Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

58 reviews

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

There's honestly not much to say here. Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White is a fantastic book that had me gripped from the dedication page all the way until the end. I read it so quickly that I had extra time on my hands I didn't account for because I thought it might take me a little longer to read. The pacing was fantastic, the switch between character points of view was masterful, I loved all the little in-universe epigraphs, and, of course, the writing was amazing.

White definitely knows his craft because the descriptions of the horror and apocalyptic world were disgusting and terrifying how realistic he made it all seem. The commentary of current society and religion and politics, and how adults actually act like kids and the kids are forced to grow up faster than they were supposed to, was so on point it hurt. The fact of the matter is that the world depicted in Hell Followed With Us actually feels like a possibility in our future is insane. 

As well, White is the first author who has been able to write LGBTQ+ characters with a modern tone/use of internet knowledge and slang without me wanting to rip my hair out in frustration or cringe at the attempt. He actually made it believable that a character can have xe/xem/xyr pronouns and not seem out of place, or for a character to outright state they're trans without a long tirade on what it means to be trans. He made it seem natural and normal, which it is.

Truly, hats off to Andrew Joseph White for accomplishing what so many authors have attempted with not great success. I look forward to reading his new book, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Outing, and Toxic friendship

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

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Abandonment

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.

hendrixpants's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, and War

Moderate: Homophobia

fromthefoxhole's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

WHEW what a fuckin book!!! Hell Followed With Us is a fucking triumph, and I absolutely loved it. 

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!

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Content Warnings

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

summermorning's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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: Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

onf's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Dysphoria

Minor: Ableism, Drug use, and Eating disorder

caissa_chthonia's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

maladaptivedaydreamer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

ernie_bernie's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

fuguefire's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

This book was a fantastic story about a trans boy who is being turned into a monster by those he loved, and who is fighting tooth-and-nail to become something different. If you have been looking for queer horror, you have found it. I think that this book serves as a really good allegory for the consequences of evangelistic christianity on LGBTQ+ people.

The primary aspect of this theme is the main character Benji himself of course. Seraph, the mutation Benji has been infected with, is literally devouring his body from the inside out, causing him to vomit organs and his skin to fall off in sheets. This is a graphic portrayal of the body dysmorphia that trans teens feel every day: the betrayal of one's own body transforming into something grotesque, and being helpless to stop it. Even worse: knowing that if your family really loved you the way they should, then things would have been different. Indeed, the real horror that seems to plague Benji throughout this book was NOT his profane metamorphosis, but the knowledge that none of it- the death of billions, the murder of his father, the hatred of his identity- had to happen at all. If the church had simply accepted the world the way it was, the world would still be standing, and perhaps Benji would become the man he knows he should have been. 
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.

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Content Warnings

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