A small town pastor finds out he’s been having gay sex with the anti-Christ. Worma’s novella starts with a bang so I thought I’d start my review the same way.

This is an intense bit of queer religious horror. If you’re deconstructing, there’s probably a lot in here that will speak to you.

Jude represents the closet cases. They stay in their small conservative towns and play their parts like all ‘good men’ are supposed to. Lead them not into temptation. They can find it just fine in their own. Dante is the bright young man who could thrive if he escapes the confines of that life.

Worma’s bio states they ‘did not get trapped down in Texas.’ The importance of choosing your destiny, regardless of the hand you’ve been dealt, is important. Will you fill the role that is meant to destroy you or will you fight to make a different choice?

There’s a quote I absolutely loved that is spoilery AF so I’ll refrain. If you want something darker this pride month, this might be just the book for you. 4/5

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!
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"In this queer horror novel debut, a priest falls in love with the antichrist and even God can’t stop the horror it will bring." This is a short story that packs a punch. Following a teen {who turns out to be the antichrist } who is in a relationship with his priest, the story is as dark as it is unsettling.
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I suppose you cannot pack a whole lot into a book of this size, but I think just a little more exposition on the characters and what happened at the end of the book would have brought this to four stars for me. It wasn't necessarily "horror" or scary ....more unsettling with it's themes of power imbalance, grooming, and religious trauma. But maybe that is the real horror....

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“I’d let you destroy me. I’d give any suffering.”

I loved the atmosphere of this book. Religious horror will always turn my head but I almost wish this one would have leaned even a little further into it. I loved the reluctant Antichrist, the priest determined to do as God commands but I wanted … more? More of them. More of the tension. The back and forth. More lyrical prose that would really give the vibe of gothic, religious horror.

oh this was everything. of beasts is about a forbidden age gap relationship between a priest and the literal antichrist. the writing is lovely, the characters feel so real, and the pacing of the story is perfect. the only thing that didn't really work for me was the switch between POVs. i was very confused the first couple of chapters because i wasn't sure if the POV switched or if the narration just took a 180 lol. i wish there was more distinction between the two POVs but other than that this was perfect. this is for the evil, toxic, obsessive gays. the gays who love NBC's hannibal and killing eve.

Thank you so much to Clashbooks for the e-ARC!!

4 ⭐

This was more touching that I had anticipated. 😂😂

FIRST OFF! I just gotta praise the writing about love in this. There's one particular part about "-ending up in awe of and in love with the word to hurt it...etc" that part damn. DAMN!

I honestly enjoyed this! It's a very short story, straight from the get go you are thrown into their relationship. Dante is 17 years old and Jude is older, not sure how much older, but the conflicts within Jude about his sexuality are also present in the story.

I would have really loved more horror in this just because! LOL
I'd love to have read an even longer version just so both Dante, Jude, and their whole dynamic were more fleshed out and the confliction would feel even more powerful and emotional as the characters are set up perfectly for it.

But other than that I really liked this!

Can't wait to see what M.Jane Worma will write next!

I really enjoyed the dynamic of queer religious horror in this novel- a favorite combination of mine, especially when the religious aspect isn’t triggering and irritating. Dante being a supposed antichrist but being such a kind person was interesting to see play out, especially as he later became more bitter while still trying to be good. I wish this particular piece had been explored in depth more.

The relationship between Jude (24 year old pastor) and Dante (17 year old) could have added a natural level of horror and disgust and did have a lot of obviously unhealthy power imbalances. However, the entirety of the book still treated it more like a sexy, loving couple, and the book description acts like this is simply a dark romance. It never being touched on that this is grossly inappropriate, made this read very uncomfortable, especially with the nature of their sexual relationship and Jude’s dark thoughts.

Thanks to CLASH books and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel.

The cover really pulled me in for this one and the content did match its vibes but that was kind of it. The story was sort of anticlimactic and the power imbalance between the two main characters wasn't really explored.

Nothing ruins a great erotic scene like the word "teen." A kid is a kid, no matter how much the devil is his *actual* daddy. Ignoring that issue, this is a solid read, but it feels unfinished. Also, make Dante 18.

Of Beasts should've been a knock out of the park for me.
Sexy priest? Check. Religious themes? Check. Romance and horror combined? Double check!
While I loved the premise of this novel, the pacing felt inconsistent and I felt that we missed internal monologue only when it mattered the most. I appreciated the use of an omniscient narrator, but I felt like that narrator felt silent when I was most interested to know what the characters were feeling.
Jude and Dante, though, are truly magical. The way their bond grows throughout this novella is beautiful and proves that humanity truly can win out over any force, real or perceived.
All in all, though I won't necessarily read this book again, it's not one I regret.

Sexy! Scandalous! And just HOT! Kind of intense but you so need that right now. It took me by surprise by how much u was enticed with this book. The perfect spooky read. Like holy moly the gay horror community would love this.

A fantastic concept and strong writing, though I wanted a little more oomph in terms of a hard hitting end and to amp up some of the toxicity and darkness in Jude. It was wonderfully dark and ominous, I love religious horror and this played beautifully into that. A solid 3-4 star!

This was one where I saw the cover and was pulled in immediately, and then you tell me its a queer 'romance' between a pastor and the anti-christ? i'm SOLD.

I can't say much without spoiling the story but we are following a teenager, Dante (age not determined but he is called 'the Teen' more than some may be comfortable with.) while he engages in a secret relationship with his local pastor Jude.

Dante is suddnely plagued by dreams saying he must go to Solomon and sit upon the throne.
and Jude starts dreaming about he needs to kill Dante.

and quite frankly, how would you react if you discovered your partner was the antichrist meant to bring about the end of times and your job was to kill them?

This is quite an interesting story, its horrific but thought provoking, and perhaps it is unfair for me to say i wish it was longer as it was written to be a short story. However, my biggest complaint and what kept this from being a 5-star is that i didnt have enough time to get to know these characters and their motivations. I felt like i was skimming the surface of what this story could be.

However its a strong debut noevlla and if it interests you i think it is well worth the time to check it out.

What a rollercoaster. I finished this book in one sitting and really enjoyed it. The toxicity, the yearning, the writing style. Excited for whatever the author writes next.

I will be thinking about this book for a long time. Jude and Dante’s relationship is haunting from the very first page and Worma absolutely does not shy away from making the reader uncomfortable. A fantastic premise delivered through beautiful, lyrical prose. It feels unfair to judge a novella for being short, but it sadly felt unfinished. I almost wish the final pages had been given more space to breathe, as so much was packed in there.

Thank you NetGalley and CLASH publishing for the e-arc. A queer horror with religious (well, sacrelige) elements had me hooked before digging in!

This novella focuses on the forbidden relationship between a priest and the Antichrist. Oh, how I WISH this was a full-blown novel. I feel that while this fast pacing worked well for a novella, a novel would have been great to explore more of these themes.

I had a difficult time keeping up with the story quick-shifting POVs with no rhyme or reason. I wish these POVs could have been separated by chapter, or that we were given some indication of the change in narration.

Overall, this was a fantastic story packed with a very sinful punch. I’m curious to read more from this author.

sad, painful, devastatingly and heartbreakingly spicy
jude and dante have been in love since childhood but as jude grows into a sadistic pastor in a small texan town and dante remains protestant, their love becomes a battle of moral dilemma until jude recives dreams from god that dante is the anti christ
confirmed by dantes own dreams of smoke, fire and the begining of the apocolypse
dante refuses to participate but jude believes he is destined to kill dante and sit on the throne of Solomon

The writing was beautiful, but the story itself fell a little flat for me. When I go into a religious horror book, I want it to be freaky, and haunt me throughout, and perhaps even after finishing the book. However, this book didn't quite give me that feeling.

I love the idea of having a priest fall for the antichrist, but the dynamic was a little odd at times, especially with Dante being referred to as 'the teen' throughout.

Overall, I did enjoy the story, but I wanted it to pack a little more of a punch in the horror department.

Thank you net galley for the arc. i choose this book because of the cover, and while i like the story, From Jude's controlling behavior,to the very brutal and unhinged parts .Jude is priest and Dante is a part of his congragation. i just didnt like that Dante was called (the teen) through out the story. but Jude and Dante were just beautiful characters.

This book has a fantastic premise. A priest falls in love the anti Christ? Hell yes I’m here for it

It just fell flat overall, the author could have used an extra 30-50 pages to just round out the main characters and it would have made the ending that much more impactful especially when Dante is thinking about the possibility of other anti Christs who failed to bring about the end of it all.

There just wasn’t enough time to get me really into the book.

The instant I see any book marketed as queer religious trauma body horror, I'm immediately hooked and need it immediately - as someone who is queer with a hefty amount of religious trauma. I don't know what exactly I was expecting to come out of this book, but I will definitely say the twist of what the characters are meant to do and their journey was not it (what I was expecting - if using modern slang, it was definitely "it"). I thought this was a beautifully written book, occasionally skin-crawlingly gross, with moments of absolute shock that I was in no way prepared for but incredibly pleased with nonetheless. I don't know how I felt about the ending - I enjoyed it, and I liked that the boys gained some peace in the end, but it felt so anticlimactic. I think that's something that I personally need to get used to with modern horror, where the ending is definitely not what anyone expects to read and ends up just slower than the rest of the plot.

I think I'd rate this a solid 4-4.5 stars!