If you've ever wondered what would happen if you turned The Umbrella Corp into an evil right-wing church and had a group of LGBTQ+ kids save the day then look no further because that's this book in a nutshell. Or the K-Drama Sweet Home. I could go on this book reminded me of so many different video games, shows, and other books those are just the first two that came off the top of my head. And yes after calling out the whole plotline just a couple of chapters in it decreased my interest in the book greatly. That being said, my eldest son is transgender, and no matter how formulaic this book was I still found it to be an important book to read because no matter how supportive I am and how much anger I feel myself over the shit that he has to deal with from the rest of the world I can never understand fully how that feels to him.
The world as we know it has ended, a Reformation Faith Evangelical Church has released The Flood, a virus that causes humans to mutate into something monstrous in an attempt to wipe all sinners from the face of the Earth. Benji is a transgender sixteen-year-old boy whose mother is the Reverend Mother, one of the highest-ranking members of the Church they escaped The Flood by taking shelter at New Nazareth where the Church commands the Graces the monsters The Flood created, having them slaughter everyone that the Church deems to be heretical, which includes Benji and his father. In a desperate attempt to save his son Benji's father flees with him and is killed in the process, Benji knows though that they won't hurt him because he is special he is The Seraph, and the Church and his mother plan on using Benji to finish what The Flood started. Benji, however, has other plans he won't be used any longer, and when he discovers that a local LGBTQ+ Youth Center survived he finds the support he needs to bring The Church to it's very knees.
I honestly wished this book wasn't as formulaic as it was I hoped that at some point there was a twist that made me sit up and become just a little bit more interested but it really never happened and the one that kinda does at the end of the book just kind of prolongs it. And honestly, I could not get past the fact that every time I pictured one of the Graces I just saw the boss from Resident Evil 2. Every time.
That being said Benji's journey is awesome. Meeting other trans kids for the first time, having actual friends, learning to trust people, and learning to be angry. Those parts were wonderful. This is probably one of a few horror books where I really didn't care about the main plot, I wanted to head down that side story. Nick was a fantastic character as well. Two out of four of my kiddos are autistic and Nick reminded me of my son completely, which endeared him to me almost immediately.
Overall, I'm not going to lie while the predictability of this book at some points bored me to tears Benji's story made all of the difference.
And of course, I'd like to say thanks to Netgalley and Peachtree Teen for the free eArc of this book.
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