Thank you Andrew Joseph White, Daphne Press and Netgalley for the eArc of Hell Followed with Us.

I requested this on recommendation from my daughter who is also a Netgalley user, so I was really excited when I got approved. This dystopian tale follows Benji a transgender teen trying to find his place in the world, After making a run from the Evangelical death cult, Benji falls into a crowd of teens who use a LGBTQ+ who use a community centre. As Benji maybe has a few weeks to live given he became the unexpected and unwilling vessel of the end of times, He starts to truly understand who he is and gets his revenge on those who have hurt him.

I love the dystopian world that Andrew built for this book. It definitely has an end of world feel about the whole thing, wrapped up in elects of religion,LGBTQ community and raw gory horror. Times are changing are they not? These elements flowed together very well, tackling many issues that Queer people endure and the fight they have on their hands to even be acknowledged. In some places, it raised a lot of emotions for me, sadness and complete anger to what Benji's family put him through, especially near the end of the book.

The pacing of this narrative was like walking down a hill. You start off at a great pace, the pull of gravity turning your feet over. Just like the turning of these pages, The pace is medium and just unravels slowly until you're just completely enthralled in this world until you're pretty much running to keep up with the latter end of the book. The pay off at the end is brilliant and I really enjoyed reading until the very end,

This book won't be the only one I pick up of Andrew's. I love his writing style and the way he is able to weave different components together, respectfully and colourfully described.

As a bonus, I also listened to the audio version with Shaan Dasani , Graham Halstead, Avi Roque as narrators. These people are fantastic and bright to life and already fantastic book. Thank you to these too.

5 stars from me

i really enjoyed the biblical references in the story and the symbolism of the angels. The trans main character representation is awsome

What a great novel to start of pride month! A dystopian look at religion and the fragile thread it holds with gender identity and sexuality.
I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that not all the characters had to agree on things to be seen as 'good'. We have trans characters who show their identity in different ways, and even if they clash, at the end of the day they can move on and just be themselves.

Thank you to Andrew Joseph White, Daphne Press, and NetGalley for a galley of this in exchange for an honest review.

Hell Followed With Us is an unusual book. Set against a dystopia of biblical proportions (literally), we follow Benji, a trans teenager, and unwilling vessel of the end times' end game. Having fled the Evangelical death cult he was raised in, Benji falls in with a crowd of young, queer, survivors, and ironically, given that he may now have only weeks to live, finally learns what it means to have something to live for.

Beset by the monstrous remains of zombie-esque plague victims, the cult's 'Angels' AKA death squads, and, perhaps most frighteningly of all, a plethora of cis white men, Benji forges real friendships with his rescuers. But the lure of love is strong, and he must figure out who he is willing to sacrifice, and what for.

This book was both queerer, and more religious than I had initially been expecting. When I read the blurb for this book I expected something that was going to end up more like Charlie Higson's Enemy series - specifically the Angus Dei angle. But I ended up with something that was a little more Evangelical, which given the US setting I should have been expecting. White builds a very plausible world, his blending of religious and environmental extremism with a kind of Evangelically intense white supremacy feels like a possible future, and whilst I would have liked to know more about how the rest of the world has fared (plagues might be global, but evangelicalism is relatively US-centric), he has managed to cram a lot of detail into a relatively short book.

For those worried about the focus on religion, particularly Christianity, particularly conservative Christianity, I, personally, don't think White's representation is 'bad,' or, like, a pointed attack. In my opinion, which is admittedly limited by neither being from the US nor of a Protestant-off-shoot persuasion, White made it very clear that the Angels were an extremist group, a cult, who had co-opted religion, but who had essentially abandoned a lot of the core tenants of the religion. This was obvious to me, as someone from a Catholic background, because the actions of the Angels are in direct opposition to a lot of very important things, e.g., Commandment not to kill. Now, again, I am not from an Evangelical background. I'm Irish Catholic, if we're getting specific, and my experience in religion is vastly different to that even of Catholics within the US, but to me this read as a commentary on the way the far-right, white supremacists, and other extremist groups pick up elements of religion and twist them. This could definitely be viewed, through that lens and given the very close relationship most conservative leaning people in the US have with Christianity, as a commentary on contemporary evangelical practice... but if you read this and thought 'you're attacking my church specifically' I think you should maybe take a step back and ask, "is my church treating others the way we would want to be treated?" If the answers no, then the call is coming from inside the house. White isn't attacking you, you are attacking others. Sit with that, and then do better.

Back to our regularly scheduled book reviewing,

I don't read a lot of horror, so I am appreciative of how the gore was handled in this book. I felt that there were some visceral moments, but for the most part the description was impressionistic, or focused on feeling. That being said, I do wish a little more time had been given to the (SPOILER) final descriptions of Seraph, I struggled to understand what exactly that might look like. My mental image was kind of dragon-y, and I think it should maybe have been more humanoid. All the same, I found the world, and the people within it, fascinating to read about.

All taken together, I really enjoyed this. There was a lot in it that gave me pause, and a lot in it I think could be polarising, but personally I found it very readable. 4 stars.

3.8 stars
Think Far Cry 5 religious fanaticism meets Last of Us post apocalyptic with a LGBTQ+ added bonus.
The first couple of chapters had me thinking this would be a typical dystopian plot with a trans MMC. Not at all!
We saw Benji being raised in a cult (reminds me of Far Cry 5 PEGgies) and breaking away from the toxic behaviour of a fanatic rhetoric. (Transphobic/homophobic/dead naming etc.) He finds new friends and family who support him through the story.

The latter half describes events with gruesome scenes with religious imagery, which sounds very Old Testament, and disturbing parallels of real world conversion camps and lack of trans rights happening today.
All in all, a great book! I read it because of the cover art, which is fantastic, I've not come across the author before but I'll pick up another by him.
Thank you to NetGalley.co.uk and Daphne Press for the opportunity to read this.

A brilliant premise with an immediate hook; a trans boy turned bioweapon on the run from the post-apocalyptic cult he was raised in. Will he keep running, or will he turn on them? It is action-packed, gorey horror that is ultimately about the people.

It is a character-driven story, but most of the secondary characters were not developed enough for me to form any attachments. I also wanted more world building and understanding of what was going on in this crazy post-apocalyptic world as a whole.

I don't read a huge amount of horror, but I was just so taken by the brilliant cover of 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗨𝘀 by Andrew Joseph White that I had to give it a try!

A massive thank you to @daphne.press for access to an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Did I completely gross myself out? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Also yes! This book just has so much going for it - a strong, driving plot; sympathetic, multi-dimensional characters; and of course a visceral, unsettling atmosphere.

'Hell Followed With Us' is primarily told from Benji's point of view - a trans man recently escaped from the anti-LGBTQ+ fundamentalist cult that raised him... and infected with a bioweapon intended to finish off the armageddon that cult started.

Eventually he finds his way to the 'ALC', a local LGBTQ+ youth centre that remains a safe-space and community, even after the apocalypse. There he struggles with his own faith and identity, as well as his responsibility to those around him both as an ex-cult member and potential bio-hazard. There are intense shoot-outs. There are battles for survival in an unforgiving dystopia. There are disgusting sentient blobs of reconstituted human tissue.

If you're looking for a subtle message, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for cathartic RAGE, an unflinching look at the worst people can be with only a tiny glimmer of hope for humanity - 'Hell Followed With Us' might be exactly what you're looking for.

Firstly, I want to thank Daphne Press and Netgalley for sending me this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

*3,25 stars

Hell Followed With Us is a fast-paced young adult book. The story is set in a dystopian world that is gory, and has religious cults and monsters. We follow Benji, a trans teen who escaped the cult that ended the world. He joins the Watch at the LGBTQ+-center and has to decide what to do, before they change into the Seraph.

I think this book had such an interesting concept. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really get into it as much as I hoped too. The book was definitely well written, but I found it hard to follow at some points. The ending also felt a bit flat to be honest.

In short, I can get why other people like this book. It just wasn’t for me.

Exceptionally gory and brutal, a blood-soaked scream of a book. Post-apocalyptic survival with the clash between violent religious zealots and struggling queer teenagers, pulling no punches in how far anyone will go.

This post-apocalyptic body horror has challenging themes (and gore!) for a YA but White is a deft hand, weaving in dysphoria, homophobia and religious trauma naturally. This one doesn’t shy away from the dark side of growing up queer but it offers hope too: who else would dare to imagine an apocalypse where a queer youth centre are the survivors?

I am, once again, astonishing at the capacity this author has to both surprise and traumatize me (in a good way, I love his narration and characters).

It took me a long time to finish this book, and that´s why I give it this score. You see, this is one of those cases where it´s not the author nor the book´s fault; it´s totally on me that I took so long, because horror is not really a genre that I find easy to love.
As a matter of fact, I picked this book because I had read before The spirit bares its teeth (by this same author) and liked. So why not try again?

Well, it was a nice decision, yet... Yet, this book didn´t manage to fully catch my interest. The story is about Benji, who escapes from a sect of Angels (very bad angels) and joins a LGBTQ+ group who wants to fight those angels and destruct the sect. That´s pretty much it.
I think the problem why I wasn´t truly invested in the story is because for me it felt very predictable. Like, you got these two groups opposite each other and Benji is becoming a monster. Okay, then in the end the LGBTQ+ group will win and kill the bad guys. The end.

See what I´m saying?
Yes, there´s a lovely trans, ace and a lot of other rep that is lovely. Like I said, I liked all the characters and the narration. It´s just the plot didn´t click with me.
I´m sure, though, if someone likes YA horror will love this one.

This was a bloody and brutal dystopian, post-apocalyptic, supernatural, queer, religious horror. It touches on some heavy themes in both the religious space and LGBTIQA+ space (particularly transphobia).

It was well written, but I did find it hard to follow at some points. I think I would have liked to learn more about the before, and I did feel like the ending was cut a bit short. Perhaps there will be another one?

Queer horror? Queer, religious horror?! This may have been one of my favourite horror books I’ve read. It’s unique, enticing and incredibly well written in representations.

Thank you to Netgalley and Daphne Press for this E-Arc. It was a pleasure & I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

I really enjoyed this dystopian horror, but I would definitely ensure you read the content warnings before going in. There was some incredibly challenging themes, particularly the ongoing religious extremism and transphobia. However, I felt like the author navigated this really well and with care. You could truly feel the rage pouring out of the book. I do wish there we could have learned more about the wider group or even just developed a deeper connection to the other members of the Watch. I did love Benji and Nicks character arcs and the symbolism throughout helped carry the narrative.

I love reading queer centred books and anything with angels always pulls me in. Horror is slightly out of my usual genre but felt like this was an excellent introduction. I would definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading more of this authors works.

- I’m really struggling to decide whether to give this 4 or 5 stars, so take this rating with a pinch of salt!
- I’m really not sure whether to give this 4 or 5 stars so take this rating with a pinch of salt!
- First off, this is not at all what I expected from the blurb. I expected it to focus a lot more on romance, but parts of this were just full on horror- and I really liked that! The romance was there, but it was a lot more of a subplot/undertone than I thought it would be and, as someone who’s not a massive fan of romance, I enjoyed that.
- The author really has a gift in terms of their descriptive writing. I could visualise it all so perfectly. The way the flood was written was wonderfully simultaneously beautiful and really horrific. I loved it. The depictions of Benji and his emotions surrounding it were also wonderful. I really liked his growth throughout. I sort of predicted certain plot beats, but they were still really emotionally affecting!
- The worldbuilding of this post apocalyptic place was also really interesting. The flood as a whole was just a really cool concept. Sometimes it was a bit confusing trying to figure out what exactly seraph meant/was, but that’s probably a little bit of me just speeding through the book because I really wanted to know what happens next!
- it did have a few flaws, which is why I don’t know whether or not to give it 5 stars. The pacing was a bit weird sometimes, as was the structure of some of the scenes and dialogue. The plot went from fairly slowed down to breakneck at seemingly random intervals- but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story much! Some of the side characters also felt like they were just there for the sake of it, rather than being actual characters with developed personalities. I couldn’t remember who was who at certain points.
- I’m not trans, so I can’t really say anything about how well the community was represented, but the amount of diversity and representation was a really nice change of pace from what I often read!
- Overall, a unique, beautiful and emotional read! I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a ya dystopia that breaks a lot of the traditional tropes.

Thank you so much to the publisher for the earc!

This book joins my short list of books that I can’t give star ratings. There are a few reasons why I usually go this way, but most of the time it is because the book wasn’t for me. This was the case with Hell Followed With US too. It was a really good book with a very interesting idea, but I’m not the target audience for it.

We have a post apocalyptic/dystopian setting, where the majority of the world’s population were killed by a group of fanatics and the remaining ones are hunted by them. Benji is supposed to be their greatest weapon against nonbelievers. But when his father was killed he found shelter with a group of teens, and for the first time in his life, he can finally be himself. But the virus is slowly working its way through him, and turns him into a monster.

The Angle used the Bible to justify their actions, so the book was filled with quotes from it. I’m not religious and only read parts of the Bible, so I had no other context to the quotes but this book. It was interesting to see the different characters' relation to this cult-like upbringing. Benji tried his best, but could never feel the way he was expected to. I loved his character, even if it took him a long time to stand up for himself.

For the first time in a very long while, we got a proper answer why kids are the ones who are fighting back against the terror. Because the adults are cowards. That simple. The way the Vangaurd (? Hopefully I remember their name right) treated the Watch, those teenagers who did the dirty work for them, was terrible.

There was a very queer character squad, and I loved all of them! ALC was a safe haven for them before Judgment Day and it stayed even after that. It was a good reminder that there are people who’ll accept you no matter what.

It was clear that it’s a debut, because while the writing was great, sometimes it was a bit hard to follow the story. And I’d have loved to read a little more about before, I was left with a few unanswered questions.

The book is brutal with a lot of blood and monsters, with just enough transphobia to make your blood boil, so if you can’t handle these I’d suggest you not to read this book.

Overall, it was a really good book, and if you like monsters, extremely queer characters and apocalyptic worldbiuling, I’m sure you’ll like this one too!

This was a really brutal body horror with serious religious themes and excellent trans representation. The book is really tough to read at times and I thought the author did a fantastic job with Benji as a character. The plot is pretty straightforward and the pacing is good throughout, but the book really shines with its characters. The various teens and young adults who make up the ALC are all individuals with depth and emotional weight, which I appreciated. The world itself is horrifying, and the way in which the religious themes play out are too. Overall, I thought this was a compelling, if difficult at times, read and I would recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I knew I was gonna absolutely adore this book as soon as a character with neo-pronouns showed up.
I've seen a lot of reviews saying that the side characters felt like just their gender/sexuality and I don't agree with this at all. I think it makes sense for a sheltered, trans boy to see others in light of their gender or sexuality, just because for him it's special to be able to be himself.
I did feel like there was a lot going on, with a lot of different characters, a war, a fucked up religion, a transition into a monster and a semi love triangle. I do feel like, because of all these different things going on, I wasn't as involved as I could've been. 
However, I loved the setting, the world and the lore. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Daphne Press for a copy of this book.

5 stars

Hell Followed With Us is a challenging, scary, fast paced YA set in a post-apocalyptic and dystopian world. It is very gory and has religious cults and monsters (both human and not), and along with this there is religious trauma and transphobia throughout - I would definitely recommend reading the author's note for trigger warnings before picking this one up!

This is a story about queer rage, humanity and the resilience of people, in particular kids resilience! The book contains the found family trope, and some flawed characters who are just trying to survive even if it means going against how they have been conditioned and what they've learned. This was a hard read not only because of the violence and gore but the harmful beliefs and actions of others that impact the main character and side characters. There is however hope and kindness in pockets throughout that is touching.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more from Andrew Joseph White.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have read The spirit bares its teeth by this author before I started this one and I honestly had high hopes, especially since I enjoyed TSBIT so much but unfortunately I don’t think this novel is for me. Therefore, I tried pushing through but decided to DNF the book about 30% in.

I didn’t quite understand where the story was going and didn’t feel any connection with the characters. I feel like maybe because I am not the target audience for this novel that it didn’t turn out to be what I thought it would be. I also think that the topic of cults and religion also may play a part in why the story didn’t speak to me.
However I did really enjoy seeing the acceptance of LGBTQ+ members in the ALC.
• I will be reading more from this author in the future, I just don’t feel like this book was for me
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.