Hell Followed with Us

Set in a post-apocalyptic world in which a group of fundamentalists create a virus that kills most people it infects, leaves ‘God’s chosen few’ unscathed, and turns the rest into fleshy, bone-scaly monsters (called Graces), the novel follows Benji, a trans boy who is the son of one of the most prominent faithful, and who is infected with a special version of the virus, which will turn him into a Seraph, and give him power over the Graces mentally to command them to do his bidding. The cult believe the Seraph will lead them to victory over the remaining faithless, but Benji escapes and finds other survivors like him at a nearby LGBTQ center. Together they form a plan to fight back.

White writes absolutely gut-punchingly grim stuff, show more but his metaphors for trans people being seen as monsters is always spot on and brilliant. He’s quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. show less

TWs:
Graphic: Religious bigotry, apocalypse, death, injury/injury detail, transphobia, deadnaming/misgendering, vomit, blood, body horror
Moderate: Violence, gun violence, toxic relationship, murder, death of parent
Brief: Gaslighting

This book just fuels my 'I need to be a monster, I need to ruin my enemies', I feel so SEEN.

It feels quite slow at first, but it definitely vamped up the pace. I'm utterly in love with just the somewhat casual representation, and the fact there's not a major focus on the transphobia that the MC faces. The euphoria Benji experiences when gendered correctly and people use his real name, I still relate so much to it even now, after being out for 8 years.

The author's writing style is absolutely amazing, I'm show more constantly gripped and genuinely found it hard to put the book down show less

What a hidden gem this was! I had no idea this would be so good. As soon as I started, it was hard to stop. Benji was a complelling reader. Benji is angry and frustrated but also feels stuck and unable to change the trajectory his life is going.

I liked that Benji was just a very raw and real character. I like that I saw two parallel stories being told, one seeped in zealous cult teachings but also the gray area of saviors manipulating survivors. I loved that I felt the rage and power at times but also the sadness of feel apart from the others because of what makes you unique.

I was completely swept up in the story, wondering who was telling it straight on and what everyone's uderlying reasons were. There were definite parts that were show more hard to stomach, but I loved the broken down world and these brokenly, lovely teens.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less

I am in awe of this book! So beautiful and heartbreaking and healing. But also, at times, challenging and uncomfortable. The religious trauma that I’m still working through and trying to become comfortable in my own skin hits hard many times throughout the book. I feel so connected to Benji in trying to figure out who he is and, simultaneously, being ecstatic about using he/him pronouns and his real name. Even at thirty, I’m still figuring shit out….I mean, aren’t we all?

Even though this was a young adult novel, it read so much older than that. As a post-apocalyptic novel, there’s a focus on blood, guts, carnage, and trying to survive. Yet, the main part of the story focuses on this group of teenagers forced to grow up too show more soon just trying to figure things out after the Flood happened. The brilliance of White’s writing is how he breaks up this tense and horrible situation, with the group having fun moments and joking around. They can act like normal teenagers, as well as supporting each other. Even when they find out about Benji, they still support and accept him into the group. Ultimately, it brings a feeling of hopefulness that while disaster might happen (and people usually suck), there are those who work to do and be better.

I truly appreciated the ending, as the idea that I’m supposed to forgive and vengeance is God’s. Why is it that only oppressed people are required to turn the other cheek? To forgive and forget? These people want to exterminate me and mine, and I’m supposed to be okay with it, to accept it? I hate that. I am angry a lot of the time, frustrated and sad, and a whole host of other emotions. So, seeing Benji and the Watch decimate New Nazareth and end their control was satisfying and healing. There are monsters in the world, but who says they must be the bad guys? I absolutely love this book and recommend it to everyone!!

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I didn't go into Hell Followed with Us looking for grand world-building or complex plots; just emotional and visceral drama built on its premise: fundie cults, body horror and queer angst.

The book delivered that, and I had a ton of fun reading it! The story, the rage, the gore -- it validated me.

The author wrote Theo and Benji really well. Nick was interesting, don't get me wrong, and I'd read a dozen more stories about that guy's past, present and future, but he was more straightforward as a character than the other two guys. Who had some serious fucking drama. So much shared history. So many issues to hash out between them, that the final brawl between them, where Benji points out that Theo's "undesirable" (i.e. a gay bitch) too, show more was just so satisfying.

My favourite bits are the lone chapters that give insight into Nick's and Theo's perspectives. Each of these chapters revealed something new about their beliefs, which differed from each other's and from Benji's, and so always surprised me.

Theo especially surprised me, I think. From accepting Benji's gender identity, to apologising so sincerely for physically abusing Benji that I believed it, to betraying him afterwards with such a straight and loving expression, to being so excited about marrying monsterform!Benji, to injecting himself with the Dominion serum. Like, damn. Hardcore. Committedly so. His choices catapulted the plot forward in a few places, which made him super interesting.

Small gripes I had around a supporting character's motivation: Sister Kipling turning out to be a heretic seemed sudden. Don't know if I missed a piece of foreshadowing beforehand? When I first saw the quotes from her diary about whether this was all a mistake, I was like, "Huh? Lady, are you clowning?"

Overall: 4/5 stars, because I really liked it. Ever feel pissed off about the world, about how people perceive and impose expectations on you and your gender and your future? Read this book. show less

In the near future, a virus has wiped out most of the human population. Into this vacuum has risen a fundamentalist Christian cult who believe the Flood (as they call the disease) is part of their prophecy, and their role is to be Angels and kill anyone who doesn’t believe. The group experimented on Benji, the teen child of one of their leaders, infecting him with a genetically engineered variant of the virus which will allow him to control the other infected. However, the prophecy relies on their Savior being an innocent girl, which Benji refuses to pretend to be. After losing his dad, who helped him both transition and escape, Benji hides from his mom with a group of survivors in an abandoned LGBTQ community center. They accept his show more transness, of course, but can they accept that he's an infected monster, and can they trust him enough to bring down the cult together?

I really enjoyed the queer and horror aspects of this book, but found the Christianity a bit annoying. The constant bible references were not meaningful to me and I felt like I was missing a lot. I'm certain this book would be very cathartic to people who have struggled against fundamentalism in their own lives, and I hope they find it! But it was not really for me. I do look forward to reading more from this author in the future, though. show less

Quick note: Check trigger warnings, the author is very open about what is included and I definitely recommend looking into them.
Hell Followed With Us is marked as YA Horror, but I would say it's closer to an adult genre bender. The sci-fi dystopian feeling, with the horror of the situation was a great setting. The book flew by and I felt like I was left wanting more, particularly how we got here, since we did feel a little dropped in on current events. The representation within this book is outstanding and for lack of a better word, cool. There were parts of the body horror I didn't love (lots of vomit) but the idea of what's happening to the main character is fascinating and horrifying. This was just such a wild, crazy, great ride for show more me. Can't wait to find more from this author in the future. show less