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A review by pickledpotato1021
Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White
5.0
“This is home. I am alive, these are my friends, this is my family.”
Trigger/Content warnings may be considered spoilers about certain themes or plot twists in the story
TW/CW: Emotional abuse; Domestic abuse; Religious abuse; Death of a parent; Death of a lover; Self harm; Attempted suicide; Toxic relationship; Transphobia including misgendering and deadnaming; Religious trauma; Illusion to but no graphic description of underage sexual activity (age 16); Underage drinking; Detailed gore and violence
Benji is a sixteen-year-old trans boy who has just escaped from a religious cult that caused the end of the world. He is found and saved by a group of teens from a local LGBTQ+ center where their leader, who has many secrets of his own, learns Benji’s darkest secret: He is a bioweapon, meant to destroy the rest of Earth. I can’t put into words everything I love about this book. I have a spiritual connection to these characters and their story. My favorite thing is the representation. We have autism rep which is done better than I can describe. As far as LGBTQ+ rep there’s not only the more common representations but the lesser ones as well: Lesbian, MTF trans, FTM trans, gay, non binary, aromantic, neopronouns, I’m honestly probably missing some. I think the author’s goal of telling a story that is dystopian but also a story that would touch LGBTQ+ people was met. I, as someone who is non binary and autistic, felt seen and heard with these characters. The religious trauma that White touched on was also done extremely well, which was important because religious trauma is something so many people in the LGBTQ+ community can relate to. This is a story I will never truly be able to appreciate in the way it deserves. I will forever recommend this to anyone and everyone, but especially my LGBTQ+ friends who want a story they can relate to. I wish there was more detail on the “before” side of things, but I understand that wasn’t the focus of the story. I appreciate the author’s note in the beginning. It got me pumped up for the story, it helped me understand the story, and it made me feel comfortable knowing who wrote this story and why it was written.
Trigger/Content warnings may be considered spoilers about certain themes or plot twists in the story
TW/CW: Emotional abuse; Domestic abuse; Religious abuse; Death of a parent; Death of a lover; Self harm; Attempted suicide; Toxic relationship; Transphobia including misgendering and deadnaming; Religious trauma; Illusion to but no graphic description of underage sexual activity (age 16); Underage drinking; Detailed gore and violence
Benji is a sixteen-year-old trans boy who has just escaped from a religious cult that caused the end of the world. He is found and saved by a group of teens from a local LGBTQ+ center where their leader, who has many secrets of his own, learns Benji’s darkest secret: He is a bioweapon, meant to destroy the rest of Earth. I can’t put into words everything I love about this book. I have a spiritual connection to these characters and their story. My favorite thing is the representation. We have autism rep which is done better than I can describe. As far as LGBTQ+ rep there’s not only the more common representations but the lesser ones as well: Lesbian, MTF trans, FTM trans, gay, non binary, aromantic, neopronouns, I’m honestly probably missing some. I think the author’s goal of telling a story that is dystopian but also a story that would touch LGBTQ+ people was met. I, as someone who is non binary and autistic, felt seen and heard with these characters. The religious trauma that White touched on was also done extremely well, which was important because religious trauma is something so many people in the LGBTQ+ community can relate to. This is a story I will never truly be able to appreciate in the way it deserves. I will forever recommend this to anyone and everyone, but especially my LGBTQ+ friends who want a story they can relate to. I wish there was more detail on the “before” side of things, but I understand that wasn’t the focus of the story. I appreciate the author’s note in the beginning. It got me pumped up for the story, it helped me understand the story, and it made me feel comfortable knowing who wrote this story and why it was written.