Big thanks to NetGalley and CLASH Books for the ARC copy. This has not affected my review at all, which are my own thoughts.

How could I not read this book after seeing that attention-grabbing cover and that premise? This is a book that makes you keep your eyes on it, both at the outside and the inside, until the very end of the story. Never letting go. What an emotional rollercoaster I went through for such a short book, in all honesty😂

So, we have Jude and Dante. Dante and Jude. And they have each other. And God, apparently. They also have sex and a secret relationship, because Jude is the local pastor, a twenty-three year old young man that shouldn't be giving into these pleasures, since Dante is one of his followers and five years younger, but who has been kind of obsessed with Jude for a long time. And, now that Jude is back from his years away at the ministerial training, and after some intense eye locking, they've started a relationship.
After some time in said relationship, the dreams start: dreams of fire and death, that bring the end of the world to their doorstep and calling Dante the antichrist and Jude his slayer. Dante refuses vehemently to do this, can't even conceive being such creature, but Jude is conflicted, he loves Dante too much to kill him, but this is God talking to him. Or is it? Either way they'll soon have to answer the call if they want to have a say in the choice made when the time comes.

So, as said, for such a short book, barely above the 100 pages long, I think it was done pretty well. The characters showed fears, goals and ambitions, feeling three dimensional and deep. The plot was coherent enough to follow it through the bulk of the book, with little to no subplots, not that these shorter formats tend to need so much, or else we risk losing track of the main one, something that doesn't happen here. What you see is what there is. And, since this is set in our world, not much to say about it, except it stayed consistent from the start to the end and respected it established rules, which is what I look for in world building no matter the genre I'm reading.

The strongest point of this book for me was the characters and their relationships, from the main one between Jude and Dante, to Jude and the church patrons to Dante and his mother, the most wholesome relationship ever.
As mentioned, Dante and Jude feel like proper people with their lights and their shadows, two people coming together in a complex and probably quite toxic relationship full of devotion, desire and pain. My only complain is, that by the end of the book, I did not feel like, for all the cruel things that Jude had done to Dante, he had paid or apologized enough for it. Like, sure, they acknowledge it, but I feel like Dante let him off the rope too easy. I would have like for Jude to show more remorse, since he seem to feel some guilt, or at least at odds with himself, for it.

And, tying it to that same complain, leads me to talk about the end (in vague form, to not spoil it), which, for the emotional journey that Of Beasts has taken us into and trough, felt lacking. The emotional punch that the end should have given us in contrast (or follow up) to the one in the middle, never came. It abruptly ended; I reached the end an expected more pages, but there was none, it left you there, wanting, but it gave nothing in return. The whole novel was good, gripping me and going in such a fast pace, tension and emotion up the tenth level, until the very end, where it deflated and did not deliver as I feel it should have, what gave me mixed feelings about this book.

Overall, I think Of Beasts is a very good debut novel, I can see potential in the author and their writing, exploring concepts of queerness, love despite what the rest of the world thinks, laced with supernatural and horror elements that I always welcome in my readings and even religious and taboo themes. I'm thinking that I'll definitely keep an eye out on them to see if they ever write something else that catches my attention. So, yes, I do recommend this one

Brutal, sensual and biblical, this was a fast paced read! I really enjoyed the writing style, it was descriptive and felt almost religious with the tone and word choice. Jude and Dante, while only knowing them for a short time, were both fleshed out characters that compelled me to read on. Honestly, a pretty damn near perfect horror novella, cryptic and emotional. Is it enough to love someone who was born for evil?

religious and queer horror done absolutely right! the ending will leave you wondering and wanting more. such a good,quick read!

I love religious horror. I’m not religious at all but something about religious horror piques my interest. Of Beasts is one of the best experiences I’ve had with this sub-genre hands-down.

The prose is so beautiful here and easy to engage with, fantastic for a debut author. M. Jane Worma manages to express the themes of religious trauma, religious guilt, abuse of power, and queer identities in religious spaces so well. The story is paced really well for a novella. I was concerned about the short length but by the time it was over I felt satisfied. Everything blends so perfectly to deliver a very brutal, thought-provoking, experience.

Dante and Jude’s relationship is so well written too. Their dynamic is certainly the backbone of this story and seeing it play out is very nerve-racking and intense.

Granted, I did have some issues with Dante’s age but it definitely plays into Jude’s abusive nature and the abuse of his power as the pastor. There’s a bigger discussion to be had about their age-gap but if you’re concerned about it please be assured that their relationship isn’t portrayed as romantic in the slightest and is extremely toxic.

If this sounds interesting I would 100% recommend it when it officially releases. It’s short, shocking, brutal, everything you could want in a horror novella.

Edgy and brutal, this novella does not shy away from any of the themes it chooses to tackle.

'“To stop the end of times?” Dante asked, huffing with a bitter smile. “I’d let you destroy me. I’d give any suffering.”'

Worma does a fantastic job of creating an uneasy and eerie atmosphere from the get-go. I was on the edge of my seat from the first chapter.

Jude is a minister and Dante one of his sheep; unfortunately, it turns out Dante is the antichrist and they have a very passionate and very taboo relationship. Both start experiencing dreams, where Dante is told he will bring about the apocalypse and Jude is told he should kill him to start it. Both are being pushed towards ‘a greater good’ for which neither of them wants any part of.

But Jude is brutal and loyal, Dante being his only weakness in his worship of God. Dante is the opposite of what we expect from an Antichrist. He’s a boy who has done nothing wrong except, in the eyes of Christianity, fall for and sleep with Jude. Dante does not want to accept his fate. As the plot progresses, tension starts rising; you're waiting for the characters to make their decisions. What will Dante do? And what will Jude do?

Will they do as God intends? Will they bring about the end of the world?

The prose was beautiful and kept me hooked from the first page, especially important as I wasn’t quite sure if this book was for me. It was lyrical, dark and enticing but very easy to read. I also appreciate how this was a contained story and novella. I think this easily could have been made into a much longer novel but I appreciate the fact it wasn’t, as it works much better as a short story, in my opinion. I think this easily could’ve been dragged out and the tension would have been lost. Massive props as a lot of great authors struggle with short stories and novellas.

I think the opening may turn some people away; it was very graphic but I think sets the tone for the rest of the novella. If you enjoy the opening, you’ll love the rest of the book. I also expected a little more emotion to be invoked from the ending, considering how tense I found the middle of the novel. I have to add as well that I was not a fan of the age gap, with Dante being a teenager and Jude an adult; I expect this will put people off reading. But due to this being a horror and not a romance (and the abusiveness of the relationship is brought up throughout), I don't have as much of a problem with it as I would if it were being marketed as a romance novel or as a healthy relationship.

A really solid debut, and I’m really looking forward to what else the author releases. A solid 4.5 stars from me! Rounded up to 5!

Thank you to CLASH books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. A wonderful little gem I may not have discovered on my own, all opinions are entirely my own.

Half of the reason I picked up Of Beasts is because of the cover. I mean!!! Look at it!!! It's very striking. I also nabbed the novella because it's horror and gay.

However.

If I had known ahead of time that Dante, the "young man", was underage I never would have downloaded it in the first place. I'm not trying to be rude. This isn't a moral judgment on the author. I simply wasn't prepared for the experience. Of Beasts is described as "forbidden love" but it's actually just illegal? I don't care if Dante is the alleged Antichrist. He's in a teenager's body. Because of that, I'm not rooting for their relationship, I'm wanting Jude to get thrown in the trash. Period.

But I'm torn because, despite my distaste for the abusive relationship, of Jude's unhinged, controlling behavior and gross anger, this wasn't a badly written novella by any means. On the contrary, I'd say it's one of the best short pieces of fiction I've read this year, if not the best. It was incredibly readable. Very snappy.

Jude had SO much to answer for, though. Dante suffered so much. He was hurt when he didn't deserve it. What about Jude??? Idk. I just feel strongly that, by the end, nothing was resolved in a satisfying way (imo). It was difficult for me to buy into the ending after what Jude did. That doesn't make this a bad book or even a mid book. But I'm not entirely sure it's for me.

I'll definitely try Worma again in the future though because hot damn!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I really liked this! Queer, erotic, religious horror is such an interesting genre and this novella captures it perfectly. I read this in nearly one sitting and really love the concept, relationship dynamic, and characters. Really great pacing and the prose had a lovely tone. The choice to have head-hopping narration between Dante and Jude worked well, too.

There were some minor criticisms from me, which kept this from being a 5 star read. Every time Dante was described as 'the teen' (rather than using his name or just with 'he') drew me out of the story more than it should have. I also wish there was a bit more to Dante and Jude's characterisations - I actually found the synopsis more revealing than the actual text! But that's also a sign of a good story for me - the characters were interesting as it stands, I just wish there was more of them because I feel like I could have gone absolutely feral for their dysfunctional dynamic.

I think this works well as a novella, but I think this would have absolutely blown me away as a full sized novel.

OH MY GOD. this quite literally may be the best horror novella of 2026 when it formally releases. there were moments where my jaw absolutely dropped, which i feel like is often an unattainable feat. i found myself going back to reread sections to figure out what the fuck just happened, and the book kept my interest until the very last page. layering in those themes of queer religious guilt alongside evil and sacrifice, it was so successful and kept the pacing throughout. if this is worma's debut, i can't wait to see what they do next.