3.5 This one is hard to rate. Ultimately, I did get sucked into the story. However, disbelief was hard to suspend. Some readers, out for the blood of retelling every historical event through our contemporary lense, will love it. But, fact cannot die on the altar of fiction.
The simple truth is that our main character is NOT a French peasant girl of the 1700s. Rather lazily, the author has given us a post pandemic, post #metoo teenager, with an unabashedly American slant, living in an 18th century French village. It’s a disservice to superimpose our thoughts and emotions onto historical people. There’s so much about history that is beautiful and interesting. In 1700s France,the average life span was 25 years, the country was leaning into the Enlightenment, the smallpox vaccine was going to be invented, and France would soon begin to tear itself apart with Revolution. If you’re going to write history, let the past speak. God knows we ought to stop talking, and listen to it. We have much to learn.

This was on of my most anticipated releases, unfortunately it fell flat for me. I’m not sure if it was a mood thing or what but I struggled with this one.

I was not able to finish this book for time constraint reasons, but did read through the first 25% and really enjoyed it. It was very emotionally low given the setting of a misogynistic 18th century French town, so I would say it leans more toward older teen readers. Otherwise a good historical fiction-horror that I would like to finish at a later date.

Big shoutout to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in return for my honest thoughts.

I had a blast reading this story! It’s such a great mix of historical fiction and horror. Griffis’ interpretation of the Beast of Gévaudan was fantastic.

The character development was impressive. The horror elements were crafted really well and caught me off guard at times. I’ll definitely be telling everyone who’s into horror with strong female characters to check this one out!

Loved it! Compelling writing and story. I love the examples of bravery, resilience and fortitude. It speaks of monsters, imagined and real. And how the real “monsters” are the ones we need to fear.

This is such an intriguing concept for a story but there were bits that really didn’t work for me. Two girls in 1700s France, realize that there is a beast attacking children and use it to cover the escape of girls in their village who have been treated horribly by their families. It has some strong feminism going through it that really just beats you over the head with the idea by the end. The two main girls don’t have a lot of personality aside from being the “feral” one and the one that takes care of everyone. The language was the biggest turn off for me. Girls in 1700s are not saying “not today, satan” or “hell no.” I wasn’t expecting perfect historical language but it took me out of the timeframe. The camaraderie and idea of saving these other girls was a good start but overall the story would have been better as a short story.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read & review this book.

The girls are tired and hungry. They tend the sheep, they keep the house, they do the work. But the whole village is struggling, barely making ends meet and praying to God to not starve through the winter… and then the first murder happens. A beast, a monstrous creature, has made its way through the country and to their village, sewing discord and blood in its path.

But is it truly this monstrous beast who is wreaking havoc on this village’s occupants, or is something more sinister happening? When daily life in this village can be far more terrorizing for the countless girls making a life here - harassment, a stray fist from a man, belittled to put back in their place. Caught in the middle of this village’s plight, sixteen-year-old Josephine and her best friend Clara are determined to do right by the girls and protect them by escaping - but can they fight against both their unjustly patriarchal society and the monster hiding in the forest?

This book was so beautifully written. I found myself going over passages that would make my body shiver in awareness… almost as if I were being told to pay attention. I loved the bravery these girls had in righting the wrongs they came across in the village but also when it came to personal relationships.

Final rating: 4 stars

Recommended if you like: mystery/thriller, YA, lgbt+ inclusion, feministic writings

I've always been obsessed with the beast of gevedaun. I was thrilled to find this novel, and it didn't disappoint. It delivered exactly what I expected. Excellent.

Beast of Gevaudan is a wolf-like beast that ravaged the area for nearly four years. That alone is reason enough to read this book. Add in three strong female characters who are meant to survive and you’ve got a winner in my book. The author is able to write heartfelt and tender when needed and ruthless and brave at other times. The emotion comes through on each page as the story unfolds. I can see this easily as a teen/ya horror read for spooky season

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I feel so bad because I feel like I keep giving my ARCs bad reviews.

I actually really loved the heart of this book, but it was just such a slog to get through. It's marketed as historical horror, and neither of those genres ring true. The book is based on real historical events, but is only loosely tied to the time it takes place in with occasional French phrases thrown in and bland descriptions of life in the time period. It is not at all a horror book, with very few even tense moments, and a lot of build up to an ultimately dissatisfying ending.

I think this book would've worked beautifully as a short story, and in fact, I wonder if it was adapted from one. As it stands, it's a long slog that doesn't pay off in the end.

I read this ARC via Netgalley.

In the 1700s in France, a beast is terrorizing the countryside. Shepherdess Josephine and her friend Clara aren't especially worried, until they discover the body of a boy they know, Pascal. They also discover his sister Charlotte nearby, and Charlotte reveals that it wasn't a beast who killed her brother--it was their abusive father. Josephine and Clara decide to hide Charlotte away to keep her safe, but when soldiers arrive to hunt the beast, the girls' lies begin to pile up...

A few years ago, I did a bunch of research about the Beast of Gevaudan for a novel I was writing, so I was quite excited about the topic of this book. Even though the story was less about the beast and more about how a community can become complicit in allowing abuse to happen, the plight of the girls and the threat of both the soldiers and the community elders made for plenty of tension and fear. Though Josephine often rubbed people in the community the wrong way, her past traumas made her motives understandable. Despite the beast not being the main threat, it does make an appearance. Overall this was a fast-paced thriller that didn't feel stuck in the past.

I love the feminism in this book! The growth of the characters amazing. The horror behind it all was well written and it got me at times I wasn't expecting. I will recommend this book to everyone who wants a great horror with a strong female leads!

This book was everything I expected it to be. We have strong female friendships and feminism set up against Gevaudan, France, a region famous for its wolf-like beast that ravaged the area for nearly four years. In this version we follow Josephine, who has lost her family and lives with her best friend Clara and her grandmother. The town they live in is plagued by poverty and starvation and they do their best to get by. When they find the body of a boy in the woods, the people of Gevaudan blame the mysterious beast that has been killing their people, but Josephine and Clara know the truth. Armed with this information, they discover a way to hide the boy's little sister and protect her and themselves from the town's men who want nothing more than to control women and girls.

The subject of the Beast of Gevaudan has always capitavated me, but what really kept me reading was the author's gorgeous writing. She tackles the heavy topics when it calls for gentleness and when it calls form brutalness. I loved seeing Jo and Clara's relationship as well as the relationships they form with other girls in the town. I also loved he author's idea of what the beast was (it kind of made sense)

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and hope to see more from this author.

I couldn’t get into the story just as I thought. Not disappointed but need more depth, I think. I can't remember when was the last time when I read a book in which the whole plot was 100% equal to what was written in the blurb and nothing more. There was no surprise there, no resolution to any of the plot threads and the whole story was blatantly predictable and painfully dull.

Very cool premise, although a little more literary than I expected. More female rage than horror in my opinion. It wasn't for me, but YA enthusiasts will absolutely adore this.

I will start this review by saying that I did enjoy 'We are the Beasts.' I'm giving it 3.5 stars, and rounding up to 4 stars.
I liked the main characters, I liked the story, and I liked the mystery of who or what the beast of Gevaudan. I liked that this story was set in a real time and place, and built around a true historical mystery. While the author took a lot of liberties, no one will ever be able to say for sure that things did not take place the way this was written. However, the setting was in the 1760's France - so when I say that the author took a lot of liberties, I am not kidding. The writing felt way too modern, with today's values and mindsets, as opposed to what things would have been like back then.
I did have some issue with the way all men were portrayed in the story. There was only one good guy in the village, and that was because he had lost someone very dear. While a lot of men are real jerks, and while fear can make people act even more like jerks, I found it a bit unbelievable that no man in the village would stand up for what was right.
All that being said, I did like the strength of the girls. I liked that they were portrayed as intelligent and capable. So while I do think that both sides were taken too much to the extreme, I still enjoyed the overall story. I would recommend this read.

This book was amazing!! So many plot twists at just the right times. And the epilogue was hilarious and fit with the story well. Love the idea that the girls were the real beasts, and the beast was a girl herself just trying to protect her cubs.

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me review this book.

We Are the Beasts was super enjoyable. A beast is terrorizing a small French town. But what or WHO is the beast?

The writing was modern and fun, and I really loved the friendship between our main characters. A total delight!

I enjoyed We are the Beasts. The characters were well written and I was rooting for them throughout the whole story. I also wanted to crawl into the pages and give the girls a giant hug. I would recommend this book to my friends!

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story! It’s the perfect historical fiction/horror. I loved Griffis’ take on the Beast of Gévaudan. I couldn’t put this one down and I can’t recommend it enough!