Hell Followed with Us

(Featuring my probably trash take on an unreleased but highly reviewed YA LGBTQ+ horror debut! This was an ARC, so I hope I don't get blacklisted after this review.)

Hell Followed with Us... I can't say that this book was exactly what I was expecting it to be. At times while I was reading this, I wished that Hell would open up and swallow me whole. But where there was misery, there were also some really brilliant and bold moments of gruesome body horror.

It definitely was an easy peasy read with short chapters, and I think that's great!

You know, I really hate to put down an indie author just because I didn't like his debut YA book.... This isn't just some big-shot famous person we're talking about here. My review might actually matter... Ah, who am I kidding? This book has glowing reviews on every possible platform. Let's get into the blood and guts of this book.

"A banner flies high above me: GOD LOVES YOU. Corpses dangle from the wires, yellow-pink organs hanging from their stomachs to obscure their nakedness, like Adam and Eve ashamed of their bodies."

HOLY COW, what a start to this book!

The first 20 or so pages had me absolutely immersed in the action sequence of Benji running away from his pursuers and then being caught in the middle of a really dramatic gunfight. I loved the body horror that was in this book, and unlike the other reviewers, I didn't think there was "too much gore." BOO-HOO, CRY ME A RIVER. I can safely say that there was an appropriate amount for people who enjoy body horror. I think the story content is pretty gruesome, so editing out all of the scary yucky parts would've ruined it.

The depictions of gore were also very vivid and indulgent, even seeming poetically beautiful in their grotesqueness at times.

Unfortunately, the section right after the very beginning was kind of a chaotic infodump of ideas. I found myself bombarded with a slew of ideas about LGBTQ+ issues, racism, and religion that were only mentioned in passing through the mouths of brand new characters that were all introduced (very briefly) in rapid succession. I wasn't even able to get a good grasp on their personalities before they would say something that seemed out of place about one of the moral themes of the book.

Listen, I was really happy that the author was talking about these important ideas openly and directly (in a respectful way), but the way that he presented them was a little bit unwieldy. For example, there is a scene where Benji meets a new character who is trans and uses neopronouns. The inclusion of neopronouns is very cool, but it's contextually strange for Benji to conveniently remember a time when he read this character's very specific neopronouns in a book he salvaged with his father (who was brutally murdered shortly prior to this scene) and repeat them in his head. Educational? Yes, but at the cost of the story's flow at a crucial part of the book that should be focused on drawing the reader in. To be honest, this is some delicate stuff that is often skirted around, so I applaud the author's openness, but this section was clunky, overloaded, and too much telling instead of showing, which is a real shame. (I want to keep it real with you... This section made me want to stop reading the book.)

The romance was also a little bit underdeveloped. I think Benji starts thinking Nick is cute from the moment he steps into the Queer Kids Intl. Headquarters (TM), and that had me thinking... sheesh, this kid really moved on quick (from the bodily mutilation of his beloved dad). But Benji's (ex?)fiance, and what happens to him later, WAS REALLY FUCKING METAL.🤘

It was angsty and tragic in a dramatic, end of the world, teenage suffering kind of way. A lot of bad things happen, but I didn't feel like I had bonded with the characters very much. That meant that I was reading these Good Kids get torn apart hoping that their deaths would be really explicit and scary (spoiler: my wish is not granted), rather than shedding tears. I feel like this teenage angst is part of the reason YA doesn't strike a chord with me. Or, maybe I'm just an asshole.

Another thing I'd like to mention is... This story had a lot of the same elements as Takaya Kagami's Owari no Seraph (or Seraph of the End). The manga is one of my favorites, and it was a little hard for me to close my eyes to the similarities. I dunno man, it was a little uncanny... It was sus... I don't want to say it smelled like fanfiction, but...👀👀👀

Other than that, the story was formatted in an interesting stylistic way, with perspective switches and the little blurbs at the beginning of each chapter. I think the chapter excerpts actually helped a lot with the worldbuilding and were effective. The author is stronger at descriptive narration than dialogue, but maybe the characters didn't really have many deep things to say because they were mostly idk teenagers. Overall, it smelled of inexperience but there was an attempt at originality. That's pretty groovy in my book.

This is ultimately a "found family" book, and I really enjoyed the diverse representation. I was great to see such a varied cast of LGBTQ+ characters in a piece of plot-based genre fiction. This, and the gruesome horror elements are honestly this book's strongest points. I can tell how passionate the author is about these things, and I like that refreshing rawness.

♨️Not great soup, but it's worth a read if you're into Blasphemous Bible Fiction and gruesome, gory, eyebally, organy, toothy horror.♨️

Even though this book was a miss for me, Andrew Joseph White probably has something resembling talent. All I can say is, I hope he keeps his gritty edge and shameless attitude forever.

P.S. The cover art is crazy good. It's probably one of the best cover designs I've seen in 2022!