22:13

by Zena

A desperate hunter. A missing beast. A strange man.

The hunter, Kerioth, is pursuing a rare beast whose blood will buy his freedom. His hunt is successful, but he loses the creature's corpse under strange circumstances soon after. While tracking the scant trail, Kerioth encounters an injured man on the road who changes his life in unexpected ways.

Genres: Queer

110 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 25, 2024

About the author

Zena is an author with a love of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. She is an omegaverse enthusiast and enjoys consuming other LGBT+ media. Her goal is to breathe new creativity into these genres by merging unique influences with compelling stories. She is currently writing her next book, Ancient Omens: Part Two.

Reviews

[nachsie]

I'll be screaming, crying, and throwing up till this is released. I will not know a second of peace till I get my little grubby hands on it. I'm clocking myself as the first preorder. Is this true? Who knows. But I am fulfilling my family's desire to find Jesus. I'm finding him alright. During his second cumming—and I oop.

Anyway, I had religion shoved down my throat as a child and all I got for it was religious trauma and this book....Fairtrade, I'm afraid (and I'd do it again). Should be a standard present for those who leave the church. Maybe we can have a goodie bag? Like thanks for leaving a brainwashing cult, here is a goodie bag where Jesus gets railed—

Update: Still screaming, crying, and throwing up but now it's released and I have feelings. How do I respectfully throw hands? This was amazing and Zena how could you do this to me? I need a formal apology for everything I'm feeling. Looking up how to get the TOS to respectfully fight my good friend for this masterpiece. You, me, Taco bell. I will have to fight you but I will be crying doing it. Love you!

[Zena]

It started out as a bit, how did it end up like this? (It was only a bit) It was only a bit

I locked the fuck in and made it so much more. Enjoy!!

[Magz]

This was a great bit ngl and I do not regret paying for this book but I think ultimately it was not what it said on the tin. Props for the build up and the all of the great tik toks tho

[Kaitlyn]

Happy Conclave, this was mid

[Gnat Prowse]

3.75⭐️
I've been thinking all morning on how to rate this book. I overall liked this story, but it is not as advertised. so if you've come to this book for JudasxJesus omegaverse (only half of these words are in the bible), just know that that is... largely not what this book is. that does not happen until maybe the last ten pages? but even so, this was not a disappointing tale. as someone who knows next to nothing of catholicism/the Bible, the story between Emmanuel and Kerioth read just like any other fairytale, just with a bit more MLM✨️

[Marisha]

I was....curious.

[Lyb]

*3.75 stars*
I bought this book because i was promised mpreg judas/jesus, and it delivered

[Bearly_Outdoors]

To my delighted surprise, this had to be one of the most beautifully written books that I read this year. This surpassed all expectations and I find myself wanting to read it again. It was terrifying and poetic and I nearly cried at the end because it was so beautiful. Can't wait to have this in hard copy.

[Laura]

What the fuck was that.



I have…..no words. Truly. That was hands down the weirdest and stupidest thing I have ever read. We wasted 90% of the book on plot that served no purpose only to get to the point in the last chapter and then get the worst written smut I’ve ever read in my life for a page only to end with Jesus getting pregnant. For some reason.

There was a point somewhere in there about seeking redemption and only getting it when you forgive yourself….i think. Maybe. I don’t know it was just so confusing and so badly written and honestly a tree died to make this book and I’m insulted on the tree’s behalf.

Also the description flat out lies. Had the book actually been what was described or what we had in the first chapter I could have gotten onboard. Instead I got….whatever that was. I’m just grateful Zena hasn’t written anything else because that was awful.

[Emma]

more cannibalism and less omega-verse than I was expecting. still well researched and entertaining ig

[Three Kobolds]

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

"Jesus x Judas omegaverse, but take the bit way too far."

The omegaverse aspect was actually pretty minimal. It only showed up at the end, and in constantly referring to the main characters as "alep" (or "aleph," the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet) and "tau" (or "tav," the last letter). I don't mind that there was less omegaverse than the tag line implies – which I'd been expecting from reading other reviews – but I'm puzzled as to why it was included at all. It could have been taken out entirely, and the plot would have been exactly the same. Omegaverse can have depth to it (heh) in regards to relationships, or how individuals relate to their status as alpha or omega, or any number of things, but this book had none of that. Just minimal mpreg-flavored spice thrown in at the end. I say this as someone who doesn't mind gratuitous explicit scenes, it seemed included only for the sake of the bit.

As far as the majority of the book, it read like slightly better than average fanfiction. It was edited well enough for the most part, except for the constant lack of correct paragraph breaks. Only new dialogue started a new paragraph, or I guess when the author decided this one had gone on long enough, because neither the passage of time, nor a subject change, nor new actions were consistently given a new paragraph. It also fell into the fanfiction pitfall of referring to characters by their epithets (e.g., the Alep and the Tau) more frequently than their names – which can be done well, but this was Not It. I may be a bit of a grammar snob, but these two things broke my immersion so much!

On a positive note, I think the religious/historical aspects of this book were well done. I only know the story of Jesus through a catholic-trauma upbringing, but this book seems like a fairly accurate yet still personalized interpretation of the source material (omegaverse aside). Not enough people talk about the strange eroticism of symbolically but kind of literally eating someone's flesh for salvation.

Overall, I don't regret reading it, but I'm a bit miffed about paying $10 for a novella of this quality.

[Jay]

I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I bought this book and you know what? Hell yeah. Hell fucking yeah I fuck with this hard
I finished it in a day because I was so enraptured and I really loved the writing style so so much.
As someone with religious trauma who is now a atheist I found this story comforting in a way I can’t quite explain
It’s a strange thing to say considering but I found comfort and a sense of familiarity in reading a version of stories I’ve known told only one way told completely differently.
I could feel a lot of love and care was put into this and the fact there is no more is agonizing

[Amanda Bohlman]

This really got brought to my attention based on what occurs in the last 5 pages or so. So i feel a little deceived- maybe thats the Judas point! But this was actually extremely well written. I was so impressed with the alternative takes on the Biblical narrative. I think it shines a light on how important perspective is on events, How easy it would be to fabricate the Bible, and also how implausible the bible is. Enjoyed this for reasons i did not pick this book up for. It was kind of lacking in the areas i did pick it up for.

[Dawn Henrie]

Bravo!

I’ve been following this story since the author was posting on TikTok about the idea of writing it. While it started as a joke I was glad to see it come into reality!

I felt there was some confusing aspects of the world building and it did jump a bit from character to character but I feel that once you understand where those characters fit you should be fine to understand I just wish it had been a bit more clear. Overall I was glad to see the joke become a reality!

[Alora Adams]

Not to be dramatic

I have religious trauma which is kind of why I wanted to read this in the first place (healing doesn't have to make sense). Anyway I kind of expected a lighthearted gay little story and instead I was crying alone in bed, kicking my feet giggling and screaming into my pillow. I loved this book.
Sidenote I learned 68 words from this book. 68 words. Incredible.

[Book_Wyvrn]

This book is like a Jesus retelling as a romance. The last 10 pages switch to have the main characters labeled as Jesus and Judas but throughout the book they go by different names. The spin Zena puts on the omegaverse is unique and interesting and kept me drawn into the story. Great writing and world building overall.

[Jamie]

Devoured this book, processed it at family christmas functions, got home, and read it again in awe.

This book was so incredible! I’m laying flowers at your feet in thanks. Words fail me to properly describe how much i enjoyed this book

[LisaReads]

I mostly bought this for shits and giggles because I saw the author's tiktok videos and I thought it sounded funny.
But this book was a very pleasant surprise and I'm definitely going to reread it many times!

[Icarus Blake]

Clearly well researched with delightful imagery and a cosmic horror take on the relationship between Jesus and Judas. I have some small nitpicks with the prose, but that doesn't make it any less of a ride.
I read it at work, too........

[Caitlin Daugherty]

i went into this book honestly as a joke but this was actually good? like i’m feeling kinda emotional rn… might be the first tiktok book i’ve ever rated above 1 star. i’m honestly so confused rn like i want this to be 400 pages instead of 120

[Talisman Jacob]

love the concept as a jesus/judas aficionado, i just think the ending was rushed and would have preferred if it didn't take place in heaven and there was more focus on the betrayal and the feelings there.

[Hann]

Officially my first read of 2025. Beautifully written, unexpectedly charming.

[bec]

kind of expected more after seeing the tiktoks but it was still a good book

[Waxman]

Ecclesiastes 1:18

[rosalia]

2.5 stars

[Shauna Kornegay]

This was a bad case of false advertising

[Leah]

Great idea, good execution. Got a bit lost here and there, especially with the wording and paragraphs, but liked it. Thank you for bringing us this story!

[Elizabeth Wahpepah]

Really like this Author.

[Nagy Boglarka]

I saw this book on tiktok and I fucking loved it. 100% recommended

[Ailise Mooney]

Unironically one of the best written true-to-self Jesus I have ever read. Well written and I finished it in one sitting.
Ngl the last like 3 pages hit like a truck.