (at least some of the ones I've read). So, incredibly well-done! I'm looking forward to read more of Andrew White! 

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