You Weren't Meant to Be Human
A Novel
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4.4 • 15 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A Washington Post and Publishers Weekly Best SF/Fantasy/Horror Novel of 2025
Alien meets Midsommar in this chilling debut adult novel from award-winning author Andrew Joseph White about identity, survival, and transformation amidst an alien invasion in rural West Virginia.
Festering masses of worms and flies have taken root in dark corners across Appalachia. In exchange for unwavering loyalty and fresh corpses, these hives offer a few struggling humans salvation. A fresh start. It’s an offer that none refuse.
Crane is grateful. Among his hive’s followers, Crane has found a chance to transition, to never speak again, to live a life that won’t destroy him. He even met Levi: a handsome ex-Marine and brutal killer who treats him like a real man, mostly. But when Levi gets Crane pregnant—and the hive demands the child’s birth, no matter the cost—Crane’s desperation to make it stop will drive the community that saved him into a devastating spiral that can only end in blood.
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human is a deeply personal horror; a visceral statement about the lives of marginalized people in a hostile world, echoing the works of Stephen Graham Jones and Eric LaRocca.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The supernatural horror of bestselling YA author White's staggering adult debut (after Hell Followed with Us) is made all the more terrifying by how deeply it resonates with the very real threats facing trans people. Crane is an autistic trans man who lives and works in Appalachia. He believes he's found acceptance with "the hive," an intelligent mass of malevolent worms, and the rural cult that serve its needs. However, when Crane discovers that he's been impregnated by his abusive partner, Levi, he learns that the hive and his previously supportive community values him as an incubator above everything else, and he is pressured to carry the pregnancy to term. A book about evil pro-natalist worms could easily feel silly, but White does an impressive job grounding the fantastic elements in a deeply heartfelt emotional core. Stomach-churning gore pairs with quieter but equally disturbing moments of psychological horror as Crane fights for the bodily autonomy that others are trying to strip away from him. The result is both a brilliant, page-turning piece of trans splatterpunk body horror and an earnest, heart-rending tragedy. White should win a whole new set of fans with this.
Customer Reviews
If I Loved it Less, I Could Talk About It More
This book was so goddamned good.