Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

177 reviews

mobymaize's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

Damn this book is crazy, and it was great, but at times it felt like torture porn. I get that that’s the point, but

glass in the shoes

is fucking horrific. Additionally, for a novel with spirit in its name, it didn’t entirely have a huge emphasis on ghosts in general

(except for the destruction of Braxtons of course)

. Great horror, not super for me though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

akatperry's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Deadnaming, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Miscarriage

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

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

welgan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.5

I new I was going into a story that was raw and punched you to you guts, and I was ready for it ; I wanted to feel this righteous anger about the horrors who happened, about what they say of the horrors that still are. It delivered - it was raw, and hard, but not as much to me as it may be for someone who would feel represented as autistic or trans person, I think (giving how I emotional I was when I reacted to a book that represented *me*, I can only see how this book would open an autistic/trans person insides and lay them bare). I was very grateful for the autistic representation as I was looking to learn about the experience from first person point of view to better understand autistic people, but as so I can not judge if the representation was accurate or a bit exagerated. At some points it felt a bit forced (as the character explained "I am like this", "my brains does this"), but I think I'd need that to fully grasp something that is foreign to me, so I think it was the right thing to do. 
I enjoyed all the imagery and metaphors about surgery and body gore because I could really feel the special interest of the main character, and also it fit very well in the narrative, I could feel the despair and rage to control one's own body, and the adequacy of the imagery with the horrors happening. 
I also appreciated that there was hope and comfort to be found in kinship - this person is like me, I can be myself and true and safe with them. It helped going through a story with such hard events. 

Be warned if you're a sensitive person though : beyond the horrors that would happen to a person perceived as a girl who is not complying to society's standards, and to a trans person, in a Victorian era, the writing also invite quite a gore imagery. It fits very well, but if you're bothered by body and wounds imagery, it will probably be hard to read for you. There are also a lot of sensitive topics touched, so please look at the warnings if you're unsure. I felt the book did a great job exploring the topics without too much voyeurism, but the subjects are here nonetheless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, and Medical trauma

Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and War

kerryem'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Transphobia, Medical content, and Abortion

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

breadbummer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

It's been maybe five years since the last time I remember being so engrossed with a book! For once, I'm so glad I judged a book by its cover (it's a pretty neat cover), as The Spirit Bares Its Teeth has just about everything I could want from a story.

• Trans protagonist (written by a trans author) ✅
• Murder mystery ✅
• Set in the Victorian era ✅
• Upfront trigger warnings ✅
• VENGEANCE!!!! (no bs about forgiveness) ✅

I cannot recommend this novel enough!! As I said, though, please note the HEFTY list of content warnings before jumping in. White makes sure to cover the big hitters like anti-transness and ableism, but it should also be noted that

abortion

(among many other things) has its very graphic moment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death, Genocide, Infertility, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

There was no specific option for animal dissections or something close enough to it listed here, so I thought I'd make note of it. Everything that is done to animals in this book is post-mortem, though it's still graphic.

cluelessavian'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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Outing

Minor: Miscarriage and Rape

somersaf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

After reading the trigger warnings, I was a tad worried if this would be too much. I found that everything that was used was touched on delicately, and not in vain, which I appreciated.

I enjoyed reading this book, and spent the whole day on edge the further in I got. I will say I was not ready for

Daphne's father to want to marry Silas

. There were some twists I expected, and all worked well! I would love to read a sequel on

if/how the group go about revenge against George.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Transphobia, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

kit_icarus8's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

holy f*ck. ajw, you good bro? w love ❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

soren4713's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Pedophilia, Transphobia, and Abortion

Minor: Miscarriage