Rating: 4.5 / 5
HELL FOLLOWED WITH US by Andrew Joseph White follows sixteen-year-old Benji. Benji is a trans boy who has been raised in an extremist religious cult that has brought about the end of the world. As part of their plan for Armageddon, they’ve infected Benji with a bio-weapon that makes him a danger to everyone around him. In his attempt to flee the cult, Benji winds up rescued by the teens from a local LGBTQ+ center. Nick is the leader of the kid’s from the center and he’s the only one who at first knows about the bioweapon Benji holds. He has secrets and motives of his own.
This is a book that has been on my shelf for quite a while, so I was glad to have a prompt for The Amazing Readathon to give me the push to finally pick it up! I had a really good time with this one (though I’m not sure ‘good time’ is entirely the right phrase). Benji goes through quite a lot with his ultra religious mother and the lack of respect from the cult that he is fleeing. There is a lot of ugliness (and a lot of trigger warnings) in this book in addition to the positive relationships that Benji starts to form! This book has a wide variety of characters and I appreciated the diversity, including the fact that this book includes own voices representation for both autistic and trans characters.
There were a few places in the world building where I wanted a few more answers as the book really starts things off in the midst of the action, but it really is more of a character forward narrative.
For more of my thoughts on this book (and Kylee in a bowtie), check out my first The Amazing Readathon vlog which just went live!
DG Reads 