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The only downside to this novel is that it isn’t much longer haha.

I loved it from the very beginning, how bits and pieces of the story slowly came along; how, after reading, the first few chapters and Jude and Dante’s relationship and the way they acted made more sense.

It’s such a short read that I was able to run through it in less than an hour, but I don’t regret it. Every page turn leaves you in shambles, wondering how much worse life can get for these two characters, that have been damned from the very beginning.

The ending is bittersweet, left in a cliffhanger, which I believe is perfect. These are the kinds of guys that aren’t meant for a concrete ending.

Overall, it’s a nice read for anyone wanting a quick, mysterious and thrilling horror novel.

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I got an ARC of this book.

I was really enjoying this for the first half. I was getting excited. There was a chance this could have been really scary or hit that fun religious kink that some of my friends have. Instead I was just left disappointed.

The "romance" portion while legal in Texas, was still ick. 17 year old high schooler and 20+ pastor. The power dynamic was shifted when it was revealed that the pastor was going to help bringa bout the antichrist, but it still revolved around the pastor killing the boy. The way the sex was abusive (not kinky, there was not consent) added another layer of ick for me.

The actual horror elements of the antichrist were anticlimatic. There was like twenty pages left when the deed was done. There is nothing really after that. There is no conclusion, no hint of a sequel, nothing to really give it an ending. Instead it just fizzles out.

So overall, not scary, not sexy, just sort of fell short for me all the way around.

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I love a good novella, and I think M. Jane Worma did a great job of introducing these characters in such a short amount of time. Dante and Jude were so interesting to learn about. Dante was so sweet and Jude seemed a little cruel, though I was honestly shocked when Jude killed him about midway through. This novella was weird in the best kind of way, and even bittersweet toward the end. Okay--the ending was pretty depressing, honestly, but how hopeful of an ending can you get when one of the protagonists is the antichrist?

While I enjoyed the story and the relationship between Dante and Jude, I lacked a deeper, emotional connection to the characters and novella. The ending felt a little lackluster, almost, because there wasn't any huge conflict or end-of-the-world type scene that you'd imagine getting with a protagonist who's the antichrist.

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Thank you to CLASH Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I feel underwhelmed by the pacing of the story. I knew it would be short, but there was so much I thought could have been explored. Mostly, the aftermath. I didn't dislike it, but I will probably don't remember it very well, apart from a priest and the antichrist getting it. I could reccommend it to some of my friends that are more into this campy books.

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Thank you to NetGalley for approving this request!

Honestly, I would start attending church if I learned that my pastor was boinking the Antichrist. I have recommended this book to two of my friends and I know they will just absolutely love it. Personally don’t think I would pick this up again, but I can see the appeal.

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Thank you to CLASH Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Of Beasts by M. Jane Worma is a haunting and unsettling novella that lingers long after the final page. The discomfort it evokes is deliberate and effective, enhancing the horror rather than distracting from it. Tragic through and through, the story unfolds with a steady, creeping dread that’s perfectly suited to its compact form.

Worma masterfully balances atmosphere and pacing, delivering just the right amount of tension and unease to keep readers engaged. The creeping discomfort isn’t just part of the experience—it defines the tone of the narrative in a way that fans of literary horror will appreciate.

Exactly the kind of eerie, tragic, and tightly written novella horror readers crave. I recommend this title for adult library collections where horror is popular.

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Worma introduces us to Dante, a young Protestant, and Jude, a pastor of a small Texas church, who maintain a secret romantic relationship. Their love is taboo—not only due to age and religious authority—but because Dante discovers he is the Antichrist, destined to ignite the apocalypse. The central tension arises when Dante refuses his cruel destiny, setting up a devastating confrontation with Jude, who feels compelled to obey divine commands—even if it means killing the one he loves .

The novella blends queer romance, religious guilt, and apocalyptic horror in a way that feels both daring and original.
*Of Beasts* is a provocative and genre-blurring debut. Its frank exploration of forbidden love entwined with apocalyptic horror makes it an intriguing ride—especially for readers interested in LGBTQ+ themes mixed with religious reckoning. That said, those who look for deep character arcs or a neatly tied narrative may find it lacking in emotional heft and closure.

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Although religious under/overtones are not typically something I enjoy in my books (or films or television), lately there have been a lot of artists really using the pain of religion in unique and interesting ways. Earlier this year, CJ Leede's #AmericanRapture took a religious look into a zombie apocalypse, and I absolutely loved end product. When I read the description of @m.jane.worma's #OfBeasts, I was instantly taken with this queer religious horror.

Upon returning to his hometown to take over leading the local parish, Jude finds himself in the orbit of Dante, an 18-year-old boy from his congregation who Jude is enraptured by. As physical intimacy between the two deepens, both are haunted with prophetic nightmares; Dante is being told to go to Jerusalem and build a temple where he will sit on a throne; Jude, in a much more straightforward dream, is tasked with killing Dante and causing the beast to rise. A classic story of pastor and Antichrist love.

This is a tight, concise novel with characters who are not the shining protagonists of usual books. Jude is a conflicted and complex character, one who must come to terms with what his heart wants in opposition to his beliefs and core tenets. Dante, faced with the realization of what he is, only finds comfort in the one person who may be his downfall. What they have is a hard love, one that unfortunately makes it seem like there will never be a real happy ending no matter what they do, and yet, they continue to try to do right by one another. While not written specifically, Jude's struggle seems to mirror the struggle many queer people face when coming to terms with their identity as it rubs up against the religious beliefs they (or their family) hold so dear. Jude and Dante are a welcome change from the gay rom-com couples adorning the book covers in the market today; theirs is a love, but one that seems doomed from the start, and perhaps why I was rooting for them all the more throughout. This is a queer love story for those of us who find religion to be one of the most damaging dangerous forces.

Like a darker "Romeo & Juliet," "Of Beasts" is a short, but powerful story about love against all odds, an exploration of all the ways we are hurt and can hurt those we love the most in order to save ourselves.

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2.5 ⭐️

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for gifting me this advanced reader copy.

Unfortunately this one was miss :( the idea of a priest and the antichrist having an explicit love affair was so intriguing to me and that’s definitely the only interesting part of the book. Plus it being so short!

The concept was so unique but I really wish this was a full length novel and that the author would’ve fleshed out the plot and characters. The ending was seriously so disappointing and anticlimactic. The writing felt really clunky and there just wasn’t much that stood out for me.

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An interesting read at the perfect length to incite interests and avoid the fallibility of time.

The characters were intriguing though we spent far more time with Jude than with Dante; at times that felt intentional, but it was ultimately not what I wanted. I expected more horror, but even the times that the horror could have been present were softened into non-existence.

It's a fine story made better by its shortness, but I was rather disappointed due to my own expectations.

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This was a very short novella that I mostly enjoyed. I love the concept of this book, but I can't help but think that this would have been better fully fleshed into a novel. I did like how the author showed us shocking things in the story, but somehow managed to dial it down at the same time. Yes, I actually got shocked in this book more than once, but that all and all it made it a fun time. It is a horror novella after all. I was instantly gripped into the story at the beginning, but once we had more than one POV going on in the story I did get confused reading this, but after a few chapters it felt like, I did figure it out. I personally feel like I would have loved this more if the author would have made this more character driven, yes I am a sucker for character driven books, especially even the horror ones. I felt like I didn't really know the characters that well and it was mainly all about the plot, but the plot was not enough for me to give this five stars. The story ultimately needed more character development for it to reel me into the story more. This wasn't a bad book at all and it did deliver on the shocking horror vibes, but I also feel like it wasn't the most shocking or the most scary thing I've ever read. I am curious how future books would be by this author. This was a pretty good debut novella.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

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I really wanted to love this, the premise was really intriguing but I think the summary sets the book out to be more than it is. I loved the premise and think there could have been so much more done with the concept but unfortunately the book is just too short to really develop any of the ideas you can see simmering beneath the plot.

I can't wait to read more of Worma's work, there's so much potential here.

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There were some great things I really liked about this book. I thought the concept of the antichrist and the pastor was great, and I liked a lot of the internal battles we saw within each character and how it manifested between them. I thought that the ending was interesting and something that left me thinking. The horror elements were slow and looming, overall effective at setting the mood.

I loved the setting, though I do wish we had more descriptions to ground us in a physical space as well as a time period. What was there was great, I just felt that there was a lot left undescribed. I am also a big fan of writing characters who are not perfect, and I enjoy reading about moral and sense-of-self dilemmas. There were some great examples of this in this story. I did feel that the age gap between the two was out of place, and I couldn’t tell the reason behind it for the sake of the story that was being told. It often detached me from the story and was not great to read.

Overall, there was a lot that was done well in this short book. Despite what I felt was missing or what felt uncomfortable, I liked the concept and the exploration of faith, identity, and personal morals in this book.

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2.5 Stars

As someone who grew up in a very religious catholic country, I was intrigued when I read the synopsis of this book. But in the end, it was short, and it was fine. Did I like the relationship between the main characters? Some aspects of it, maybe. But the age gap and the toxicity? Not really. I feel like the author could have aged up Dante, and it would have worked just as well. Maybe I like my horror with a little bit of optimism, but I think I would have given this book half a star more if the last chapter didn’t exist at all, just a more open-ended ending.

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Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

Okay, that ending is a little terrifying as someone who is afraid of dark, enclosed spaces like that. I was hoping they'd discuss a little more about Dante being the Antichrist and what that means for the both of them but it was only briefly discussed between them. They both just sort of danced around the topic until Dante said he was going to leave. I liked what Dante said at the end though, how he thought there might have been other Antichrists who loved the world too much and didn't want to see it destroyed. I think it's pretty noble of them to actually sacrifice themselves so they don't hurt others. Also terrifying though lol

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I don’t know, I feel like I missing something. The writing in the book was good, but the story just didn’t make sense to me. There was no backstory, there was no context, there was just these two characters and the dreams that they just suddenly started having. It feels like the story comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere. The characters were interesting, but felt very surface level for me. And I didn’t feel like there was a very large horror aspect to this “horror novel”. It’s a quick read, but I just felt confused through the whole thing and the ending felt abrupt.

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A lusty romance between a preacher and the antichrist, this book delivers the horror and sexual tension it promises on the back. I think it was a little difficult to connect with Jude or Dante, given the length, and I think the combination of pacing and personal preferences kept their relationship from becoming particularly gripping (to me), but it was a fun read, especially after another fleabag rewatch lol.

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I was so happy to see a work of queer religious horror, but the toxic adult/teen relationship did not sit right with me. The writing was ok, and I can see its potential and wanted to enjoy it more than I did.

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By Of Beasts is a wild ride of a debut—queer horror with a heavy dose of religious terror, and somehow it all works really well. M. Jane Worma packs a lot into this short novella, and I was surprised by just how much it stuck with me.

The story follows Dante, a young Protestant guy, and Jude, a sadistic pastor of a tiny Texas church. They're secretly in a relationship—already complicated enough—but things take a dark turn when they start having intense, apocalyptic visions. Turns out, Dante isn't just anyone… he's the Antichrist, sent by God to kickstart the end of the world. Yeah, it's that kind of story.

The horror here is sharp and layered. It's not just blood and fire (though there's some of that)—it's the emotional, religious, and psychological horror that hits hardest. The writing is tight, the atmosphere is thick, and the tension builds fast. For such a short book, it manages to feel complete and satisfying, which is honestly rare for me with novellas.

If you're into queer horror, religious themes, or simply looking for something different and intense, this is absolutely worth reading. I'll be watching to see what Worma does next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Clash Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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I would really like to thank NetGalley and CLASH Publishers for providing me with an ARC of Worma’s novella.
With shorts chapters, one can devour this story in a single sitting, which is what I did. Though the pace of the story is quite quick, I personally don’t see this as a disadvantage, rather a well thought storyline. I’ve seen other reviews mentioning how they wished the novel was longer and the author deepened on the plot, I think it works amazingly well as it is. Sure, I wouldn’t be opposed to know and read more about Jude and Dante, but I also think the shortness of the story presents itself as an adequate tool to leave the reader wanting more while being satisfied with what is shown.
The story is presented as queer horror, which I think definitely encapsulates the essence of the characters and the background. While I’ve seen others trying to pin it as a dark romance, I beg to differ. One mustn’t get me wrong, for there is plenty of love between the characters –whether that love is healthy or not is a whole different question–, however, I don’t think the main point of the story is to focus on Jude and Dante’s love story, rather the circumstances and religious hysteria that engulfs them. To merely catalogue it as a romance would, in my opinion, be the same as claiming that Wuthering Heights is just a romance book.
Moving on to the characters, Worma manages to flesh them out in such a strikingly human way that one forgets there are mysterious forces binding them. Without going into spoilers, both Dante and Jude fit into archetypical characters structures, but not the ones we’re used to seeing in contemporary readings, rather ones that take off from ancient texts such as, obviously, the Bible. The irony and importance of both their names, also, is not overlooked! I particularly enjoy when authors manage to pour significance into character’s names without making it blatantly obvious.
The plot works amazingly without being incredibly specific. Though one could argue that the repetition of the prophecies can become old and repetitive after a while, I thoroughly believe it is the intention of them, dragging the reader into the same headspace both Jude and Dante exist in. Ideas such as innate faith, if the holy can be tainted by the devil, if agony and violence is just another name for love.
Overall an enthralling reading and I can’t wait to read more from Jane Worma.

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