★★★★

Andrew Joseph White’s You Weren’t Meant to Be Human isn’t just a book you read. It’s a horror that burrows deep under your skin, festering in the dark corners of Appalachia. White’s adult debut is an intense, uncompromising dive into identity, survival, and transformation amidst an alien invasion, all explored through the unflinching lens of the rural queer and trans experience.

White doesn’t pull any punches. He excavates the raw truth of marginalized lives, especially through Crane, our trans autistic protagonist. Crane’s journey, navigating an unwanted pregnancy while seeking affection in the most brutal ways, is a profoundly unsettling yet poignant allegory of body horror. It’s dirty work, reading this, but White makes you want to keep digging.

Crane’s world itself feels utterly claustrophobic, like being trapped in the earth itself. And that genius twist, positioning the cult as an actual alien infestation, gives a slimy, creepy face to societal expectations and difference. It elevates the entire narrative, making something potentially overdone feel utterly fresh.

Look, horror isn’t usually my first choice, especially when it gets this disturbingly graphic. The world’s got enough real-life horrors. But Crane, despite his specific neuroses and choices, becomes this anti-hero you oddly root for. White gets so far into his head, you’re tangled in the inner drama, pulled along by the sheer grit of his struggle.

This book isn’t for the faint of heart. Seriously, read those trigger warnings and take them seriously. But for those ready to delve into a story that’s as unyielding as it is insightful, You Weren’t Meant to Be Human offers a truly singular experience. It’ll leave you craving sunshine and open skies, but the truths it unearths will stay with you.