A dark dystopian survival thriller set on a secluded island paradise.
From acclaimed author Mia Dalia comes a propulsive, character-driven horror novel that’s a chilling blend of high-tech utopia, isolation, and catastrophic consequences.
When a controversial tech billionaire retreats from society, he constructs a private island designed to be the ultimate controlled experiment: a hand-selected population, sustainable systems, and a flawless model for humanity’s future. A paradise engineered to perfection.
But perfection breeds boredom.
Seeking recognition—and perhaps validation—he sends a message into the cosmos, broadcasting The Island’s triumph to the universe. All hell breaks loose when something replies.
Within hours, the community fractures. Neighbors turn on neighbors. A savage, insatiable hunger spreads. Civilization unravels.
Told through three gripping perspectives—the billionaire’s loyal assistant, an island mechanic, and a visiting investigative reporter—Beautiful, Once explores survival, psychological collapse, unchecked ambition, and the terrifying consequences of playing god.
Set in a near-future island enclave, this intense dystopian horror novel will appeal to fans of isolated community thrillers, outbreak fiction, and cinematically propulsive, speculative survival stories in the vein of The Island and The Crazies.
When paradise falls, who gets to live?
Dark bleatings, my beautiful tribe! I’ve been reading a lot of Mia Dalia’s work recently and was thrilled to receive an ARC of this bad boy. Up until this, I’d mostly read short stories from this author (which tend to be brutal and awesome!), so I was excited to see how her story telling might differ in a longer piece of work (I have also read Mia’s novella, Alakazam, which I verily enjoyed!) .
This is a great story about a journalist that goes to a private island to meet Ronan, who is essentially a cult leader, only this cult is a bit different. Where typical cults heavily focus on recruitment, this community feels more exclusive and picky, though it does bear some of the typical cult markers still. Isolation, significantly, is the one that jumped out at me. Ronan has big and – seemingly – positive ideas and intentions. During the journalist’s visit, something crashes out of the sky to the island, which sets off a big change.
This story is strong across the board and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but one of the most interesting aspects for me personally was Ronan. I could not help but really like this guy, and I’d find myself eating up what he was feeding me. Then I’d think…oh no! That’s just what he wants! He’s evil!
….Or is he?!
Not knowing whether Ronan was presented as the person he actually is or if he was duping me along with his community was very fun, if jarring on a personal level. I’d like to think I couldn’t be roped into something like this but….”this” feels quite nice and wholesome, in this case.
Had this story simply been about this community and the journalist’s quest to find the seedy underbelly of it (if there even is one), this book would have been a 5/5 for me. However, there’s an additional surprise element right out of my very favourite subgenre (which I won’t spoil for you), and I was delighted. Much like Mia’s handling of the commune (cult story with a twisty difference), this second surprise element was also carved differently. I have read A LOT in that subgenre and nary do I find something unique, so this was awesome.
A total page turner with an ending that hits it out of the park, I definitely recommend Beautiful, Once to horror fans. It’s fabulous.
If you’d like to check out the book (out on 20th March), I’ve popped some links below for you:
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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