You Weren't Meant to Be Human

336 pages

English language

Published 2025 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers.

ISBN:: 978-1-6680-3807-9

(1 review)

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 …

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.

1 edition

Jaelyn reviewed You Weren't Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White

A natural and confident shift to adult horror from AJW

5 stars

I was excited to read Andrew's first foray from YA into adult horror. It seemed like a natural jump as his tone had always erred more mature. It certainty doesn't disappoint with some heavy body horror around self mutilation and pregnancy. I've always found horror based around dysphoria - in this case trans masc pregnancy, to be so personal it is hits in such a violent way compared to other topics.

Crane works in a gas station, one of many fronts for a hive of worms and flies of unclear origin. Crane and the others working for the hive are all picked up, "saved", in moments of desperation and hopelessness. But in exchange the Hive demands loyalty, no matter the cost.

Certainly an thread of radicalisation and abuse combining with Crane's craving for abuse and abdication of control. That cult aspect is something that feels familiar from his other books, …

I was excited to read Andrew's first foray from YA into adult horror. It seemed like a natural jump as his tone had always erred more mature. It certainty doesn't disappoint with some heavy body horror around self mutilation and pregnancy. I've always found horror based around dysphoria - in this case trans masc pregnancy, to be so personal it is hits in such a violent way compared to other topics.

Crane works in a gas station, one of many fronts for a hive of worms and flies of unclear origin. Crane and the others working for the hive are all picked up, "saved", in moments of desperation and hopelessness. But in exchange the Hive demands loyalty, no matter the cost.

Certainly an thread of radicalisation and abuse combining with Crane's craving for abuse and abdication of control. That cult aspect is something that feels familiar from his other books, though each with its own distinct tone.