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A coming-of-age transmasc story about escaping from home, except in this case, home is also the ecofascistic doomsday cult that helped raised our main character, Benji.

This mostly fast-moving YA novel also covers abusive relationships, neurodiverse friendships, queer rage, ecological collapse, body horror and the idea of heaven being a shared state of mind (more on that later). I like to think of Hell Followed With Us as a YA revenge novel where the "monster" fights back and reclaims their agency from the edict of an absent or straight-up cruel god—by becoming the weapon they were always supposed to be and using their monster powers for good.

HFWU imagines a post-apocalyptic world where civilisation is all but eradicated, not because of nuclear winter, but because of biochemical attacks. In this scenario, collapse came by way of religious extremists and not by directives issued by warring world leaders. The Angels, an ecofascist cult, believe ecological collapse is coming because of overpopulation and that they must save the earth before that happens by... genocide. So the Angels created The Flood, a quick-acting virus that causes grotesque deaths through gruesome bodily transformations. Victims die or become Graces, lethal amalgamations of flesh, bone and teeth. They engineer mass infections that wipe out entire cities and then send death squads with Graces out to murder survivors. HFWU is set after the end of the world, where Acheson, Pennsylvania has already been conquered by the Angels.

We start off by Benji running away from everything he's ever known: the cult led by his mother, who issued the order for his father's execution. His betrothed, a member of a death squad, who may or may not love him more than he loves god. Somehow, Benji finds his way to the ALC (Acheson LGBTQ+ Centre), which is still rife with life and battle-hardened queers of all sorts. Here, there's the potential for a whole new way of living not centred on death, along with new allies, friends and maybe more....

Here's my favourite quote from the book, who touches on the ALC and transness:

"In a place like the ALC, after Judgement Day, it's easy to forget you're trans. Or maybe a better way to word it would be, it gets easier for me to forget the pain of being trans. Being transgender is who you are, and the pain is what the outside world does to you. The pain is what happens when you and the world go for each other's throats. In the ALC, I almost forget being trans can hurt."

Back to that heaven being a shared state of mind... Those infected with The Flood get access to the hive mind, where you can speak directly to other infected in the area. Benji inexplicably gets teleported to what he thinks is the Angels' culling fields a few times through HFWU. As it turns out, this interdimensional place is the closest thing to heaven. There, he appears as he views himself, not as he appears to others. Any injuries magically disappear in this strange place. He's also able to speak directly to others there, though it's unclear if all infected get access or only VIPs like Benji. It's a unique take on the concept of heaven and the fact that Benji's epic tussle with Theo lands him there makes me wonder if he got close to death? What does it mean that Nick's voice managed to call him back to the real world, back on the PCU campus?

It's one of the biggest questions left unanswered, along with, "Do Graces think about their past lives and dream of peanut butter sandwiches?" and "Do Graces argue with themselves because they are a composite of different individuals?". I don't mind not knowing, because it gets me thinking and because our world is full of mysteries too.

Just like that, my nightly habit of staring at my phone for hours instead of sleeping, mesmerised by Felix Castor's misfortunes and how those misfortunes tend to spread to his associates went poof. The final book in Mike Carey's Felix Castor series is a fast-moving riot that resolves major plot points; some with a bang and others with a whimper.

The Big Kahuna is Rafi/Asmodeus's escape from the now very deceased Ice Maker—thanks to overconfident, militant excommunicated Catholics known as the Anathemata. The sadistic Asmodeus is eager to make full use of his freedom hunting down every last tie Rafi has left in this world, whether it's his ex-girlfriend Pen, Felix himself, or his estranged brother in a Macedonian death row cell. Then there's Nick, Felix's zombie pal, London's best information broker and the Ice Maker's most paranoid undead client. The Ice Maker's death has him worse for wear and the events at Mount Grace Crematorium in Dead Man's Boots has got him thinking about his life after his body gives way. Should Nick doubledown on eternal life in a "leaking boat" or live like the Mount Grace ghosts do, by taking over bodies that are still very much alive? There's also the mystery of Juliet, the reformed succubus and Felix's sort-of friend who's been acting more than a little strange lately. On top of that, Felix also has to deal with being Trudi's colleague thanks to agreeing to work with Jenna-Jane Mulbridge, head of the Metamorphic Ontology Unit (MOU), a cruel woman who sees undead creatures as little more than scientific curiosities. Trudi, if you recall, is the ex-Anathemata exorcist Felix literally walks away from in Thicker Than Water when he finds out that Father Gwilliam double-crossed him.

We get a hell of a showdown with Rafi, one that's been in the making from the first time we read about Rafi and Felix in Vicious Circle, the very first book in the series. It'll get all your cylinders pumping and hanging onto every word. (The lackluster part of this is, I'm not sure if we find out much more about Rafi in this book, other than the fact that he was a very narcissistic man at one point in time.)

Nick's fate is left unspoken, perhaps the man himself hasn't deigned to make any firm commitments. As for Juliet, this is one ending I feel deserves a little more attention. It isn't just because I'm a huge Juliet fan but also because the girl's brain was literally hijacked by a demon of a higher order. How will she make sure this won't happen again and what does she think of what she's done while her brain was scrambled by Asmodeus? I really wish we knew. I really wish we had more of an insight as to Asmodeus and Juliet's dynamic, like how Juliet and Moloch's temporary alliance made for some interesting learning on demonology. As for Trudi, I mostly enjoyed their little will-they-or-won't-they but I find it lacks a tiny bit of conviction. It's not entirely unconvincing, perhaps it just needs a little on-screen chemistry for their relationship to truly blossom.

As for Jenna-Jane Mulbridge, Felix's old boss and dear old Rosie Crucis, the MOU's star captive and the oldest ghost in all of existence? Mike Carey's chronicling of Felix's escape from the MOU with McClennan and Juliet make for the most riveting reading second from the showdown with Rafi. Those passages are hugely satisfying to read and put a smile on my face. Felix's buddy Rosie, the oldest ghost in all of existence, really fucking delivered.

This might be my favourite book in the whole series; although I'm not sure I can give it that title what with Juliet (yes, she is my favourite character) not being herself for large chunks of the book.

Thank you Mike Carey for this gritty, irreverent and darkly funny supernatural mystery series—I'm going to miss your version of London very much.

Summary The breathless, effortless cruelty of teens is a timeless constant and every high school is its own battlefield. Tolly Driver swims against the current of popularity with only his bestie, Amber Big Plume Dennison, for company. When his schoolmate, Justin Joss, perishes in a terrible hazing accident, the bullies' eyes turn to him. Horrible events that ensue change Tolly and not for the better.

The Setting This book is lovingly set in Lamesa, Texas in 1989 and it will remind you of this often! Sometimes, it's through including landmarks like the Sky-Vue Drive-In which was a real place that opened in 1948! Sometimes, it's through terms that might just bounce off Texas natives, but appear thoroughly arcane to folks like me.

Terms I learnt from this book ✔️ Blacktop (Tarmac) ✔️ Glasspack (Automobile muffler) ✔️ Pumpjack (Also called a grasshopper pump) ✔️ Chihuahua (A Sky-Vue special: a taco with cabbage, pimento cheese and chili smeared between fried corn tortilla shells.)

What Killing Machines Are Made Of The stoic, unkillable killing machine is the type of slasher that rules the roost in Lamesa. There'll be no Freddy-eqsue wisecracking here, thank you. There's a certain distance created between killer and victim through this slow but determined action, where the killer and victim are simply performing their roles assigned to them by the slasher gods. The Tolly that goes on rampages is very different from the Tolly that rides along with him. Stephen Graham Jones (SGJ) gives us cool cues that wouldn't be out of place in a video game, or heck, an actual slasher movie. A face that feels numb and rigid plus the loss of colour perception are big red flags that Tolly is in slasher mode. But to show us that he's changed forever, even when he's out of slasher mode, he survives being hit by a truck and can't ever unsheath a knife without an accompanying schiiiing!

The Heart of A Slasher While the blood count of this book is pretty healthy, I Was A Teenage Slasher is at its heart a book about relationships. SGJ is a master at crafting relationships that feel nuanced and painfully real. I loved Tolly's relationship with his parents. I thought it was a really nice touch that their VHS movie night tradition carried on after his dad passed—I loved how his mum even took up the mantle of falling asleep halfway, just like his dad used to. I loved Tolly and Amber's conversation with the Josses at the cemetery, how they carefully navigate around each other's grief. I loved Tolly and Amber's friendship, how they grow apart and then grow closer again as Tolly finds himself in a crisis, one which only someone like Amber—with her slasher and Tolly know-how can spot.

One thing I'm unsure about is the nature of Tolly's love toward Amber. I know he loves her, enough to die for her, just like how she desperately tried to avoid hurting him after he goes all Jason Voorhees. But I'm not sure if this is a platonic or romantic love, or frankly, that this distinction even matters? (Though I suppose it would be sadder if he did love her in a romantic way, because she might never know.)

Lingering Questions Did Justin Joss's death kickstart a whole chain of deadly events in Lamesa, Texas in 1989? Or was it a careless flick of blood on his grave that did it, gave him enough life to return as a slasher? Would the bloodshed have ended when Justin got his dues, had his blood not "infected" Tolly? I don't think the absence of answers here diminishes the brilliance of I Was A Teenage Slasher in any way, in fact I like how it adds a little supernatural mystery to the mix.