I wanted to love this book so much, because the concept it's brilliant.
I adored the used of religion in this one, how the author wanted to shape it as a tool in the midst of post-apocalyptic dark atmospheres. The voice of the author is loud and clear but i didnt' fall in love with the execution. The rhythm wasn't solid, but it just take some time and exercise.
The images were all over the place in some parts of the book but still, i didn't hate them all the time. Some were amazing and brilliant.

There are different Trigger warning that must be taken with caution and thanks for that!

So its a good start, with a good idea that should have been a bit edited and it would turn out very good and solid.

Rating : 4 out of 5
Blurbs :
Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.

But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.

Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.

Thoughts : Please prepare yourself before reading this book. Please check out the trigger warnings because this book is grim, obvs, this is a horror book after all. I enjoy this book more than I thought I would be. Horror isn't my usual genre to read but I still can enjoy this book. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!

Horror isn’t my usual genre, but I devoured this book as if my life depended on it. I actually didn’t read the full synopsis for it; I was drawn by the cover, trans main character, and the horror genre. It is packed with LGBTQ+ representation and features a neurodivergent character as well. The writing is beautifully haunting, and the author excellently portrays the characters' inner turmoil while navigating complex relationships in a dystopian world.

I really don’t want to say more because going in blind was the best experience. All I can say is that I loved every sentence of this book, even the parts that had my blood boiling because they were a preview of humanity at its worst if some of us don’t change our hateful ways. Please check the trigger warnings, as there are many.

A monstrous trans boy trapped in a fascist theocracy sounds like the perfect ya horror and it definitely is PERFECT. Full review will be posted soon.

What an incredible story. I'm not a gore or horror fan - and while this is classified as YA and the characters are the right age, I'm not sure the content really fits this label - but White made it work. These characters are flawed and beautiful and wonderfully human.

The setting is dark and horrifying, but the found family here is one of the best I've ever read. Queer teens versus religious cult fanatics in an epic to-the-death showdown, and the entire world is at stake. It feels very fitting with everything going on in the world these days. We may not be in a post-apocalyptic world [yet], but a few moments in Hell Followed With Us are a prescient warning of what could be in store for humanity.

I love so many of these characters, mostly because none of them are perfect. They each have their moments to shine, and some have more than others, but these teenagers had been through a lot, even before the world ended. I specifically appreciated the wide range of representation, the acceptance, and this community.

Yes, there are a lot of gross parts. Did I mention the gore? But if I can do it, you definitely can. And Hell Followed With Us is totally worth it.

“I am their savior in Angel whites and skin peeling off the bone.”

Hell Followed With Us is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It catapults you into Benji’s world, which is simultaneously dark and hopeful, a site of both desolation and a firm refusal to accept that all is not lost. The antagonist is an oppressive, fervently religious cult using Armageddon as a means to their ideal end, and Benji is a teenage trans boy who refuses to accept the role and the future they demand of him. In the chapters showing Benji’s POV, his voice is sharp and furious. Despite being filled with monsters, this story sinks its teeth into the real world.

“If grief gets caught in my body like it’s tangled up with burrs, the least I can do is support the people who can actually feel something. The least I can do is help the people who are helping me. That’s what it means to be good.”

The story has both visceral body horror and the found family trope. Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Easily one of the best books I’ve read this year, and easily one of the best books I’ve read in general. This book is gory, full of body horror, religious horror, and definitely has trigger warnings worth looking up before reading, but if you can read this book then I highly recommend it. The most poignant part of the book for me is the tension between Benji and the sources of love and connection in his life. This book beautifully covers the pain of complex, even toxic relationships, couple with moments of real love and connection so deep that you would willingly run head first into danger, fully knowing that the only solution you can provide will never be enough to make a difference, but trying anyway. Despite and in spite of this knowledge. And knowing that doing so will cause you irreparable harm in the pursuit of this futile solution, just in case the odds are inexplicably, and for one time only, in your favor. All just to make it hurt less, or maybe even make your loved one smile a bit.

Thank you to Peachtree Teen and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Hell Followed With Us is a dark story among queer characters, ami. The cover is gorgeous and the whole thing lifts you up like you're floating seeing the earth beneath you. The writing was so terrifying but beautiful. I was so soaked in the pages. There are so many elements such as blood and gore.

I had a good and unique journey reading this.

Reading this is realizing you’ve been holding back a scream of pain and anguish, and Benji reaches out and says he’ll scream with you. And all you want is to grab his hand and scream and scream and scream.

It hurts and it feels righteous and it feels inevitable. You scream and scream. Right there with Benji. Crying and screaming and begging.

I don’t know how else to put to words how it felt to read this. It slowly crept in until it was ripping me apart… Or maybe ripping me open, allowing feelings to release.

I may not have grown up in the same religious context Benji did (as I was raised Catholic), but in my heart lives a pit of religious trauma I often try to ignore. The kind of pain that suddenly makes itself known. Like watching Midnight Mass and realizing the pain has been there all along but maybe you can cry it out. Like reading this book and realizing the pain might be screamed out.

I am glad I picked this book up. The representation was fantastic and despite how messed up the entire situation was it was so comforting to read a story in which a character is just accepted and embraced with none of the regular homophobia that is often encountered in books. The plot didn't go as far as I wanted it to and some of the relationships were not as developed as I would have liked - maybe this just isn't the book for me but I can't wait to read more from this author. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy.

Andrew Joseph White - Hell Followed with Us
Hell Followed With Us has to be one of the strangest YA fantasy horror novels I have read in ages and will probably make more sense to American audiences, due to its heavy use of religion, which might pass UK audiences by. It also has terrific LGBTQIA+ representation, with most of the characters falling under that banner due to the complex nature of the story. The main character is a transgender boy called Benji who is on the run from a cult (a type of Evangelical Christians) who unleashed Armageddon through a virus which Benji is connected to, leading to some very gruesome body horror as the infection can turn him into a dangerous bioweapon. Whilst looking for a place to hide Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the Acheson LGBTQ+ Centre, known as the ALC (I couldn’t help thinking of the YMCA!) and the wide range of gender representations in the centre and the pronouns they use to identify themselves.

Teens who are interested in gender are sure to get a lot out of this book as it goes out of its way to be inclusive and builds a highly original, and wildly inventive story, around Armageddon. However, readers not so interested in this kind of gender thing might find it plays too big a part in the story. Benji’s sexuality was nicely explained, from his days in the church to how he likes to dress, going into detail about breast binders and menstruation etc. It was heartening to have an autistic character Nick) lead the ALC, who realises the truth about Benji and his inner monster. This was a very gory book, which will have many triggers for readers who might have had similar problems as Benji and Hell Followed With Us is a rage filled blast at conformity, told via a very unique story. At times it was not easy to follow but you will rarely see such a large and unapologetically queer collection of characters as in this novel. AGE RANGE 14+

This one was religious overload. I did not make it past a few chapters with this one my lord. The chapters I did read felt very confusing and I was so lost.

Thanks to Pridebooktours, Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book with completely different expectations and found myself completely surprised by every twist and turn the story took. There was an overall very religious vibe that I was not really here for.

Christianity kinda skeeves me out and I don’t really like to see it that heavily depicted in books, those just aren’t the kind of books I want to read. Hell Followed With Us had way too much religion in it for me and Benji suffered too much trauma for a book that was marketed as being about trans revenge.

Benji only fought back and was badass like twice in the entire book which was a supreme let down since it felt like the book was just to make Benji suffer.

I was a big fan of all the horror elements and gore throughout the book, love me a good monster boy.

The setting was pretty cool with the monsters everywhere and being post apocalyptic, definitely gave me Walking Dead vibes.

I was obsessed with the amount of Queer Rep in the book! So many identities and gender expressions, especially within the main cast at the LGBT center. I did find it somewhat difficult to keep everyone’s names straight since some of the names were similar, or there were a lot of names characters that only made a single appearance.

I absolutely hate knowing a trans characters dead name in a book, it’s unnecessary and is a discredit to the character. We as readers didn’t need to know Benjis dead name, it added literally nothing to the story.

Hell Followed was an exciting read that I just wish had more trans joy and badassery than trans trauma.

When I started reading Hell Followed with Us, all I knew from friends was that it was spectacular. I’d read the synopsis and expected some level of horror…but I was not ready for the first chapter. Immediately, we are thrown into an apocalyptic world, and the main character Benji’s experience is filled with religious trauma and body horror. And it’s incredible. Andrew Joseph White masterfully crafts a world that we experience, quite literally, on a visceral level.

I didn’t expect to love the body horror as much as I did but here we are! Something about the apocalyptic grunge of it all was super satisfying. The descriptions and experiences of violently mangled bodies, the result of a bioweapon created by a religious cult, somehow perfectly mesh with the seemingly pristine and holy religious texts that are quoted throughout. There’s a cacophonic dissonance between the brutal reality of the world that the teenage main characters inhabit and the vision of salvation the adults preach about.

However, while these aspects are horrific in their own right, I had the strongest reaction to all the world-building around a fictional pandemic. Descriptions of dead and mangled bodies? No problem! Mentions of masks? No thank you. Encountering my lived reality of existing in a pandemic in a fictional story was somehow scarier than anything else.

There is so much to say about this book. About how the body horror and dissonance intersect with the experience of the trans main character. How it makes space for queer rage in a unique way. The ways in which the found family aspects are some of my favourite representations of queer communities. But I don’t really have words for all of those thoughts and some are not mine to speak on. So instead, here’s a cobbled-together and shortened version of what I can say about this book:

At its core, Hell Followed with Us is seething with rage. Rage against the systems that oppress the most vulnerable, rage against violent transphobia and rage against fundamentalism of all kinds. It is a burning, screaming testament to the power of anger. Few things excite me more in fiction than characters, particularly teenagers, who get to be unapologetically angry. So many stories require their characters to be nice, soft and agreeable. Hell Follows with Us sets those expectations aflame. Benji is filled with righteous rage and honestly, I don’t think there’s any other way to survive in the world of this book.

I can’t fully express how much reading a story about this deep-rooted anger at the world means to me. It’s cathartic and invigorating and healing all at once. No, you don’t have to go down quietly. You can be dragged through hell and back, burn everything around you down and come out the other side.

In many ways, Hell Followed with Us is a tale of survival in a world that does its best to snuff you out. It’s a love letter to queer kids, particularly trans kids, who are forced to live in that reality outside of the pages of a book. Hell Followed with Us feels like the permission to use the anger and set the world ablaze.

This is by far one of the best books I've read this year. By equal turns heartwarming and stomach-churning, Hell Followed With Us is a stunning reflection on current society, and particularly chilling in light of current US politics and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The characters were complex and well-realised, with even the supporting cast members pulling on my heartstrings. And of course I adored Benji and Nick, those poor boys got put through so much! The prose is both stunningly beautiful and viscerally horrifying (in the best way) and I can't wait to see what White writes next!

trans religious trauma horror with such a diverse cast was a ride and a great one, this was something I did not know I needed in my life

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

This book is excellent!!! I could not put this book down. I read it in an afternoon, and have no regrets.

Dystopia, LGBTQIA rep, religious/political bantering, culture vibes, revenge, betrayal, and multiple POVs.
The armosphere was chef's kiss! This book literally has everything I need in a book!

Trigger warnings include the following: transphobia, vomiting throughout, mass murder (including children), domestic violence (and returning to abuser), attempted suicide, and death of a parent.

3.5 stars - I really enjoyed this! White's writing is absolutely breathtaking; I was both amazed and jealous by his sheer talent. From the first page I was absolutely hooked which is why I was able to read it so quickly. I was enamoured by our main character Benji and primarily, the world he grew up in. If you know me, you know I fuuuuucking love religious cults (disclaimer: not that i would join one obvi, but the idea of them) and White does not hold back with this one. The novel also has amazing diversity, varying between different sexualities, cultures, beliefs that I found to be handled wonderfully. The way White was able to weave horrific elements into this story - I personally love when horror is intertwined into Christianity and creating these puritanic ideologies that feel so realistic and scary. White did a fantastic job describing the more gory and bloody aspects of the narrative. However, despite the fact that White did an amazing job with descriptions, I think the world was left a little confusing. I wish more world-building was done to help place us within the story. There were lots of elements that needed more exploring for me to have truly loved this. This was unlike anything I have ever read, and I just wish I had more. Will 100% be picking up White's next book because I cannot believe this book came out of someone's brain and I need more.

Hell Followed With Us is a visceral look at the harm of Evangelical Christianity through the lens of horror, ecofascist dystopia, and the trans experience. It aims to drive a knife right into your chest and delivers.

Hell Followed With Us is a masterpiece that weaves Biblical verse and dystopian horror to shock the reader through the horrors of Evangelical Christian tyranny. White will use bible verses to convey the duality of the horror and conflicting feelings our protagonist Benji feels regarding his upbringing. Showing that while Benji has physically escaped The Angelic Movement and their dogmatic belief in it being “god’s will”, the earth is destroyed through the flood - a virus that kills and warps the human body into twisted animalistic creatures called Graces or Abominations, more bone, sinew, and amalgamation of human parts than humanity - he has still work to go in deprogramming himself from their awful doctrine.

This is best exemplified by Benji’s mantra “be good” - his father’s last dying wish after being killed by the Angels while trying to escape with his son. A mantra he struggles to define for himself - is being good a matter of giving in to the Angels’ hellish plans for him, or is it to live as his true self as a boy. And while he knows it is to live freely as himself, his struggle to still define for himself what this means is what makes Benji a truly memorable character.

These passages throughout the text both compliment the situation and horrify the reader. You viscerally feel Benji’s horror and subjugation under those words. Just as much as the changes you witness that happened because of Seraph - a super version of the virus the Angels created, that will eventually turn Benji into a puppet for the Angels to use to wipe out the rest of humanity. You can’t help but cry for Benji’s predicament - even if you have never experienced his traumas - because White masterfully puts onto the page the horror of this kind of tyranny.

And while Hell Followed With Us presents us with trans rage in all its glory through Benji’s suffering and fight against the Angels. It also gives us moments of Trans joy and discovery through Benji’s interactions with the ALC (Acheson LGBTQ+ Centre) - a group of teenagers who rescue him from the Angels campaigning out in the abandoned LGBTQIA+ centre. Through his interactions with the ALC and specifically the leader of The Watch, Nick, Benji grows beyond his upbringing, finds his way in this dystopian horror, and truly defines and becomes the “good” man he wants to be.

Hell Followed With Us is a masterful work of dystopian horror that lets you feel every wound physical and emotional that its characters go through—taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride of Trans joy and rage. And it is one of the best books I have read in 2022.

Thia is one hell of a great book. The writing is stunning and the world building fantastic. It carries a lot of the anger we feel nowadays so that is great too. This book is just all around fantastic.