Hell Followed With Us - Andrew Joseph White (2022)

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White is a YA dystopian horror novel that follows trans teen Benji as he tries to escape a religious cult all while being forcibly turned into a monster that the cult believes is their savior.

(The following review may contain minor spoilers, read at your own risk)

Unfamiliar with the WEIRDE  reviews system? Check out this post to learn more.

Opening thoughts: Hell Followed With Us had been recommended to me a few times so I went into it with high hopes, and let me tell you, those hopes were met. I was absolutely blown away by this book, it was a great start to my 2025 reading.

Worldbuilding: Hell Followed With Us is set in Acheson, Pennsylvania in a not too distant future where global warming has ravaged the land and a virus, engineered by the religious cult The Angelic Movement, has wiped out a huge percentage of the population and turned many of them into monstrous abominations called Graces. White does a really fantastic job at bringing this dystopian world to life, feeding the reader bits and pieces of how The Flood came to be and how it has changed the way people live so drastically. We get to see both sides of this new life from the queer teens at the Acheson LGBTQ+ Center (ALC) barely scraping by to the small utopia that The Angel Movement have carved out for themselves in New Nazareth. While it has supernatural elements within it like the Graces and the virus tearing apart Benji's body to turn him into Seraph, a biochemical weapon for the Angels, the world of Hell Follows With Us feels like one that could become our reality.

Emotions: This book tugged at my heartstrings so much. Benji struggles so often just trying to fit in and feel like a boy after putting up with so much transphobia from his mother and the Angels while also having to come to terms with the fact that he is slowly but surely being turned into a monster. On top of all that, he has to keep the monster part a secret from the people that saved him for fear that they'll kill him or send him back to the Angels. Poor kid just can't catch a break. There were so many moments that made me cry or scream (both from frustration and joy) throughout Hell Followed With Us. White is also fantastic at ending chapters on cliff hangers that leave your jaw on the floor. 

Ingenuity: I've read my fair share of YA dystopian novels, but I feel like White has done something really special with this one. Throughout the story, bible quotes are woven in to reflect what Benji feeling or is trying to rationalize in that moment. I think this was a great tool to help the reader understand just how ingrained the mindset of the Angels is in Benji, and how he is trying to break free from it. I also thought The Flood and how it later interacts with Benji as he becomes more and more Seraph was a really interesting driver of the post-apocalyptic setting. White also scatters bible quotes throughout to reflect how Benji feels about something or is trying to justify his actions which I think was a super effective tool.

Relationships: There are a lot of side characters in this book and they unfortunately get lost in the fray (but I think this is an issue a lot of books with large casts face). The members of The Watch all have great introductions, but then we only get a few lines from each of them scattered throughout the rest of the book. That being said, the complex relationships between Benji and Nick and Benji and Theo are fantastically written. White makes you doubt your own intuition on the intentions of the characters several times over with a wonderful payoff at the end. Benji struggles throughout the book with his relationship to The Angels. He wants to follow his fathers words to "be good" but does being good look like forgiving the people that tortured him, or is it fighting against them?

Descriptions: While I think some of the side characters could have benefited from a little extra description, White makes up for this tenfold with his visceral descriptions of Benji's transformation into Seraph. I physically cringed several times while reading, the descriptions make your skin crawl. White also does a great job at describing Acheson county and really transporting you into the dystopian world where global warming and a horrible plague has rampaged the land only to be further destroyed by the religious cult that released the plague. 

Engagement: I'd describe Hell Followed With Us as a medium-paced book. I absolutely devoured it, especially once I got to the 50% mark I just couldn't put it down. The contrast of Benji dealing with dysphoria combined with his transformation into a monster was just one of the many themes White played on that kept me utterly engaged from start to finish.

"It's harder for someone to pin you down as a girl when they need a moment to pin you down as human."

Final thoughts: Overall Hell Followed With Us was a fantastic first read of 2025. The ending fell a tiny bit flat for me, but it by no means ruined the book and this is definitely one that will stay with me for a long time. If you're looking for a book that heavily explores religious trauma, the dangers of a religious elite being in power, transness, and embracing the monster inside of you with plenty of gore then I would highly recommend it!

The Daughter She Wanted - Felix Graves (2025)

The Daughter She Wanted (2025) by Felix Graves is a speculative horror short fiction that dives deep into the psyche of a high school girl with an abusive foster mother. 

Opening thoughts 

This was a chilling and haunting read from start to finish.

Worldbuilding

The Daughter She Wanted is a very internal story focusing on the main character's mental state as she goes through what could probably be termed as psychological torture. So worldbuilding isn't really applicable here, but it's not needed. Graves does a fantastic job at make the reader feel as though you are experiencing these thoughts and feelings as if they are your own.

Emotion

I wanted to cry the whole time reading this book but I think I was in too much of a shock to be able to. Every time the main character put herself down, using her stepmothers words, I wanted to scream "No, you're wrong! Those aren't true!" Truly a heart wrenching read. 

Ingenuity

I really loved the use of dreams as a way to reflect the character's mental state. I won't go too into detail about them since this is a short story and I don't want to spoil anything, but I also loved the bit of perhaps mystical or magical meaning they may have.

Relationships

This was such a clear and brutal depiction of an emotionally abusive parent. The foster mother time and time again sets such high expectations for her daughter while at the same time telling her and making her believe that she is worthless. And still, the daughter loves her. Because how could you not love your mother?

Description

This is another area that wasn't super present, but again wasn't needed. The main characters aren't given names, but you still feel such a deep emotional bond with them. It's a very internal story, focusing on the mental anguish of the main character. You truly feel all of her ups and downs. The dreams that I mentioned above are very vividly described however, and it's a very effective contrast to the rest of the story.

Engagement

A super quick read that kept me on my toes the entire time. I found myself highly engaged trying to pick out each manipulative tactic of the foster mother.

Final thoughts

The Daughter She Wanted absolutely gutted me. I was screaming at the characters the whole way through and was left speechless by the end.

New to the WEIRDE review system? Check out this post to learn more about it.

The WEIRDE Reviews System

 I've always had a hard time figuring out what to write when reviewing a book and reducing it down to a five star scale, but I do want to offer insightful reviews for those that might be interested in a book I've read. So I've created the WEIRDE review system (inspired by Erika McCorkle's, @kiraofthewind on Bluesky, WYVERN system).

This system focuses on the things I care about the most when reading a book: worldbuilding, emotion, ingenuity, relationships, descriptions, and engaging.

Worldbuilding:

I'm a sucker for thoughtful and intentional worldbuilding. If a book has a glossary (or heaven forbid footnotes) I know I'm going to be in for a good time. Of course, books that are lighter on the worldbuilding still have their merits, but I'm more likely to gush over a book that has a really intricate magic system or pages of lore than if it doesn't. Obviously, this category will mostly apply to fantasy and sci-fi books, but since that's the bulk of what I read I couldn't not include it. Books set in the real world that don't require worldbuilding won't be dinged for not having any worldbuilding.

Emotion:

Every book is going to illicit some kind of emotion from it's reader (hopefully). This section will be primarily a space for me to talk about the kind of emotions a book made me experience.

Ingenuity:

Tropes are fun and all, but I often find myself wanting something new. Strange formatting, turning tropes on their heads, fantastical worlds not grounded in reality, etc. These kind of things push a book up to a higher standard in my mind.

Relationships:

I'm not a huge romance reader, but I love a book with a strong romance sub-plot. This category also extends to platonic relationships. I like to read about strong bonds, found family, blossoming new relationships, flourishing established relationships, and how the plot interacts and effects those relationships.

Descriptions:

I have aphantasia and have found that I really need vivid descriptions to ground me in the book. I can’t visualize a character or setting for myself so when authors do that for me it helps immensely. When descriptions are left vague or aren't present at all I have a really hard time following along and differentiating characters.

Engaging:

I have a pretty short attention span and it can be hard sometimes to find books that can keep me reading. Any book that keeps me up to finish that next chapter and forces me to think critically about the prose gets an A+.

And that's the system! There's no number score assigned at the end, just a way to break down my thoughts on a book.