*Beasts* by M. Jane Worma is a dark and captivating journey into a world where survival is a constant battle and humanity’s darkest instincts are pushed to the forefront. Worma’s writing is visceral and immersive, drawing readers into a gritty, atmospheric tale filled with tension and complex characters. The story explores themes of power, morality, and the blurred lines between human and beast, keeping you hooked from start to finish. A gripping and thought-provoking read for fans of dark fiction and psychological thrillers.

I wish this book had been longer! I wanted more time to get to know their backstories and understand more about them outside of their love story!

so I was definitely pulled in to put in for this ARC on Netgalley because of its gorgeous cover and interesting premise, but I feel like the actual novella itself fell completely flat. I love religious horror in movies, but this is my second attempt at religious horror in books, and I'm not quite sold yet I guess.

I understand that the relationship between the pastor Jude and the UNDERAGE (17!) Dante was supposed to represent the massive power imbalance between the two, but reading descriptive sex scenes between them made me feel fucking gross, and not in the way a splatterpunk book makes me feel.

Constantly referring to Dante as "The Teen" was yucky and gross and tbh pretty problematic, and can most definitely be done away with.

The real life weight of guilt and shame brought on by religious trauma is so heavy, especially for queer people growing up in the south, and can absolutely be used as the main theme of a horror book, so I think that maybe it just needed more time to be explored here.

The ending was too abrupt and seemingly meaningless- but maybe I just didn't get it.

IDK, read it after it's published, maybe some things will be different.

I actually would have loved this to be a bit longer! I did like the characters and the setting, but I think it suffered from the lack of space in 120 pages, as I wasn't sure I really knew Dante or Jude well enough for it to pack a serious punch - but I still loved the imagery here. The ARC needs a little bit more editing as there were some typos, but definitely would love to read more from the author!

Started with a bang (literally) and ended with a whimper (figuratively)

I had really high hopes for this, and it wasn't bad! I just don't quite understand the overall message the story is trying to give. I don't know if I'm just too far removed from religion to really get it, or if this was a story that needed to be longer to really delve into the psyche of both Jude and Dante.

Jude was questionable from the start even before the dreams started. But was that a precursor to the dreams or was he just an awful person even without them? Are the dreams really what brought Jude and Dante to their demise, or was Jude always going to lead them there on his own? I just really don't know, and that might be a skill issue on my end honestly, but I spent a lot of my time reading this not really understanding what was happening and why things were happening.

Of Beasts is a weird and intense novella – it manages to really packs a punch despite how short it is. I was left feeling unsettled and with that feeling of “what the fuck did I just read”, which is one of my favorite things in a horror novel. I had a time reading this story, and while it wasn’t what one would call pleasant, I really liked it.
Worma’s writing style is so evocative and impactful that the reader feels with the characters, and they have A LOT of strong feelings. Jude and Dante’s relationship is desperate, violent, and a secret from their community (and illegal, as other reviewers have pointed out). The author does a great job of trapping the reader in the anxiety of hiding a relationship that would be met with disapproval and the intensity of wanting that can come with it. Themes like obedience and duty are interwoven with shame and violence in a way that helps make sense of the characters’ actions and reactions to the things happening to them.
The story unfolds in a way that intentionally keeps the reader guessing – both as to what will happen next but also wondering how much of what the characters perceive is actually happening. The addition of religious elements like speaking in tongues and prophetic dreaming adds to the sense of unreality.

I had high hopes for this short story. I really liked the concept, and the story started off strong. However, as the story built and built there never seemed to be any satisfaction and even as the story ended, there was just nothing. The ending just fizzled out and I felt a bit cheated of my time.

2.5 stars

Of Beasts is a queer literally horror novella with heavy religious overtones. This story is super gothic and atmospheric which was probably the element I enjoyed the most. Dante, a protestant young man, and his local paster Jude share a taboo and very power-imbalanced relationship away from the light of day. They both start experiencing dreams, interpreted as visions from God with the message that Dante is the Antichrist who will start the apocalypse. The couple are put at odds, one in defence of humanity and one only in service of God, no matter what his will.

M. Jane Worma exhibits really thought-provoking prose and absolutely knows how and where to put in a hook to keep you reading. This is a very cool idea and it's very easy to read and comprehend if you don't have any religious knowledge/experience. I think I enjoyed the writing a lot more than the plot, so I would be keen to read more from this author and see what else they can do.

I am torn on whether this book needed to be shorter or longer, because I felt like the concept has such huge potential, yet there was already a bit too much filler going on. It also bothered me that the relationship is very clearly abusive/coercive yet this isn't explore AT ALL. I understand the context of Jude being a priest and Dante a younger member of his congregation (that wasn't lost on me) but personally I don't like when these relationships are written for shock factor and without care, which is how I felt in this instance.

When I stumbled upon this book I was actually looking for a read that would hopefully be simmilar to something I finished recently and the blurb gave me a lot of hope. Rightfully so, because when I read it I felt like I was reading a fucked up mix between a poetic classic, a gay romance, fleabag (the series obviously), a horror novel and something very undefinable? I loved every second of it even though I had no idea where the story was heading. This book draws you in and catches you hook, line and sinker. The ending vame so incredibly abrupt and even though I know that it is part of the story I could have read on and on about Dante's and Jude's fucked up antics.
(Spoilers incoming:)
Dante's resurrection hit me like a fucking truck and the way it was portrayed - he fucking imagery?? I had to stare out of the window for a few seconds while reading that on the train to cope - was absolutely gorgeous in the most fucked up way.
I will try my most to get my hands on a physical copy, sadly a lot of smaller publishers aren't available in my country which will make it difficult, but I will try because I need this book on my shelf.

A quick and honestly devastating read. I loved it. The ending was perfect. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for allowing me the chance to read this one early. 4⭐️

I went into this book blind because I loved the cover and decided I wanted to know nothing about it beforehand.

This short novella packed a punch and delivered a *bit* of what I was looking for in a read at the moment. It was creepy, blasphemous and the uneven power imbalance was spicy.

I did find myself wishing I could be more attached to the characters as there wasn’t really much to love about each of them specifically other than the fact that it was a relationship between a preacher and the Antichrist. Nothing else really drew me to them or made me want to see anything good happen to them, so the story was really lacking in character development

I did enjoy the writing style and can’t wait to see what this author does for us in the future!

"He wondered if there wasn't another Antichrist before him, maybe several more, a long chain of his kind that all ended up too in awe of and in love with the world to hurt it. Too in love with the person next to them to let it happen."

Thanks to CLASH Books and NetGalley for this Advanced Reader Copy (ARC).

This book was described as 'a priest falls in love with the antichrist and even God can’t stop the horror it will bring'.
That's not a fair representation of the story by my standards.
I would describe it as a queer horror where a teenage Antichrist and his older pastor-lover are caught in a blasphemous, abusive relationship as visions from God urge them toward the apocalypse. This isn't a horror with an opposite-attracts love story - but a relationship that's dark, messy and graphic (especially the opening paragraph).

I was so excited for this as I'm a sucker for religious horror. The weight of the upcoming apocalypse, and the prophetic nightmares haunting each character had brilliant imagery as they both faced the upcoming end. I'm also a sucker for people battling a destiny. Both main characters are given a job by God, and I love seeing how they grappled with their futures and what morality actually means.
There were some great moments from the prose, but otherwise I didn't find it anything special, and the run-on sentences were actually at times a little confusing for me. Additionally, while I appreciate it's a novella, this story would have benefitted from more breathing room. Character motivations aren't fully explored, consequences aren't fully realised, and I think the ending will be polarising.

Overall, while I'm happy to have read this, I wouldn't be racing to recommend it. If you know this type of horror is for you, you'll enjoy it, but I don't think it will convert the unbelieving.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. The themes are on point, including the fact that the romance is actually between a teen and an adult priest that gets pretty violent with him (hello Catholic Church, any new abuse accusations today? Must be Tuesday)

But the characters are not characters, just names floating on the pages. No show, only tell. Things happen to them, and they react however the plot requires, and they don't ever seem to feel any particular way about anything or exist outside of the plot as it happens.

Maybe a full size book would have the time to develop them and give them distinct personalities so that we can care about their situation in the story.

The relationship between them also changes from animalistic sexual attraction to epic destiny-defying love to violence with no rhyme or reason. This inconsistency gets very annoying, specially because the lovey dovey Romeo&Juliet levels of devotion comes from nowhere and is based on nothing: the most defining characteristics the characters are given is age and hair colour.

Overall, I think that this novella will be looked back at once the author grows and writes better things for the curiosity of her debut. The ideas are very good, but the execution is too clumsy and weird.

I can appreciate the f you to religion when you feel like it has completely failed you and instead of loving you, hates you for loving who you love. To the best of my abilities, I can understand that, even if I haven't experienced it myself. But, I just couldn't get past the violence against the younger and weaker lover, no matter why it was done. Still, even though I believe I grasped a main theme in this book, I think I may be missing an even bigger theme. I just don't get it, and it really wasn't for me.
As always,I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an advanced ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was soooo short! Only about 77 pages (at least the e-ARC version I read was only about 77 pages).

Just the premise of this sounded like so much fun: a priest falls in love with the antichrist. Now isn't that fun?!

Unfortunately, since this was so short, there really wasn't any time for much character development of any kind to happen. I would've wanted more in-depth explanation and insight. There really could've been so much done with this concept, lots of deep and important conversation (and those were touched on) but nothing was explored to the degree that could've or should've.

This was just rather anticlimactic for the subject matter. I see what the author was going for here and what was trying to be achieved, but I think that could've been executed much better if this was a longer, more fleshed out story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

This might be the most beautiful horror book I’ve ever read. Beautiful writing, beautiful characters, beautiful story. My only (small) complaint is that I want more. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more writing by M. Jane Worma.

This book had so many elements that should have made it a hit with me. I love me some religious horror and when you add queerness to the mix, I don't ask too many questions especially if you promise me a lyrical prose, even the cover is perfection. Alas, I didn't really vibe with this book nearly as much as I expected I would. The pacing was muddy and the prose didn't strike me as anything special. If I'm entirely honest I feel like the premise of a relationship between a priest and the antichrist did almost all the lifting here, I say almost because there were a few solid scenes mostly when it was about Dante's parentage.

I'm an habitual reader of extreme horror so not much shocks me in fiction and the smut between an adult and a teenager didn't hold much visceral aspect for me in and of itself and the way it was treated didn't help. I needed more from Dante to make that stuff feel impactful and I never got it. That left me feeling like the author intended for that aspect to be almost banal which could have been great if the story hadn't been so overall anticlimactic.

Many thanks to CLASH Books and Netgalley for providing me a digital review copy of this book for review consideration.

3,5 stars

First off... Can I say that I absolutely fell in love with this cover? The cover and premise really made me so curious about this book. It's dark and yet also beautiful.

Although this book is short, I think it's well paced and brings over its story really well. Giving massive 'the Omen' vibes in a small town with its own secrets. It's queer, sometimes erotic, romantic in a certain way and deliciously wrong. Because when a priest falls in love with the Antichrist, what could go wrong, right?

I do think this book would've hit harder if it was a bit longer and detailed. It didn't fall flat to me, but I did miss a few emotions during the pages which made it feel a tad bit too short.

I believe this book to be a good religious horror with all the aspects it needs to have. And if you're looking for a short read to sent a little chill down your spine, I would definitely recommend this book! I can see why it's not for everyone, but I had a great time reading it.

I am actually at a loss for words. This is a short story, so it was a very quick read and the plot had to keep moving. I don't think anything was missed or could have been explained better. It was perfectly paced. Where I lose my words is for the story itself... I'm not sure if there are words to accurately depict this story. You could feel the struggle between both MMCs especially when it came to faith and beliefs and ultimately what would overcome the other. Very well written, and I would recommend!

While a fast read, it delves into so many deep and troubling topics. This is a book that will invite a lot of discussion. It starts off very graphically, but quickly settles down into much more of a cerebral and emotional story that is fascinating in its moral ambiguity. Dante, especially, is a great character struggling with his possible destiny and by the end of the book I was very emotionally invested while knowing it wasn’t very likely to end well. Definitely recommend for anyone wanting to explore issues of religion, sexuality, and identity.