REVIEW: You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White
Andrew Joseph White has long proved himself to be an unapologetically bold, unflinching, and provocative author with his young adult works (all of which are absolute favourites for me), but nothing could have prepared me for what he had in store in his adult queer horror debut You Weren’t Meant to Be Human. This is one of those deeply disturbing books that I adore and abhor in equal measure, and I think that is exactly what makes it such a masterpiece. 
“Crane doesn’t know this yet, but he’s been pregnant for almost three months already.” That is the very first line/chapter of You Weren’t Meant to Be Human, and if that doesn’t set the scene, then I don’t know what does. There’s no tiptoeing around what this story is going to be about; you better buckle up real quick or get out while you still can, because shit is about to get wild.
“The swarm buzzes. The worms slide over each other in a constant wet undertone, like saliva swishing in the mouth, or – or when intestines squirm about on the operating table. His eyes are adjusting to the dark and some of the worms are watching. Older ones, with dull bodies and heavy jaws.”
Through the eyes of our autistic, mute, and transgender protagonist Crane, we’re transported into a dystopianish near-future version of rural West Virginia where festering masses of worms and flies offer salvation to the broken souls of society in return for fresh corpses and unwavering loyalty. And honestly, Crane is grateful for the new life that his hive has given him… until he discovers that his walking red flag of a sex buddy has gotten him pregnant and the hive demands that the child be born. Which, surprise, Crane is not thrilled by, and he will stop at nothing to terminate the pregnancy, even if it sends him and his dysfunctional found family into a tragic spiral that can only end in destruction.
“A total lack of self-image, he’s heard, is an autism thing. Or a trauma thing, Aspen would point out. But he’s not traumatized. A walking collection of bad decisions, sure, and a masochist with way too many messy kinks, absolutely. Traumatized? That is a word for veterans and rape victims, not him. After all, the hive saved him.”
Needless to say, You Weren’t Meant to Be Human is not a fun read, but then I don’t think it was ever meant to be fun in the first place. Initially I was a bit worried that I’d have a hard time getting invested in a story with a protagonist who doesn’t speak, but the opposite couldn’t be more true; Crane’s strong voice and personality drips off every page, and I soon found myself completely absorbed in his (unpleasant) headspace. Moreover, White’s raw, visceral and intoxicating prose is stronger than ever before, which made it simply impossible to put this book down no matter how much it upset me. Or maybe I just kept turning the pages out of a sheer desperate desire for this tragic nightmare to be over as quickly as possible, and I fully realise how privileged I am in saying that.
You see, this might be a fictional tale full of skin-crawling body horror and weird cultish alien (?) worm invasion shenanigans à la Nick Cutter’s The Troop, but Crane’s harrowing journey as a (unwillingly) pregnant transgender man is an all too real and human experience that is grossly underrepresented and unfairly treated as taboo in our society. My heart absolutely broke while reading You Weren’t Meant to Be Human, not only for Crane, but also for all the marginalized people in real life who are forced to survive instead of thrive in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile when all they want to do is just peacefully live as their true authentic selves.
“You pleaded for us to do as we wished with you, didn’t you? To mold you in our image. To give you a place. To make your choices, change your body, make you into something useful. To keep you from being something other than fuckmeat and repulsive lust and fear. To make the outside match the inside. How fortunate, then, that we’ve given you what you want.”
Now, I don’t want to make it seem like You Weren’t Meant to Be Human is all suffering and despair. Yes, this is a story full of nauseating body horror and graphic on-page triggers that explores self-harm, suicide, sexual assault, toxic love and the devastating dangers of unwanted/forced pregnancy in the most gruesome and unflinching way, but at the same time it also offers some beautiful messages of friendship, acceptance, sacrificial love, and learning to embrace the darkest, ugliest parts of yourself. And yes, Crane is one hell of a complicated man full of flaws and scars (both physical and emotional), but I truly love him in all his messy glory.
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human just starts with a bang and then somehow only gets more and more intense, leading up to one of the most upsetting yet weirdly cathartic endings I have ever read. And you know what, I love it all the more for it. White accomplished exactly what he set out to do with this story, and I honestly think he is up there with Stephen Graham Jones, Eric LaRocca and Chuck Tingle as one the most talented, subversive and important voices in the speculative horror genre right now. This book is absolutely not for the faint of heart, but I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Thank you to NetGalley and Daphne Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. You Weren’t Meant to Be Human is scheduled for release on 9 September, 2025.
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