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A review by iam
You Weren't Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was raw, visceral, disgusting, and so so good.
But also a LOT.
Content warnings include: violence, murder, gore, questionable consent and rape, graphic birth, stillbirth and abortion, suicidal ideation, transphobia, ableism, mutilation of corpses, infanticide, cannibalism, self-harm and self-mutilation, intrusive thoughts; Mentions of: bestiality, imprisonment.
There are general warnings at the beginning of the book, and more details/context to the warnings have been posted by the author .
While the book is described as pregnancy horror during an alien invasion, and that is technically correct, at its core it is a story about abuse. All forms of it: domestic, self-inflicted, sexual, as well as within a community in a culture of manipulation.
The whole alien invasion aspect was very secondary. It could have easily been switched out with a "normal" (as in, human) cult, with very few changes. I still loved all the alien stuff, as it added an extra element that was both disgusting as well as mysterious. I wish there had been a bit more details/world-building around the aliens and their purpose, but the story is focussed on Crane and his perspective and story, and to Crane, the aliens' purpose on earth is not important at all.
Crane is a great protagonist. He is autistic and choses not to talk, and I really enjoyed reading about how he communicates with the people around him without ever speaking a single word. I'm not sure I really read about a character like that before, at least not as a book's protagonist.
Crane is intensely self-destructive. He is clearly struggling with mental health issues, idealizes suicide and self-mutilation, has constant intrusive thoughts and sexual fantasies that disgust him as much as they arouse him. Being in his mind and reading about his thoughts can be shocking, but I also found him to be intensely relateable. The intersection of neurodivergency, mental health and being trans is one I experience as well, and even if the details are different for me, the root causes of why he has these specific struggles and thoughts... yeah, I feel that.
In the afterword, the author talks about how personal a lot about Crane is to him, and I definitely felt that while reading. It adds a vulnerable quality to the book that, despite or maybe because of it's rawness, really made me connect to it.
I loved so much about this book and devoured it in a very short time, and whenever I wasn't reading, I was thinking about it. And after I finished, fuck, I didn't know what to do with myself for a long time, and I think I am still processing a lot of it.
The ending was both satisfying and shocking. A lot of what I was anticipating and hoping to happen came true, but there were also some curveballs, some of them so severe that my head is still spinning.
I do like where the story ends, and I think it's a well chosen point to end it. But it's also just open enough to give me so much anxiety about what might happen beyond that point, with some details that did not quite wrap up neatly enough that I am struggling with letting go. While that sucks for me personally, as it feels like a fist in my stomach that I cannot get rid of, that arguably is the most successful ending a horror book can achieve.
Overall this is a stunning, shocking horror story about abuse, focussing on pregnancy horror through an trans and autistic lense, with a cool alien backdrop and a visceral writing style that is, frankly, off-putting at times. I could not put it down, and if you can stomach the content warnings, I highly recommend this!
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
But also a LOT.
Content warnings include: violence, murder, gore, questionable consent and rape, graphic birth, stillbirth and abortion, suicidal ideation, transphobia, ableism, mutilation of corpses, infanticide, cannibalism, self-harm and self-mutilation, intrusive thoughts; Mentions of: bestiality, imprisonment.
There are general warnings at the beginning of the book, and more details/context to the warnings have been posted by the author .
While the book is described as pregnancy horror during an alien invasion, and that is technically correct, at its core it is a story about abuse. All forms of it: domestic, self-inflicted, sexual, as well as within a community in a culture of manipulation.
The whole alien invasion aspect was very secondary. It could have easily been switched out with a "normal" (as in, human) cult, with very few changes. I still loved all the alien stuff, as it added an extra element that was both disgusting as well as mysterious. I wish there had been a bit more details/world-building around the aliens and their purpose, but the story is focussed on Crane and his perspective and story, and to Crane, the aliens' purpose on earth is not important at all.
Crane is a great protagonist. He is autistic and choses not to talk, and I really enjoyed reading about how he communicates with the people around him without ever speaking a single word. I'm not sure I really read about a character like that before, at least not as a book's protagonist.
Crane is intensely self-destructive. He is clearly struggling with mental health issues, idealizes suicide and self-mutilation, has constant intrusive thoughts and sexual fantasies that disgust him as much as they arouse him. Being in his mind and reading about his thoughts can be shocking, but I also found him to be intensely relateable. The intersection of neurodivergency, mental health and being trans is one I experience as well, and even if the details are different for me, the root causes of why he has these specific struggles and thoughts... yeah, I feel that.
In the afterword, the author talks about how personal a lot about Crane is to him, and I definitely felt that while reading. It adds a vulnerable quality to the book that, despite or maybe because of it's rawness, really made me connect to it.
I loved so much about this book and devoured it in a very short time, and whenever I wasn't reading, I was thinking about it. And after I finished, fuck, I didn't know what to do with myself for a long time, and I think I am still processing a lot of it.
The ending was both satisfying and shocking. A lot of what I was anticipating and hoping to happen came true, but there were also some curveballs, some of them so severe that my head is still spinning.
I do like where the story ends, and I think it's a well chosen point to end it. But it's also just open enough to give me so much anxiety about what might happen beyond that point, with some details that did not quite wrap up neatly enough that I am struggling with letting go. While that sucks for me personally, as it feels like a fist in my stomach that I cannot get rid of, that arguably is the most successful ending a horror book can achieve.
Overall this is a stunning, shocking horror story about abuse, focussing on pregnancy horror through an trans and autistic lense, with a cool alien backdrop and a visceral writing style that is, frankly, off-putting at times. I could not put it down, and if you can stomach the content warnings, I highly recommend this!
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Deadnaming, Pedophilia, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury