I'm not sure where to start with "Hell Followed with Us", I gravitated to this book solely because of the cover because holy crap is it gorgeous. Once this was in my library it took me a while to crack it open, just because the concept isn't something I usually read. Thank god for Texas tornadoes, I was trapped with just my iPad and devoured this novel in a day and a half. Not much to say besides, I wish I had this book when I was younger!!! Everything about this... The plot, characters, romance, action- It was all so well done, and I can't wait to pick up more from White in the future.

This is a book that younger me would have adored. Not in the sense that it's YA, because I'm definitely still in the age demographic for that; but, I think that any kids who are grappling with their religious identity or struggling with the intersection between that and other facets of their identity would love and maybe need this book.

Hell Followed With Us, follows a trans young man, Benji, who has escaped from a religious cult which is run by his mother and currently heralds him as some sort of messiah due to the experiments performed on him which will cause him to turn into some sort of horrific biblical monster who will herald in the end-times. Benji escapes to the city nearby where he finds a haven with a group of queer kids trying to survive the dystopian world which the cult has brought about. Did I mention this was a dystopia? It's one of the most nostalgic genres for myself and White builds his futuristic horrifying world beautifully. His writing is also fantastic, like I found myself physically feeling the tension or the disgust of certain moments. This is by no means a comfort read by the way, it's graphic, it's gross, and I think that's part of what makes it so compelling

The character work is also immensely done when it comes to our main character Benji, and being in his shoes makes the world all the more interesting. If there was one thing, I wish we had seen more from the group of people around him and the interactions after having life permeated by a religious cult. I adore found family, and the people he found were incredibly diverse and lovely (there's a shit ton of representation in this book btw) but I wish we got to see them just the littlest bit more.

However, I would still wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone looking for a more graphic YA read and an incredibly well-done dystopia. It's for the queer kids who wanted desperately to rebel against the church, who are tempted to burn it all down something, and who needed a story like this to know that they were valid and okay in feeling the way they did. Also with this recommendation comes a firm note to check the trigger warnings which are included on the author's website and in the book itself.

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for n honest review.

This book was so good. I liked the apocalyptic society with extremist Christians. I also liked the dichotomy of extremist Christians versus queer kids. The book does a good job of exploring the experience of transness. It was so good, so heartbreaking. It also has the aspects of a coming-of-age story and found-family that's pretty common in YA. I wish I would've had this book when I was a teenager. I will definitely be looking for more works by Andrew Joseph White in the future.

Horror and the queer experience are SO tightly linked, and I think Andrew Joseph White does an incredibly great job of highlighting this while also being compassionate to queer people who see themselves a little too much in horror (if that makes sense?). This was honestly incredible, I cannot rave about it enough. It's so sharp and thoughtful, but really captures that absolute feeling of rage that makes this feel well-rounded and truly human.

An explosive own-voices debut which centres and celebrates queerness in horror. I’ve been excited about this one for a long time and I was not disappointed.

Two words: holy shit. This book follows a young trans man in a dystopian world as he attempts to escape a Christian cult after a virus has turned humans into fleshy monsters. Benji stumbles upon an LGBTQ center where a group of other kids is also still trying to survive, but the cult of the Angels won’t let go of their Martyr so easily. I absolutely enjoyed this book, it was well written, well paced, and the parallels between monsters in this twisted religion and the body experience of transgender individuals is very poignant. This is the first book I've read with a character having Xe/Xem pronouns and I am better for it. I appreciated just about everything in this book, from the characters, to the plot, to the representation, and found that all of these things tied in for a richly compelling narrative that I will be picking up when it comes out physically!

Monster, Savior, Angel, Destroyer. Sixteen-year old trans boy Benji just wants to escape from the cult that raised him and unleashed Armageddon... and decimated the world’s population. They have experimented, killed, and created monsters, and Benji is their ultimate project. Benji wants to save the world from their destruction, he wants to be able to be himself without having people worship him for being a monster that will kill people. When his escape attempt goes wrong and his father is killed he is saved by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center (also known as the ALC). Their leader is Nick, a gorgeous deadly shot who is autistic and he knows Benji’s secret. Benji is the cult’s bioweapon that is slowly turning him into a monster and they want to use him to wipe out humanity from the earth once and for all believing that they will all be going to heaven and doing God’s will. But Nick has other plans and darker secrets...and Benji will have to ask himself if he can trust Nick. When Benji’s fiancee finds him and tells him that he has left the cult for him, things get even more complicated. Benji is slowly deteriorating, his boy is decaying and soon there will be nothing left but the monster in him. Benji only has a few weeks left to save the world and he’ll have to find out who he can truly trust and if he can embrace the inner monster in order to stop those who want to hurt him and the ones he loves. This was a beautiful story, albeit filled with horror and action, it was absolutely fantastic. It was one trans boy’s journey into defining himself, and taking a stance against the world that doesn’t see him for who he is and to go against all the labels created for him. It was magical, it was action packed, it was romantic, and it was just an absolute joy to read! ( Though if I’m being honest I WOULD LOVE MORE, LIKE MAYBE AN EXTRA EPILOGUE OR SOMETHING CUZ I DO NEED ME SOME MORE BENJI AND NICK CUZ THEY ARE JUST SO SWEET).

*Thanks Netgalley and Peachtree, Peachtree Teen for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Oh my god. Where do I even start.

This book had me from the very first chapter. I was immediately intrigued. And it never lost me. I knew about a third of the way through that this would be a new favorite of mine.

We're following Benji, a sixteen year old trans boy, as he escapes from a religious cult that has taken over the world, and as he slowly transforms into a monster. He finds solace in a group of teenagers who were in the local LGBT center when the world ended. It's absolutely glorious.

I loved absolutely everything about this book. It was complex but intriguing, the characters were interesting and fleshed out, and watching Benji go through his entire journey was so compelling. There's a lot of contrasting plot points that adds a lovely depth to the story. This is an apocalypse story done in a whole new way. I am so glad I got the opportunity to read this book.

I am floored, flabbergasted, gooped, gagged, obsessed.

Sometimes a family is a bunch of exhausted queer teens and a traumatized ex-vangelical monster trans boy working together to rebel against an eco-fascist cult.

I finished this book earlier today and I want to dive right back in and re-experience the gory, post-apocalyptic tale that Andrew Joseph White spun together in 'Hell Followed with Us'. Maybe that's masochistic of me to say about a book that explores the religious trauma specifically attached to queerness and it's certainly not to imply that there were so many unanswered questions—I feel like this story actually wraps up pretty succinctly! It's more that I got so invested in the characters, their struggles and relationships, the world, and my god, the writing, that I want to keep seeing how they all grow and struggle.

The way White writes about rage and betrayal is so powerful for anyone who has fed into their own inner monsters as a way of survival, allowing it to be both healing and harmful. The depictions of monsters (both literal and of the human variety) and body horror are brutal and fantastical without feeling gratuitous. However if you're like me though and cringe at depictions of vomit, be warned as there's a puke scene nearly every other chapter.

This book is for anyone who's ever felt all-consuming spite at those who've hurt you and come out the otherside battered but guns blazing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am absolutely blown away. The queer rage that this book conveyed was everything I needed. The way the MC developed and grew throughout the book was incredible and so empowering to watch. This was an incredibly quick read and I will be recommending it to everyone I know!

This book broke me out of one of the worst reading slumps I’ve had in years, so thanks for that! But either way oh my god I’m obsessed. I really appreciate an all queer cast, social critiques, post apocalyptic worlds, and body horror, and this book had all of that? And it was so well written! I’m going to be honest, I got hooked and read the whole thing in a day. Phenomal.

Great story with fantastic characters. The first half really hooked me but the second half slowed down a bit, Still a great read. I loved Benji and NIck so much, they are great characters.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hell Followed with Us was a very interesting and odd book. Within this, you will meet some pretty horrible characters. You will also sort of get this cult vibe throughout it as well. I mean, any kind of person who wants to murder children for a certain religious cause, or any cause really, will always be horrible in my eyes.

It will also be oddly addicting to read. Seriously, this book was so hard to put down. Especially after I met and fell in love with Benji. He's a transgender boy trying to escape certain people who infected him with a deadly virus. Now this whole thing is mutating his body and I was not okay with it one bit. It also didn't help that the people in this cult were a bunch of assholes either.

Along the way, he runs into a group of survivors, and he finally finds people who will accept him for who he truly is. Unlike certain people in his life. There's a lot of drama and some action weaved throughout this. I wasn't a fan of someone calling Benji "It" or the little betrayals that came my way either. Still, I couldn't put this book down because I needed to know how it was all going to end.

Speaking of the end, it was okay and sort of confusing. Definitely didn't expect it to happen that way and now I don't know what to think or say. I guess I'll just stick with it was an odd and addicting to read. I'm very happy that I got the chance to dive into this and look forward to the next book Andrew writes!

5/5 Stars!!!

Content Warnings for:

* Transphobia (misgendering, dead-naming with name written out repeatedly, threats of transphobic violence)
* Religious abuse/Christian terrorism, combined with elements of eco-fascism
* Abusive parents and domestic partner violence (including returning to an abusive partner and victim self-blame)
* Self-injury
* Emetophobia (vomiting) warning throughout (hide spoiler)]

This is - hands down - the BEST! B.E.S.T!!!! Dystopia I've ever read and wow, am I going to compare every single dystopian book to this one till the day I die.

I want to tell you about all the amazing things this book does and about how I want to throw this book at anyone I know. But, I feel like that would not be enough. I would not do this book justice by doing so.
Therefore, I'll give you my nonsensical, emotional ramblings, in hope that those might convince you to give this book a try.

I will note though, that this book is not for everyone.
Because, this is post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction at its finest. It's dark, it's horrible, it's hurt no comfort and it's kinda the end of days. Most dystopia is hopepunk - which is fine - but this one isn't shying away from all the darkness humanity has to offer. Like, has anyone considered that the world ended for a reason??? There are a lot of detailed descriptions of gore, organgs, murder and vomiting. Like, MC is infected with a deadly, painfull virus, so yeah, he's obviously in a lot of agony right now. And YET!
Yet, even though it seems very hopeless at times and like this is gonna be a very sad, emotional, hurtfull read, it's not. Or rather, not only.
I'd even argue, that this book, is a very very very hopefull one.

The book has many themes, symbols & metaphors - if I wanted to list and analyse all of them I would have to post 4 reviews, since goodreads has a word limit for these things. The one that I felt was the strongest - or most important - one though, was:

It's easy to die and give up. Living is hard. Survinging even harder, but it's still worth it. No matter what.

There's a high chance I connected with this one the most because I was deep in one of my depressive episodes and feeling very horrible, worthless & hopeless myself. The book isn't offering a cure, it's not a 'Things will become sunshine-rainbow if you believe hard enough' book idea. It's more of a 'I know you're hurting and suffering, but you're life is still worth living'. It's about accepting your own fucked-up-ness and enjoying being alive EVEN THOUGH things aren't perfect.

The cast is very gäy and I'm loving it. Or rather, it's very diverse in general. Allow me to name some of the stuff: aro rep, autism rep, multible trans & nonbinary characters, multible POC.
I will admit, that the cast was - especially at the beginning - a lot to take in, since there are a lot of characters jumping around, but it gets better the more time you spend with them.
One could argue, that the story would have worked just as fine if you had cut out some of them but honestly, I wouldn't want to give up a single one of them. They are all such great characters and I loved all of them.

I'm very happy with how the author handled the autistic character. He was amazing. But I'm also happy with how the author handled Theo. I'm not trying to defend his actions. What he did was horrible. But. I'm also very glad that the book made the decision to not be like "He's a bad person because he's bad... OH and he's also a transphob."
People aren't just born bad. They are often products of their upbringing. The book acknowledges that!! And I was like kafajsfjkjaöksjf Yes! Doesn't undo what he did and doesn't redem him either. But it sure as helll does make for a great and complex character (besides the fact that the 'He's bad because I say so' approuch is kinda lazy)

My favourite character is still Nick. Deserves the world. Best boy. 10/10, loved him.
And the ship was also very 10/10.
I know that neither of them was ace but.... as a sex-repulsed ace, I couldn't help but feel like this ship was the acest thing the book could have done. Just saying.

Final words: Go read this masterpiece of a book.

This is a stunningly written queer, supernatural novel with a large theme of found family and being accepted and I loved it. I absolutely love the clean writing style which was so easy to understand and follow even though it was a new world. I love love loved the characters, especially Benji! Benji was such a well thought out character and I just loved his motives and the way his relationships showed so many different things, especially how easily manipulated people can be. It was really interesting to read about angels who were basically the bad guys, it was very unique. I also loved the flood which gave this book a dystopian theme and also mildly made me think if this book as a queer maze runner. I loved the way the ALC was a found family, they were all so adorable and loveable and I loved seeing them work together for a better world. I also loved Nick and seeing how he dealt with his autism, he had such a strong character and I loved the plot twist regarding him. Andrew has such a similar writing style to Leigh Bardugo whom I love and I love how his writing is so descriptive and immersive! I just felt like I could picture the events of this book so so well.

4.5. First of all, I think this book wins for cover of the year already full stop. Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this early!

Secondly, I loved so much about this book. I didn't expect to enjoy the gore and body horror but have found that I'm into it! I think this novel does it particularly well - the descriptions are evocative, poetic, dark and lovely and painful. The transformation of anger and trauma manifesting outward, dealing with a toxic cult upbringing? MONSTERS? It was so good. I thought it was well-paced, though the ending happened very quickly - I would have been happy to let the conclusion draw out just a bit longer. The bits of lore scattered throughout - both in the pages of the novel and right at the very beginning of each chapter, with different biblical or cultish quotes - were fascinating, and given in just the right amount. I think spending a little more time in the climax could have answered any questions I had about the worldbuilding, and is the main reason I give it a 4.5 rather than a five.

I found all the characters interesting, and there's a nice diversity in the group of teens that I don't think I've seen in any other novel - not just in race/sexual orientation, but also neurodiversity! There were a few side characters that I felt had some unresolved tension in the group, and I would have liked to see more time with them together - I know they aren't the focus of the novel, and I think the focused characters are done extremely well, but some of them feel like sidenotes, and at a certain point there were so many that I had to make sure I was remembering everyone correctly.

Love the hope, the anger, the turning on those who have abused you. Will be reading more from this author.

I recommend you read the trigger warnings pinned by the author/in the beginning of the book, because it's a heavy one even if you're prepared for it.

As a horror fan, this was a delight if a YA read. I usually avoid things skewed for younger audiences; nothing wrong with a plucky young hero, I’m just past the point in my life where I can relate to them. This book has become one of the exceptions. Visceral, heart breaking, hopeful…with some absolutely delicious imagery. Can’t wait to recommend this one to customers!

I loved this book all the way through. I would say it’s witty, dirty, funny, compassionate, and unifying. I enjoyed the apocalyptic setting. The very vivid descriptions of gore really help with imagery and tone. The plot surrounds people who only know war but manage a sense of normalcy. I really expect this to be a hit.

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to be honest, I was really looking forward to reading this. It sounded like everything that I would love and I'm ashamed to admit that I gave up about 3/4 of the way through. It was a good premise that just fell apart during the execution.

I feel like I would have enjoyed it much more had it not been presented as general horror and not YA, there's a really strange disconnect between the characters and the story that I've had trouble describing. Aging up the characters would have solved some of the problems and kept me from scoffing at their decisions and actions.

*Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

I downloaded Hell Followed With Us because I saw the author on Twitter say it has a trans ftm lead and an autistic LI (and I'd call him a secondary side character since we get a few chapters in his POV). I'm glad I did! I really enjoyed this book.

We follow Benji, a recent escapee from the Cult that raised him. But when a group of Angels from that cult corner him, he is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Centre, aka ALC. Nick, ALCs leader, knows Benji's darkest secret; the cult's bioweapon is mutating him into a monster. Still, Nick gives Benji shelter with his ragtag group of queer teens as long as he can use the monster to protect the ALC. Benji is eager, until he finds out Nick's hidden agenda, with more than a few secrets of his own.

Right from the start, this book was action-packed. I read this book within 24 hours of starting it. Page 2 and already, shit got real. There was no point where I felt like the book dragged. And this is a futuristic post-apocalyptic story, which was so fun.

I'm giving this book 4 stars, and it's only because this is a book that is very heavily based on religion and religious trauma. I'm an Atheist; I've only ever stepped into a Church because of a childhood friend bringing me to their youth group. I've never read the Bible, and they're very many Bible verses in this book. I know it's not a really good reason to take off a star, but I felt like I was missing some vital part of the story if I didn't grasp the Bible quotes. I still had a lot of fun reading this book, don't get me wrong, but the passages from the Bible are something that would make more sense from someone who has read it/is religious.

I was not expecting all the representation. I knew going in we had a trans ftm lead and an autistic character. I didn't read the description in depth before starting, so having the ENTIRE cast be LGBTQ was an amazing surprise. Not only do we have trans and gay rep, but we also have nonbinary rep (with neopronoun use; xe/xem and another one that I forgot to mark), aromantic rep, lesbian rep, and more. There is also BIPOC side characters. It's always refreshing to read books where the entire cast is diverse.

Overall, if you want a diverse upper YA fantasy set in the future, pick this up on June 7th!

*Side note: if you have religious trauma, look at more reviews than mine. This is a very heavy and gorey book, so take my review with a grain of salt.*