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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: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Self harm, Gun violence, Cursing, and Deadnaming
Minor: Sexual content, Ableism, and Alcohol
mseem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Vomit, Murder, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Transphobia, Genocide, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol
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: Death of parent, Gore, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Homophobia, Vomit, Violence, Blood, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Body horror, Medical content, Child abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, and Ableism
looking4thedr'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
4.0
Graphic: Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Transphobia, Vomit, Grief, Gun violence, Deadnaming, Blood, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Alcohol
winter_meadow's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia, Homophobia, Deadnaming, Self harm, Violence, and Child death
Minor: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Grief
clovetra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
god i wanted to adore this book. i think this was my most anticipated read of 2024. like i was dying to read this. i was sadly disappointed. like when i realised i wasn't enjoying this as much as i thought i would i wanted to cry.
this book was still good. i need that to be known. i adored nick, and i loved many sequences. i just felt like the main issue for me was this book was trying to do a lot, and needed more pages to achieve its goal.
there was so much going on. the theo plot, the nick plot, the world-building, the themes. it all felt rushed. there were many times i had to pause and go back and reread previous chapters, or ask google/friends for help understanding what was going on.
i needed a lot more world-building in this. i feel like this book needed about 100 pages more to explain things. and the way information is divulged i found is hard! i prefer my exposition to be dumped honestly because hey at least i know what is going on, and the fact there are such fantasy elements i felt needed an exposition dump.
i also really had a difficult time imagining what was happening. i thought it might have been an issue with me, but when i swap to other books im reading at the moment im fine. to me there felt like a massive disconnect between the writing and the reader (me)
i also think a minor issue for me was the fact i know nothing about religion. i don't think this overall affected my reading experience, but as someone who has been to church once i felt like i was not in the story, but like i was multiple layers separated away from the plot.
i truly cannot put my finger on why i did not enjoy this as much as i thought i would. it has everything going for it. fantasy. autistic rep. trans rep. gay rep. i truly am just hoping this is an issue regarding world-building for me, as i do love how andrew joseph white writes, with the phrasing and the topical slang ("yeet" had me give a good little chuckle lol). maybe if i come back and reread this, ill have a better experience, as i'll not be left in the dark. i don't know.
edit: just remembered some things i had to add! the ending felt rushed. i wanted maybe even just. an epilogue. but there were so many questions left.
also a lot of this book was confusing and explained through subtext. but the subtext was had to grasp for me.
Graphic: Gore, Genocide, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Gun violence, Deadnaming, Death, Murder, War, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Transphobia
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, and Alcohol
elfinafroghat's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Murder, Grief, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Confinement, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Animal death, and Sexual content
winterhartarts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Eating disorder, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Vomit, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Genocide, Dysphoria, Death, Deadnaming, Child death, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Body horror, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Ableism, Grief, Gore, Classism, Homophobia, War, Cannibalism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Torture, Slavery, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Colonisation, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship
persephonefoxx'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
“Hell has followed us onto Earth, and I am the monster that has brought it forth“
This is a blood-soaked tale of wrath, revenge, and queer rage. Wrought with pain, body horror, and gore. Bursting at the seams with representation. Add in commentary on religious cults and systematic oppression and you have this story of teens with talons, fangs, and fury.
This book feels like the catharsis of screaming into the abyss. Primal and raw.
Graphic: Gore, Vomit, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Death of parent, Blood, Cursing, Death, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, and Child abuse
Minor: Child death, Bullying, and Alcohol
efrancart'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? No
5.0
The religious trauma was also to the forefront as this was a doomsday cult book. I think that these two trigger warnings should be the biggest out the gate and the author does have a note to the reader at the front I really appreciated.
I also loved the epigraphs before each chapter which really built the world so much fuller for me. Some are very relevant to the genocide happening right now in Palestine. A book I will heartily recommend with alllllll the trigger warnings (almost all of the ones available for selection on this app!)
Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Child death, Murder, Blood, Vomit, and Body horror
Moderate: Ableism, Transphobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Cursing, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol and Classism