Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

22 reviews

ezwolf's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I want to say that I can understand why this book has done so well and so many people have spoken highly of this book. But it really just wasn't amazing for me. I think part of it is because I'm not really a huge fan of post apocalyptic stories that are set so close to the actual event, plus I have been avoiding stories about pandemics for obvious reasons. A friend highly recommended I read this so I decided to give it a shot, but I just wasn't as enthused as I had hoped. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Transphobia, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Gore, Terminal illness, Genocide, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Eating disorder

Minor: Alcohol and Classism

peroxide_princes's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

I had the pleasure of reading this book shortly after it came out, and I am so glad it jumped off the shelf at me. This book is so powerful and fast-paced, and speaks not only to my trans trauma but my catholic trauma as well. A disgusting and epic story of survival in the very darkest of times. This book truly made me fall in love with AJW’s writing! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gore, Sexism, Transphobia, Grief, Violence, Blood, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Body horror

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Chronic illness, and Cursing

refrejarator's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I cannot believe I have lived this long without reading a book about characters like me - queer, autistic, trans, and angry. This felt like coming home in a way I can't quite explain. I am so deeply moved by this story and so thankful to be alive in a world where stories like this can be created and enjoyed.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and War

elfinafroghat's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• 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

 i . am pretty mixed about this book. i wish it was better, mostly. the storyline and concept is incredible and that part of the book is done so well but the characters are lacking and the discussion of queer, especially trans, and autistic characters felt weird to me. this is an own voices book so i don't want to critique that section of it too much - everyone's experience is their own - but i just, personally, wasn't a fan of how these traits were covered, as a queer autistic and trans individual myself. i am still interested in reading this author's second book out of curiosity but i was left wanting more from this one. the pacing was off, there was about 100 pages from roughly page 150-250 that felt really slow to me and almost made me want to stop reading all together, but i kept reading to see how everything concluded and it got better but not perfect still. the imagery was repetitive and unclear, there was a lot of metaphors and descriptive language that were said a lot but i struggled to picture what things looked like most of the time - which is not something that's usually a problem for me. overall, i'm not upset i read this book, im glad i did, i think i would even recommend it to certain people if i felt like they would enjoy it, but it wasn't really for me, and i just wish it was done a little better.

---

Content Warnings

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

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

Was a little slow for the first roughly half of the book, and most of the main characters felt slightly undeveloped at that point. However, once the halfway point happens, this really turn wild, and I was far more engaged until the very end. The world building kept me through the first half as well, so there’s a lot to be said for how the author fully actualized this kind of post-apocalyptic world filled with zombie amalgamations that all at once resembled ones from the games in The Last Of Us series and specifically the big blob from the game Inside. Imagery was always on point too, and I really felt engaged during times it was utilized. 

---

Content Warnings

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

venice_the_vampire's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

my GOD. BEAUTIFUL. GORY. THE TRANS NOVEL OF MY DREAMS. SUCH A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF THE TRANS EXPERIENCE AND FEMININE RAGE. I LOVE IT ! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Body horror, Dysphoria, Genocide, Death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal death and Sexual assault

religious trauma !!!

mixmousereads's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Gore, Medical content, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Genocide, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Violence, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Kidnapping, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content

emjams's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Child death

Moderate: Xenophobia, Self harm, Mental illness, Medical content, Abandonment, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Outing, Domestic abuse, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Animal death, and Alcohol

This book has basically every imaginable TW on it EXCEPT for sexual assault, but even that is briefly touched on. Benji has trauma from assault, but only from physical/emotional abuse, not SA.

errie's review

dark

4.0

---

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

rachelditty's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

This was way, way more intense than I was expecting it to be, and I loved it! From the opening letter from the author to the readers, I was hooked on the language and writing style of Andrew Joseph White. I'd been trying to read this since it came out and finally got my hands on a copy, and man was it worth the wait. Gory, terrifying, and everything I wanted it to be but nothing I expected. The only gripe I have with it is how fast the ending came along, and that the ending came so abruptly, but I don't have any way to rectify that; I don't really think there's any other satisfying way it could have happened. Otherwise I thought it was awesome.

Quotes that I like, and by "like" I mean shook me to my core at times:

"The second thing Dad told me... was that if the Angels want to get their hands on me, I have to make them suffer for it," (p. 5).

"I'm begging the same way I pray," (p. 22).

"If grief gets caught in my body like it's tangled up with burrs, the least I can do is support the people who can actually feel something. The least I can do is help the people who are helping me. That's what it means to be good," (p. 49).

"You could have cracked open his chest and read the gospels in his entrails," (p. 63).

"Mom's voice, hissing behind my shoulder the way the Devil spoke through the fangs of a snake in Eden," (p. 68).

"I understood how the Angels could radicalize somebody. Eternal life and a sky like this could convince a lot of people to join their cause. But that beauty is always dragged down by the desperate hands of the billions of people who were slaughtered to make it," (p. 83).

"Revelation 21:1 -- And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.
No, the first heaven and the first earth were murdered," (p. 122).

"Do you believe in God?
--I do, please stop, there's so much blood," (p. 295).

"Their smiles don't look right anymore. Or maybe they've always been this wrong," (p. 316).

"I'll live up to the name and lay it at an honored resting place at their graves... If they want me to be a monster one step closer to God, that's fine. In what world was their God ever a benevolent one?" (p. 354-355).

"You'd burn the world down if you thought it'd finally make you happy with what you're supposed to be in this life," (p. 385).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Body horror, Deadnaming, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Animal death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Child abuse, and Cursing

Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Child death, Genocide, and Sexual content