Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

32 reviews

errie's review against another edition

dark

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Animal death, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Blood, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Vomit, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Transphobia, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Violence

kelsokake's review

challenging 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body horror, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Genocide, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Child death, Deadnaming, and Panic attacks/disorders

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

One of my favourite books this summer, this book portrays what it means to find chosen family, confronting dogmatic prejudice, escaping past abuse (especially biological family), and going through Hell and back. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, Transphobia, Death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Violence, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, Sexual content, Child death, Classism, Bullying, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Pedophilia, War, Pregnancy, and Racism

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.

kstrammel's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Hell Followed With Us is a beautifully horrific story about trans rage, religious trauma, chosen family, and finding oneself among the the parts mangled by the journey to get there. This book was a THRILL RIDE and I am so glad to have picked it up amidst a bit of reading burnout. It was a cathartic read for this  trans, neurodivergent adult.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Vomit, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Body horror, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Dysphoria, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, War, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual content and Cursing

Minor: Alcohol

kalelove's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

I LOOOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK. i found an arc of it at a thrift store and i've been in love ever since. favorite book of all time. PLEAAASE READ THIS RAHHRHHRHRHH

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Deadnaming, Genocide, Transphobia, Body horror, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Torture, and War

Minor: Physical abuse and Domestic abuse

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

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

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

eli_like_a_lie's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I liked the book thematically, despite the warnings was unprepared by just how gross the descriptions were. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death of parent, Gore, Vomit, Blood, Chronic illness, Genocide, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, and Body horror

Moderate: Medical content, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

graphic descriptions of death, main character is on a regular basis vomiting up literal organs, very detailed descriptions of this

mir_frog73's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book so much! New favourite book. Also I can’t wait for this authors other work to come out.

I felt so represented by this book and the writing was so good and the gore and all of this It was just amazing! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Body horror, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Homophobia, Gore, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Child death, War, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Deadnaming, Torture, Grief, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, and Transphobia

Moderate: Ableism and Physical abuse

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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

4.0

Hooo boy this was a book for sure!! I didn’t realize going in how intense this would be. But I liked the trial-by-fire method of forcing you to accept and get used to all the queerness. There were so many different identities and pronouns which was a little confusing at times (I had to keep a running list of who went by what) but I sincerely appreciate the authenticity. I love that the apocalypse just allowed queer kids to get queerer. And be more open about their expression.

Benji, my sweet sweet boy. I love him but his body horror was a lot for me. I had to mentally turn off my consciousness (thanks, autism!) whenever the book described the gore and horror of it because it was too much for me. But I enjoyed the full acceptance Benji had for his body, choosing not to bind despite some of his peers not understanding. It was beautiful to see all the individual unique ways that the kids of the LGBTQ+ center held and identified themselves. 

 

When he was deadnamed, I was thrown off for a bit. I had to rewind a couple times to even hear what Benji was reacting to. I liked that his deadname was so unfamiliar that it felt WRONG when used.

Nick’s autism was so well done. I really appreciated the genuine representation of his neurodivergence.

I was worried he and Benji would rush into things despite Theo being such a constant, so their ending satisfied me. Just a beginning. Not a promise of love or forever. It was sweet.

 

Speaking of Theo, he was hard for me to accept. I like people to be good or evil in fantasy novels so the complexities of him being queer and genuinely supporting Benji in his transition and then also being brainwashed was hard. His POV would perk me up a little cause he was so set on Benji being a boy that even his mind never betrayed Benji’s pronouns or identity. But life is complex and so is the life of a religious cult member raised on bigotry and genocide. In a better world, maybe Theo and Benji could’ve had a beautiful life together. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The world was well-sized for the scale and scope of the book. I do wish there were a second book to handle the trauma from after. But it was great in and of itself. Well worth the read if you’re in a place to do so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Gun violence, Body horror, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Murder, Gore, Death, Vomit, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Medical trauma and Medical content

buttondragon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Transphobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Deadnaming, Chronic illness, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Death, and Child death