I love stories about superheroes. I was raised on the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoons, watched some Batman the Animated Series, then read some of the comics. I found I had a taste for the darker side of those stories without it going grimdark. The Boys, The Umbrella Academy, Invincible, all are dark superhero stories I love.

So to read reviews comparing this book to the above stories had me hooked. Then, right before reading, I heard there's body horror? This was a book made for me. As written in The Enigma of Amigara Fault by Junji Ito, "This is my hole! It was made for me!"

I have a lot to gush about, so I'll start with what I wasn't a fan of. My biggest issues with Hench were the chapter sections. There are 8 chapters, each one broken down into sections within. These sections rarely had awkward starts, but when they did, my reading was thrown off. There were two or three timeskips that forced me to reread pages. The first big one actually made me have to check what book I was reading. I would've appreciated some lead-ups before the timeskips. Usually, the lead-up was told after the skip happened, giving some sections a middle-beginning-end format. I also noticed a few times where words felt repeated too close to each other, giving a paragraph or page repetitive prose. Some words showed up across pages that felt important for the reader to take note of, but the ones I spotted were too nearby for technique.

Aside from that, there was one evolving relationship I took differently than the book intended, which is more a fault of my own. My friend who read with me understood where the relationship was going. I had to wait for the book to spell it out before I dropped my headcanon.

Okay, done now! Onto the gushing.

So, I'm black, trans-masc agender, and I use they/he pronouns. This book already had me joyful to see a bisexual protagonist with multiple female and male crushes. Then I met not one, but two reoccurring side characters with they/them pronouns. I was almost teary-eyed. Instead, I smiled so hard my face hurt. Every reminder makes me smile again. I don't know if I've read a published novel set in the modern age with human characters using they/them pronouns. The fact that there are two in one book is groundbreaking to me. Four or five, if you count one-offs in the short story at the end of the book. The point is, they/them pronouns are accepted grammar and identities in the setting.
 
Then there's racial representation. Not everyone's ethnicity is listed, but you can get hints from their names or descriptions. Anna's—the protagonist—best friend is a dark-skinned woman named June. One minor character has the last name Ng, and a reoccurring character is described as being Maori with tattoos.

This book gave me what I wanted from a story with representation. This is a book where ethnicity and sexuality aren't used to make a point about society. There are no drawn-out conversations talking about the horror of biphobia or how to use they/them pronouns. A character's transition to female is treated with respect, no one questions Anna for having a crush on a hot muscular woman, these are simply facts of life. The only bigotry is some minor misogyny, which characters turn on its head to empower themselves with.

Related to the above, Anna also suffers physical trauma early on that isn't treated as an end to her life. It's an impediment that would be better if she didn't suffer it at all, but over time, as her body heals and she receives support from her friends, she's able to see that all isn't bad. The same goes for her mental health and PTSD. There were a couple of times she had panic attacks that she controlled with breathing techniques, even citing the term CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). That too is shown as a hardship capable of being managed. Her trauma never goes away, but it doesn't rule her either. It's a breath of fresh air to read a story about a mentally ill and physically disabled character who isn't seen as a burden or as an inspirational story. She has her problems and she makes the best of them.

There isn't much more for me to say on this book. I loved it. I loved the characters, I loved the balance of tragedy with modern humor (good for Millennials and the older Gen Z crowd).
 
When the true body horror kicked in, the book had me gripped and I made no attempt to escape. I loved it even more. I clearly haven't read enough horror books if this is the best body horror I've read. With that in mind, if you hate that stuff, don't touch the book. Physical trauma is littered throughout and it only gets worse. I didn't think it could, but it did. This was stuff taken out of Lovecraftian horror.

Natalie Walschots stated within an interview on Los Angeles Public Library that a sequel is in the works. Hench ended well as a one-off, but there is plenty of room to expand on the world. Which, isn't that the joy of comic book universes? They're infinitely expansive. Hench introduces superhero teams with unique dynamics, villains of varying morality, and a government with systems for superpowered people. Walschots has plenty to work with, whether she follows the main character, changes perspectives, or creates a whole new story set in the world of Hench. It wouldn't be the first time, because there's a short story from the perspective of another character within the book. If a sequel never comes, there is plenty for fanfiction writers to pick up on, and I suspect that something she would enjoy seeing.