Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

911 reviews

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: Complicated

this book had me on the edge of my seat! the concept is so unique - a christian eco facist group unleashes a plague on the world, meaning only a few survive. the group, known as Angels, turn a 16-year-old trans boy into a bio weapon/monster. the monster is a metaphor for dysphoria and identity. 

benji, our mc, escapes the angels with the help of a queer youth group, and together they fight back against the angels. there’s a lot of twist and turns (some of which i think could have been explored more fully). towards the 75% mark things dragged a little but overall really enjoyed the theme of trans anger/revenge/resistance, it felt very topical. it wasn’t like anything i’ve ever read before!!!

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challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-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: N/A

There we a bit too many twists in the end so I didn't feel like I had enough time in the epilogue and that disappointed me. But the ending was still great and I would totally recommend this if you like horror.

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

Rep: Trans MC, Several LGBT+ side characters, neopronouns

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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: Complicated

Wow. I can't even find the words right now. Trans joy; trans rage; a queer kid finding his community; queer kids in general, banding together to destroy their oppressors. As someone with religious trauma, this hit deeply. I had to stop reading several times because it dug into the deepest parts of my soul and ripped everything to the surface again.

The gore was excellently written. I could imagine every horrifying little detail. And I loved the plot twists throughout. I almost wish it was longer, simply because I loved the characters so much. I was pleasantly surprised at the representation of the mixed emotions that can come with abusive relationships. Love and revulsion often go hand in hand, and it's often ignored that we can feel both at the same time, especially while healing from trauma.

I loved this book with my entire heart.

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adventurous dark 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: Complicated

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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: Yes

I loved this one. The characters in the romance actually communicate and attempt to talk thing out with each other? wild?! Unabashedly a queer story for the queer kids filled with rage and the queer kids who never got to be out without scrutiny, who always had to hide from their family. And ESPECIALLY for all those queer kids with religious trauma

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dark fast-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

I think I would’ve liked this if I were a teen, but it was a little too all over the place for me as an adult. The premise is super interesting, the characters were compelling, though I would’ve liked to get to know the side characters from the ALC a bit more. The body horror scenes were visceral and gross, in a good way!! I’m definitely not the target audience, but I’m glad I read this.

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dark emotional hopeful 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: No

this book fundamentally changed my brain chemistry (in a good way)

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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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional hopeful 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: No

I really, really enjoyed this book.  Benji was very relatable with his anger at the religion and the hatred that turned his world into hell. It gets messy when the people who raised you and loved you all your life are also the ones who want to watch the rest of the world burn. Sometimes you just want to turn into a monster and rip their throats out. Especially when they threaten your friends. And Benji gets his vengeance for every bit of disrespect they hurled at him and his friends in terrifying monsterous glory. So this was incredibly satisfying in that way, even though I personally prefer restorative justice rather than violent retribution as the solution to human conflicts. It was also very nice to watch Benji find solace in a found family of other queer kids. I will be reading any more books in this series or by this author, because wow I felt so seen here. 

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