Reviews - The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

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5.27k reviews for:

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

Andrew Joseph White

4.51 AVERAGE

faeandferal's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious 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: No

Beautiful written, full of dark twists, emotional moments and hidden mysteries. I found the characters highly relatable, especially Silas, and really enjoyed the trans and autistic representation.

Content Warnings

bbitzan's review against another edition

4.25

I didn't love this one as much as my last two AJW reads but it was very good regardless.

Content Warnings

123gomad's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jensamouse's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark fast-paced

little_dipper7's review against another edition

4.0

i cannot recommend this to anyone, ever (lol), because of how gory it is throughout the entire thing and how much other triggering content there was.

however: it was SO well written. the voice of the trans & autistic main character, in an all-girls school in the victorian era, is haunting & dark & raw—and so are the stories of the girls in the school. i could barely get through it in places but i think i’m really glad i did. it was powerful & heartbreaking, and i probably couldn’t read it again.

once again—i do NOT recommend it unless you have the stomach for that sort of thing, & please don’t go into it without reading content & trigger warnings first

still processing tbh but anyways there are my thoughts lol

nowawah's review against another edition

5.0

dark 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: Yes

Content Warnings

abithoughtful's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A childish part of me thinks there should have been more to their disappearance than that. More than just a simple snap. But the world does not care about sentimental significance.

In an alternative Victorian London, mediums are identified by their violet eyes. Boys with violet eyes grow up to be members of the Speaker Society, legally practicing spirit work for the elite; girls with violet eyes grow up to be their brood mares, barred from practicing their gifts and treated like they're mad and evil for wanting to.

Silas dreams of being a surgeon, idolising James Barry and his big brother, who has just returned from university. When he dresses in boy's clothes to try to steal a Speaker seal - his ticket to freedom - he's caught and sent to an asylum disguised as a school, designed to terrify girls like him into behaving.

While this is fantasy, White does not shy away from the full and factual barbarism of the Victorian pursuit of progress. This novel has it all: obviously ableism and transphobia, as well as sexual assault, forced pregnancy, miscarriage and surgical abortion, mutilation, vivisection and experimentation on live subjects. It's a furious, visceral piece of work which holds the reader by the collar and says 'look: this is true,' and you don't have to look very far beyond the pages of this book to see how some of its philosophies are still true.

Body horror is the most trans of the subgenres, and that's literal in here but it's not hard to read this as an allegory for trying to exist as someone who fits outside society's moulds in any place and any time. Its ethics aren't subtle but that's not the point - the point is simple, sharp-toothed defiance. SO excited for AJW's upcoming adult body horror now I've read this - I haven't been this consumed by a book in a good while.