Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

377 reviews

dark emotional mysterious 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

I absolutely love AJW's books. This one had me on the edge of my seat but also kicking my feet and giggling!

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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

This book actually slayed so hard??? It ate??? It devoured??? I couldn’t put it down
The only thing I wish was there was more information on the groundskeeper at the end. Why wouldn’t they take him with them :(

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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: Complicated

I loved the main protagonists of this story so much. Though it was a tough read in some ways. Think Handmaid's Tale but in a gothic Victorian fantasy horror setting seen through a neurodiverse trans lens. Even though a lot of the surgical bits were pretty stomach churning, and the constant oppressive misogyny was hard to tolerate, the unlikely heroes of this story absolutely shine and make you want to come back for more.

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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challenging dark emotional hopeful 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: No

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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: Complicated

astounding, heartbreaking, comforting
i love t4t i love queer rage i love community
i hate men

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Andrew Joseph White's prose stands out yet again as enjoyable to read and unapologetically soaked in queer trans rage. Silas's accounts of his horrible experiences meant there was very little breathing room or relief from trauma in the text. I think this was intentional and well-executed, keeping the reader on edge the way Silas is for the whole story.

So many facets of this story went unexplored, though the premise and socio-political implications made me wish for an entire historical account of The Speaker Society, and resistance to it.

Just like with his other two novels, Andrew Joseph White begins his stories with warnings that you may want to opt out. It is packed with multiple kinds of violence, gore, and death, and shies away from no details. I appreciate that the author took care to research historical accuracies regarding the horrible ways humans have ruined each other.

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adventurous 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

This was everything I wanted it to be. It was creepy and intelligent and deeply personal, I absolutely adore it. Cyrus is so cute and also so relatable, the writing of autism is really interesting to me in this book, and the story is just so so so addictive. It’s deeply creepy, so please check your TWs! 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This book did not feel like it was YA to me. The writing was really well done, sophisticated, and dealt with a LOT of heavy things. I found the tale gripping, the intimate inner monologue of a trans person so well done and fraught with emotion, and the world in which the story exists to be fascinating and frustrating. Truly so well done. I tore through this in just a few days, and recommend it highly.

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