Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White. I was excited to learn that a film adaptation of Whiteās debut novel is in the works. I enjoy what Iāve seen of Lilly Wachowskiās work and I have high hopes for this adaptation.
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Summary
Publish Date May 09, 2023
Amazon | Bookshop | Libro
Hell Followed With Us is set in the not-so-distant future, and the world is falling apart. Climate change, for example, is an issue. Meet Benji. Benji is a sixteen-year-old trans boy who spent many of his formative years in a doomsday cult. Whiteās novel starts moments after Benjiās father has been shot and killed. You see, Benji and his father were attempting to flee the cult; Benjiās father was shot by a cult member who was chasing them.Ā
Referred to as the āAngelsā throughout Whiteās novel, the cult created a virus that was unleashed on the world. The virus killed a large segment of the population; those that survived are either members of the Angels or are in hiding. We quickly learn that shortly before escaping, Benji was injected with a mutated form of the virus. The goal is that Benji will mutate into something called the āSerephā and will wipe out the remainder of humanity (except the Angels, presumably). The Angels believe that Benji will bring about their salvation and want him back alive.
Benji meets up with a group of young survivors from an LGBTQIA+ community center known as the ALC. The groupās leader, Nick, is an autistic, gay young man who is one of the few people to know Benjiās secret.
Still, Nick invites Benji to join the group at the ALC. Initially, the ALC is just trying to survive, but they ultimately decide to take down the Angels with Benjiās help.
Hell Followed With Us is a story of identity, acceptance, and found family.
Andrew Joseph White is himself an autistic transman, and Hell Followed With Us is his debut novel.
Thoughts
Itās not unusual for trans authors to use body horror to explore issues surrounding gender dysphoria. But I liked how White handled it in Hell Followed With Us.
For Benji, itās not so much his body parts or his bodily functions (ie his menstrual cycle) that cause him dysphoria. His dysphoria is caused by how he’s seen by the people around him.
The Angels routinely misgender and deadname Benji, which is understandably distressing enough. Benji has the additional stress of going through a metamorphosis into what he perceives as a monster, thanks to the virus that the Angels injected him with. While I was reading Hell Followed With Us, I couldnāt help but think of how puberty is a metamorphosis of sorts and how distressing it can be for a trans teenager. So I was thinking about how Benjiās metamorphosis into Sereph is kinda of a metaphor for puberty. Benji is afraid that he will be perceived as a monster because he perceives Sereph as a monster. And this is a major part of his dysphoria. Sereph was designed to wipe out what remains of humanity, after all. What could be more monstrous than that?
Benji becomes a member of a found family with the ALC. His new family accepts him for who he is, a āmonsterā and all. With the help of the ALC, Benji can work on unlearning the harmful messages he received while in the cult.
Itās the Angels who are the true monsters here.
I listened to the audiobook of Hell Followed With Us. While I enjoyed the narrators overall, one of the things that bugged me was that there was some inconsistency in how to say āALC.ā One of the narrators said each letter individually, while the other said like a word. Does that make sense? I wish there had been some sort of consensus as to which to use.Ā
Characters deadname and misgender Benji multiple times throughout Hell Followed With Us. This might bother some readers.
You Might Like Hell Followed With Us ifā¦
- You like YA horror, especially body horror.
- You like LGBTQIA+ content in your books.
- Youāre into books that contain cults and/or found family.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means Iāll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please readĀ full disclosureĀ for more information.
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