Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

229 reviews

sarah_shelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Torture, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Child death, Abortion, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Ableism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

Content warnings from the author: “Transphobia Ableism Graphic violence Sexual assault Discussions of forced pregnancy & marriage Mentions of suicidal ideation Extensive medical gore“

lightscamerazaction's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Ableism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Deadnaming, Death, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Sexism, Transphobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Classism

konohimawari's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Masterpiece. So many instances when I felt like I was looking into a mirror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Gore, Animal death, Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Medical content, and Blood

bradle22's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Oh my god this might be the best book I’ve ever listened to. The character voices the way they should be, the rabbits voice, and the way the narrator handles the gruesome scenes. Such a good book!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Torture, and Pregnancy

growplantsreadbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

An incredible, uncomfortable, fantastical work of historical fiction. Truly captures the horror of having a female body in a timeless way. My stomach turned, my heart raced, and I struggled putting it down. The MCs autism and possible OCD added a lot to the story. Once again I am in awe of White's ability to write for teens, not down to teens. Exemplary YA horror. 
Please check the CWs lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Death

Minor: Cannibalism, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

wynplus1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A VERY difficult book to get through. Very good and worth it, but I had to take multiple breaks because the material is just so triggering. Heed the trigger warnings and take breaks as needed.  
Besides that, it really is a wonderful novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Abortion, Transphobia, Gore, Medical content, Ableism, Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Adult/minor relationship

Conversion therapy and mind control / programming trauma should also be considered for triggers

unablelemon's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Transphobia

Moderate: Pregnancy and Sexual assault

Minor: Misogyny, Vomit, and Miscarriage

alexlynx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

5.0

God, this was such a wild read. I feel like I wanna read it again, just to soak it all up one more time.
The queerness and neurodivergent aspects?! Damn, I felt really called out sometimes, in the best way.
I will say, I was and still am confused about the last chapter. But the whole thing? Masterpiece, damn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Sexism, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Violence, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Abortion, Rape, Torture, Transphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, and Homophobia

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I’m a bit speechless at the detail, articulation, and effort White put into this literary work. I’ve never quite read anything like it. The writing. The storyline. The romance. The horrors. The spirits. It was anxiety/nausea-inducing, but I could not look away. The narrator did a phenomenal job of creating the perfect reading experience as well. There were so many moments where I experienced full body chills through sheer tone and tension alone.

Silas is such an incredible main character. He is able to see and articulate his differences and similarities between his peers in such powerful ways. I’ve never read a historical fiction novel with an autistic character, and I am so impressed by White’s care in writing Silas. The horrors he sees and endures. The life that society has expected him to live. 

The romance between him and Daphne (trans love interest) 🥹🫶🏻 It was so wonderful, and I could not get enough of them! The immediacy for seeing each other as they truly are was so beautiful 😭 I love them, and I enjoyed getting to see them being their true selves in society at the end. 

I’m looking forward to reading more by Andrew Joseph White. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Transphobia, Abortion, Physical abuse, Murder, Torture, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Medical trauma, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Medical content, Blood, Emotional abuse, Violence, Pregnancy, and Child abuse

dreareads_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

Pain. So much pain.

If there’s something Andrew Joseph White can do is write body horror that will have you squirming in your seat. Add to that the presence of medical trauma and you have a book that will give you nightmares.

But of all the body horror, and misery that this book covers it was its discussion of womanhood and trans masc identity that elevated it for me. Joseph White did a brilliant job at exploring the complexities of these identities while simultaneously maintaining a clear critique of the cis patriarchical system in the story (as well as real life).

I loved the relationship between Silas and Daphne. Their first meeting warmed my heart and brought me to tears. In addition, I just love how good Joseph White is at writing relationships between characters. Like I FELT the betrayal in the story. 

My main “critiques” or caveats would be that the book gets bogged down in its metaphors and imageries at times. Towards the middle of the book the imagery that Joseph White was trying to evoke through his use of stylistic language felt repetitive, and disruptive of the flow of the text. 

I would also add that although there is a historical note at the end of the book explaining how medical experimentation was racialized in the real world, you could really feel the lack of intersectional examination in the text. 

Overall, another excellent book from an author that quickly becoming one of my favorites. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Misogyny, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Body horror, Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Dysphoria, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Violence, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Cancer, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexism