You Weren't Meant To Be Human

De: Andrew Joseph White

Narrado por: Max Meyers

A Washington Post and Publishers Weekly Best SF/Fantasy/Horror Novel of 2025

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.

Good story, frustrating audio

Inconsistent audio levels and needlessly overperformed. Had me constantly turning up the audio to hear the narrator’s subvocal delivery, only to have my eardrums obliterated any time they switched to The Hive’s dialogue.

Same dish

I love the gore and pain Andrew creates, but I can only handle so much “I’m autistic and gay and no one understands me” before it feels old and over done

Worms are squishy and gross

This book is so gross and twisted, with characters who are severely messed up but still somehow relatable. I love AJW's writing and this just continued the trend. Keep in mind this is a horror novel for adults with very dark and grotesque content.

intense but excellent

this book was very intense to listen to but it is astonishingly good. I didn't know what to expect going in and I now don't really know how to explain it to people without just kind of telling them the whole story lol

A great listen-gut wrenching. Great for Splatterpunk genre lovers.

This book was something …
I enjoyed the fact that it was set in a mostly normal world .. this could have been happening concurrently with our timeline. The main character will break your heart -the story will break your soul. Cautionary: This book is NOT for those sensitive to sexual violence or gore. Overall a great listen. The narrator was great in my opinion.