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A review by corsetedfeminist
You Weren't Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Dear gods.
This book is everything I imagined it would be. By that I mean that I was absolutely repulsed for most of it, cried in several scenes, and felt uncomfortably similar to the main character. It was everything his previous books are, dialed up to a thousand.
I want to thank Andrew Joseph White and Saga Press for the great honor of reading this ARC. I’m sorry I don’t have the self control to wait to post this.
This is a book that you must check the content warnings for. If you have any triggers around babies and pregnancy, especially, be very careful.
This is a book that deserves to be experienced as unspoiled as possible, but there’s still a few things I want to talk about.
I love Crane. He isn’t a pretty little autistic angel, written to make neurotypical people feel inspired. He is everything that is socially unacceptable, and that’s why I love him. He is nonverbal, and he struggles with hygiene, and he perpetually wants to self harm, and he is kinky in an unhealthy way that has been distorted by his abusive lover and his dysphoria. But he is real. I always say that AJW writes the best autistic characters, and it continues here. As a trans autistic reader, Crane was painfully, beautifully like me. He is a trans, autistic character written for us.
Now Levi—- I want to tear Levi into pieces with my own hands for what he did to Crane. I have rarely loved to hate someone so much as I hate Levi.
Lastly, I want to mention the raw beauty of the West Virginia setting. It’s the little things- the house with a freezer on the front porch, the actual towns being name dropped, the people wearing camo everywhere. I loved Tammy, because she reminded me so much of my family- not my mom’s side, still rural south but more proper, but my dad’s side, where everyone chews tobacco when they’re not smoking, and eats livermush and baloney sandwiches and sees life with a rough realism and gritty practicality. She’s an Appalachian granny, in all her glory.
In short, this book is everything I expect from Andrew Joseph White- gore, broken people, raw emotion, unexpected love, and honesty.
This book is everything I imagined it would be. By that I mean that I was absolutely repulsed for most of it, cried in several scenes, and felt uncomfortably similar to the main character. It was everything his previous books are, dialed up to a thousand.
I want to thank Andrew Joseph White and Saga Press for the great honor of reading this ARC. I’m sorry I don’t have the self control to wait to post this.
This is a book that you must check the content warnings for. If you have any triggers around babies and pregnancy, especially, be very careful.
This is a book that deserves to be experienced as unspoiled as possible, but there’s still a few things I want to talk about.
I love Crane. He isn’t a pretty little autistic angel, written to make neurotypical people feel inspired. He is everything that is socially unacceptable, and that’s why I love him. He is nonverbal, and he struggles with hygiene, and he perpetually wants to self harm, and he is kinky in an unhealthy way that has been distorted by his abusive lover and his dysphoria. But he is real. I always say that AJW writes the best autistic characters, and it continues here. As a trans autistic reader, Crane was painfully, beautifully like me. He is a trans, autistic character written for us.
Now Levi—- I want to tear Levi into pieces with my own hands for what he did to Crane. I have rarely loved to hate someone so much as I hate Levi.
Lastly, I want to mention the raw beauty of the West Virginia setting. It’s the little things- the house with a freezer on the front porch, the actual towns being name dropped, the people wearing camo everywhere. I loved Tammy, because she reminded me so much of my family- not my mom’s side, still rural south but more proper, but my dad’s side, where everyone chews tobacco when they’re not smoking, and eats livermush and baloney sandwiches and sees life with a rough realism and gritty practicality. She’s an Appalachian granny, in all her glory.
In short, this book is everything I expect from Andrew Joseph White- gore, broken people, raw emotion, unexpected love, and honesty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism