Hello everyone! I am so excited to be part of TBR and Beyond’s Book Tour for Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White. This is one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I am so grateful for the opportunity to review it and read it early. Thank you to PeachTree Teen and TBR and Beyond Tours for the ARC. This is no way influenced my thoughts and opinion on the book.
To follow the rest of the tour, check out the schedule!
Synopsis for Hell Followed With Us
Prepare to die. His kingdom is near.
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.
A furious, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors. Perfect for fans of Gideon the Ninth and Annihilation.
Content Warning
parental death, graphic death, body horror, violence, religious abuse, discussions of genocide; instances of homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, and deadnaming
Book links
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound
Review
Hell Followed With Us follows Benji a teen who is on the run and attempting to escape the religious extremist cult he grew up in. He is saved from capture by Nick, the leader of the local LGBTQ+ center (ALC) in Acheson, PA. Benji was injected with a special strain of the virus that wiped a lot of humanity. The Angels (members of the cult) believe Benji can bring upon salvation with this special serum in his body, the serum is called Seraph.
Benji has no desire to be their savior after all the hurt they’ve caused him. No one in the church accepts him for who he is and Benji just wants to live a normal life, or as normal life can be in these circumstances.
I knew this story would have body horror, but the amount surprised me. I found myself having dreams at night because of the body horror. As soon as I woke up after those dreams I knew I loved this book. Benji’s body transformation was grotesque and the violence present in the book was another surprising factor. The author did a magnificent job at describing these scenes with gruesome details.
Benji was subjected to this treatment/serum he did not want. The Angels wanted to mold him into a person that was not true to who he was. Many times throughout the narrative he mentions how he would like his body to look according to his gender identity and none of those fit with the Seraph or what the church believes. I thought this was extremely interesting because it depicted how people feel entitled to Transgender bodies. Hell Followed With Us explores the reclamation of bodily autonomy in a world that wants to dictate it.
Hell Followed With Us is a heavy read and I found myself taking many breaks while reading it. Religious trauma is extremely present in this book as you may have gleaned from the synopsis and content warnings. My heart broke for Benji and the characters that were subjected to the Angels’ torture. This novel is a dystopian, but honestly the treatment of the characters and events are not too far from our reality.
I found the topic of religious extremism extremely relevant and well discussed. I haven’t read many stories, which talk heavily about christianity. However, I think the author’s approach highlighted the issues even more. There are uses of Bible verses throughout the story and Beni’s questioning of how to be Christian when he has lived in a cult like the one he has.
The love interest in the novel is neurodivergent and I loved reading scenes from his perspective. I liked the dynamic between Benji and him. I did not feel like it was rushed at all. The development of the relationship did not feel forced and I liked how they complemented one another and their interactions. All Benji wants is to live in a world that loves him and does not try to change him. There is Found Family in Hell Followed With Us and I loved it! Also, there’s a character with neo-pronouns and I enjoyed reading about them. Xe was my favorite side character because xe was super funny and knew all the good gossip lol. I enjoyed any interaction Benji with xem.
Hell Followed With Us solidified my love for body horror in books. The discussion of religious extremism is poignant and extremely relevant to our times. It will make you feel rage for what Benji is put through and you will root for him and his right to live in a world that loves him. Just the right book if you want to read about queer rage. Also, if you love horror this novel is a must read!
Rating: 4/5 stars ✨
About the author
Andrew Joseph White is a queer, trans author from Virginia, where he grew up falling in love with monsters and wishing he could be one too. He is a graduate student in George Mason University’s Creative Writing program and has a habit of cuddling random street cats. Andrew writes about trans kids with claws and fangs, and what happens when they bite back. He is represented by Zabé Ellor of the Jennifer de Chiara Literary Agency. Author photo by Alice Scott.