Book Review | We Are the Beasts

We Are the Beasts by Gigi Griffis introduces a new historical horror inspired by the Beast of Gévaudan.

As a total history nerd, the premise sounded intriguing. I was all on board to love this book. However, it’s spoiled by a bizarrely modern narrative voice and shoddy technical writing.

For starters, the story is supposed to take place during the mid-1700s, and yet the writing is choppy and feels like it belongs more to a contemporary comedy. It’s filled with modern phrases like “not today, Satan. I’m not sure if the author was trying to appeal to a younger audience, but it felt so tonally off and completely took me out of the story.

The author also continually begins sentences with “And.” While this is grammatically incorrect, I’m fine with authors occasionally splitting conjunctive clauses to create emphasis and for artistic effect. However, the author abuses this technique to the point that it loses its impact and disrupts the flow of the writing.

Overall, I appreciate that the author covered a more obscure historical mystery, but the writing style itself drove me up the wall.

Thank you, NetGalley and Delacorte Press, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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