Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

5 reviews

fozlandgirl's review

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

I enjoyed this a lot but I don't know if I was the target audience as it was really young. So much body horror. So much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Stalking, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Classism, Vomit, Genocide, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

vixenreader's review

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.

magnan1mouse's review against another edition

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

5.0

I can't describe how much of a sucker I am for the found family trope. 

I found it to be well-written and while I HATED Nick at some points (for his actions, not how the character was made), 

I'm glad he was good in the end.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Grief, Gore, Death, Violence, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Vomit, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, War, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Medical content

Minor: Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Cannibalism, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, and Child death

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

spooderman's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Genocide, Child death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Hate crime, Grief, Medical trauma, Deadnaming, Gore, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Deportation, Misogyny, Body horror, Mental illness, Gun violence, Self harm, Transphobia, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, War, Ableism, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Vomit, Torture, Mass/school shootings, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Stalking, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Slavery, and Cannibalism

Minor: Terminal illness, Sexual content, Rape, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Eating disorder, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt