This book throws you right in. It doesn’t slowly break it all down for you. Just dunks you right into the story and forces you to figure out what is going on which is my preferred style. At first I had no clue what was going on and it just felt like watching a character get destroyed for no reason. But then it all starts to make sense and it’s just heartbreaking. To see everything Benji is running from was just gut wrenching. The imagery and the depth hit so hard and made it hard to keep from getting emotional. I wish I could break down what happens but I feel doing so minimizes the struggles so I’m just gonna say to go read it and experience it for yourself. It’s an eye opening must read.


Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

Edition: Ebook, 412 pages, first published in 2022

Disclaimer: I got this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity!

At first I wanna state that I won't make a summary of the story because the blurb is already perfect (which is not always the case). I don't feel the need to add something to it.

So let's start with my overall impression of the book:
I simply love it. From the first page on I was absolutely hooked!
Let's take a look at the author's notice before said first page. He wrote not only about trigger warnings, which I always appreciate very much at the beginning of a story (or at least a hint that there are some at the end of the book in case you don't want to know them), but some very honest things that are very heartfelt. I really liked that the book began with that, because the story itself is pretty heavy.

Every chapter is decorated with a very beautiful illustration and starts of with a quote from a memory, a statement or something out of the manifesto of the cult. In most cases they have something to do with what happens in the chapter. I am normally not a big fan of quotes but these are part of the story and they are enriching the plot, so big thumbs up here.

The story starts with a bang, captivating from the first page on. You'll get thrown into an intense point of action but it's easy to follow the story. The background informations, all what you'll need to know to understand what has happened and what is going to happen is delivered in easy to stomach portions which are only intensifying the curiosity of the reader. I enjoyed the whole composition a lot. The worldbuilding is amazing, the characters are unique and their development is very believable.

This book deals with some really heavy topics. Not only because it's dystopia and nearly all humans are dead but because of the survivors. The apocalypse happened only a few years ago and so the suffering and the loss are still pretty fresh, the trauma is there every second.
But that's nothing against these religious cultists, who have caused the Apocalypse themselves. They are blinded by their insanity and their "believe" in a god and see themselves as the judge and executioner after rules they invented. They kill, they torture, they hate, their own but more so the "non-believers".
I'm agnostic, I don't get religion and how people can shape their lifestyle after a book some dudes 2000 years ago allegedly wrote about a guy who said his dad was a non provable deity. I mean... what? How can people believe their are better than other based on that? I think religion is scary and that makes these cultist villains in this book so believable.
This book is cruel, unforgiving, dramatic, intense and still shows tiny rays of hope every now and then.
Even in the face of doom there will always some good people trying to do the right thing.

I loved the representation. There is so much! The MC is trans and gay, other important characters are gay, lesbian, nonbinary, autistic and more. I was very impressed how this whole "how does a trans kid lives in a world were there are no possibilities anymore to change their body" spiel was played out.

The one thing I didn't understand was why we got most of the story from Benji's first person perspective, but Nick's and Theo's part were told in third person perspective. I don't get why it was done like this. It just threw me off each time and I don't think it was to keep a bigger emotional distance to Nick and Theo because why would we have to do that? Their story parts were important too.

All in all this is a book I highly recommend and I am super grateful for the ARC. I will definitely buy it as a hardcover because the cover art is stunning!

As mentioned before, this book contains a lot of heavy topics and while I am recommending it, people should know what they are getting into, so let's end this review with
TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING:
Transphobia, Death on and off page, Fighting, Psychological Manipulation, Abuse, Mutation, Body Horror, Monster, Gore, Vomiting, Blood, Religionist, Killing, Sex (off on page), Death of a parent, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional Abuse, Hate crime

"Hell Followed with Us" is a madcap, fast-paced, opens-with-a-bang adventure that doesn't let up. Taking place in a post-apocalyptic world, this novel follows the trans boy Benji, a tool of an evangelical cult, as Benji navigates a world that wants him dead (or worse). Body horror, betrayals, and gruesome scenes abound; this book is YA but I'd caution it's definitely on the brink of New Adult in terms of grotesqueness (which I don't mind at all). Benji's backstory and homelife is a tragic one; anyone interested in cults or cult survivor stories will be intrigued by this cast of characters; I particularly found Benji's fiance, Theo, interesting.

This one gets a solid 4/5 stars - I felt like the worldbuilding was a little shaky, and I had to basically handwave everything about the plague in this one as it felt like it belonged more to a fantasy world than a "this could be our world" novel; none of it made biological sense, but if you're good with handwaving some stuff and just want some amazingly diverse, action-packed horror? Definitely recommend.

First of all I loved the representation and second of all I love the cover. There were some aspects I really loved about this book and some I had more questions on. Overall, I would love to see this brought to screen. I feel like it would answer a lot of my questions. I am definitely interested to read more of this author’s works.
Thank you #peachtree and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'll admit that I did not finish this, but that was definitely not because I was bored or unengaged or any fault of the book. White's writing is strong and evocative and the characters vivid and poignant. I think, for many queer teens, this book about monstrousness and true beauty and self-acceptance is going to be incredibly powerful. I had to put it down only because it was hitting places that were not comfortable for me right now, but I think White's career is only going to grow stronger from here.

This was a really cute little read and I absolutely loved the representation! The main character is trans and has autism, so the LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent rep is spot on! I feel this is a really important read to expand this sort of representation into other genres of book, rather than them all being romances which I find most LGBTQ+ I’ve read to be.

A very easy read and one I will definitely be recommending!

4.5/5
For two years the Angels and The Flood (a sickness killing and turning humans into 'Graces' in a matter of hours) have been killing all of humanity, anyone deemed not worthy by the church, 9 billion people reduced to the last few shreds left. A trans queer boy, Benji, rejects the "'evangelical eco-fascists ... Christian terrorist group" he was raised and forced into, runs to the safety of an LGBT+ Youth Center to stand against the cult taking over the world. But he has a secret, right before running he's infected with a special strand of the Flood to become "God’s wrath incarnate", and now he has the ability to take it down, save the world, or rescue the church "lead them to Heaven."

Overall thoughts? Absolutely loved it! Fascinating original concept, relatable diverse loveable characters, a plot that grabs attention, and twists upon twists that won't let go. The writing style was beautiful, easy to read, and flowed effortlessly. The creatures throughout were well constructed, described, and brought you right into the world with them. The worldbuilding was great however it did centralize into their area (possibility for future books?). Amazing realistic trans and autistic rep in the main characters.
Fantastic novel with an amazing premise and execution!

This is the kind of book that when I see people talk badly about on Booktok, I will end up immediately scrolling past it or straight up unfollowing them. I do see this being another version of the Song of Achilles discourse where for people that this book is meant for will love it and other people are going to find it overly committed to its message, or including too much rep, or whatever.

This book is definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea, by any means. I don't love horror, for example, especially body horror, but I do love Christian apocalyptic imagery, so I was quite willing to endure it. The queer representation in this is integral to the plot of the book, and I already foresee a lot of people exposing themselves as being really homophobic/transphobic once this is published. The representation in this book meant a lot to me and I am very happy for the younger queer generation that they get this representation.

I thought this book was so well done and it is one of the best books I've had the pleasure of reading as an eARC. I have had this preordered forever, and I am so grateful to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Based on the description, I was really excited to read this book, but I am sad to say that I could not even finish it. It truly has a really awesome premise, and I am always eager to check out books with queer representation. I just felt like the execution fell far too short of where I was expecting it to. My number one reason for not getting through the book was the writing style being too much tell and not enough show. This was especially obvious in how side characters are introduced. I wanted to learn about who they are as people and what they contribute to the narrative, but instead it felt like the author just throws out facts about them. It is neither an effective nor interesting way to incorporate diversity into a book. Additionally, I was not a fan of the body horror. I knew the content warnings going in so maybe that's my fault, but I found it to be a little much.
That said, I think this book would still be worth a shot for other readers. Although I personally did not like it, it is really unique and interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Oh boy, this book is definitely one that you want to read the content warnings for before diving in. I vastly overestimated my tolerance for body horror, I think.

Besides that (which is a pretty big part of this book, heads up), I enjoyed the plot and the characters. Benji and Nick were both wonderful and nicely fleshed out, and it was really nice to see an autistic character who had character traits that were more than just "autistic".

But yeah, I had to take this one a little slow just because of... everything. If you're into horror and the like, then this may be a great book for you!

This was such an interesting book. It had some cool horror elements, specifically body horror which is a subgenre I personally really love. The way the story discusses religious trauma and trans rage was just exquisite and I loved reading about this amazing apocalyptic world Andrew Joseph White created.

Benjamin, the main character, is a fascinating character to be in the head of. The way his narration explores religion and identity was a highlight of the book for me. I also thought having a few chapters from Nick’s point of view was great because I loved reading from his perspective.

My only wish was that some of the side characters had more space in the story. None of them really have distinct character arcs, which isn’t always needed for a story like this, but I would have liked to learn more about them. I also think the pacing dragged in a couple places. Some chapters felt slow because it didn’t feel like there was an immediate goal any of the characters needed to accomplish. I think this was because so much of the plot advancing relied on Benji’s transformation into Seraph, which only advanced because of time rather than any influence Benji or the other characters had.

Even still, I only really noticed this lull in a few places and it didn’t have too much of an impact on my enjoyment of this story.

Also, on one last note, I LOVE this cover.

I wanted to start this off with a bit THANK YOU to the author for the content warnings in the beginning of this book. It helped me put on the armor I needed as a trans person in order to read, and although I ended up not finishing this book for reasons I won't go into here, I am certain this book is going to make so many trans teens feel seen. Happy to recommend to YA readers looking for body horror and queer AF representation.

This book is a great addition to the YA genre, one that I would’ve greatly enjoyed in my adolescence due to its uniqueness and representation. The elements of horror was what drew me into its pages, in this story that dissects religious allegories told through the eyes of a diverse cast of characters.

However, the book lost me with its world building and story telling which often left the world lacking. I felt disconnected to the world and the words in the book as things were often brought up as if the world was one known prior, as if I as the reader did not need more knowledge to create an image of this world. It left everything in the world feeling one dimensional, however the writing when it involved character building was not the same.,

The characters are diverse, in personality, genders, sexuality; it is wonderful and it is important, with a elastic dynamic between them that produces something interesting to look forward to when reading this book.

With a world as diverse and transformative as the one in this book, i felt it was a disservice to not give it more to enhance its presence!

Thank you NetGalley and Peachtree for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this Arc.

This debut was a trip!
The best way I can think to describe the pacing is explosive. The descriptions are visceral and from the first chapter, a reader feels the sense of urgency that Benji is on borrowed time.
It makes so much sense that a pride center would be one of the surviving groups in an apocalyptic setting. As a former Roman Catholic and autistic trans person, I felt really connected with these characters and saw my friends in them as well (down to folks making beaded pride flag lizards for one another). The cast of characters at the ALC were distinct and I appreciated the inclusion of characters that use neo-pronouns.
It's critical that Benji's escape doesn't happen all at once. I love that he falters in embracing these new sides of himself.
Every detail felt incredibly well thought out, from the quotes in chapter headings, to using ears as proof of murder/a form or currency for trading supplies.
I'm thankful that there are more books now diving into the feeling that is Queer rage. This book is perfect for fans of Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve.

"In what world was their God ever a benevolent one?"

I have no clue where to start with this review. I say this often, I know, but seriously this time I am slightly dumbfounded by how much I loved this. Easily one of my favorite reads this year.

The plot? The characters? The anger? This book has it all.

tw: violence, transphobia, domestic and religious abuse, self-harm, attempted suicide, body horror

This book is about a trans boy Benji, who's running away from a cult he was raised in, that brought armageddon and basically the end of the world. On the run, he joins a bunch of queer kids who much like him are just trying to survive. He has a deadly secret though, and that secret is actually him - or rather what he's turning into because of the bioweapon the cult injected him with. However, the group's leader knows Benji's secret and is also hiding some of his own secrets.

I cannot tell you how many times I just felt like screaming reading this book. And I mean that in the best way possible, this book made me absolutely feral. I loved every second of it, and by the end, I was clenching my jaw so hard in anticipation of what would happen that I gave myself a headache. I absolutely loved Benji as the main character and I was rooting for him being angry and getting his revenge all the way through. This book was absolutely beautiful and horrifying, from start to finish.
I thought the idea of this book was fascinating, and this was a very interesting depiction of a post-apocalyptic world. This book did not shy away from gore and violence, so definitely keep that in mind if you decide to read it. The cult Benji is running from is a twisted, fundamentalist Christian sect (”angels”) that as a way of trying to be "holier" I suppose is committing atrocities. They have unleashed a virus that is “purging” everything from people, including their lives given that being infected means you will die or turn into a monster.

The cast of characters in this book, both good and bad (and everything in between), was absolutely amazing. Everyone seems very well fleshed out, and everyone is flawed, human, and feels very real. This book does a great job of making you feel everything that is happening, everything the characters are feeling. The depictions of grief, anger and absolute desperation to get away, to do something, to do the right thing is palpable. You are going through everything alongside Benji and the rest of the characters.

I am being deliberately vague in this review, I went into the book with minimal knowledge of the plot and I feel like that was the right move (however, do NOT disregard tws, it gets pretty graphic at times!). This book definitely packs a punch, from learning about the mass genocide the “angels” are committing, to just reading about these kids fighting for their survival. Benji is for the first time feeling accepted somewhere, he is for the first time surrounded by other queer people. And he can’t even have that, not fully, when he knows that he is turning into Seraph, a monster that he might not be able to contain.

This book is very much about the monster within, the rage and the pain, and just accepting and embracing it. It’s about unapologetically existing, good, bad, and the ugly, and taking the power back for yourself. Leaving the shame and just being, horns, spikes, thorns and all. This is your queer religious trauma book, the one that feels like a tight hug you’ve been needing for a while.

As I already mentioned, I loved the characters. The group that Benji joins at the Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, is a diverse group of kids of different sexualities, genders, and religions. The group’s leader Nick, who is the second POV in the book is autistic, and I loved reading about him and learning his secrets. The relationship he and Benji build just had me near tears, I love them so much.

If you can’t tell, I struggled very much writing this review. It kind of always happens when I end up loving a book this much, but if you take nothing else from this it’s that I would recommend it to absolutely everyone who has the stomach to read it. I loved how unapologetically angry and monstrous this book was and I am absolutely there for it. I can’t wait for more works from Andrew Joseph White!!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a different kind of LGBTQ+ novel. While many books have started introducing memorable queer characters and exploring the complexities of queer experience, Hell Followed With Us takes those starting points as a given and launches well past that by centering a narrative around a whole cast of queer youth struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Beyond feel-good stories that settle for affirmation, this book gives voice to the self-doubt, confusion, bitterness and anger which can accompany queer existence in a world that is openly hostile to who you. This story is the manifestation of queer rage on the page, and it couldn't come at a better moment for young readers who will see clear parallels between the virus-ridden, cult-dominated setting and our present-day realities of a post-pandemic world and the unprecedented levels of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation we're seeing proposed across the country.

Curious readers should heed the "Letter from the Author" which prefaces the story to know if they will find the themes it explores troubling. This book comes with its own trigger warnings and acknowledges that it won't be for everyone, but it adds an important voice to the current landscape of queer YA offerings. Adding this title to your shelves will undoubdetdly ruffle some feathers, but I strongly encourage librarians to consider making this title available to their patrons so it can reach queer youth who may find such a story helpful in coping with their owned lived experiences..

This review is based on an advance reader copy.

This is a story about hell (and it's other people).

I'm torn on rating this. The aspects that I loved, I found to be original, creative, and terrifying. The aspects that I didn't love, I found to be super muddled. The representation was beautifully done, and I loved that the main cast was a group of queer youth (vs a best friend, side character etc). The body horror was incredibly horrifying, and the concept of rotting corpse monsters wandering around suffering was very effective as nightmare material. So, lots of good here. On the other hand, the story line felt muddled and difficult to follow at points- the lack of world building left me trying to figure out the dynamics, history, geography of the new world etc. I wanted more information about the virus, how a.religious cult managed to engineer it, and more insight around the science of how exactly it worked. I was also taken out of the story by the perpetual descriptions of the protagonist as rotting- but then intimate interactions would occur? If the characters face is literally rotting off I feel like that would both be very noticeable to others, and be a deterrent to kissing (contagious or not).

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ .💫 rounded to 4/5

Thank you so much Netgalley & Peachtree for the eArc!

This book was a huge WOW. In terms of pacing, I couldn't put it down, but, at the same time, I wanted to run away from it because the story is so raw and creates this atmosphere of bizarre fear. In other words: I LOVED IT.

Hell Followed with Us is so raw, visceral, like exposed nerves on the page. It's both hard to read and impossible to put down, deeply compelling from start to finish. I haven't cringed at body horror this much since I watched The Fly. But this isn't cheap gore-- it reflects the book's vengeful, desperate, hungry heart. But even amidst all the bloody violence, there is so much humanity and empathy and beauty. I really loved this read. It's brilliant and moving and so well written. Highly recommend.

I genuinely don’t know how to rate this one, so I went with 3 stars

Hell Followed with Us is a queer YA post apocalyptic dystopian fiction that follows Benji, a trans boy who has escaped from an evangelical cult that went full Umbrella Corp and brought on the apocalypse by creating a virus called the Flood. Now infected with a more powerful strain of the virus called Seraph, Benji is slowly being eaten away from the inside out and turning into an ‘angelic’ Venom-esque monster that is destined to purify the world. As his body is destroyed and reshaped, Benji is on a mission to obliterate the cult before he loses himself entirely.

This book was weird and gory af and honestly unlike anything I have ever read before, and I’ve read a lot of weird shit.