You Weren't Meant to be Human follows Crane as he attempts to live for the Hive.
Crane, a trans autistic man who is mute, left his home and the world he knew because the Hive gave him permission to transition and stop speaking.
As a worker for the Hive, Crane helps man the gas station used to launder money, clean up the bodies the Hive orders them to kill, and has a boarderline abusive relationship with Levi whose also works for the Hive.
When Crane discovers Levi got him pregnant, he runs to his only friends outside the Hive for help with the problem.
All too soon, he discovers that the Hive doesn't want him to get help.
Set in a not too distant future, Human deals with topics of trans identity, trauma, mental illness, and being forced to bear an unwanted pregnancy.
This book is brutal. It is graphic. You'll be sick to your stomach and cringing the entire time and still will not be prepared for this ending.
Crane is a scarily relatable character and made me realize it probably time to go back to therapy.
Make sure you're in a decent headspace before you read this book, but my God you need to read this book.

You Weren’t Meant To Be Human was one of my most anticipated releases of this year, as it’s AJW’s debut adult novel. Given how amazing (and amazingly disturbing) his YA stories are, I knew this was going to be a new level of fucked up. I KNEW.

Oh boy. I had no idea. YWMTBH is the kind of book that brutally carves its way into your mind and nestles there whether you want it to or not. It doesn’t need your permission.

To sum it up without spoiling anything, Crane is a mute, autistic, trans man who’s...going through stuff. He’s not okay, to say the least. He’s also a part of a cult, the hive (imagine a sentient alien mass of worms and flies - lovely). The hive saved Crane, it loves him, it gives him a place to be himself. Then Crane finds out that he’s pregnant. He very much doesn’t want to be, fuck off, thank you very much. No way in hell.
The problem is, the hive that loves Crane so much, demands his pregnancy to be carried to term...

It’s the heaviest, most revolting book I’ve picked up in a damn while. And that’s exactly what I wanted, call me a weirdo. This is what I expect when I read an adult horror. I want it to horrify me thoroughly, and not with made-up monsters. To make me read in intervals because I frequently have to stop just to breathe. To shock me without feeling like scenes have been written solely for the shock value.

This will hit especially hard for everyone with a womb for whom pregnancy has always been something absolutely unwanted, a body horror in itself. It’s a horrifying scenario for me; I can’t even imagine what it’s like for a trans man. Oh wait, now I can...

The story is written so masterfully that it provokes visceral reactions. You’ll feel disgust, fear, helpless rage, utter misery...maybe even an uncomfortable arousal at times. (Fuck I had to read this clutching my emotional support plushy - and I didn’t even know I had one till now lol)

Nevertheless, I can always trust AJW to lead us through muck and gore and misery to a terrible, yet cathartic conclusion. And the Acknowledgments at the end just about killed me, my heart was put through a goddamn wringer that’s for sure...

I don’t even know who to recommend this to. Probably to people who like to stare long and hard at things that terrify them, to make themselves squirm. If you DO pick it up, do yourself a favor and look up all the CWs on Andrew’s page - they’re not only numerous, but are explored thoroughly and in detail. Read it, but be mentally prepared (at least a bit).

So, I utterly hated this book. I also need to build an altar for my future physical copy. And I would love to sit every pro-lifer down and read this to them over and over again till they’re sick.

I’m already dreading the next adult story AJW cooks up, and I’ll read and buy it anyway. 🖤🖤

Massive thank you to Christine Calella from Simon&Schuster/Saga Press for kindly allowing me to read this as an e-ARC through Netgalley. I may or may not have cried.

I want to start by saying that time novel is BRUTAL. Dark and bleak don't begin to describe the world this author has created for the main character of Crane. I mean, I read horror every day. I've read splatterpunk and extreme books to the point where I might be a bit desensitized. But this one hits hard... like a wrecking ball opposed to a punch.

It's set in a near future which has hives of flies and worms. They are sentient, they speak to those serving them. They draw in people who feel unwanted, worthless, and unloved. In exchange for their "blessing" of acceptance, they require human flesh to consume. Murder is almost a mundane affair to these people who serve their hives.

Crane is a younger trans man. He's filled with a palpable self loathing and low self esteem. His lover is an ex-marine and a serial killer. A brute of a human being who thrives on pain and suffering of others. He abuses C ane sexually, mentally, and emotionally. Crane at first enjoys the abuse and even gets off on it.

But then Crane becomes pregnant. And the hive will not allow him to abort the fetus. And what happens next is a twisted, horrifying, extremely gruesome and messed up setting as we see Crane through the pregnancy and ensuing chaos.

This is queer horror at it's abosolute terrifying. A grief and gore filled read which will give even the heartiest reader pause at times. Graphic and bloody but written with enough heart to wish to whatever god you believe in for a somewhat happy ending even though you know that's not happening. I highly recommend this one.

My first thought is wow. What on earth did I just read? It was gross, it was devastating, it was horrifying, it was real. Evil alien worms aside, this felt so very real. I felt like I was transported into this world, into this reality, and couldn’t escape.

There was no escape from this book. It followed me and there isn’t any going back.

I’m so grossed out right now.

Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own and are not influenced by the manner in which I received it.

I am a transgender man for whom pregnancy is not a horror show but rather a special interest, a part of what it means to be human that fascinates me. (And also a horror show because WHAT THE FUCK. How do humans keep doing it?) And yet, I have never in my life felt more seen. Crane is relatable in a million ways. It feels like Crane was plucked from my head. Even the understanding of pregnancy feels like being seen. It’s real and raw and visceral.

This story feels like it was written because it a story that tears out of your body, that some force beyond you is pushing to write, to tell, to say. It feels like the story that pours from you in terrifying snatches, where you finally check the word count and it’s, “holy hell that’s 10k?” . It’s a story that when written needs to be shared and told. AND I AM SO GLAD IT WAS.

This is a book that forced me back to nature. Or as close to back to nature you can get when you live in a very walkable city. Me and the dog went on a very long exploration of my neighborhood as I walked, reading and reading and reading.

This story makes me want to go back to my West Virginia work conference just so I can walk to the gas station/liquor store while reading it, to feel grounded in a story as old as the Appalachian mountains.

This is a book that you sleep with because your body says, “fuck you we’re going to sleep” and you wake up and the first thought on your mind is the book.

Crane is maybe my favorite protagonist ever. He is the most seen I’ve ever felt in any novel ever. Eveeeeer. He is just so…

The thing about autism is that can’t explain why he is so relatable just that he is. He is so me.

I predicted the end because I’m a writer and autistic and see writing on the wall and am of course fascinated by pregnancy and all of its many terrible potential endings. When it happened though, it shocked and devastated me. I knew it was coming and yet…

Congratulations on joining the ranks of books that have made me cry.

It was just… perfect.

Devastating and perfect.

Okay uh, other stuff. The only ex-Marine is Lee Harvey Oswald and apparently Levi. Like no forreal, disgraced enough to earn that ex in ex-Marine which if you know Marines, that’s saying a lot about how fucked up he is.

This book was so deeply and painfully relatable. It’s riveting. Warning to settle in and make sure you’re comfortable because you won’t put it down.

It’s amazing. It makes me want to give every other book I’ve reviewed 4 stars because THIS is a five star read.

Literally altered my brain chemistry.

Just READ IT. READ IT. You won’t regret it. (Well, if you’re emotionally stable you might.)

It’s just… fantastic.

Holy hell. AJW was already one of my favorite authors, but this book just further solidified that title.

You Weren’t Meant to Be Human is terribly relevant, delightfully gross, horrifically devastating, and so very scary (as well as relatable—just the concept of pregnancy is terrifying to me and makes me want to puke—sorry to my friends with kids. I’m just being honest).

I loved the protagonist, Crane. He was complex and messy, and even in his moments of violence, kept everything grounded in this world with human-eating alien worms.

The ending was wild and gory and perfect, and I will be thinking about Crane for a very long time.

Definitely be mindful of content warnings, but if you can stomach it, this book is so worth it. I couldn’t put it down.