Thank you so much to Netgalley and Saga Press for an eARC of You Weren't Meant to be Human! As a diehard Andrew Joseph White fan, I was so excited to see that his first adult novel would be published this year; I could not have asked for a more perfectly disturbing, heavy, and thought-provoking book. I finished this book in one (1) [as in ONE SINGLE] day simply because I absolutely could not put it down. I knew I was in for a wild ride with AJW's adult debut, but I was taken aback by *just how wild* this one actually was.

You Weren't Meant to be Human follows the story of Crane, an autistic trans man that becomes pregnant by the will of the alien cult (otherwise known as the Hive) he's a part of. (can we just note, THAT is not a sentence I've ever put together before). Set deep in rural Appalachia, this a story of reproductive violence, the cost of losing autonomy, and the lengths we'll go to get it back. This book will make you squirm, and I say that in every sense of the word- this one is not for the faint of heart.

I BEG you to check TW/CW before picking up this book (including, but not limited to: infanticide, cannibalism, graphic depictions of pregnancy and childbirth as violence/body horror, suicidality, consistently unclear sexual boundaries and consent, up to and including rape, aaaand others). Everyone say THANK YOU AJW for consistently providing an in-depth list of TW/CW on Goodreads/his website!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for the eARC of this title!**

Fans of body horror will absolutely love this one and I enjoyed the almost cosmic aspects of the horror as well. This book will make you ~squirm~ in the best way and I do always enjoy a book set in Appalachia.

I will be posting a full review once I post to IG and GR and will update with links at that point!

This has some very heavy topics and scenes that could definitely be difficult for some readers. I think it has an extremely important perspective right now and will continue to read everything the author writes. Pacing was a little slow at the beginning and had some moments that were difficult to power through but definitely worth the payoff.

In the dark corners of Appalachia, hives of worms and flies promise salvation to those willing to give loyalty and bodies in return. Crane embraces this twisted new life, finding acceptance, love, and even a sense of self—until an unexpected pregnancy forces him to question everything. As the hive demands the child’s birth, Crane’s desperation sets off a chilling spiral of blood and betrayal. I really enjoyed this book and found it to be thrilling, atmospheric, disturbing, and completely unique. It’s the perfect creepy and unsettling read for this Halloween season!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for the ARC*

Andrew Joseph White creates a visceral and claustrophobic inditement of the reality that many are facing with increasing prevalence of abortion bans. Crane as a character is complicated and not always loveable, but he is made human in ways that many authors only dream of accomplishing. While the body horror did not feel as gross as some of the other works I have read by this author its proximity to reality made is much scarier than some more traditional splatterpunk.

The only thing holding this one back from 5 stars for me was the predictability. Everything that I expected to happen, did. There were no subversions of character's loyalties like those in "Hell Followed with Us" or plot points that deviated from the fairly formulaic "violence survivor attempts to take back control of their life" trope. That being said the clear allusions drawn between "The Hive" having their own agenda that was kept from everyone working for them, regardless of personal consequence, and our own government maintained its 4-star status for me. The difference in viewpoint we get between characters who blindly follow orders, actively go against them, and feel stuck or forced to follow them is good food for thought about what strength it takes to survive under leadership that expects complete loyalty.

An allusive examination of human resilience through graphic violence and forced pregnancy (which contains its own violence) "You Weren't Meant to Be Human" is a must read.

Crane, a mute autistic transgender man, is part of a violent cult, but he likes it. He is submissive to "the hive", an alien (?) species that takes the form of bugs and dictates the ongoings of his cult, as well as being sexually submissive to his partner / fuck buddy, a man he doesn't love but who sates his most depraved sexual desires. It is the first time and place where he has been allowed to be himself. That is until he finds himself accidentally pregnant and realizes he is nothing but a vessel for the hive's most base desires.

I am so deeply disturbed after reading this, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be having nightmares for months. This novel is truly horrific - full of absolutely visceral horrors, loss of agency, and creepy crawlies to boot. Crane is not the most likeable or relatable character and is full of twisted thoughts and fantasies, but his loss of agency, the betrayal of his community, and the feeling of desperation to escape his circumstances by any means - even if those means are utter self destruction - is so deeply animalistic and human that you cannot help but feel his struggles deeply. I also loved his unlikely allies.

Big thank you to Saga Press for the gifted copy and the months upon months of sleepless nights I'm going to experience after finishing this book.

Thank you Saga Press Books for access to the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. And thank you for sending the #gifted finished copy as well!
If you're going to read the trigger warnings for any book, let it be this book. That being said, this was exactly what I was hoping for, and very much exceeded my expectations. This book is gross and dark and creepy/crawly and everything you should expect from a horror novel, plus some added Sci-Fi elements that added to the plot. Seeing the character struggle with his Autism was very relatable, and seeing some of my own struggles as an Autistic person written in this book made me feel very seen and heard. I was nervous I wouldn't be able to finish this due to it being triggering for myself (as a queer AFAB who is terrified of being pregnant), but I'm so glad I read it. If you think you can read this, I recommend it highly. AJW has really done it again.

I love, love, loved this book! The plot locked me in from page one, and spit me out a new person on the last page. The characters became real to me and will live in my brain forever. The setting was tangible and perfect. The pacing was riveting, but not rushed. All coming together to be a book I can't wait to recommend to my friends.

I…don’t even know where to start in trying to review this book. It’s GNARLY (like PLEASE check the TWs gnarly) but also really good? It’s hard for a horror book to truly shock me, but the climax at the end (if you’ve read it you know what I’m talking about) genuinely had my jaw on the floor. An excellent book that I think will haunt me (compliment) for a long time.

3 ⭐️ I may not be the right audience for this type of horror novel. While it is well written, the graphic nature of some of the situations had me cringing.

Crane is a pregnant trans man, a member of a cult community in the remote hills of WV, called “the hive”. Told from Crane’s POV, we get his backstory and how he came to become a victim of his abusive boyfriend Levi and controlled by the worms and flies that are the hive.

There are very graphic descriptions of mutilation, domestic abuse, forced childbirth, and infanticide. The characters are very real and I did enjoy the ending!

Trigger warnings: mental illness, self mutilation, suicidal ideation, infanticide, abortion, abuse

Thank you S&S/ Saga press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review

You Weren’t Meant to Be Human promised a look into real-world problems, but gave us a book full of shock and horror that was completely unnecessary. The body horror was relentless yet strangely hollow, leaving no room for connection to the characters or their struggles. Crane’s story could have been powerful, but it was buried under indulgent violence and a narrative that seemed more interested in being disturbing than saying something worth hearing. In the end, this book wasn’t meant to be written.

Let me start off by saying this work is grim. White is known for his YA novels but this is about as far from YA as you can get.

I feel slightly conflicted about this book. I enjoyed most of it (in the ways in which one can enjoy some rather disturbing horror) but there were parts that fell flat for me. This was clearly a very personal work and I recognise that. Elements of personal pain were very clearly present throughout. I enjoyed the horror surrounded the feeling of being trapped within yourself and the weird bug/worm stuff, although at times it felt like it was pushing at the shock value line. I enjoyed the sexual violence a lot less. Of course the sexual violence (particularly that faced by trans people and queer people in general) is an important issue, but these parts often took me out of the story, especially since they were kind of interjected into other happenings.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. But check the content warnings and probably scale up your expectations – there were definitely elements that were more than I thought they would be.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own. I definitely have more thoughts than just these, but for now these will have to suffice – I am not in the right headspace to relive this book right now.

Brutal, visceral, and unforgettable. You Weren’t Meant to Be Human takes body horror and weaves it into a raw story about trans identity, bodily autonomy, and survival. Crane’s voice is unflinching, and Andrew Joseph White doesn’t hold back—this is grotesque, emotional, and politically charged in ways that feel frighteningly relevant.

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.

First: You Weren’t Meant to be Human is extremely an adult book. The wildly inventive horror of Andrew Joseph White’s YA books is here, but it’s all grown up in this one and it’s seen some shit along the way.

This story is dark, claustrophobic, and terrifying in a very real way.

My thoughts are all over the place and maybe I should have waited to write a review until I could put them together a little better, but I kind of don’t want to. Let this be a review I don’t think about or plan ahead of time.

My brain is telling me to touch on my feelings about Levi, Jess, and Tammy. I have a lot of them. But my heart wants only to write about Crane, so I’m going to listen.

Crane is mute by choice. He has no voice whether he speaks or not. He feels he can’t speak for himself, he doesn’t know how to make his own decisions (which omg does this lead to one of the worst relationships I’ve ever read about). His feelings about himself and his intense self-hatred and the way he gave up everything so he could feel that he’s allowed to be a man are both beyond heartbreaking and intensely relatable.

The way he refers to his pre-transition self, Sophie, as a different person, is so real. Sophie isn’t Crane, she’s someone else. I loved the way this was done. It made so much sense to me. And when he became pregnant and was denied an abortion, Sophie was there taking over his body just as much as the baby was.

Crane’s pregnancy was exactly how I imagine being pregnant would be. His entire experience is awful. Worse than awful. The thing inside him doesn’t feel like a baby, a future person, but a parasite leaching off its host, sucking it dry until there’s nothing left. Knowing there’s a way to expel it but being forced to keep the parasite inside him sends him into a spiral that will haunt me for a very long time. I will never again be able to think about abortion rights without thinking of Crane.

Also, thanks to the hive, I will never look at a worm the same way again. Actually, fuck worms, tbh.

I wish I possessed an eloquent enough vocabulary to accurately describe how I feel about this book. It made me so sad, I cried so much. It was hard to read in the very best way. It’s a new favorite.

I couldn’t stop full on sobbing at the end, especially after reading the acknowledgments. My heart actually, physically, hurt. I am so grateful to Andrew Joseph White for sharing this deeply personal story with us.

Andrew Joseph White is currently one of my automatic must reads. Every new book has been an absolute homerun and for completely different reasons.

You Weren't Meant to Be Human is a treatise work on body horror and especially the sub category of pregnancy body horror. There are also a lot of elements that I've found in White's previous work around identity body horror. There are, as usual with body horror, quite a few trigger warnings as there are some pretty intense scenes of mutilation and some grim sexual portrayals. This is also not the book for you if you're not a fan of things that creep, crawl, or buzz or you dislike insects in general. Please don't read any further if any of those things might cause you discomfort.

Crane left home some time ago when he realized that transitioning was the best thing he could do for his own sanity, and it's about then that they call to him. The swarm offers him a place where he can be exactly who he is. It's working at the gas station that acts as a front for one of the swarms hives that he meets the first boy who doesn't force him to act like anything other than who he is. He doesn't have to speak at all most days and that's even better. The hive has given him everything he could ever want, but now as he stares at a test with little stupid lines on it that he realizes that the swarm gave him one thing he would never want, and they aren't going to do anything to stop it.

I find it hard to come up with anything to directly compare this with other than to reference White's previous works especially Spirit Bares Its Teeth. There are a lot of parallels here, but set in the Appalachians. There are also some more classic references like The Yellow Wallpaper. This is a story about both external and internal horrors playing against one another and how they drive against the Crane's sense of self. There is also a fair bit of commentary around religious or sudo-religious cults and sub groups.

There is a lot I could say for You Weren't Meant to Be Human, but a lot of it boils down to I enjoyed it so much, and don't quite have the words to explain exactly why. I strongly recommend this book to horror fans of all kinds. If you aren't into this kind of thing though I completely understand. If you feel like grabbing a copy I hope you find a friendly local indie bookstore or library. Happy Reading!

I am constantly awed by White's mind when it comes to horror works. What an amazing adult horror debut! Eerie and gothic and incredibly unsettling AKA amazing!

SHOCKING. TERRIFYING. DISTURBING. AND ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT.

You Weren’t Meant to Be Human marks Andrew Joseph White’s chilling adult debut, and it is everything I hoped for. As a longtime fan of AJW’s work, I knew to expect visceral horror and emotional devastation, but this novel elevates both to staggering new heights. White’s prose is unflinching and immersive, dragging readers into the darkest corners of the human psyche through characters who serve as raw, aching vessels for themes that are as timely as they are harrowing.

This story is a masterclass in body horror, but it’s also a deeply personal exploration of bodily autonomy, gender dysphoria, and governmental control. Crane, our trans protagonist, is fighting to preserve his identity in the face of an unwanted pregnancy, made even more horrifying by the presence of alien worm parasites. His narration is relentless, vulnerable, and profoundly moving. The way White structures the novel around the trimesters of pregnancy adds a layer of dread that builds with surgical precision.

The Appalachian setting, familiar to AJW’s readers, amplifies the sense of isolation and helplessness. It’s bleak, claustrophobic, and perfect. And when the story reaches its climax (one of the most unforgettable I’ve read this year), it’s like being hit by a freight train of emotion and horror.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It’s brutal, beautiful, and utterly uncompromising. EXCEPTIONAL. UNMISSABLE. READ IT.

This book felt really misleading. The synopsis made it sound like an alien horror story, but the aliens were barely there. Instead, the focus was on a trans man struggling with his identity while being forced to carry a child to term. Now the synopsis did go into detail about this but the way it mentions the aliens made me believe they would be a key point. The strange thing is that the synopsis gave more detail about the alien plot than the book itself.

The comparisons to Alien and Midsommar didn’t really fit. Alien just because chestbursters were mentioned a few times? And Midsommar because the hive had cult-like followers? Stretch. The hive ended up reading more like a metaphor for the government and society’s views on trans lives than an actual alien storyline.

I knew the pregnancy would be a central part of the book, but the aliens were pushed so far into the background that it felt like two separate stories. Overall, I just came away feeling misled. He should’ve just wrote a book about a trans man being in an abusive relationship, getting pregnant, being forced to carry to term and then him trying to get out of it.

ugh, unfortunately could not get into this one. I thought the premise sounded so interesting but I thought it was a bit excessively dark, and I didn't feel particularly connected to any of the characters. 2.5 stars rounded down for me.

Before I say anything else if you plan on reading this book please check the trigger warnings, because they are no joke. Now that that's out of the way this might be the most disappointing novel I read this year. I was SO excited for this, because it sounded like I should have just loved it all around, but I honestly am having a hard time finding one thing I did end up liking about it, which pains me SO MUCH. Now, first off, I am not trans, so that part of it I cannot speak to and I'm not even going to try. But I am biologically female (and thus can get pregnant), and like Crane (and AJW?) am terrified by the idea that I might become pregnant, especially in a post Roe v. Wade America. In that way, I understand a large portion of where this novel is coming from, although perhaps for different reasons (I can't be 100% sure). My two main issues with this book are as follows: one, the world and thus the worm cult really makes no sense, and two, it honestly just seems brutal for brutality's sake. Let me go more in depth though. First the world. We are never really given an explanation for where the worms/flies came from, why they're here, or what they do, so what is the point? I honestly believe that you could have had the exact same book without the worms, which in my mind makes them...unnecessary? Useless? I guess we'll go with both. It seems like they were only there because worms and flies are gross, and they like to eat dead things, which just adds the opportunity for more grossness. Which leads me into my second point. This book is just brutal for brutality's sake. Please don't think I'm just saying this because I don't like blood or violence or the like, because it's not true. I watch horror movies for fun. I love a good bloody story. This is not that. From as soon as page 3 we get full on sexual content, and it's not fun sexual content either. It's borderline rape. It's crass, violent sexual content. I'll be the first to admit that I don't care for sexual violence, but I can understand when it serves a purpose, and to some extent here it does. Which is why my issue isn't really with the first sexual content we get, it's more some of the later stuff. In fact, one of the main issues I had is that our main character, Crane (although he does refer to his pre-transition self by her [I use her here because that is how AJW refers to the character in the book. He almost acts like they are two separate people, Crane, and who he was before he transitioned.] dead name) has some deeply disturbing...fantasies? I guess you would call them. Before he transitions Crane talks about how he used to imagine being raped, and how that excited him, and how he used to (or maybe still does?) watch bestiality (as in full on human and animal) porn. That's not even mentioning the very end (which felt very rushed and really abrupt as a whole, but honestly I was more okay with than the other stuff). Again, I am not trans and thus cannot speak to anything having to do with that aspect of the book, but neither of these things seem to have any relevance to the story other than to shock and disgust. The story could have been exactly the same without any mention of either of those elements, so what is the point of putting them in? Those were my main issues with the book, and I'm honestly so disappointed, because I've read and loved most of AJW's previous works. I know he's stated that this book was deeply personal to him, and in some ways I can see that. He said he put a lot of himself into Crane, and I think I can see that too. I am also glad to know that he got help for a lot of his issues that he struggled with. Maybe I am just the wrong audience for this book, because so many other people seem to be just loving it, but for me this was a massive miss, and honestly a mess on several levels. I'll be sure to check out his next YA book, and I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for any more adult novels he comes out with, but those I'll certainly be more wary of, for obvious reasons.