Reviews

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

feralsky's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

booksnake's review against another edition

4.5

i. adored this. though the ending felt a bit rushed. i dont know if i would call it weak, but. rushed.

maddummel's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

AJW honestly has me in a chokehold. It's not sadly a 5 start read - there's something missing there. But damn, I was still blown away. It feels like he's been inside my brain somehow. That's to say, def read the content warnings 😅

chanelchapters's review against another edition

5.0

4.5
A gothic tale with mutilated lady ghosts, feisty women committed against their will and trans-love.
I enjoyed it but felt the protagonist was a touch passive (but her believing she must be “a good girl” is repeated) for me to really enjoy it.

wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition

Sadly, I found the main character’s voice to be grating.

Also, they clearly are autistic, and it’s exhausting having writers not do any type of labeling, and instead just use a billion descriptors of what they deem to be autistic behaviors. It doesn’t even need to have the word “autistic”, but a word in the universe of the book itself would be nice.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Body horror, and Transphobia

leaflit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book was so gruesome but so good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Transphobia, Abortion, Body horror, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Child death, Gore, Blood, Homophobia, Torture, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Sexual violence, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Slavery, Classism, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Grief, Miscarriage, Vomit, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders

lmc_phd's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

sharpwords_softheart's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book really touched a piece of me as a trans person. I feel many of us have a similar rabbit in our chest that Silas struggles with. This book is so complex, but not in a bad way. Do I think everyone will find this book acceptable? No not at all. But please take it with a grain of salt and really look at the material. What an interesting world Andrew Joesph White has written. Thank you for writing it honestly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Self harm, Violence, Gore, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Dysphoria, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

0aktre3's review against another edition

Was very visceral for me, a truly great book but makes me so anxious & dysphoric almost with it's graphic descriptions

leefybeaf's review against another edition

4.5

I was tackling my tbr when I was in the bookstore and saw the cover of this book. And I judged it by the cover immediately. Very glad I did.

My personal favorite thing had to be the pacing; it never once felt slow or dull. There was always something happening in the book making me want to keep going.

As for the content, I am also very appreciative of that. I loved everyone (that Silas shared a good opinion of..) and it was another thing that really helped me when reading this book. I just wanted to see them get out!

Also I loved Daphne and Silas as a couple too and also Mary (and Frances), like I reallllly liked Mary.