Book Review: Femme Feral by Sam Beckbessinger

This book is astonishingly good. A high-flying career woman thinks she's going through the menopause but she isn't. She's becoming a werewolf.

That, as it turns out, is more than enough of a premise to drive this book.

What I loved was just how well observed the characters are. Our protagonist works in a tech start-up and every character there is someone I've worked with before! I could feel the reality of the struggle between ethics and profitability. I've known people argue to death over font choices. It's the only novel that's made me wince at the mention of "forgotten GitHub permissions and stale deploy tokens". Most books set in offices take a more generic approach to intraoffice politics - but this one is painfully realistic.

Well, except for the lycanthropy.

Although, thinking back to one previous boss…

Even though this is explicitly marketed as a horror novel, it's funny enough that it lulls you into a false sense of security before battering you around the head with entrails. It perfectly balances the supernatural horror with the mundane horror of being an woman in a man's world.

That said, here's a brief content warning - some mild spoilers inside.

Content warning

• Death
• Dismemberment
• Cat and Dog mutilation
• Suicide
• Stalking
• Jira tickets

Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Femme Feral is out in early 2026 and I encourage you to pre-order now. Please! Before someone gets hurt.