Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

31 reviews

vusvusik's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Very interesting story, the world building was a bit confusing at the beginning but I got the hang of it, love the development of the 3 main characters 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Transphobia, War, Dysphoria, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, Genocide, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Homophobia

nikoops's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is absolutely amazing. The author is a fantastic writer, and the worlds he creates are richly detailed and leave you longing for more. Hell Followed with Us is emotionally devastating yet still carries just enough hope that these characters you come to love will be as okay as they can be in this hellscape of a world they are forced to exist in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Torture, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Transphobia, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Body horror, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Suicidal thoughts

Main character experiences a horrific transformation of his body against his will

entityj's review

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Hate crime, Transphobia, Vomit, Deadnaming, Cursing, Homophobia, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Cannibalism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Chronic illness

idiot_witch's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Death, Transphobia, Murder, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, and Hate crime

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Blood, Vomit, Biphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Xenophobia, and Grief

itsatyepo's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Transphobia, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Violence, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Genocide, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Child death, Death, and Dysphoria

hemlockbabe's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book was disgusting in a visceral, gore-y way. If I had read literally any trigger warnings online, I would have been prepared, but as is it was a pretty interesting thing to discover as I read this book in the hours that the game store I was managing was completely and consistently dead.
I adored this book. I picked it up entirely on a whim during pride month on the wall of recommended reading at a small bookstore. I read (more like skimmed) the blurb on why the shop employee recommended it so highly. I love reading religious trauma inspired books, so I pretty much was sold immediately. 
I devoured this book during the span of one six hour shift at my workplace. I've always been a fast reader- it's my attention span that ruins my ability to read books. This book sucked me in hard enough that occasionally I had to be prompted multiple times by customers to buy their stuff. 
I don't know if I would have had a different experience with it if I had known of the trigger warnings, especially the violence, purposeful misgendering, and body horror. I've always loved zombie books, and I read those curled up in chairs in the library of my high school, so I didn't think much of the location I would be reading this book.
Public crying, for me, is the highest form of torture, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the pages of this book. The pacing, the content, the plight of the main character- all of it kept me hooked until the very end. I'm just glad I didn't snap at a kid for interrupting my reading time with a craving for Pokémon cards.
My review doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of public opinion- I have a history of really liking books and movies that had piss poor reviews and ratings- but I loved this book so much. As I've gotten older and more mentally ill, I don't get sucked into the pages of a book like a used to as a kid. I miss the ability to be absorbed in a story until it's done, and this book brought that back for me.
This book is definitely not for everyone, and all readers should be mindful of their triggers to disturbing content. But I definitely enjoyed myself, hence the five star rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Outing, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Child death, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Homophobia, Gore, Forced institutionalization, and Self harm

Moderate: Ableism, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse

Zombie apocalypse, and a religious cult worshipping it as the rapture. Or God's work to cleanse this Earth and remake it anew.

winterhartarts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Was a little slow for the first roughly half of the book, and most of the main characters felt slightly undeveloped at that point. However, once the halfway point happens, this really turn wild, and I was far more engaged until the very end. The world building kept me through the first half as well, so there’s a lot to be said for how the author fully actualized this kind of post-apocalyptic world filled with zombie amalgamations that all at once resembled ones from the games in The Last Of Us series and specifically the big blob from the game Inside. Imagery was always on point too, and I really felt engaged during times it was utilized. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Eating disorder, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Vomit, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Genocide, Dysphoria, Death, Deadnaming, Child death, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Body horror, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Ableism, Grief, Gore, Classism, Homophobia, War, Cannibalism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Torture, Slavery, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Colonisation, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

alannah_maree's review

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Absolutely my fav book ever, really captures the trans experience

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Deadnaming, Pandemic/Epidemic, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Grief, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, and Transphobia

honeycrispychicken's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Gore, Violence, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Transphobia, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Cursing, and Forced institutionalization

emjams's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Child death

Moderate: Xenophobia, Self harm, Mental illness, Medical content, Abandonment, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Outing, Domestic abuse, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Animal death, and Alcohol

This book has basically every imaginable TW on it EXCEPT for sexual assault, but even that is briefly touched on. Benji has trauma from assault, but only from physical/emotional abuse, not SA.