Reviews tagging 'War'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

5 reviews

welgan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.5

I new I was going into a story that was raw and punched you to you guts, and I was ready for it ; I wanted to feel this righteous anger about the horrors who happened, about what they say of the horrors that still are. It delivered - it was raw, and hard, but not as much to me as it may be for someone who would feel represented as autistic or trans person, I think (giving how I emotional I was when I reacted to a book that represented *me*, I can only see how this book would open an autistic/trans person insides and lay them bare). I was very grateful for the autistic representation as I was looking to learn about the experience from first person point of view to better understand autistic people, but as so I can not judge if the representation was accurate or a bit exagerated. At some points it felt a bit forced (as the character explained "I am like this", "my brains does this"), but I think I'd need that to fully grasp something that is foreign to me, so I think it was the right thing to do. 
I enjoyed all the imagery and metaphors about surgery and body gore because I could really feel the special interest of the main character, and also it fit very well in the narrative, I could feel the despair and rage to control one's own body, and the adequacy of the imagery with the horrors happening. 
I also appreciated that there was hope and comfort to be found in kinship - this person is like me, I can be myself and true and safe with them. It helped going through a story with such hard events. 

Be warned if you're a sensitive person though : beyond the horrors that would happen to a person perceived as a girl who is not complying to society's standards, and to a trans person, in a Victorian era, the writing also invite quite a gore imagery. It fits very well, but if you're bothered by body and wounds imagery, it will probably be hard to read for you. There are also a lot of sensitive topics touched, so please look at the warnings if you're unsure. I felt the book did a great job exploring the topics without too much voyeurism, but the subjects are here nonetheless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Abortion, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, and Medical trauma

Minor: Homophobia, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Miscarriage

madamenovelist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Hate crime, Torture, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Blood, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Confinement, Body horror, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Grief, Gore, Child death, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Abortion, Ableism, Death, Violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

Sexual abuse of minors is a theme throughout this book. All the topics are very heavy but sexual abuse and gore are very prominent.

roseleebooks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was such an amazing mix of historical horror/fantasy, much more on the horror side of things.

I knew going into this that the book was going to be intense and emotional. It was very well written and the mystery and horror were impossible to stop thinking about. The reflection of what we are seeing in our own world today was chilling.

I was not bothered by the body horror elements but recommend going into the book prepared for it. It is central to understanding the world Silas is in.

I really loved the quieter moments of this book, the friendship and love that several of the characters show toward each other. It provides hope when everything seems hopeless otherwise.

I can't stop thinking about this book. The tension, mystery, and horror were all so well written, and Silas' POV pulls you into his world. I also really appreciated the audiobook narration which pulled me into the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Misogyny, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Deadnaming, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Medical content, Classism, Abortion, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Rape, Torture, and Suicide attempt

Minor: War

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

The YA troupes are a bit more evident in this book than in the author’s previous work. However, it is a remarkable second novel with an effective plot structure, atmospheric from beginning to end, visceral in the horrors of what can be done to a human being (mind, body, and soul), and a big high-five for diving into the ableism directed towards the autistic while giving them the direction in learning how to shut up their own internal rabbits. Also, “George, we were all rooting for you! HOW DARE YOU!!!”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death, Child death, Body shaming, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Transphobia, Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, Abortion, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Torture, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Outing, Classism, Sexual violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual content, War, Rape, and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

A majority of graphic content in this novel addresses transphobia, abhorrent ableism against autistic folks, misogyny/sexism (the “biology” argument), nasty surgeries, medical content and trauma, physical abuse and violence, and sexual abuse. Any minor in the novel is aged 14-16. It also features familial rejection, pus, stitching up wounds, a graphic abortion, self-mutilation, execution, and a ton of injuries and gore involving glass. It can be a hard read at times.

ciborium's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

In short, my review is this: This book is disturbing, it's spectacularly queer in all ways, and anybody that has the stomach should read it.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth (TSBIT) is now undoubtedly one of my favourite books. If you liked Hell Followed With Us, this is going on your TBR.

The autistic, trans, and queer representation in this book is phenomenal. It is beautiful and appreciative, as much as it is cruel, brutal, and truly honest. TSBIT is raw with the experiences of Silas and the other characters' identities and how they experience the world. I felt the most seen I ever have while reading. The story is not gentle with its depictions of misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and all around bigotry — and it is perfect like that. TSBIT hits hard and deep, with the precise aim of a scalpel. It isn't messy, but it is bloody, and gross, and full of wonderful trans rage. Bringing it all together for me was the painfully sweet experience of young queers falling (plummeting) headfirst into each other's arms and being angry at the world together.

This book is NOT for everyone and the content warnings should be taken very seriously. It is not a gentle read. It is messed up. 

I only ran into a couple small issues during my read as I blasted through the whole thing in one sitting. For the most part, I think it was an issue with the formatting of the EPUB. I can tell that a lot of the intentional formatting got absolutely lost and trashed in the digital copy, and left me majorly confused until I could properly figure out what I was supposed to be actually seeing. I will be getting my grubby trans hands on a printed copy at any cost. I can only recall maybe three random grammatical / writing errors in the story, which is certainly not a damper on how much I love this book. 

TLDR: Read it read it read it, but only if you can manage what you are going to see in there. Keep in mind that a digital copy may have the formatting screwed up, and march onward. 

I look forward to literally anything else that Andrew Joseph White will be writing. Very well done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Violence, Physical abuse, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: War and Vomit