I was born and raised a Roman Catholic, so enjoying this book should have me shaking in my shiny church shoes. *shifts eyes to the sky*

Here’s the thing, I loooovveeee religious horror of all kinds, it really fuels my love of horror. Hell, I even cosplay as a smutty nun, but that’s a story for another day. So when this book fell from the heavens—or better yet, crawled up from Hell—I was all in. Seriously, take my soul!

Praise be, because this book was phenomenal. There wasn't a single page where I knew what was going to happen next, so devour this I did. I finished this a while ago, and I'm still thinking about this book in its entirety. From start to that earth-shattering finish, I was enthralled. It left me speechless.

'Of Beasts' is a book you don't want to sleep on. It'll definitely make you attend church to confess your sins!

I enjoyed reading this book and it was a fun one. The ending just ended abruptly and left me a little confused. I might have to give it a re-read to fully understand the ending more. Overall I really enjoyed the premise of an anti-christ in Texas and the relationship between Dante and Jude.

I really enjoyed this book, I wish it was longer. I liked the way the author writes. I will be looking up in future for more books from M Jane Worma

This was a fairly quick novella

I wished there was more character development for Dante and Jude.

The storyline was interesting and I wished it would have been longer. This definitely had potential.

An interesting read for sure

A truly impressive debut, this one blends horror with a little romance seamlessly. I can’t wait to see more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and all involved with allowing me the opportunity to read this novel.

Ultimately, this novel caters to a specific audience, and that audience unfortunately was not me. The story itself felt relatively generic, primarily focusing more on the sexual behavior of the characters. While I do not mind some spice, I do prefer plot over spice. Again, I think this work will cater to a very specific crowd.

Of Beasts is an Achillean dark romance about a pastor named Jude (aptly named) who falls in love with Dante, one of his congregants who learns he is the antichrist. The tension between their relationship is extremely heightened once both Jude and Dante begin to have dreams of their prophetic future.

My biggest complaint about this novella is that it’s so short. I can easily see this story span a full length novel in which Dante gradually becomes his assigned role. Similarly, it would have been interesting to see Jude struggle heavily with his faith until he can no longer bear it. I wanted more angst, more religious commentary and an ending that felt cataclysmic.

In short, it was fun to read, interesting topic, and the cover is absolutely perfect.

I’ll say it 4.5 I loved it. lol. My curiosity got the best of me when I requested this on netgalley. How can you read about this queer religious horror that’s about a priest that falls in love with the Antichrist and not even god can stop them? I’m too nosy not to dive into that. Dante is a protestant man and Jude is a sadistic pastor from a small town in Texas. Their secret is that they’re together. Dante is supposedly the antichrist he’s supposed to start the apocalypse but he tells God no it’s all big thing. You definitely should read this if you’re into a religious horror. I was too nosy not to read this.

I absolutely devoured this quick novella. I was hoping for more from the horror aspect of the book, and I feel like certain themes could have been explored in greater depth. However, despite wanting more pages, I thoroughly enjoyed what was there. I am looking forward to following this author’s journey!

I just finished Of Beasts by @m.jane.worma it was a good short horror MLM novella, I felt like it could’ve been a lot longer, and had more to it. I liked Dante, he was my favorite. I like to think maybe they did make it to the final place they were wanting to go but it could’ve been a little scarier. 5 stars because the writing was good and I wasn’t expecting anything that happened, very creepy! Spine chilling.

I really wish this was made into a full book rather than a novella as I feel like there’s so much story that could have been added to it to both help make sense of some of the plot but also because I was enjoying it.

Admittedly, it lost me in some parts but overall the story concept was good. I enjoyed the main character, Dante. Jude was a bit here and there but I think that was the point. Again, I wish there was more of it for me to understand the characters better.

I wish Dante was older than he was for saying he was involved in explicit scenes.

I will say, the ending confused me a bit.

Overall it’s alright.

I loved the idea of this book, I thought I would enjoy it, but in the end the book just wasn’t for me. It was my first religious horror book, and while some parts I enjoyed, I also felt like I wasn’t given enough. I understand that this is a Novella, but even in understanding that, I still don’t feel like I was given enough to fully enjoy this Novella. Or maybe, this one just wasn’t for me! Overall, i’d still say it was a decent read, and I definitely enjoyed some of the book!

This gives you SO much more than you would ordinarily expect from such a short novella. In under 80 pages you really get some highs and lows of the two protagonists.

Religious horror is really being given a moment to shine at the moment and I cannot wait for this little gem to join the cause.

The uncomfortable beginning between what is an abuse of power from a higher level religious figure in a small town delves into the depravity. It’s raw, passionate, painful. At times even sad. I won’t say too much as anything I do say will inevitably be a spoiler with a book this short, but do yourself a favour and take 2 hours out your day to read this.

More religious queer horror, always!

I am a sucker for religious horror, and this one did not disappoint 👏🏼

Book Summary-
Dante, a protestant young man, and Jude, a sadistic pastor of a small Texas church, harbor a terrible secret from the world; they’re together. The two share a taboo and passionate relationship in hidden peace until the dreams start.

God speaks to them in visions of smoke and fire, night after night, until the two of them come to a truth they cannot ignore; Dante is the Antichrist, sent by God and urged to start off the apocalypse.

Dante refuses to participate in the end of the world and the damnation of souls. But Jude is a loyal pastor, indifferent to the suffering of others, and is compelled to do what God tells him; even if it means killing the love of his life.

I just wish this was longer and that they would have found and gotten their happy ending! Besides that, I highly recommend this!

Thank you, @clashbooks & @netgalley! Pub date is February 10, 2026

ok, fess up. Did this stort life as Destiel fan fic? Because it certainly reads like it did. There was a lot of potential here. The concept is great and it has the bones of a good story. But 90% of the book - or it's a short story really - is spent navel gazing at the torid forbidden relationship between a pastor and a 17 yr old boy. Neither character is fully realised. Instead the focus is on the 'just can't quit you even if you harm me' relationship mixed with some very off the peg antichrist is coming dreams. And yet the author has captured the shadow of what I believe they meant to portray here. They just don't have the chops to actually deliver on what was an interesting idea. This would have benefitted from the author writing something else and getting several years' worth more reps in before they attempted this.

This was really poorly done, even for a novella. The characterization was uneven, the stakes nonexistent, none of the themes the summary suggests explored by the plot.

I was, as many other reviewers have stated, very intrigued by the premise of this novella. I love the horror genre and am a fan of the inclusion of religious elements within horror stories, especially for situations such as the Antichrist and a pastor in love. Jude, the pastor in question, and Dante, the aforementioned Antichrist, are embroiled in a secret and vaguely concerning relationship in which Jude seems to hold all of the power - both as the older man and the religious leader of the community. Each have been called by God for their own task, and each of them is struggling against this calling.

While I greatly enjoyed the first half of the novella and the lead-up with the prophetic dreams, I did not love the second half. I would have liked a slower pace and more in-depth examination of the impact of Jude and Dante’s choices, as well as more insight into their motivations. We don’t get much character-building outside of their relationship and religion - just what each of the characters says about the other. I feel as if I don’t know either of them very well, and I place heavy value on characters within a story.

That being said, “Of Beasts” was still an intriguing, quick read that highlighted how people can struggle with what they want and what they should do - morals versus desires.

I wanted to like this more because it's soooo up my alley, but it kind of fell flat in the second half for me. It felt like the tension and action just fell apart. The horror aspect was not very strong. It was so plot driven and then nothing happened with the plot.
I saw other reviews talking about the age gap, Dante is 18. I don't like age gaps 99% of the time, but honestly this seemed like a realistic one and the author even emphasized the older guy never viewed him inappropriately when he was younger.
It was fine, yet overall felt like it was premature. Like the story needed more time to cook.
I definitely think there is an audience for it though.

3.5* rounded up

I love books that immediately pull you into the story, and this short novella definitely catches your attention in the first chapter.

The story focuses on the secret relationship between a young pastor and a teenager.

I really enjoyed reading this, and although I expected more from the ending, it’s still a really interesting novella. I think if you like books like The Wicker King, or shows like Hannibal, you will like Of Beasts too.

Disclaimer: I received a free e-arc from the publisher through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Welp. I fear I don’t get it…. Am I just dumb? I can’t tell 🥴

The story was fine. It kept my attention. There were some wtf moments, but I just didn’t get it overall. Even the pacing was a bit off at times. Maybe if I knew more about the Bible or Dante’s Inferno I would’ve been more equipped (maybe not?? IDEK!!!) but I kept having to yell at my husband, “Baaaaabe, is this a biblical reference?!”

Even though Dante was the Antichrist, I loved his character. He genuinely cared about the world and Jude, whereas Jude only cared about upholding “God’s word.” For a horror novel, there wasn’t much horror, but the little bits we got were the best parts…

Idk, I just expected more from a religious horror story. It didn’t help that the ending was abrupt and left me wanting so much more. Give it a shot and if you “get it” more than I do, please share with me!!! I AM BUT A GIRL!!! 🥺