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yashaflwrs'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
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
peroxide_princes's review against another edition
- 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
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
lil_goblin's review against another edition
- 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
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
vxg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Deadnaming, Gore, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Dysphoria
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
vixenreader'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, and Classism
Minor: Pedophilia, Racism, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
The scenes of the protagonists barging up their organs is creative and grotesque, and the dogma of the cult could be triggering for anyone who has experienced abuse from a zealous community. Be warned that there is also maternal abuse, critique of religion being used for violence and genocide, an almost forced marriage, biological experimentation on unwilling victims, and bodily mutation.jamievincent's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
The moment i read the description of this book i knew that this was the queer religious horror of my dreams, and besides some qualms with the style/structure (most of which relate to it being a teen book which is not really a flaw) I throughly enjoyed it.
I love how throughly this book embraces the idea of community and aid during tough times just as much as it acknowledges what being queer amidst hostility really means. In this case, rage. deserved rage, rage that doesn’t contradict with that at all.
My only other issue with the book is honestly the character development. There are certain characters that I found unbelievable or who’s bonds with each other I just couldn’t get invested in. I think maybe the small details that flesh them out as people weren’t as there as I would have liked them to be. I loved Benji though.
Any issues with this are also somewhat negated by the very interesting apocalyptic world that the author created, because I was able to absolutely buy into it and was super intrigued by everything surrounding all its grisly history. Loved the little bits of sermons or journals or bible quotes that start off chapters and i thought those were often used for unique worldbuilding.
TLDR; We need more books with trans joy and also trans revenge and I will be reading more Andrew Joseph White
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Transphobia
Minor: Eating disorder, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
fromthefoxhole'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? It's complicated
5.0
We watch as Benji, our trans masc main character, escapes a Doomsday cult committed to seeing the end of days through any means necessary. He's been fighting his entire life, though, so it's no surprise the fight is what pushes him forward.
He finds a home with ALC, a rag-tag group of queer kids who found themselves together when the world ended, and he sees himself in Nick, the autistic boy leading their battle party. He wrestles God, he wrestles the Flood, the sickness that rots away at him from the inside out, and he wrestles himself. What hope is there for absolution amongst the carnage?
I'm not kidding when I say this book is everything to me. I highlighted massive swaths of text, whole chapters even, captured by how relatable Benji is to my own history of fundamental religion being at odds with my queerness. Benji's victories became my own, his failures that much more painful.
White's prose is relentless, interwoven with twisted scripture and teachings, filled to the brim with references and callbacks. Everything within the story is connected, joined together at odd angles and dripping with sick. It's disgusting, it's visceral, it's stunning. A perfect match to those same things within Benji.
I'm never going to stop thinking about this book, and none of you can stop me!
Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
fuguefire's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The second part of this theme is displayed by Nick, leader of the ALC, and once a member of the Angels. throughout the book, we see Nick's mistrust of Benji, and with good reason. There was a really good moment where benji confronts Nick about using the pronoun "it" in stead of "he" and I think it was a really good example of how trans (and minority) characters cannot be written like they exist in a vacuum, and also the ways that people even inside the queer community can still level violence at one another. Of course, at the end of this intense scene, half of benji's face falls off, and suddenly the audience is reminded that this whole conflict over pronouns might not be happening if not for christian extremism in the first place. Perhaps there is a world where Benji and Nick would happily be friends, celebrating their queerness in a loving community. But that world is not theirs anymore.
Finally, I think that Nick's fate in this story is worth noting. Nick, leader of the ALC, whom nobody expected had any ties to the Angels, still gets partially transformed by the latent virus that he was inoculated with as a kid. This is a perfect metaphor for the life-long consequences of being exposed to religious abuse. Even years after you've escaped their influence, and after spending your whole life dedicated to righting their wrongs, a trace of it is always there with you, waiting to bare its teeth.
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Outing, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and War
sapphicacademic's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Transphobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism
This book is, despite its fantastical elements, about the reality of being queer. The author has really good trigger warnings detailed on his website/goodreads.rashi'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War