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mothiver'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? Yes
5.0
I’ve seen people call this book bad representation, but I don’t think it’s trying to be “representation”, in the sense we often use it these days. It’s not meant to show the queer experience to non-queer people in a way that shows them how Not Scary and Great To Give Human Rights To they are.
Instead, it directs itself to the people who have had those experiences, and presents every horrifying second of its narrative with an understanding that you know how this feels. I find myself reminded of the original concept of “the male gaze” - the way a woman watching a woman on screen must see her through the eyes of a man, because the Intended Audience are men. I never realised how much most queer media made me feel like I was watching a non-queer person watch queer people until I read this book, and realised it didn’t. Ironically, I actually think that makes it better representation than many books that try harder to be.
It is also one of the best portrayals of Autism I have ever experienced. I have NEVER seen a book that just… shows it, in all its messy reality, and treats the character as simply a person with flaws and strengths that so happen to fit a diagnostic criteria. I ain’t never seen a love interest lose speech before, and now I shall be chasing that high for the rest of my days.
Another thing I adored was the way that the characters were allowed to be angry. In this book, there is no strength to be found in Just Calming Down, or in Being The Bigger Person - at least, none that does not come from calmness letting you do exactly what you wanted to do angry. There is a certain relief in having a book take you by the shoulders and say you should be angry.
I would recommend Hell Followed With Us. No caveats, beyond making sure you can handle the content warnings. Read this book. You won’t regret it.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Cursing, Deadnaming, Gun violence, and Self harm
Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, and Alcohol
torismazarine'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
4.0
Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
ziracrow'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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
cdelligatti13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Transphobia, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Gun violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Child death, Misogyny, and Medical trauma
periodblood'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
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Deadnaming, Genocide, Misogyny, Torture, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Grief
gremlinpride'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
kickitupanotch7'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
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, and Alcohol
biancafrancisco'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
4.0
The way the books touches so many themes - genocide (quite relevant to today), religious as a tool of imperialism and oppression vs individual expression, eco-facism, the weaponization of ideology to frighten people into obeying, a contageous virus, trans experiences, and the MC's relationship with his body, how it is gendered but also through its mutation (this is done in a very reflective and surprisingly tender way) - and a ton more, was really interesting.
The three things it could have done well with were:
1. A better fleshed out world, it seemed a bit weird that we barely knew what was happening outside the city and that even within it was like only a group of teens and some kind of nationalist type group existed;
2. Better fleshed out characters, in the middle of all the action I feel like there was a tiny scene or two thrown in there about them hanging out and getting along, but we barely saw any of their personalities beyond "this is their sexuality/identity, this is their ethnicity and here is one personality trait". I recognize this can be hard with so much else going on, and it is a debut so I'm confident their next works might improve on it;
3. It really bothered me that, for people who have been surviving for 2 years in shitty conditions, they showed zero attempts to improvise and adapt?? Are you telling me they couldn't have made reusable pads (this one really stood out to me) or any type of agriculture, etc? One of the kids came from a doom prepper family! And either way, people are nifty and crafty and it would've been so interesting to see the ways the ALC organized and became self sufficient. It just seemed really unrealistic that they basically depended only on the Vanguard's supplies. Also, the initial "there's not really anyone in charge here, we're all contributing" was such pandering to this idea of an anarchist community when during the rest of the book no one, besides the Watch a bit, had any say in any decision - might as well have kept that out. I understand these weren't the main themes the book was meant to focus on but it wouldn't have been that hard to add a thing here or there to make it more plausible.
These weren't egregious enough to bother my reading experience. On the contrary, I loved reading this book and did it almost all in one sitting. The message came across really well and I liked the premise and setting of the world. It kind of reminded me of The Last of Us - gory but very meaningful. There was so much love in this story and a lot of moments stuck with me.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Colonisation and Classism
refrejarator'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
5.0
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
cosmicpanda'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Classism