Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

47 reviews

everesto's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

The author writes so so beautifully and tells this story extremely well. I don't know think I'll ever shut up about how good this book is

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Gore, Ableism, Blood, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Dysphoria, Medical content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm and Pregnancy

Minor: Death of parent, Grief, and Miscarriage

kingsteph's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Grief, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Transphobia, Cursing, Vomit, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Ableism, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Dysphoria, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Physical abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Pregnancy, Rape, and Mental illness

that_person_logan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I just want to say thank you to Andrew Joseph White. Never have I felt so seen and understood by a book before. I have never felt so supported by an author while reading a book. I have never felt so valued as a reader. This was not just a story, it was an experience for me. 
Thank you so much for writing this Andrew, truly. 
I adored this and I am so so grateful I was able to read it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Ableism, Abortion, Classism, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Animal death, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Mental illness, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Gore, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

evelynyle_88's review

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? Yes

5.0

Boom!🤯

What a journey it has been. Just another readathon with The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. This book is another level of horror. The story is beyond my imagination. I called The Spirit Bares Its Teeth as ❛sick❜, but it was a ❛sickeningly good❜ one.

The plot of the story was mindblowing. And I love the setting to be in a school that has too many secrets laid behind. Like it's a horror... but has thriller vibes to it.

And the rabbit. I think I should talk about it. I tried to imagine how to be Silas Bell; lived his life with the rabbit inside his abdominal that sometimes made him hard to breathe? I imagined myself as him. But, I adore Silas so much. He sometimes maybe careless. But, the fact that he is a witty boy, I applaud him.

But, most of all... the C-section scene was the most iconic for me. Thank you, A.J. White for another thrilling horror story. You're indeed brilliant! 

5⭐ worthy book; once again!

Mors vincit omnia👁

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Abortion, Body horror, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Death, Murder, Rape, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

Minor: Gaslighting, Grief, Miscarriage, Animal death, Xenophobia, Infertility, and Chronic illness

thatchickengirl23's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Abortion, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Outing, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Pedophilia, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage

aetherthedino's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Murder, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Ableism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Blood, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Confinement, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, Rape, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Violence, Abandonment, Child death, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Vomit, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Bullying, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide attempt

cactuspunk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

AJ White has my entire being trapped within his work. I adored this book just as much as White's previous novel Hell Followed With Us. Every moment had me captivated with its vivid details and horrifying imagery that hooked my heart and stole my breath. Every character felt multi-faceted with deep-seeded emotions and motivations leading to constant adoration or utter hatred depending on the character. Overall, I love this book and could easily rant for hours about how much I adore it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Blood, and Sexual content

mir_frog73's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

This was incredible. I have no words other then everyone needs to read this because I’ll never be able to shut up about it. I need to eat this author. 

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Content Warnings

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

atlastheninth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Synopsis: 

Silas Bell has violet eyes and can therefore commune with spirits. But he also has a womb and in the 1880s London that is all he's worth. Being seen as a girl, he is also strictly forbidden from communing with ghosts and is supposed to marry by the end of the year. 

All he wants to do, is be a doctor, do surgery, live as the boy he is. But after his attempt to escape this life fails, he is sent into a special mental institution. There girls either become obedient wives or they disappear. 

 

My thoughts: 

 

"We are the same species. We're all human. It's not that people cannot understand me; it's simply that most of them don't want to." 

 

This was everything I hoped it would be and so much more: unhinged, brutal, honest and absolutely feral. 

 

I flew through this book, it was so beautifully written. There were no low points, the tension just kept building up until the end and I could not stop reading it. 

 

It is very graphic, but it never felt out of place or like it was just put there for shock value. All of the medical gore fitted perfectly into the story partially due to anatomy/surgery being Silas' special interest. 

 

How Silas is trans, but he only really feels uncomfortable in his body when others perceive him as a girl? And him not understanding the social behaviour of others and always taking a bit too long to understand what they want from him? I can relate to him so much.  

 

It does deal a lot with misogyny and ableism and I thought it depicts it very well, but please, if you read this book, do look at the content warnings beforehand! 

 

Hell Followed With Us was amazing, this book is even better. And with that I will buy anything Andrew Joseph White ever writes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Blood, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Moderate: Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Rape, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Classism, Slavery, Colonisation, and Genocide

booksthatburn'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
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The TL;DR is "this stressed me out, you should read it too".

THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH is about a trans boy who is institutionalized for "Veil sickness", a condition which is basically a supernatural version of hysteria, itself a historical catch-all term for "that person we think is a woman isn't doing what we think she ought to do and we want it to stop". What's unique about Veil sickness as opposed to hysteria is that it specifically applies to people with violet eyes, a mark of those who can contact departed spirits. Violet-eyed British men are channeled and constrained by a strict social hierarchy and a physical mark that they are following the socially approved path of a Speaker. Silas is not a girl, he's an autistic trans boy whose interest in anything unfeminine is a threat to the Speakers' power. THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH focuses on Silas as both trans and autistic, as well as times when he meets people who are one or the other but not both. These experiences help him parse the ways that these two facets of himself are so intertwined for him but are not necessarily linked for other people. He deals with an intersection of transphobia, misogyny, and ableism, as the times when he is dismissed for not following the social path of a woman can be inseparable from dismissal of him as an autistic person or not understanding the overwhelmingly allistic social hierarchy and assumptions. Trapped at the institution with few connections to the outside, Silas must try to figure out what's happening to the girls who disappear, and who he can trust to get answers.

As a nonbinary trans person, this was a hard book to read due to some overlaps with my personal experiences (thankfully not at the level of an actual horror novel such as this). I read it in large sections, taking a few days in between each to process and prepare myself for the next part. I'm very glad I read it and I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror, especially medical horror (which features heavily). If you would prefer something more apocalyptic and less medical but are otherwise interested in themes of body horror and transphobia, I suggest reading Andrew's debut novel, HELL FOLLOWED WITH US.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Torture, Gore, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Murder, Abortion, Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Sexual assault, Vomit, Ableism, Animal death, Death of parent, Outing, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Bullying

Minor: Slavery, Alcohol, Colonisation, Miscarriage, and Cannibalism