Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

11 reviews

sunflower7skull's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I LOVE THIS BOOK

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Child abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Abandonment, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Vomit, War, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Body horror, Deadnaming, Bullying, and Genocide

torismazarine's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Blood, Death, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, War, Xenophobia, Biphobia, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, and Hate crime

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.

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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. 

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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

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

There's honestly not much to say here. Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White is a fantastic book that had me gripped from the dedication page all the way until the end. I read it so quickly that I had extra time on my hands I didn't account for because I thought it might take me a little longer to read. The pacing was fantastic, the switch between character points of view was masterful, I loved all the little in-universe epigraphs, and, of course, the writing was amazing.

White definitely knows his craft because the descriptions of the horror and apocalyptic world were disgusting and terrifying how realistic he made it all seem. The commentary of current society and religion and politics, and how adults actually act like kids and the kids are forced to grow up faster than they were supposed to, was so on point it hurt. The fact of the matter is that the world depicted in Hell Followed With Us actually feels like a possibility in our future is insane. 

As well, White is the first author who has been able to write LGBTQ+ characters with a modern tone/use of internet knowledge and slang without me wanting to rip my hair out in frustration or cringe at the attempt. He actually made it believable that a character can have xe/xem/xyr pronouns and not seem out of place, or for a character to outright state they're trans without a long tirade on what it means to be trans. He made it seem natural and normal, which it is.

Truly, hats off to Andrew Joseph White for accomplishing what so many authors have attempted with not great success. I look forward to reading his new book, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Blood, Eating disorder, Torture, Terminal illness, Abortion, Dysphoria, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Child death, Murder, Gore, Vomit, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Violence, Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content, Ableism, Misogyny, Confinement, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Outing, Body shaming, and Chronic illness

foiblesandfiction's review

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

davidbythebay's review

dark emotional 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

4.0

This was a solid book that was outside my usual genre. It's definitely got the elements of a true horror nightmare, and yet the queer elements, self reflection, and romance lightened it just enough. I liked how it progressed and never felt that the plot dragged, but I did feel that the ending was a little too much gripping the seat, waiting for the final battle and not enough with the battle and aftermath. And that's where things fell apart for me a bit. Still an absolutely stellar and strong novel, but I just felt a little rushed at the end and left feeling a little too much like there is something missing at the end.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Death, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Blood, Deadnaming, Genocide, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Death of parent

shutupaboutbooks's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

"Maybe the Flood has given me something in return for my body: the anger I never let myself have as a little girl, the rage I swallowed down every day of my life. It feels like it’s slotting into place where it was meant to be all along." 

This book was incredible. I put it off for awhile and I'm so mad at myself for doing that. 

The characters in the book are phenomenal. Even in extreme circumstances they feel very relatable. The representation was so well done. Trans rep, gay rep and autism rep. The romance was so pure 

The horror in this book was disgusting. I loved it. If you can't stomach gore do not read this book! The setting was so eerie and the graces were just disgusting. 

Overall, an insanely good book! I highly recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body horror, Death, Religious bigotry, Dysphoria, and Transphobia

Moderate: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

queersubtext's review

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

apersonfromflorida's review

dark 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Body horror, Gore, Transphobia, Vomit, and Blood

Moderate: War, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Ableism