Are You Even Human: Volume 1

Are You Even Human, Book 1

De: Natalie Maher

Narrado por: Sarah Beth Pfeifer

In 2025, the moon hatched and its child died. Things have since gotten worse.

Some people have superpowers now, but so do the extradimensional invaders slowly wiping humanity out. By Julietta's eighteenth birthday, the war has been loss after loss for far longer than she's been alive, so she can't bring herself to be terribly shocked when the sky splits in half and weeps death. Surviving is the real surprise.

Unexpectedly gaining the powers of a shapeshifter, Julietta can change into any living thing she has touched, mixing and matching parts with flesh as mutable as flowing water... Except when she tries to return to her original form. Trapped behind enemy lines in someone else's skin, Julietta must adapt to new powers, new bodies, and new threats, all just to survive. But when she makes it out, will she still be Julietta?

©2024 Natalie Maher (P)2025 Podium Audio

Natalie once again reminding me why she's my favorite author!

It's hard to pick out things specifically I love, given that I really loved it all. The setting was super interesting, the characters were all incredible, the MC was amazing. I was never not completely hooked with the story, only taking breaks either to make the experience last longer or for sleep. So, yet another unbelievably good Thundamoo series that I can't wait to read the next book of!

A masterpiece!

I am going to preface this by saying something. Thundamoo / Natalie Maher has developed a reputation for writing LGBT fiction, and that turns some people off, fairly or unfairly. I'm writing this review as a straight guy, boring old, nowhere on that spectrum. While I'm friendly to the community, I don't seek or shy away from representation in stories, as long as any representation there is, is respectful and not some insulting caricature.

So, the fact that characters in her books are often (usually lol) gay, trans, non binary, asexual just doesn't factor into it for me. What does factor into this is that they're masterfully written, complex, realistic people I feel like I can empathize with.

This story is an absolute gem. I would recommend it to anyone who can even tolerate horror content in a story. It is engaging, well written, grammatically flawless, with fantastic pride and an engaging concept. The villains, and they are many, are complex and have realistic motivations, and the conflict between humanity and the aliens is far more complex and interesting than you would at first assume.

If you like action, there's excellent action. The MC is a badass, she fights in realistic ways which show her strengths and limitations. Enemies feel realistic and challenging. Conflicts are exciting.

If you like interpersonal scenes, the found family built in this story is adorable. Maher does heartwarming, complex relationships better than almost anyone else. You will love all of the characters.

I recommend that literally anyone read literally anything she writes. She's that good. I would buy any book she made on any subject.

10/10

I loved both Vigor Mortis and our hyperdimentional spider friend. So I figured this book would be a safe bet...I was right. I will eagerly await the next book in the series.

Actually kinda upbeat? Sorta?

If you haven't read or listened to anything by Natalie a.k.a. "Thundamoo," then this is a pretty great place to start. *
The setting for the book is weird, but mostly grounded in common themes: a looming apocalypse and fading human society under alien invasion. Humanity has been in a state of total war for longer than any of the characters have been alive and only the simultaneous occurrence of super powers amongst the "lucky few" helps to stem total collapse. That said, this IS a Thundamoo book, so it isn't really about war or powers so much as it is about themes of found-family, confronting inner trauma, and learning to accept yourself even as the world, the people around you and your own body seem to shift and grow into something you never expected.
* 😉 and yeah, not to spoil anything, but the story manages to keep from lingering overlong in anything depressing. The main character is basically awesome.

this was amazing

the story is super well done and written. very interesting Alain monsters. I cant wait for the next book hopefully it won't take long. Great voice acting for this book. I liked her in bio shifter book series. this is one of my favorite authors.

Dystopia done well

It's what you expect from Thundamoo. Female cast. Solid characters. Moral grey zones. Voice acting is excellent. Really brings the story together.

Awesome Concept, Horrible Characters

Well, this is definitely a book by this author. It has a unique and interesting story centered around body transformation, and every character is some combination of neurotic, gay, whiny, self-hating, autistic, and overly self-reflective. I seriously hate almost every character that this author creates.

As usual, we live inside the main character's head, and we can only scream, "Yes, we f-ing get it already!" to no effect as she thinks and thinks and thinks in repetitive patterns. Seriously, yes, we understand the situation and the very,very obvious way that everyone feels. Now please actually get on with it!

The narrator does a fantastic job - almost too good because she really makes me hate the whiny and annoying characters, which is pretty much all of them.

As for the actual story, I'll let you know. I'm only a third of the way through and I have to take breaks from it or else I will disturb my neighbors as I yell at the author to get on with it. But, like I said, this author comes up with unique and interesting stories so I always manage to power through despite the execution.

***edit***

With eight hours left on 1.2x speed, I can't do it. I think I'm done with this author.

not precisely great or bad

The story is especially well formed and drops right into the partial horror that is Natalie Maher's specialty. Unfortunately, this time the undesirable issues also start right up early. Those being especially offensive and non-descriptive use of words as expletives, and at the point I decided to write this review, a casual comment on the utter lack of choice in one's sexuality.

In general, the more one uses expletives, the less comprehensible their words and the more certain the inferiority of their mind. That alone is a disappointment the whole book would be better without, though I expect many people would argue at it's quality of being genuine. About the other issue, do we really need people's bleak misunderstanding that seems a bit too much like a cheap excuse for their sexual related behavior being reinforced when it deeply complicates one's ability to appreciate the main character?

I feel like Natalie is evolving as an author and this book is showing potential growth, but also like they are intentionally compromising that growth by injecting something broken into the story just to seem a little more traumatic or edgy. That last little bit feels a bit dark, and I mean outside the theme of the story, and fake. I think a relatively *normal* amount and manner of profanity would have been better, and I think stating unfounded assumptions as fact when presumably experiencing the reason for making those assumptions (a person's sexual identity) is out of place and possibly out of character for the main character. What I mean by "out of character" is that the main character seems to understand people very well, so it breaks that for her to make such a specific conclusion about something she has little to no first hand previous experience with (for non-spoiler reasons you'll have to read to know why she lacks experience with any aspect of sexuality). Also, she totally understands biology down to the molecule because of her power. Why would make an assumption that is purely of one small subculture, yet is not sustained when scrutinized? Having identity and gender issues is easy enough without making such obvious and self-confinining mistakes in reasoning.

Finally, I intend to continue reading to the end because all of Natalie's first books have been written pretty well. For their series, it was the end of third or fourth books that turned me off from reading any further for similar reasons - for each, pushing a little too far in creating something traumatic only to break the story itself by compromising its premise, rules, etc. I expect this story to hold out with their good writing talent until the end at least. I *may* update this review if I feel it is needed.