Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

262 reviews

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

Bloody, brutal, and utterly compelling.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Child abuse, Body horror, Violence, Abortion, Physical abuse, Sexism, Gore, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Confinement, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Ableism, Colonisation, Vomit, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Self harm and Miscarriage

Graphic:: Saneism, Misgendering, Toxic masculinity Moderate:: Slut shaming

taratearex's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 This was really great. I liked it even more than his debut, which I also thought was great, but he's really elevating his skills in this one, and the way he writes trans and autistic characters is just so good and so needed. With this book it solidified that Andrew Joseph White is a must-read author for me and I'm even more excited for his adult novel now.

I read the audiobook for this, which lead to a bit of confusion at times with the narrative not always being clear, but for the most part that didn't take away from my understanding or enjoyment- I did have a physical copy with me that I just never got around to picking up to see the written structure, I may still do that at some point. So I'd recommend the audiobook, but it may be nice to have the physical book too.

Definitely check trigger warnings on this one, I really appreciate the author intro with a trigger warning at the beginning. Some CW: a lot of medical/body gore/body horror, sexual assault, conversion therapy, transphobia, pedophilia, abortion, miscarriage, death, murder 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, Murder, Abortion, Confinement, Dysphoria, Sexism, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Rape and Miscarriage

mobymaize's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

Damn this book is crazy, and it was great, but at times it felt like torture porn. I get that that’s the point, but

glass in the shoes

is fucking horrific. Additionally, for a novel with spirit in its name, it didn’t entirely have a huge emphasis on ghosts in general

(except for the destruction of Braxtons of course)

. Great horror, not super for me though. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Sexism, Body horror, Blood, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Violence, Misogyny, Rape, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Self harm

wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition

Sadly, I found the main character’s voice to be grating.

Also, they clearly are autistic, and it’s exhausting having writers not do any type of labeling, and instead just use a billion descriptors of what they deem to be autistic behaviors. It doesn’t even need to have the word “autistic”, but a word in the universe of the book itself would be nice.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Body horror, and Transphobia

leaflit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was so gruesome but so good.

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Slavery, Classism, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Grief, Miscarriage, Vomit, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders

sharpwords_softheart's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book really touched a piece of me as a trans person. I feel many of us have a similar rabbit in our chest that Silas struggles with. This book is so complex, but not in a bad way. Do I think everyone will find this book acceptable? No not at all. But please take it with a grain of salt and really look at the material. What an interesting world Andrew Joesph White has written. Thank you for writing it honestly.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Self harm, Violence, Gore, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Dysphoria, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

bastardbimbo's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Abortion, Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

dominosmum444's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

i’m calling it - this will be one of the best books i read this year. the audiobook narration was an EXPERIENCE and i loved it!! it was beautiful and horrific - so, so many content warnings required but it was excellent. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Violence, Sexual violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

brittybcl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Self harm, Body horror, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gore, Pregnancy, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Murder

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. 

---

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