WE ARE THE BEASTS

When a beast terrorizes their village, girls in rural France must save themselves.

It’s 1765, and Joséphine and her best friend, Clara, are busy tending to their flocks of sheep and preparing to survive the upcoming winter. After finding a dead body in the forest, they encounter Charlotte, a terrified child who’s more afraid of her father’s rage than of the mysterious beast that’s being blamed for recent deaths in the area. Joséphine and Clara come up with a plan: They’ll help Charlotte by faking her death, making it seem as if she was killed by the beast and finding somewhere safe for her to live. Their plan works—but they soon realize that there are other girls who need rescuing from the evil men in their lives, especially because the local priest is blaming the beast’s attacks on the girls’ sins. Inspired by the true history of the mysterious Beast of Gévaudan, the novel has a setting that’s immersive and rich. Fear of the beast provides some of the tension, but the terror is mostly derived from the constant threat of abuse from powerful men. Hope is found through the young women’s finding ways to band together and protect themselves, giving this visceral and poetic story a strong feminist stance. There’s also a lightly developed yet heartfelt romance between Joséphine, who’s white, and Clara, who’s of Ethiopian descent.

A dread-filled yet inspiring tale of the power that angry girls can wield.