Prasetya Nababan

Hell Followed with Us

Book by Andrew Joseph White

DETAILS

Publisher : Peachtree Teen (June 7, 2022) Language : English Hardcover : 416 pages ISBN-10 : 1682633241 ISBN-13 : 978-1682633243 Reading age : 14 - 17 years Grade level : 9 - 12 Item Weight : 1.05 pounds , A furious, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors. “A long, sustained scream to the various strains of anti-transgender legislation multiplying around the world like, well, a virus." —The New York Times INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 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. Perfect for fans of Gideon the Ninth and Annihilation . A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year "A defining voice of our generation." –H.E. Edgmon, author of The Witch King "Hands down the best YA horror book I've read." ­–Aden Polydoros, author of The City Beautiful "A chimera of horror, romance, and something stranger." –Rose Szabo, author of What Big Teeth "A timely and riveting tale." –Ray Stoeve, author of Between Perfect and Real Read more

REVIEW

If this fantastic, imaginative, riveting, castigating, captivating, intense, passionate, diverse, and grotesque novel is only Andrew Joseph White’s debut effort in the mad, mad, mad, mad world of literary publishing, I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us next, because this book was not only worth the wait, but it exceeded expectations. I’m going to go ahead and admit that I would need some time to sit and marinate with this book to give you a really good rundown of all the metaphors, parallels, and themes that run rampant all over this book. The double-sided meanings behind every Bible passage quoted and the intention behind their repetitiveness. The evolution from larvae to final form, in more ways than one. The completely justified castigation of evangelical Christianity and their hypocrisy versus the open arms with which the LGBTQIA+ community welcomes everyone and takes them in as a member of their tribe. This has always been the way of the queer community, and it always will be. When religious families kick their queer children, teens, and young adults out of their homes, the LGBTQIA+ community has a long tradition of taking these lost and often broken strays with them to safety and shelter whenever possible. This book illuminates this quite clearly. Even if it’s evident the apocalypse may be coming quite soon, the local queer community has come together and not only managed to find each other, but to stay alive and to prop each other up at the end of the world. I couldn’t have adored more the queer representation in this book. I think maybe the only letters I didn’t see represented were B and I. And hey, that’s okay! We got more than one trans character in there, and that’s a miracle in and of itself when it comes to mainstream publishing houses. This book is horrific in many ways, but it’s not scary. The horror comes purely from two sources: what people will do in the name of religion (which is nothing new) and body horror/gore. I say this with one caveat: PLEASE READ THE CONTENT WARNING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK. This is AJW’s request, as there is a great deal of material in this book that could be triggering to queer youth. I don’t normally include content warnings in my reviews, but since the author himself wants to be sure people read it, I’m gonna go ahead and sling it in here. I seriously recommend you give this book a shot. It’s horrific but absolutely justified in its righteous anger. Have you ever felt enough rage over the way LGBTQIA+ people are treated that you wished you could rain down a little hellfire on those who oppress them? Believe me, this book will give you a little taste of that.

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