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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
medium-paced
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
God bless Andrew Joseph White for giving us a story about an adult male blonde so evil that his ex turns into a Biblical monster and just fucking eats him. Who amongst us.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i đź’ś ajw
This was a staff pick on display at People's Book (Takoma Park, MD) the first time I visited the store half a year ago. Probably a bit of a gamble for me given I knew nothing about the author and rarely take my chances on a YA book, but it sounded interesting and I was drawn to the cover design.
What a touching (and page-turning) post-apocalyptic, trans fantasy/horror story this read turned out to be! I'm not sure I fully understood all the aspects of "the Flood" a Christian cult had used to attempt genocide on most of the world, but I got completely drawn into Benji's character as the world turns him figuratively and literally into a monster. White utilizes a nuanced approach to both his characters and the many socio/identity issues at play in the story, while creating a kind of epic good vs evil showdown. Felt like an action movie where you really connect with the characters.
Needless to say, the gamble paid off and I look forward to my next White (he's got a few more YA books and recently wrote a horror book for adults).
What a touching (and page-turning) post-apocalyptic, trans fantasy/horror story this read turned out to be! I'm not sure I fully understood all the aspects of "the Flood" a Christian cult had used to attempt genocide on most of the world, but I got completely drawn into Benji's character as the world turns him figuratively and literally into a monster. White utilizes a nuanced approach to both his characters and the many socio/identity issues at play in the story, while creating a kind of epic good vs evil showdown. Felt like an action movie where you really connect with the characters.
Needless to say, the gamble paid off and I look forward to my next White (he's got a few more YA books and recently wrote a horror book for adults).
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5/5
Lost half a star because the beginning felt a little slow. But holy crap what a book! My boys are so traumatized and I just want to hug them.
Lost half a star because the beginning felt a little slow. But holy crap what a book! My boys are so traumatized and I just want to hug them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent
challenging
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
oh man, okay. i have a lot of thoughts about this book, but tldr: it was pretty good, despite its flaws.
now, for a more in depth critique:
1. the most developed characters are benji, nick and theo, in my opinion. everyone else is just sorta there. benji says they're his friends and they're so close, but it just... isn't really shown on page. i had to take notes on the minor characters in order to remember who was who.
now, for a more in depth critique:
1. the most developed characters are benji, nick and theo, in my opinion. everyone else is just sorta there. benji says they're his friends and they're so close, but it just... isn't really shown on page. i had to take notes on the minor characters in order to remember who was who.
2. the diversity is a little awkward. while im a huge supporter of representation as a trans and gay person myself, i just can't say i liked it. makes me cringe a little when a character feels like they're made to check boxes first and be a person second, i suppose.
it's the first thing we find out about pretty much every side character, iirc. "this one is gay, this one is trans, this one is sapphic," etc. it's not a problem, per se, because representation is needed and important, but it didn't feel super natural in this book.
3. the writing style was just... okay. the gore was pretty well done, and there were moments that made me genuinely sad/feel for the characters, but it is a little lacking in descriptions and, as i mentioned in point 1, telling not showing.
i struggled to picture what things looked like, especially buildings. i have no clue what the alc was supposed to look like. this could be a me problem, but idk.
4. another personal one, i guess, but i just couldn't for the life of me decide my feelings on the book. i went from "wow, this is actually peak" to "oh, maybe not..." too many times to give this a rating higher than 3-4 stars.
5. petty and personal, but ohmygod i could NOT stand salvador, im so sorry. reminded me of 2015 in the worst way (i cant put it into words, but each time xe was on page i would cringe and/or roll my eyes)
building off this point, the author describes the book as written by "a bitter, terrified boy barely out of his teens," and im afraid it shows </3 there are some parts that made me feel like i aged 100 years (reading "yeet" written on page in the big 2025 made my eyes glaze over)
REGARDLESS!!! this was a genuinely pretty good ya novel (i'm 18 now, so i'm probably slowly slipping out of that target audience, and that's probably why it didn't 100% mesh with me).
there was gay and trans rep front and centre, there was religious trauma, if that's your thing, there was a well earned good ending. honestly, i cant complain too much. it was solid premise, despite the flaws in its execution, and i look forward to checking out more of ajw's books. i heard that this is his debut, so i have faith that as he develops and grows as a writer, the aforementioned problems are smoothed over :)
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
medium-paced
A well done debut novel. I read Compound Fracture by this author earlier in the year and I am very impressed with how much his writing has improved. If you liked this one def check out Compound Fracture.
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Amazing! I think it’s hard for me to give YA books higher ratings now by virtue of me finding teenagers so annoying. But I loved all of the ALC kids so much. Theo is perhaps one of my most hated characters of all time now.
The body horror was so gross and perfectly horrifying.
The only things that were throwing me off were all the bible quotes (the quotes from in-world texts were cool though) and the…I guess directness? Of labelling all the ALC kids. I think this was due more to the book being for a younger audience than bad writing, but I guess I prefer a more “show don’t tell” approach to these things.
The body horror was so gross and perfectly horrifying.
The only things that were throwing me off were all the bible quotes (the quotes from in-world texts were cool though) and the…I guess directness? Of labelling all the ALC kids. I think this was due more to the book being for a younger audience than bad writing, but I guess I prefer a more “show don’t tell” approach to these things.