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.

Wow. I was not expecting that at all. This is the kind of horror novel that tears at you and doesn’t bother to apologize. It’s raw, furious, and strangely tender beneath the grime. I went in a little afraid, assuming there would be a lot of body horror and gore, and I don’t usually do well with that. This wasn’t nearly as gory as I assumed it would be (and honestly I don’t know why I assumed that). Is it violent? Yes, but said violence isn’t there just to shock you. It serves the story.

The setup is grim. Alien parasites have taken root across rural Appalachia, building hives that offer people salvation in exchange for obedience and corpses to feed on. It’s a world where survival means giving up pieces of yourself. Crane, our narrator and a trans man, joins one of these hives and finally finds something that feels like peace. For the first time, he has a body that fits. Then he meets Levi, an ex-Marine who’s as magnetic as he is dangerous. When Crane becomes pregnant and the hive demands he give birth to the child, everything begins to unravel. What follows is brutal, heartbreaking, and impossible to look away from.

The characters are very well drawn and complex. No one is without fault in some way, but that’s what made them feel so real. Levi’s a complicated character. He’s violent, yet volatile, and yet there are moments where you understand what draws Crane to him. Crane clings to him because Levi sees him for who he is, even when that recognition cuts deep. Their relationship isn’t romantic; it’s a study in survival, control, and longing. It’s messy and human in an ugly, achingly real way.

This isn’t a book that wants you to feel safe. It’s uncomfortable and deeply physical. But that’s what gives it weight. The horror, body and otherwise, feels symbolic. It’s more about rage and change and reclamation than simply being there for shock value. What impressed me most was how personal it felt. Beneath the alien infestation and rot, it’s a story about identity. About fighting for a version of yourself the world keeps trying to erase. Crane’s journey is violent, yes, but it’s also about staying alive when everything around you says you shouldn’t exist.

White’s writing is jagged and visceral. You feel every ounce of Crane’s exhaustion, rage, and fragile hope. The horror hits harder because it’s rooted in reality. White faces head-on what it means to live in a world that punishes difference, and what happens when one wants transformation so badly it hurts. The monsters might be alien, but the cruelty feels rooted in reality. He also doesn’t pull back from the ugliness of the world. He digs into it and forces you to look. And somehow, in that ugliness, he finds something honest. The writing is unapologetically queer, unapologetically angry, and yet still filled with small, aching moments of tenderness.

This book won’t be for everyone. It’s intense and messy, and it doesn’t hold your hand through the scary parts. But it’s one of the most affecting books I’ve read this year. The characters linger and the message hit hard. If you’ve ever felt unwanted, unseen, or furious at the world’s cruelty, this book will speak to you. I’ve seen this described as horror with teeth, and that’s true. It cuts deep. But it’s also a story about taking life’s pain and making something out of it. For me, it’s easily one of my top reads of the year.

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