All the Beastly Things: A Novel

by Eilish Quin

In a post-apocalyptic matriarchy that has erased men, capitalism, and hierarchy, a devout novitiate destined for a sacred lunar abbey faces a crisis of faith when her best friend begins receiving visions of a forbidden masculine archangel—forcing her to choose between spiritual purity and human desire.

The year is 2171, and the Earth is not what it once was. The natural world once again reigns supreme, wild and ungovernable, after a series of wasting plagues and unmitigated climate disasters, the twin coups of fascism and AI, and a final, catastrophic nuclear fallout. Small monastic communities have emerged from the carnage—self-sufficient, female-only religious utopias governed by a strict codex and surrounded by walls to keep the wilds at bay. The new world is harmonious, and blissfully free from structures of oppression such as hierarchy, capitalism, and time.

Seventeen-year-old Igraine has never known life beyond the cloistered walls of the Field or seen a human male. Brilliant and devout, she spends her days in the gardens and scriptorium beside her closest companion, Ophelia. Their studies will culminate in twin posts at the Lunar Abbey—a gothic cathedral on the Moon reserved for the most venerated Sisters. Their futures fracture when Ophelia begins receiving visions of a mysterious, alluring, and damningly masculine archangel. As doubt spreads and rumors surface about the Order’s darker underpinnings, the girls venture beyond the convent’s walls and into the wilderness—while navigating the volatility of their deepening bond. When Igraine’s formidable mentor, Sister Agathe, takes a romantic interest in her, devotion blurs into jealousy and illicit desire. In the aftermath, Igraine must confront her unraveling faith in a system that demands her complete surrender.

Genres: Lesbian, Adult, Queer, Dystopia, LGBT

320 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication November 17, 2026

Reviews

[Luke Dumas · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the Beastly Things is an ethereal, richly imagined, and sublimely written meditation on devotion, like a breathless prayer from a dystopian future. Eilish Quin’s elegant, emotive prose glistens as if crafted from the light of moons and stars.

[em!! · Rating 5 out of 5]

omfg

[Mel Rose (Savvy Rose Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and publisher for the free book - out November 17!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Igraine is a novitiate in a post-apocalyptic order of nuns who has always dreamed of serving in the Lunar Abbey on the moon, but begins to discover dark secrets just as her dream comes into view.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like this one before and what a wild ride it was! I absolutely loved Igraine, who radiates such power and intelligence even when she’s making questionable decisions, and not to be dramatic but I’d probably die for Gawain. All of the characters were written so well and I felt like I truly inhabited this world alongside them while I was reading.

In terms of plot, I had no idea where this was going the entire time and my GOODNESS did that ending get me. The writing is also unbelievably gorgeous and poetic—in short, Eilish Quin is such a stunning novelist and I am so so excited for more of her work to be out there in the world!

CW: Death/violence/blood; suicidal thoughts/suicide; toxic relationship; animal death

[Andi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year is 2171. Men are gone. Capitalism is gone. Hell yes, amirite? What remains, in the post-apocalyptic sprawl of an Earth now inexplicably rebranded as Europa, are walled, all-female monastic communities holding back a rewilded, post-nuclear world, governed by a strict religious codex and the specific kind of tension that builds when people live too close together with too few outlets. It’s a strong premise, and Quin mostly delivers on it. I was hooked by the concept immediately, and what kept me there was how plausible the ending of the world felt. The collapse isn’t some abstract catastrophe; it’s a chain of things that feel uncomfortably reachable from here. That’s the quiet horror of it. The world Quin builds reads as both our likely inevitability and our total antithesis at once, and somehow it’s convincing as both.

The prose is the book's signature move. Lush, ornate, clearly the work of someone who thinks carefully about sentences. It made me feel uppity in the best way. There are moments where the stylistic ambition tips into grandiosity and loses the grit I'd want underneath it. That said, I admit this might be a me problem as much as a book problem: this style is genuinely accomplished, it's just not my absolute preference at the end of the day.

What I can't argue with is that it held me. The atmosphere is dense and immersive, the central relationships are tense in a way that feels earned, and I was genuinely riveted for most of the runtime. Unfortunately, I clocked where things were headed before I wanted to. Some of that is intentional foreshadowing, and some of it is that I happened to have prior exposure to a very similar conceptual territory (thanks, Philip K. Dick). If you go in clean, the ending will probably hit harder than it did for me. As it was, I spent the back half watching the pieces click into place rather than being genuinely surprised by them.

The conclusion itself lands somewhere between gutting and just slightly not enough. I wanted one more beat of resolution. Not a tidy bow, just a little more to hold onto.

Still: atmospheric, beautifully written when it's not overdoing it, and ambitious in all the right ways. Quin is clearly a writer worth following and I'm now eyeing *Medea*. A very good book that narrowly missed being an absolute fave book for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Lilah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you very much to the author and publisher, and to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

All The Beastly Things is set in a post-nuclear-apocalyptic matriarchy. Its protagonist, Igraine, is a Novitiate studying under Sister Agathe while navigating her feelings around her best friend Ophelia. The story is told in first person present from Igraine’s perspective and explores various forms of love, grief, companionship, and existentialism. Applicable content warnings for this novel include sexual coercion, manipulation and gaslighting, sexual assault, drugging, and disordered eating.

I was very fortunate in getting to buddy read this with a friend who also received an ARC. Our discussions were incredibly fruitful, and we often found ourselves spending more time analysing than reading. All of this brings me to say that this book is incredibly dense in the best possible way; every word choice is deliberate and serves a poignant purpose, down to the inclusion of “own” in “your own” to create parallelism.

I was also particularly delighted by how rich the story is in literary, religious, and philosophical reference. From Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus—“Hell is but the absence of the Divine”—to Frankenstein. It also references the Bible, as well as its quoted philosophers, Søren Kierkegaard and Arthur Schopenhauer. I also made connections to Emily Dickinson, both in her life and in her poetry, in addition to numerous parallels with French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil—which led me all the way back to Kierkegaard and Schopenhauer. As such, author Eilish Quin rewards readers looking for depth with boundless reference points and intrigue.

Based on the author’s undeniable attention to detail, it is therefore unsurprising that all the characters should be magnificently fleshed out. Each character’s capacity (and lack thereof) to experience, embody, and enact distinct forms of love (maternal, romantic, platonic, spiritual, self, etc.) is beautifully portrayed. Even the coydogs are given character without falling back on personification, which only confirms Quin’s skill.

Regarding plot, I was very intrigued by the story’s progression and the gradual insertion of information leading up to the big reveal. While both my friend and I saw the reveal coming, I argue that it’s made deliberately obvious to further interrogate the themes of wilful ignorance and denial as part of faith. I did feel that some parts of the second act were needlessly repetitive, although I also concede that some readers may require that repetition to fully grasp some of the story’s themes. It takes immense skill to craft a story so well-structured and designed that I can say in the end, “I can see how it went this way, but I wonder what would have happened if things had gone differently here, or there.” One mark of powerful storytelling is the creation of junctions where the story could diverge, thereby cementing the characters’ agency.

Overall, this is a phenomenal book. I believe this novel can and should become a key component of numerous university-level literature courses. It’s becoming exceedingly rare to find modern literary fiction that stands tall by history’s greatest works, and All The Beastly Things certainly does so with finesse and grace.

[Siavahda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one that I don't think is bad, but I wasn't clicking with it at all.

I think I probably would have loved this if it had been written with really lush, decadent prose, but alas, it isn't. The prose isn't bad, but it's pretty plain and straightforward. It reads like YA - which makes sense, because the main character is 17. But it's not at all the tone or style I was hoping for. (The first-person present-tense did not help.)

The worldbuilding is kind of shallow? I was so excited for a post-nuclear apocalypse matriarchy, but it's just...meh. There doesn't seem to be any digging into gender, any actual deconstruction of capitalism, the patriarchy, any of the other systems this order of nuns was supposedly founded to oppose. Nor is there a very clear picture of what the rest of the planet looks like outside of the dome Igraine and the others live within. Where does the food come from? And all the other supplies? New children join the order from elsewhere; what's that elsewhere, and what is the order's place in any kind of wider network between them and other human habitats? It all felt very hand-wavey, reminiscent of all the Hunger Games knock-offs we got in the 2010s - surface-level worldbuilding only.

In fairness, I didn't finish this book, so maybe it gets way more in-depth with the worldbuilding later. I don't think it will - it just doesn't have that feel to it. But I could be wrong!

This is supposed to be Adult, but like I said, it reads like YA, particularly with how Igraine is very clearly in love with her best friend Ophelia (and has no clue how to deal with it). Reading her mooning about after this girl was exhausting and incredibly dull. I feel like I've come across her character a gazillion times before: the Good Girl who keeps her head down and drinks the kool-aid happily, the teacher's pet, who will then will be all Le Gasp when the truth starts coming out. She is so, so boring. Ophelia is vastly more interesting - to be honest, I'm baffled that she wasn't the main character. Mysterious background, which she can't remember because the nuns mind-wiped her! Visions! Uneasy with the System! Why couldn't we have been in her head instead?

The whole aesthetic...I was just expecting more, I think. More weirdness, more darkness, more gothic-ness. The author's borrowing bits of the aesthetic from Catholicism, but, speaking as someone raised Catholic, clearly does not get why Catholicism and the Gothic are so entwined. It's all tangled up with why the Protestants hated Catholicism so much! The sensuality, the over-the-topness, the decadence-as-glory. None of that's present in this book, and I get that these nuns are anti-capitalist so maybe they don't have gold treasure all over the place - but even the prose doesn't feel Gothic. It's stripped bare - except for whenever Igraine is swooning over how pretty Ophelia is.

I don't know. This whole thing feels shallow, feels like lip-service to the issues it wants to mess with. It's giving me 2010s YA dystopia and I'm just not here for that. I still don't think it's BAD, but it's not what I was hoping for. Alas, because this was one of my most-anticipated this year.

[Jacqueline Rackard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Net Galley, Atria books and Eilish Quin for opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.

“There are sisters on the moon,” and with this first sentence the reader is catapulted into a dystopian world set in 2171. Many of the secretive order of nuns who worship the divine on Europa (formerly known as Earth) aspire to go to the moon to be one of the elite nuns who have sacrificed themselves and their bodies to the ultimate worship of a female divine. This is a novel that follows a similar setting (the cloistered monastery) and explores themes reminiscent of The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica (which I also loved). However, in the case of All Beastly Things, Quin presents a much younger and innocent protagonist and this creates a specific type of horror for the reader while also eliciting a deeper sympathy and emotional draw.

In a world with no men, a collapse of capitalism, and an all- female monastic community that rules under a very strict order of tenets, Igraine (the main character) navigates her feelings towards her friend, Ophelia while also dealing with the overly interested Sister Agathe, the girls’ teacher and superior. The descriptions of Agathe’s obsession with Igraine, the way that her look pierces through her and the constant cutting glances and Igraine’s feeling of discomfort when around Agathe creates a tension that is both disturbing and suspenseful. Agathe is referred to as the Leopard, a name that perfectly describes her predatory demeanor and actions toward Igraine.

The tense claustrophobic atmosphere is present throughout the majority of the novel. The girls living in a community where there is no interaction with the outside world and the closed off is hauntingly describe by Quin, with evocative and profound descriptions of the world inside and outside of the convent. Igraine’s character is well developed and her first person point of view does well to present a young woman who is grappling with the difficulty of growing up in a confusing and secretive world.
Ophelia’s nightmarish visions of a mysterious, male Archangel troubles her deeply and she makes a decision that has her question the monastery and this cult-like existence.

This novel explores complex issues of gender, love and friendship, trust and loyalty all woven into a deeply disturbing world that leaves the reader wanting more. A dystopian novel centered around creepy nuns, religious fanaticism and a possible trip to the moon? Who could ask for anything more. I read this quickly while trying to savor the details. The pacing was steady while also creating enough tension and twisty moments that added to the longing to get to the end. Overall, a well developed, interesting and uneasy look at a horribly frightening future.

[rebeccareads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh (Wo)man, what a book!

All the Beastly Things tells the story of Igraine, a novice sister of the Order, a post-apocalyptic, matriarchal religion that encourages sublimation of the self in worship of a divine feminine. All Igraine has ever wanted is to ascend to the Lunar Abbey, where the holiest of sisters study and revere the divine on the surface of the moon. She's right on track to do so alongside her best friend and maybe-more, Ophelia, but when Ophelia begins receiving nightly visions of a male Archangel, both of their worlds turn upside down. Ophelia decides not to go to the moon, and Igraine, entirely devastated, turns to her mentor and also maybe-more, Agathe, for comfort. That maybe quickly turns into something real and dangerous, and begins to subsume Igraine's very being.

I was totally engrossed by Igraine's story, and devoured this book in just two sittings. The premise is thrilling on its own, but I loved immersing further via chapter-opening excerpts from various holy texts. I would've liked to know even more about the world, but I really enjoyed its referential nature; all of the works referenced by both the holy texts and the characters add complexity and context. The heavy Christian imagery and theming is vivid and atmospheric, if a bit under-baked, and most of the tense, creepy vibes come from this (there's nothing like Christianity to creep a girl out).

I also ate up the toxic dynamic between Igraine and Agathe. I loved to loathe her, and found it so refreshing and freeing to explore a predatory, exploitative relationship without the lens of heterosexuality/maleness.

I do wish we'd have seen more of the Archangel - the danger of his masculinity is such an interesting idea, and surprisingly not really one the book explores. Despite some throwaway comments about Igraine's own gender, the book ends up being a lot less focused on gender (and whether tendencies to violence and domination are inherent), and much more about being human in general. That's not what I expected based on the blurb, and it's also not what I wanted - the gender stuff is so much more interesting! The ultimate twist also really doesn’t feel like much of a twist for Chekov's gun reasons.

But that I loved the book anyway speaks directly to Eilish Quin's talent. All the Beastly Things is a rich, complex, fascinating triumph, and I'm very excited to read more from Quin.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

[hime · Rating 3 out of 5]

hm. i really wanted to like this. it had all the elements to get me excited and ready to read (religious dystopia, doomed yuri), but the way the narrative unfolded ultimately did not work in my favor.

the story starts out strong by presenting an interesting nearish-futuristic world in which men have essentially been eradicated and the women carry on in the name of the divine, and we follow a young woman who’s in love with her best friend and doesn’t know how to grapple with that feeling in the context of her religion and the role she wants to pursue in her society. this sounds pretty awesome, right?

enter: the weird, abusive grooming teacher. i’m all for exploring a toxic teacher-student relationship, but i see no reason to include romantic feelings and physical attraction in the picture. the protagonist is seventeen and the teacher is some unspecified adult in at least her early thirties? the direction the narrative took, focusing on the protagonist’s obsession with her teacher instead of her relationship with her lifelong best friend, lost my interest as it developed, and by the end i was just trying to finish the book.

it is evident that the teacher-student situation is unhealthy, and thus the author is not romanticizing it, but the way it took the forefront of the story didn’t suit my tastes. everything that got me invested in the book took a backseat once the relationship began. while i have no major critiques of the writing itself, the story it delivered and i simply aren’t compatible. if you like doomed toxic religiously traumatized lesbians and controversial age gap relationships, however, then boy do i have the book for you!

[Eric Lustbader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This magnificent novel revolves around what must be the strangest love story ever told. In this future, a number of enclaves of Fields have been saved from nuclear Armageddon that has raveged Earth. These enclaves are the property of cadres of religious Sisters. There are no males allowed in the enclaves; in fact, there may be no more males left alive in Europa, the only viable continent left after the Fallout. In gripping stained-glass prose Quin describes the claustrophobic atmosphere of the cloister, the horrifying self-denial of this unnamed all-female religion, and the sado-masochistic nature of the central triangular relationship between three Sisters, one of whom can only find solace from constant heartbreak with a female coydog (wild co-mixture of coyotes and wild dogs, who seem like the only animals to survive the Fallout) and her littler. Despite (or perhap because of) the claustrophobic nature of the cloister the intensity of intimate emotions Quin lays out for us are exquisitely moving. In her genius, she also manages to include scenes both chaste and deeply erotic. This is a novel of big ideas, bigger questions, and prescient, thoughtful conclusions. The finale of the novel is both heart-rending and exalting. Quite a feat of legerdemain.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the Beastly Things has a genuinely creative premise and an engaging mystery. The world-building is imaginative, and I appreciated how the author slowly revealed information about the setting and its history. The mystery element was particularly effective and gave me a reason to stay invested in the story.

That said, this book ultimately wasn't a great fit for my personal tastes. There were a few content choices that pulled me out of the narrative. One scene involving self-harm felt unnecessarily graphic to me and didn't seem to add much to the overall plot. In addition, a teacher-student sexual relationship played a role in the story, and I found that aspect uncomfortable and difficult to overlook.

Overall, I can appreciate the creativity, atmosphere, and mystery that the author created, and I think readers who enjoy speculative fiction with strong religious themes may have a very different experience than I did. While there were elements I admired, the content and themes simply didn't align with my preferences, making this a mixed reading experience.

[Reli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is set in a dystopian-esque world. Men have been eradicated and only women remain. Our main character, Igraine, is a devout student studying to apply to be sent to the moon.

She lives under a strict, religious, matriarchy that follows a strict codex. Her best friend Ophelia is one outlier and pulls at her thoughts often.

Ophelia will start having visions of a male archangel and this will cause the pair to drift away from eachother. In the midst of this is the alluring sister nicknamed the Leopard. A hypnotic, dangerous, and obsessive relationship starts.

The longer Igraine is under the Leopards influence, the more things start to stop adding up.

This story was very good and was able to read in a day. This very much read as a fever dream and the twist at the end was very good. Once it is revealed, you think back and realize the author had been dropping hints. This will definitely be one that I read again to find what I may have missed during the first read.

Overall, I recommend and really enjoyed.

[Michelle Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy

Imagine a world where all men are gone. All capitalism is gone. Everything is run by this religious matriarchy in a post-apocalyptic world.

The writing is beautiful. And it is unsettling. And it is Terrifying. Mostly because I can see how this would happen.

It did remind me of something a friend and I like to talk about. Some books aren't meant to be enjoyed so much as they are meant to be experienced. I can't say I really enjoyed this book because I don't enjoy feeling sad when I finish a book. However, it left an impression, and I will be thinking about it for days.

[Honey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found myself thinking about this book when I wasn’t reading, and there were a few moments where I had to put it down and just say, “Wow.” The way the author brought certain things to light was incredibly well done.

I really appreciated the religious themes and how realistically they were portrayed, especially the way religion can be used to influence and control people. It was a little uncomfortable at times because of how believable it felt. The darker elements were well placed and felt necessary to the story.

I loved watching Igraine grow throughout the book, and the ending was both surprising and satisfying. Definitely a five-star read and one I would recommend.

[Morgan K · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the Beastly Things has all the parts and characters for a thrilling mystery. The world-building is engaging and I enjoyed the Catholic imagery.

The intrapersonal relationships between the characters and how the characters explore their world and push through the borders is well written and interesting.

However, the plot is very slow to build and I found it a little difficult to stayed hooked. I do think a lot of readers who enjoy a post apocalyptic slow burn thriller will enjoy this book, it just wasn’t necessarily for me.

3.5/5 stars

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC.

[abigail parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

“My heart falls into my stomach and then just keeps descending, through the floor, down to the basement, the Catacombs, the earth itself. The demons will find it in Hell.”
LOVED this dystopian/ horror/ romance. (Literally checks all of my boxes). So incredibly well written and immersive. Beautiful and tragic. It will devour you. I sooo hope this gets a movie adaptation.

[sydney ☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an E-Arc of this upcoming release!

A gut-wrenching examination of the self through the lens of a post-apocalyptic cult of misandrist nuns. I don't want to say more for fear of ruining this experience for anyone else, but I loved every minute of it.

[Hailey Wolovetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eilish Quin’s prose and world building are incredible. This book was everything I wanted and more.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will admit I have misread the genres for this book and went in expecting horror for some reason. It might as well be for everything poor Igraine goes through, from the toxic relationship with her tutor to questions about her identity, the Divine, and the world outside the compound she lives in. I appreciated the book's literary aspect, even if it meant I had to take my time with the story and sit with some chapters for a few days before continuing.

The world-building and subtle clues interspersed between chapters gave just enough to orient the reader towards the everyday life of the Field in the post-Fallout world, yet left enough out for me to wonder about the world at large. On one hand, I would love a peek at the author’s notes and learn more; on the other hand, having things spelled out would have ruined the balance for me. I enjoy a bit of mystery left to ponder even after the book's end. I see how some readers might want more answers, but that’s rarely something I complain about.

The prose is absolutely beautiful and captivating. It took me a few chapters to get used to it, but once I did, it flowed. I could really feel the depth of Igraine’s self-doubt and hurt, especially in the middle of the book, when she feels unmoored and alone. Unfortunately (in the best way possible), this also made for quite a disturbing and unsettling feeling when the toxic relationship between the main character and her tutor develops and comes to a head. Truly like watching a horror movie character go down into a dark basement where the monsters are, and you can’t even help them in any way.

My biggest complaint is the pacing in the first half of the book. The exposition on Igraine’s inner world is necessary to understand the later events, but it did feel a little overlong. The ending, in comparison, felt rushed and left me feeling like I wanted just one more chapter before the last one to really savour the plot twist and the main character’s feelings about it. So unfortunately, the uneven pacing made this a 4-star read for me.

“All The Beastly Things” left me thinking about it for days after I finished reading it. I had to digest it before I could write a review because I wasn’t even sure what to think at first. This was quite a memorable book and overall a pleasant surprise, considering I picked it up on impulse.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.