Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

92 reviews

foiblesandfiction's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

4.0

I've been sitting on this review for a couple of weeks because I'm just not sure how I feel about the book.

I loved it.  I also didn't necessarily like it.  And maybe those are two different things, just like we are able to love people without liking them, which makes sense for me because my mind tends to personify all books.  Books have feelings, too.

This story sank it's teeth right into my religious trauma, and the resonating ache from that is why I love this story so.  The character names, the Bible verses, the rules and judgements and negative self-talk.  I felt, I feel, all of that.  It's all very twisty and knotted up in my chest so I won't be able to say very much more than that, to be honest.  Too raw, too messy. 

Forget about the body horror, my issue was the Christians lol

Sorry Christians!  Kind of.

Why I disconnected from this story was due to the writing itself.  It's gorgeous and it's also a lot.  It doesn't read like the first-person point of view of a sixteen year old kid.  Unfortunately, this kept taking me out of the story.

Recommended for fans of Ava Reid.  If, like me, you found yourself highlighting entire paragraphs of The Wolf and the Woodsman, or disturbingly delighted at the cannibalistic horror of Juniper & Thorn, you'll find something to enjoy in this young adult horror novel as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Outing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Grief, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Biphobia, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Racism, Child abuse, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Misogyny

steps's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Medical content, Gore, Death, Vomit, Murder, Death of parent, Child death, Deadnaming, Violence, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Gun violence, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Dysphoria

libscote's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Normally I have no problems reading gory horror books, but this one got to me a lot. A religious cult has unleashed a plague on the world, using saving the environment from overpopulation as an excuse. Then, they create a monster to kill any humanity that survives, so that the believers will go to heaven and the earth will repopulate. The story is told from the monster's perspective, and they are trying to run away but it's difficult. Benji falls in with a local LGBTQ center that is barely holding on. They have their secrets too...

It's a powerful book. I can see why people say it reminds them of Pet, because I felt that too. It just was a lot of horror for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Medical trauma, Medical content, Transphobia, and Homophobia

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: Chronic illness, Murder, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Homophobia, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Gore, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Death, Body horror, Blood, and Body shaming

Moderate: Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Medical content, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, War, and Misogyny

terrestrial_river's review against another edition

dark funny 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Gore, Blood, Homophobia, Genocide, Medical content, Deadnaming, and Dysphoria

queersubtext's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Gore, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Transphobia, Genocide, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Dysphoria, Vomit, Grief, Domestic abuse, Torture, Physical abuse, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Deadnaming

glen3's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Deadnaming, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Vomit, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child death, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Medical content, Grief, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Bullying, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

vexedst's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Death, Hate crime, and Transphobia

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Medical content

sapphicacademic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

5.0

I love queer horror/dystopia so much. I started this book in December '22, got busy, put it down for a bit. Then a friend of mine wrote his final essay on it and I needed to finish the read. I loved it so much. As a former GSA president and current queer youth advocate, I could see myself and the kids I work with in so much of the ALC. You can tell the author has been involved in queer culture, it's such a realistic and casual depiction. Also I LOVE having autistic characters where the story isn't ABOUT their autism, Nick's autism is written so well. If you want to read queer stories, don't look for the cute palatable love stories. Read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Transphobia, Gun violence, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Classism, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Blood, Death, Cursing, Chronic illness, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Panic attacks/disorders

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.

sphinxofblackquartz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Body horror, and Vomit

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Transphobia

Minor: Medical content