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So many facets of this story went unexplored, though the premise and socio-political implications made me wish for an entire historical account of The Speaker Society, and resistance to it.
Just like with his other two novels, Andrew Joseph White begins his stories with warnings that you may want to opt out. It is packed with multiple kinds of violence, gore, and death, and shies away from no details. I appreciate that the author took care to research historical accuracies regarding the horrible ways humans have ruined each other.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy
the horror aspects were great, the author is really good at doing really disgusting and distressing visuals.. like i couldn't read this book while eating most of the time!!
found the autism and transness enjoyable and relatable and real and the role of the rabbit so interesting. i also unexpectedly found the romance aspect that emerged to be really quite compelling?? as someone who usually hates romance, the yearning and cannibalistic tendencies hooked me by surprise. maybe i'm just a slave to t4t.
my only criticism is very occasionally getting a little lost in the story, partially due to there being so many side characters and me not being good at remembering names. like i could've even done with the book being longer and more time with the braxtons girls!!
gripping, frightening, and shocking. a really fun and harrowing read!!
Andrew Joseph White continues to blow readers away with his upcoming sophomore novel, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth.
TWs: transphobia, ableism, graphic violence, sexual assault, discussions of forced pregnancy and miscarriage, mentions of suicidal ideation, extensive medical gore
PLEASE BE WARNED: This story is GRAPHIC, INTENSE, and HARD TO STOMACH AT TIMES. You NEED to read the TWs before reading! The historical abuse of mentally ill and queer people is a recurring theme. Despite it’s dark tone and many gory scenes, there manages to be a fair amount of queer joy packed into the story.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth makes you uncomfortable in the best way possible. It is thought provoking and challenging. I could not put this book down. When I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about the next time I would be able to read more of it.
Silas, our autistic trans MC, is one of the best main characters I’ve had the pleasure of reading in the past year. Silas’ story practically LEAPS off the page, grabs you by the throat and says “Pay extra attention to me!” Without giving too much away, Silas has to go through hell and back to fight for a chance at living his true identity. With the help of Daphne, his trans girlfriend/fiancée/betrothed (!!!), this proves to be a much more complicated task than they originally thought it would be. ALSO, this story has GHOSTS!!!
My FAVORITE issues this book touches on: autism representation, trans representation, and mental health representation. Andrew Joseph White’s writing makes you THINK. His story telling is so well done that you can feel in your bones the full effect the story is going to have on you within reading the first few pages of the narrative. How he writes autism quite literally makes me feel seen, understood, loved, and appreciated.
This is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. It’s been two days since I finished it and cannot stop thinking about it. Thank you to Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel + Ink and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!