A story of the monsters that some can create.
Hell Followed with Us is a debut novel by author Andrew Joseph White, which came out in 2022.
Benji, a trans teenager is on the run from the cult that made him into the monster he is destined to become. After spending years in a cult that does not accept him and becoming a monster of their creation, Benji and his dad escape...but they find them. After his dad's death, Benji finds safety with a group of LGBTQ+ teens, who survived the apocalypse in a youth center, and have been fending for themselves since.
While trying to help hide the monster he has become, Benji helps the group at the ALC get the revenge they have always dreamed of on the cult that destroyed everything they knew. Benji fights within himself to help the group while also trying to unlearn everything those around him had said for year.
As Benji tries to keep himself together (literally and figuratively) and find help for his new friends, he is also fighting with feelings for his ex, who has showed up 'willing' to help.
This book is full of monsters, literal and figurative, with mentions of politics and religion in a way that is both angry and fulfilling. It holds strong to message of fighting back against those who have wronged you, and the world. The themes of the book are strong and can make you uncomfortable at times but are really, really well done. The book definitely has its moments of gory descriptions, since Benji is literally falling apart. With strong themes that might be hard for some, so definitely give the trigger warnings for this book a glance. (They are also mentioned in the author's note at the beginning).
This was my perfect kind of monster book, with that sort of 'angel' connection that seemed to be all over young adult fiction when I was a teen. I really, really liked it.
A 5 out of 5 star read for me!
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