Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

106 reviews

violetturtledove's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? No

5.0

Wow. I don't want to lean into the surgery puns too much in this review, but this was a gut-wrenching read! Not for the faint-hearted, I'd recommend checking out the content warnings if you have any triggers at all, but it is very much worth it (as the author notes, surgery looks a lot like torture).

This is a gothic horror featuring a trans, autistic protagonist who wants to be a surgeon but is unfortunately AFAB in Victorian London, so of course he ends up in a finishing school/hospital. Oh and there's ghosts. 

It's fast paced and gripping, I loved the characters so much, I felt their frustration, recognised myself in some parts, and found a better understanding of others in other parts. All aspects of them are just so well portrayed.

 I'm not 'read a book in a day' fast but I stayed up reading until 2am two nights in a row with this book (i read it on my kobo so it was my bedtime read, in hindsight maybe not the best choice for restful sleep!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Abortion, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Gore, Transphobia, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Bullying, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, and Murder

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

whomever_0's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

It's disturbing, know your triggers before you read. But I loved it, I loved Silas and Daphne. The mystery of what was happening entrapped me and this strange paranormal version of Victorian England was such a fascinating and gothic setting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Gore, Body horror, Medical content, and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death

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

lori_larsson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is VERY dark in subject matter and full of body horror. It's YA maybe only in word density and sentence structure, if that makes any sense--I'd really have to know the young adult before I would say they were reay for this. But there is a good author's letter in the beginning explaining what the reader is about to get into.  I finished this book in 2 days because I could barely put it down, but I was shaking my head the whole time. It was a wild ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Blood, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Deadnaming, Miscarriage, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Dysphoria, Medical content, Mental illness, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Medical trauma

moniquewrites's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I read this books right after Hell Followed With Us, which I loved, and was my first real entry into YA horror (and body horror),  so it’s hard not to make comparisons between them. This book is very different, but I liked the historical fiction/fantasy aspects, and seeing the experience of an Autistic person who is trans during that time period, which would have been so difficult, and yet I love that Silas always knows himself and accepts himself in spite of everything he’s been through and has been told (and even how he

challenges the rabbit in his head

). 

I liked the way it depicted the Speaker society as coded medical system/government — it’s horrifying to know that the kinds of experiments/surgeries happened in our own history. There were a lot of tragic and difficult topics covered in this book, and I thought they were done with sensitivity to the characters’ experience. 

My favourite parts were when

Silas meets Daphne and realizes the are both trans and realize they have found someone who truly understands

, as well as when Silas connects with the groundskeeper

and sees them as being the same (i.e. Autistic but not named). 

I really cared about Silas and appreciated the way he looked at the world and how much he cared for the people around him (and all the times he

saved people lives!

). White also did a great job of making me hate a lot of characters and I felt like the ending was satisfying.

One thing that was missing for me in this book was that we didn’t see as much of the societal world beyond the Silas’ class. There are mentions of  “the help” and servants but the story was very much centralized on the people in the facility/home — which is fine, but it just felt a little flat in terms of the bigger picture world around them.

I’ll definitely read anything that Andrew Joseph White writes in the future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Medical content, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Rape and Pregnancy

fae_lee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical content, Violence, and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Murder

It’s not an easy read.

jaybyrd823's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I have so so much love for this book. I had just finished another book and just intended to skim the first page or so and leave my bookmark and next thing I know its 3am and I'm half way through the book. I didn't want to put it down. It was absolutely incredible. I love Andrew Joseph White and his writing style so so much. I love his use of body horror especially in relation to his trans mcs.  There were definitely parts of this book that were difficult to get through but it is so very worth it if you can push through.

I loved the different kinds of rep we got with this book. The garden keeper and Silas' relationship and interactions were so very important to me. Seeing such vivid depictions of Silas' own autism and how it affects him and watching him figure out that it's a separate experience and feeling than him being trans. I love the way Silas describes things from his special interest lens. One of my favorite early lines from the book is when he describes Daphne for the first time, standing next to her father. The graphic depictions and internal thoughts on the medical procedures was so very interesting to read and one of the reasons this book is my favorite. I love that at least for me I could both see and not see it coming with Daphne's dad deciding the Daphne isn't grown up enough and trying to take Silas for himself. As someone who really finds it difficult to get through scenes with sexual assault themes, I do have to admit it was so well done and heartbreaking. The absolute horror of snapping, not taking all of the expectations placed on people born female in this time anymore coming full circle against Daphne's dad.

I really could talk and write about this book forever and I think it will forever be one of my favorites.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Dysphoria, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Body horror

Moderate: Pedophilia, Transphobia, Abortion, and Deadnaming

girlslovegirlsandbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Ableism, Medical content, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

arrr's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I don't typically read horror, so this was a bit outside my comfort zone. The story of transphobia and ableism in Victorian England mixed well with the addition of ghosts and the misogyny imposed against women and people who could manipulate the veil between worlds. I wasn't prepared for the medical horror and level of description. It wasn't as awful as it could have been, but it would have given me nightmares as a youth. I didn't really understand the ending before the last chapter. But I suppose it could be open to interpretation. Maybe that's the point. 

Well done. I unexpectedly enjoyed this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Pedophilia, Rape, Vomit, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Homophobia, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking