Hell Followed with Us

I wanted to love this book so bad. But I really didn't. I mean it was fine in the beginning, although I usually prefer topics of queerness to be discussed without modern language. This might be a personal flaw though. I really like the ALC members and their group dynamic. 

However, it was a little too gory for my taste. I wouldn't even say this was horror really. It was just gross but nothing about it was scary. Especially in the end when the final showdown basically became Godzilla vs kong style. Only now it was Seraph and Dominion. It was very underwhelming. Plus how Benji moves and what he looks like is generally badly described. He is meant to be this monster now with a massive body but his friends can still casually put their arms around his neck? Fucking how. 

I was disappointed in the execution and ending and the gross descriptions aren't my kind of horror. I honestly wouldn't even describe this as dark.  

I really enjoyed the body horror in this book, more so than the revenge ark even though that was satisfying too (who doesn't like seeing christo-fascists getting their comeuppance?). I suspect this book would speak to my fellow fans of the zombie genre. The descriptions of the Graces were magnificent.
It was lovely to see neopronouns being used rather casually.
I wish this book existed when I was younger.

Abandoned at 35%.

Queer, trans teen boy, Benji, lives in a post-apocalyptic world. I am just not the intended audience for this. I am glad the representation exists and that trans/queer stories are being told, however, I didn't care enough about the world in which Benji resides to even care if he saved the world or not (assuming that's what was supposed to happen). The book is filled with rage at the world, which I understand being filled with rage, but (perhaps a privileged opinion) I am past this rage in my own life. I am glad this book exists for the representation, but I feel like it is a book where the author threw together representation and rage and covered in with a thinly woven story plot.

I'm glad others got things out of it, but I did not.

I knew that as a queer autistic person with religious trauma, this book was going to hit close to home, but what I wasn't expecting was for it to do everything justice. Everything from Benji's transness, to his religious trauma, to even the body horror–which I was especially a fan of–felt like it was done well.

What I really appreciated, though, was Nick's characterization. Too often I've been excited by the promise of an autistic character only to be let down by the way they were represented–often in infantilizing and invalidating ways. It was like a breath of fresh air to see someone just like me, who stimmed and had trouble speaking, without seeing them be treated like a child or the butt of the joke. And I will admit that there were parts of Nick's characterization that had me crying in the best way possible.

I wish I could sit here and recall everything I loved about this book, but I think it'd take too long and I'm not sure anyone would read my ramblings about metaphors, religious imagery, and the fine (essentially nonexistent) line between divinity and monstrosity that I love so much. But if there's one take away I want anyone who is reading this review to have it's this: I loved this book and everything about it, and, even though I'm not the type to reread things, I know for a fact that I plan on picking it up again in the future.

This was my first ever buddy read with https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/15335689-destiny-howling-libraries!!!!!!!! And WOW HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was SO INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!! I LOVED the descriptions of the rot and the changes Benji went through!!!!!!!!! And I fell so deeply in love with these characters, especially Benji and Nick!!!!!!!!!!! I just want them to be happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This now holds a very special place in my heart, and has even managed to make it onto my All Time Favs shelf!!!!!!!!! HIGHLY Recommend if you want a gory, diverse end-of-the-world kind of book, or if you just like horror in general!!!!!!!!!!!

This book wasn't for me on a couple of levels...and that's fine.

On the first level I would say it's written for a trans audience (and I'm cis), and I love that there's a book like this that trans readers (especially teens) can read and know it was written by a trans person and that they can comfortably expect for the main character's trans experience to be written sensitively. I ofc am happy to read that too but, it's not for me. And that's fine!! I love the idea of this core group surviving the (basically zombie but they don't say zombie) apocalypse bc they barricaded themselves into the LGBTQ youth center. Like textually a smart way to “justify” (not that it needs to be justified but, you know) having this entirely queer crew there and having access to hormones etc in this landscape. Nice.

Anyway the second way it's not for me is that uhhh I didn't realize it's BASICALLY a zombie book and it's like WICKED GROSS BODY HUMOR I had to skim a LOT of stuff because it was like....so gross. (Again to be clear: not the trans stuff!! Being trans isn't gross!! Detailed descriptions of melting internal organs are gross!!!)

Like I picked this up a) bc I heard good reviews and b) bc I thought it was about escaping a fundamentalist Christian cult, which like, it is but also the Christian cult made zombies!!

ANYWAY soo yeah not for me but for some other readers I am sure this book will be very appreciated.

Um livro definitivamente pesado, a carga emocional das palavras escritas aqui fazem a leitura se tornar densa e sombria, dá para sentir a raiva que o autor tinha quando idealizou esse mundo apocalíptico. Apesar de ter gostado muito, principalmente da representatividade trans e autista que o livro traz, senti falta de um worldbuilding mais bem construído, assim como de um aprofundamento da motivação de alguns personagens. Minha principal critica fica mesmo para o mundo que foi construído que às vezes parece frágil demais e que deixou algumas pontas soltas, nas quais eu fiquei muito confuso.

Fora isso, é um livro sensacional, de uma escrita carregada, profunda e imersa em ódio, medo e desejo por vingança.

Ainda quero ler os outros livros desse autor, principalmente por saber que essa foi sua primeira publicação tradicional.

I had been so looking forward to this... LGBTQ+ characters? Check. Autistic Characters? Check. Fantasy Horror? Check Check Check! So why did it not work for me? The book just felt like reliving religious trauma the book. I couldn't do it. I tried so hard but I just got anxiety everytime I attempted to listen. Perhaps I'll try another from this author.