Okay WOW. When this book starts, you’re thrown directly into action. It personally got me super invested right from the beginning.

Benji, 16-year-old trans boy, has been living the past 5 years amongst a religious, fascist sect who’s taken over the world and is decided to wipe out humanity for good. After being forcefully injected with a virus meant to turn Benji into the cult’s very own bioweapon, Seraph, he flees the sect. He is then rescued and taken in by a bunch of LGBTQ+ teens, led by Nick and Erin. Together, they’ll have to figure out how to survive, remain out of the Angels’ radar but most importantly, how to keep Benji’s inner developing monster from taking over.

First and foremost: I was aware of the CWs going in, and the author does a great job mentioning them at the beginning of the book, so I knew what to expect. I usually don’t mind gore that much in writing— the descriptions in Hell Followed With Us are indeed bloody, gruesome and often detailed, but if you’re into that kind of things or, like me, aren’t too phased by it, then you can proceed safely!

The representation in this book was great. Benji was a great character, torn between his education, his identity and his fate. I really appreciated getting Benji’s take on his transexuality and dysmorphia.
The side characters were nice as well— my only complaint would be that there was a lot of them mentioned, a few even just in passing, so I happened to have some trouble remembering who was who sometimes.

Because of the dystopian and apocalyptic world the book is set in, the whole story unfolds in some sort of morally grey haze— whether it’s Benji, Nick or Theo and their education and own dilemmas, or the other teens at the ALC who have to do all it takes to survive: the characters were layered and the notions of right and wrong, good and evil, or even duty, are presented through everyone’s different perspectives.

The worldbuilding was immediately gripping. I really loved the survival mode, the concepts, the ALC and its teens. The premises were intriguing and the execution measured up.
The depiction of the cult aspect was interesting as well.

My only remarks would be about the pace around the half mark/two third of the book, where things are moving more slowly. I was also confused at some point regarding Benji’s state of “transformation”. It seemed like his body and face were already really affected, yet Nick brought him back to the others anyway and it didn’t really make sense to me.

Otherwise, this is a solid and quite original debut, really refreshing and unique compared to my usual reads! I’m definitely intrigued to see what this author will come up with in the future. 4 stars!

Huge thanks to Peachtree Teen and NetGalley for this opportunity!
[All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Hear me out: I really, really wanted to love this book. Everything about it sounded appealing and intrigued but this book didn’t make the cut for me.

By the way: please be aware that this book has really graphic body horror and gore, I was shocked by the details (not in a bad way, it was really well done), but if you’re easily triggered by it, you shouldn’t read this book.

Anyways, why didn’t I like this book? There are many reasons, the main one being the pace. It was so slow. There were a few major events that forwarded the plot but everything in between was so eh. It was packed with both real Bible quotes and quotes from the cults writings, Benji was either marvelling about his future (which he didn’t think would happen) or Theo. I liked Benji so much and he had so much potential for being the morally grey badass character but the development of his personality was really sloppy and didn’t live up to my expectations. I also really hated the situation between him and Theo. It destroyed so much between him and Nick … I don’t know.

The second thing was the plot itself, it has so many holes and sometimes things suddenly happened and I was like “wait what???”. And honestly that was quite annoying for me.

The world building and cult was absolutely amazing und unique! The angst and horror was so so well done, I just wish I would’ve liked the plot more.

The representation this book has is one of a kind, we have so many queer teenagers, neopronouns and religions and ethnicities, an autistic side character and everything was so positive, I really loved that. The ALC was so supportive and lovely with each other it really warmed my heart.
Nonetheless the transphobia Benji had to face with his mother was absolutely disturbing to me, I have no idea how a trans reader would feel about it but I feel like it could be very triggering, especially for trans youth. I get why the author did it and all but it wasn’t “only” deadnaming, Benji was forced to wear dresses and he also was exposed in front of adults. As said, I found that to be extremely disturbing.

The whole take on the Christian gone terrorist cult slash genocide thing was absolutely crazy. I’m not Christian but I grew up in a very evangelical community and I can say that on the one hand I really loved this (especially because I had bad experiences with the religion and it reflects many of my feelings) but I also felt like it butchered some beliefs at some points, it’s hard to explain. Basically I had mixed feelings about it.

All in all I can say that this book is well done but it most definitely isn’t for everyone. Please check out the TWs before reading, they’re very important.

“My skin is only a temporary thing”

The queer urge to turn into a monster.

A post-apocalyptic horror novel about a trans boy trying to escape the religious cult that unleashed hell on earth, and infected him with a bioweapon in order to turn him into a monster that’ll help wipe all of humanity from earth.

It was very hard for me to sum up this book in a sentence because so much happens. Not just plotwise, but also what it all means. Because this is not just an apocalyptic book. This book is very real and deals with heavy topics people go through every day. So before I go any further, I want to provide a list of the content warnings in this book.

Content warnings:
Violence (explicit gore, arson, murder and mass murder, warfare, terrorism)
Body horror
Transphobia (misgendering, dead-naming with name written out repeatedly, threats of transphobic violence, forced detransition)
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 (including attempted suicide of a side character)
Emetophobia (vomiting) warning throughout
This list is from the authors website

At its core, this book is about rage – more specifically, queer and trans rage. It got messy, and as a queer person who loves (body) horror, I flew through the pages. I could see so much of myself in Benji and I LOVED how he was allowed to be angry and embrace the monstrousness. I desperately need more stories like this, and I hope more will be released in the future. Just stories about queer people being messy and angry and pretty much straight up monsters? Finally, some good representation.

Anyway, as we all know, queer people love found family, and this book literally has a bunch of people from an LGBTQ+ center form their own little family. Good soup.

Side note: You guys don’t understand how much I’m in love with this cover. I read an e-arc of this book, but I 100% want a copy of the physical book, because it is a work of art, inside and out.

I am very conflicted on my rating of this book, because I have so few books where I feel myself accurately portrayed, and this is one of them, so it deserves all of the stars. But at the same time it lacked something. The plot wasn’t always clear to me, and toward the end I wasn’t 100% convinced. It was too rushed and convenient. Still, this book was very enjoyable. Can’t believe I’m asking for more body horror, but pretty please?

A very cool plot, with some interesting characters. i think I'm going to read this book again in a couple of months and I'm sure I'll get more from it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

2.5-3 stars. Overly gory with no real depth or payoff.

SUMMARY (spoiler-free): Benji is a trans guy trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world that is ruled by a dangerous cult. He meets a group of survivors hiding out in an LGBTQ+ center, but he's also struggling with being infected with a virus that is mutating him to the point of no return.

THOUGHTS (spoiler-free): Honestly? This was so boring. I'm honestly tired of recycled and reused apocalyptic worlds. This was pretty graphic and gory and just plain gross at times (please read the trigger warnings), but with literally NO payoff. The apocalyptic world was only half fleshed out and didn't make a lot of sense. The characters were super boring with no real personalities. The villains were also two-dimensional with no depth to them. I saw the plot-twists coming a mile away.

TLDR; Nah.

This YA horror novel tells the story of what happens when a religious cult takes over the world and unleashes a deadly disease in the name of ‘God’. Benji, a transgender boy who once lived underneath ‘The Angels’ rule, escapes and manages to team up with The Watch, a group of LGBTQ+ misfits who make it their mission to destroy the Angels. Benji tries to live a ‘normal’ life inside the Watch, but he has a secret that may put everyone around him at risk. Benji will have to decide what to do because this secret is trying to tear him from the inside out, and fast.

I loved this book. I think the representation the author put into the book was so well executed and every LGBTQ+ character was very unique and just so real. The topic of gender identity that this book brings up is so important, especially for those who are still figuring it out. I loved every character and I want to be friends with MOST of them. They go through a lot and you tend to forget that they are just young people trying to figure themselves out in the midst of the end of the world.

The dystopian future that this book portrays is actually very scary because it seems so near to us. While this book is completely fiction, the idea of a cult overthrowing the world and exterminating people is something we can all easily imagine for our futures. The slights at today’s society were funny and I think it added something relatable, we are all so done with BS living in pandemic times and it was nice to see without going overboard and creeping into cringey.

There were some scenes that were a little unclear, especially near the end. I found myself re-reading a lot of the ending because I thought I had missed something, but it was just confusing writing. This book also seems a little too dark for YA readers despite the characters being YA, they experience some gruesome stuff.


Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A thrilling, thought provoking horror story unlike anything I’ve ever read in the YA genre before. Hell Followed With Us pushes boundaries and raises the hair on your neck all the while.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!
This was a deeply disturbing, chilling YA apocalyptic horror, so obviously I loved it. The body horror was on point, and the idea that evangelical christians might start the rapture themselves in the time of climate change and overpopulation is just a little too real to be comfortable. I sympathized with all of the characters in the ALC, who each had their own personalities and struggles, which is difficult to pull off with this many characters. My problems with the book were generally with the beginning and ending. I found the logistics of the flood (who turns into a Grace, who dies, how it spreads, etc) to be poorly explained early on, which made it difficult to get into the story. I found myself texting my friend who had already read it to explain it to me. I was also dissatisfied with aspects of the ending, such as Theo turning himself into a failed Seraph. I didn’t feel like it matched the tone of the rest of the book, and felt a little more like the end of a superhero movie than an apocalypse book. However, I still enjoyed the book and feel like I took a lot away from it, and would recommend it to any customer looking for an out of the box queer horror novel!

First I have to say, this is an odd story. There are these horrible, grotesque creatures with multiple limbs and several eyes, people coughing up their sludgy organs, and religious fanatics willing to murder children for their cause. It was also interesting, engaging, and unique. This is definitely one that will grab you from the beginning and leave you contemplating how much of this might actually be possible one day.

Benji is a transgender boy trying to escape the cult that infected him with a dangerous virus that's currently mutating his body. He happens upon a group of survivors living in an LGBTQ+ center and the teens immediately give him shelter. Benji has finally found people who accept him for who he is, but his body is quickly changing and the cult won't stop looking for the weapon they're making him into.

I liked that there are two sides to this. One is Benji trying to live his truth as a boy and also crushing on Nick, one of his rescuers. Then there's Benji changing into a monster and knowing that he might not have much longer before he's unrecognizable and out of control. The two sides war with each other and I'm glad there are some people who care for Benji and try to be there for him as he struggles.

The ending wasn't what I thought it would be and I don't really understand where the characters go from there. There's also a part where I couldn't tell if things were really happening or if it was just in Benji's head. I did like the story overall and am interested to see what everyone thinks once this comes out.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thank you to Peachtree Tenn and NetGalley for the copy

As a former monstrous queer teen, I loved this book and would have cheerfully burned down a religious cult to read it ten or fifteen years ago. The author kicks off with adrenaline and hard-hitting, gory trauma from page one, dragging us into Benji’s ruthless and turbulent world. At a craft level, the manifestation of internal, emotional turmoil and trauma from relations as body horror was excellent, and Benji’s descriptions of dysphoria and external perception really resonated. I don't usually say books are “doing a lot” as a compliment but this time it is, and it felt natural and honest — especially the trauma and codependence of early teen relationships. Thrilled I got the chance to enjoy this book early and can't wait to buy my copy, as well as whatever’s next from the author!

For transparency's sake, I am friends with the author. That being said, I feel confident that even if I'd never met Andrew in my life, I would have devoured this book just as ferociously.

Hell Followed With Us does not hold back; in its depictions of gore, religious trauma, and what it means to live as queer when it feels like all the world would rather you otherwise. This book makes me remember why I love horror, and what YA horror has always had the potential to be. It's all here, and unafraid to be messy about it - transness and feeling like a monster in your own body, the intersection of eco-fascism and doomsday ideology, even issues like gatekeeping within queer spaces. 'Relevant' seems too straightforward a label to assign this book, but within the world it's emerging into, I would not hesitate to place it in the hands of a trans teenager who's just beginning to discover all the fury within them, who's tired of being told even by people who claim to support them to keep their head bowed and not be one of *those* angry queers.

Be the monster you wish to be, not the one they see you as. You only have to be as good as the world deserves.

the amount of diversity in the book was amazing. it was really well written and it had a fun plot. The characters were love able and it is definitely one of my favorite books

In this book we follow Benji, a trans boy that managed to escape a literal christian doomsday cult that managed to end the world with a parasitic flood. Benji is infected by this flood, and is slowly turning into a monster that is supposed to be a new religious figure for this cult.

First off, I have never been that fond of postapocalyptic stories, but this one really worked for me. The cult was horrifying and felt so real, even if I would've liked to learn more about it and its backstory.

My favourite part was, of course, the queer rep. There was just something so poetic about a group of queer kids fighting a christian cult. Benji's transness was also really well done, and I loved watching him grow and develop, and the way his gender identity intersected with the changes his body went through due to the virus was very interesting as well.

Which brings me to my second favourite part - the queer rage!! I desperately want more stories where queer characters are able to express their rage, to get the revenge that they seek, without the story claiming that they have sunk to their oppressors level. This story definitely did not do that, and I found it immensely satisfying.

Andrew Joseph White's Hell Followed with Us is a twisted tale of cults, monsters, and the queer kids fighting it all.

The story follows Benji, who escapes from his mother's cult that infected him with a disease that will term him into a deadly, powerful monster. The cult has engaged in a merciless tirade to kill all of the nonbelievers, leaving the city--and the world--in a post-apocalyptic-like state. While trying to escape, Benji finds the ALC, a group of queer people that survived the original massacre and are attempting to fight back against the cult.

There were a lot of aspects of this book that I really enjoyed. I loved all of the queer representation in this book. Benji's own experiences as a trans boy are heavily featured, and all of the characters at the ALC are queer too. Nick was an amazing character that I fell in love with. Benji's complex romantic relationships/feelings that develop throughout the book make for a really compelling side plot.

However, there were a couple of reasons that I could not give this book a higher rating. There is a lot of grotesque body imagery in this book. Benji is literally turning into Seraph--this monster-like thing. He is puking up his organs, his skin is falling off his body, and a host of other disgusting things ensue. I have a kind of weak stomach when it comes to this stuff, so that made this book kind of hard to get through. If this kind of body horror is not your cup of tea, I would not suggest this book.

Similarly, there was something missing from the cult premise of this book. I was super excited to read about escaping a messed up cult; Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon has a similar premise, and I am obsessed with it. However, this book did not deliver on the cult aspect. There was just something missing, something that made the cult seem superficial, and not really all that interesting.

Finally, I am not going to spoil anything, but there was something at the end that just didn't make sense to me. Basically, there was a character arc that came out of virtually no where, but it mattered a lot for the plot.

Overall, I thought this book had a lot of bright points, and I'm really glad that I read it. However, because of some of the issues I had with it, I couldn't give it a higher rating. To me, it seemed more post-apocalyptic than cult-centric. So, if you are drawn in by grotesque imagery and post-apocalyptic story-lines than stories based on cults, I would still recommend it.

after sitting with this book for a bit, i'm still torn between a 3-4 stars so i'll call it 3.5 rounded up.

please note: this is a heavy book- read the trigger warnings and take care of yourself if you go into it.

i read the trigger warnings before going in, but was still a little overwhelmed with the graphicness of the gore (i don't mind gore! but every single page there was a paragraph-long description of how someone was killed or someone's body part was stabbed or whatever. it just got to be a lot.) i do love YA horror though and think we should have more of it, so i am very glad this book exists.

i enjoyed benji's character and i'm glad he got to learn and grow (and experience his growing pains... i'm a sucker for teens getting to experience growing pains <3).

some things i wanted to mention:
- there is a lack of world-building and overall coherence happening (why did Judgement Day happen? i sure as fuck don't know, it was never explained to us.) i would have loved to find out more about the apocalyptic-America this takes place in. there was little backstory about the characters, too. benji kept referencing how he missed theo/his fiance, but we never found out anything good about theo. we only saw the bad, current day theo, which did not make me understand their relationship.
- i couldn't find any info on if the author is autistic so i can't comment on how much of nick's autistic traits were taken from andrew joseph white's own experiences, but i would have liked to see nick's autism fleshed out a little more. we got like two paragraphs about stim toys and one sentence about nick stimming, and that was that.
- faith was described as "butch" and aromantic but was never clarified if she was a lesbian. additionally, there was the use of "femmes" in a non-lesbian-specific context. both of these terms (butch and femme) are lesbian specific. also note- i am a lesbian, i am correct, and this is not an opportunity to argue with me, a lesbian, about what words are and are not lesbian specific.

overall i did enjoy the book. i'd be very slightly hesitant to recommend to friends as i don't want any of them to be triggered and i know this is a heavy book, but if people are comfortable with it (and are prepared for the gore), i'd say go for it! ya horror is definitely an underrepresented genre and there was a whole host of representation in this book that i very much enjoyed.

trigger warnings: religion, religious abuse, eco fascism, death of a parent (off page, recounted), death of a friend and funeral (on page), violence (explicit gore, graphic depictions of the dead, murder, on page death, shootings, terrorism, brief kidnapping, mass murder), body horror, emetophobia (repeated on page vomiting), use of slurs (q-slur), abusive & controlling parents, domestic partner violence, hallucinations, death of a child, arson (building on fire, people caught in building), ableism, something akin to a pandemic (idk there’s mask wearing and transmission via bodily fluids), transphobia (misgendering, deadnaming (on page and implied), disrespect of neopronouns), dysphoria, religion-based transphobia, heaven/hell existence discourse

“Listen to me. My name is Benjamin Woodside.
I’m gay and trans as hell, I am a boy, my pronouns are he/ him, and I am a goddamn person.”

There’s so many things I want to say about this book and I don’t even know where to begin. This is about the MC Benji who is a trans boy who grew up in a religious cult at the end of the world. He grew up as the child of the leader and was infected with a bio weapon to carry out the cults destruction of what little world that remains along with any outsiders who aren’t following them. Benji, not wanting any part of their hateful destruction, by chance or by fate discovers The ALC a group of other queer kids trying to survive.

“It’s amazing how locking down one key demographic, white people in rich countries, means you can get your claws into the world so tightly, you can tear it all to pieces around you.”

This was apocalyptic dystopia which is one of my favorite genres, but is a genre lacking in representation and diversity; this book did a lot to change that there were several trans characters including a SC that used neopronouns, and neurodivergent/autism representation with both the MC and SC. This also depicted toxic relationships both romantic and familial and how they affect the person on the receiving end. The relationship between Benji and his narcissistic mother; her not only denying his being a boy, but then forcibly turning him into something different, something he’s not, with the bio weapon. Him then making it his own making his new body benefit him rather then giving him dysphoria.

“I think we’re in a situation where eating the rich is not only allowed but acceptable, encouraged, and part of a well-rounded diet. Essential vitamins and minerals, you know.”

Benji, over the course of the book, tries figuring out who he is outside of the cult and tries to figure out what parts of him are him, and what parts are indoctrination; discovering parts of himself he didn’t even know he was suppressing. He clearly does not fit with the cult, but isn’t quite fitting with the outside world because of what the cult did to him both mentally and physically. This was one of the best books I’ve read in a while, and I think my favorite part about this book is that it’s YA and younger readers will be able to see themselves represented in a really unapologetic way.

Release date: June 7th 2022

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC for an honest review*

I love the amount of gender and sexuality were explored in this story. Loved the premise and how dark the story was but i wish there would had more details about the world and the main character's back story.

This book was amazing! It confused me a little at times, especially in the end, but it was otherwise amazing. First of all, the cover is beyond pleasing to look at. Second, the author’s warning at the start is very much appreciated since this book does deal with a lot of difficult topics. I was really excited to see how this book would end, and I’m so happy it included some of my favourite tropes. I love how inclusive this book was and it made it such a delight to read. It was gory, it was dark, but it had its share of sweet moments. I will say that the writing was a little uncohesive and that is where I started to get confused about what was happening. I felt like I knew what was going on but then there would be a random switch so I’d have to reread some passages. However, I would say in general that this was a great read and I’m so happy I got to read it in advance.

At First I really wasn't sure about Andrew Joseph White's Hell Followed with us but by chapter 5 I was fully hooked into this post-apocalyptic world. I wish it hadn’t been written in first-person (this is more of a personal choice for me as I do tend to avoid books written in first) and I wish the prose hadn’t been so simplistic and so blunt. I do wish the climax had been a bit less rushed, and I did feel there was too much showing the reader about the monsters and Benji’s powers. I wish the diabolus ex machina in the final showdown had felt less like it came out of absolutely nowhere.

and yet it captivated me and I couldn’t put it down. I was utterly fascinated by Benji’s transformation into Seraph, the monster-messiah of the cult that wiped out most of the human race. And yet, I want to stand up and applaud Andrew Joseph White until my hands burn.

This book isn't going to be for everybody but I was transfixed with the worldbuilding and would happily read it again when it comes out as a physical book

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this. Very unique storyline that i enjoyed. First time reading this author. Will read more by them.