*Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

I downloaded Hell Followed With Us because I saw the author on Twitter say it has a trans ftm lead and an autistic LI (and I'd call him a secondary side character since we get a few chapters in his POV). I'm glad I did! I really enjoyed this book.

We follow Benji, a recent escapee from the Cult that raised him. But when a group of Angels from that cult corner him, he is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Centre, aka ALC. Nick, ALCs leader, knows Benji's darkest secret; the cult's bioweapon is mutating him into a monster. Still, Nick gives Benji shelter with his ragtag group of queer teens as long as he can use the monster to protect the ALC. Benji is eager, until he finds out Nick's hidden agenda, with more than a few secrets of his own.

Right from the start, this book was action-packed. I read this book within 24 hours of starting it. Page 2 and already, shit got real. There was no point where I felt like the book dragged. And this is a futuristic post-apocalyptic story, which was so fun.

I'm giving this book 4 stars, and it's only because this is a book that is very heavily based on religion and religious trauma. I'm an Atheist; I've only ever stepped into a Church because of a childhood friend bringing me to their youth group. I've never read the Bible, and they're very many Bible verses in this book. I know it's not a really good reason to take off a star, but I felt like I was missing some vital part of the story if I didn't grasp the Bible quotes. I still had a lot of fun reading this book, don't get me wrong, but the passages from the Bible are something that would make more sense from someone who has read it/is religious.

I was not expecting all the representation. I knew going in we had a trans ftm lead and an autistic character. I didn't read the description in depth before starting, so having the ENTIRE cast be LGBTQ was an amazing surprise. Not only do we have trans and gay rep, but we also have nonbinary rep (with neopronoun use; xe/xem and another one that I forgot to mark), aromantic rep, lesbian rep, and more. There is also BIPOC side characters. It's always refreshing to read books where the entire cast is diverse.

Overall, if you want a diverse upper YA fantasy set in the future, pick this up on June 7th!

*Side note: if you have religious trauma, look at more reviews than mine. This is a very heavy and gorey book, so take my review with a grain of salt.*