Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

122 reviews

racheloddment's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Self harm, Deadnaming, Medical content, Transphobia, Death, Ableism, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship

samgray'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? It's complicated

5.0

Beyond amazing! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Slavery, Child death, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Suicide, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Sexual content, Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual assault, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, and Torture

rogue_onion17's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Despite the graphic content of this book, it was an incredibly engaging read. There were a lot of poetic elements interspersed which I loved. It was a real page turner for me. I am someone who is not squeamish so the graphic gore and other content wasn't difficult for me to swallow. The only reason it wasn't a perfect 5 for me was because I just wanted more from the book itself. The writing style is accessible, but that lowers the challenge of reading it. To be fair, the book pushed in a lot more ways than it's writing style (see graphic medical content and horrific reality of the world our protagonist must endure) but that doesn't mean I wasn't left feeling like something was missing from my plate. Still, I would most certainly recommend it to anyone who loves gothic horror and wants to see some actually good and informed autistic representation with a side of queer resilience! I will definitely be giving the author's other books a read soon.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Transphobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Rape, Animal death, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

pandorajoan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Gore, Medical trauma, Self harm, and Death

meminger's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Transphobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Body horror, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Abortion, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Medical content, Vomit, and Forced institutionalization

remescient's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

This book is a devastating, heart wrenching, wonderous thing. I am adding it to my list of absolute favorite books of all time. I love it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Outing, Rape, Sexism, Murder, and Sexual assault

Please please please read the content warnings, as many extremely violent, horrible things happen, and it might be a very difficult read for some. It's a very good book but very dark.

ash_36's review against another edition

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Body horror, and Child abuse

seattlehols16's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Deadnaming, Gore, Murder, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Abortion, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death of parent, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Grief, Animal death, Torture, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Transphobia

While this book does have a host of trigger warnings, it is horror after all, it also feels like an important book. I only have on of the identities that is explored in this book (being a woman in a world that requires women to be only a certain thing) and the author captured the FEELING of it. The other two identities were handled in the same careful, nuanced, real way. It’s a hard but necessary read.

obsidianchainsaw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Body horror, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Misogyny, Abortion, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

daniellestarredpages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Andrew Joseph White has done it again. Another horror book that blew my mind. While The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a bit less action-packed than White's previous book "Hell Followed With Us",  I enjoyed it all the same. 

Andrew Joseph White seems to have found his niche in writing Trans characters fighting transphobia their own way and escaping their brutal circumstances in gruesome but self-led ways. I loved Silas and his determination to take his life into his own hands. The way White wrote about Silas facing prejudice surrounding his autism but also gave Silas bits of self-acceptance and an eventually accepting community was quite beautiful. I loved the fact that things like Silas' stimming, special interests and stimulation issues were not only mentioned to be berated during scenes including ableism and physical or emotional abuse. Another thing I found particularly interesting about the way White wrote Silas was the voice of the Rabbit that tormented Silas. The Rabbit seems to be a personification of his negative and/or intrusive thoughts.

The other characters in this book were very well-written and played off Silas well. The Veil and the magic included in this book intrigued me quite a bit.  The magic system was well thought out. Andrew Joseph White stated he took creative liberties with the historical elements but these elements were very well researched.

Finally, I loved the connections that Silas made in this book. Both friendships and romantic connections. Silas found a community while suffering at Braxton's Sanitorium and Finishing School. Silas himself expressed both joy and frustration at these connections, stating that he was glad to find people like him, whether other Trans People or other Autistic People but hated the fact these connections were found at such an awful place. While I loved the relationship between Silas and Daphne and do understand the constraints of working around things like chaperones and courting and also the fact that Silas was at a boarding school, I do wish there was more development in their romance.

Trigger Warnings:

Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Transphobia, Misgendering, Dead-Naming, Conversion Therapy, Ablesim, Sexual Assault, Death, Mysogyny, Graphic Violence, Medical Gore and Experimentation, Cesarean Section, Gaslighting

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Animal death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Cursing, Transphobia, Blood, Death, Grief, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Deadnaming, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia