You Weren't Meant to Be Human

By: Andrew Joseph White

Published by Simon and Schuster, 2025-09-09

<b><i>Alien </i>meets <i>Midsommar</i> 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.</b><br><br>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.<br><br>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 <i>make it stop </i>will drive the community that saved him into a devastating spiral that can only end in blood.<br><br><i>You Weren’t Meant to Be Human </i>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.