Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

123 reviews

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

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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

thehmkane's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Violence, Homophobia, Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Miscarriage, Abortion, Blood, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Trafficking, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Classism and Colonisation

gaugedgage's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

omg this book was amazing, andrew joseph white is def my auto buy author. the way he writes is so intriguing. his depictions of being queer and transgender are  phenomenal. although it may not have been the greatest idea to read this book while sick at home, the descriptions of gore and emotional horror are sickening, in the best way possible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Medical content, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Death

Moderate: Confinement and Sexual assault

kenzielireads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Self harm, Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, Transphobia, Blood, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Abortion, Medical content, Sexism, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Gore, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Torture

Moderate: Rape, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Bullying, and Animal death

sarahotto's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Rape, Misogyny, Death, Gore, Self harm, Murder, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Blood, Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, and Sexism

readingradie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

God, I loved this. The horror of it. The transness of it. If I could read this again to experience it for the first time, I would in a heartbeat. 

The slow reveal was wonderful and the growing horrific realization what was happening was so well written. When the reason Mrs. Forrester's limp is revealed I had to physically look away. God, this was so good.

Also, please heed the content warnings, it gets wild in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical content, Deadnaming, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Transphobia, Abortion, Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Miscarriage

multiple Victorian Era surgeries done by the protagonist,

descriptions of: dead bodies, severe injuries, gore, literal torture that the person likes, the sexual assault isn't aggressive but I'm not very sensitive to it, the protagonist describing operating on dead animals for practice.

raen_sketches's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Deadnaming, Death, Violence, Sexism, Abortion, Medical content, and Child abuse

Moderate: Self harm, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Rape and Miscarriage

aria_ac's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Transphobia, Death, Body horror, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Self harm, Abortion, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Misogyny, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Bullying, Confinement, and Rape

Minor: Colonisation and Animal death

rashi's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

I loved “Hell Followed with us” but in this book I found the writing to be a tad insufferable… the inner dialogue just didn’t feel realistic to me, and I found the main character Silas to be… a bit of a caricature of what he was supposed to be? Things just felt a little too on the nose, and I felt like I was reading someone write a story, instead of feeling the story???? Does that make sense??? But I did find the story to be engaging, it just didn’t stick out to me very mu

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Blood, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Medical content, Gore, Body horror, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Self harm

spark_879's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

i've been meaning to read this since i heard of its release (and after reading & enjoying hell followed with us last march) and it did not disappoint! i loved this book and would recommend it to anyone, but beware that it has a lot of dark themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abortion, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Self harm, Pregnancy, and Rape

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Cursing, Homophobia, Torture, and Vomit