Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

469 reviews

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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adventurous dark reflective sad tense slow-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: No

One of my favorite books! Wonderful trans and autistic representation, I love being able to delve into these topics in a historical fantasy context! The horror really shines with how White writes and describes what’s going on, holding the reader in building suspense and dawning horror as more discoveries are made.

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dark emotional tense 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

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challenging dark 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: Complicated

For the love of God please read the content warnings. My only small quibble is that the dialogue wasn't even close to historically accurate. But everything else about this book overshadows that - it's gruesome and infuriating and empowering.

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adventurous 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

Well, that was a lot! I can't beleive this is young adult?! There was such a lot of TW Content: mentioned sexual assault, child SA, a lot of medical content and body horror, self-mutilation, self harm, murder, torture, and animal death. And not that young adults aren't affected by or shouldn't read these issues, but damn, it was graphic at times! This was great. I loved the character of Silas so much. He was so well-rounded, complex, and his voice was so clear. The rabbit was an excellent device, and that dark inner critical voice was so brutal to read. The plot was so well delivered I honestly had no idea what was happening until the end, I had vague thoughts, but to discover THAT was happening.. phew. Mary also gets honourable mention for being the most viscious and violent lesbian in this world. This whole book is a good, 'good for her' moment of the wrongs women, female presenting people, and AFAB people have dealt with through time - with a magical realism twist that brought horror and fear into this book. I couldn't put it down. I wonder if there will be a sequel. I hope so.

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dark medium-paced
Loveable characters: Yes

This book is a bloodcurdling scream, raw meat gnawed from a snapped bone. 

It's AJW, you know EXACTLY what you're gonna get. 

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dark 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: Complicated

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

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challenging dark emotional 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: Yes

Listen I liked Hell Followed With Us quite a bit but... this is probably the book that's made a full Joseph Andrew White convert and I will read EVERYTHING he writes now. Like wow this book was amazing. Or maybe just the stars aligned perfectly because it feels like I read this book at the perfect time. I'd been reading a lot of cozier fiction lately so I knew I wanted something ediger and a little fucked up. I remember really liking how Hell Followed With Us did body horror so I thought I'd give his second book a go (by the way can we talk about for a sec how all these covers are beautifully designed). This was the absoulte perfect book to quench that thirst. I loved Silas and Daphne and getting to know the girls here forced into this horrible situation. AJW does such a good job building up dread and tension and of course, the bits of body horror and gore in this book was exactly what I was looking for. I also really appreciated this portrayal of an autistic protagonist. 

Maybe it's because I read them back to back, but I can't help but compare this to Evocation. There was so much that worked well here that failed there. For one, the society in this book is purposefully elusive and vauge because our protagonist isn't allowed to be part of that group, therefore doesn't know much about the goings on. Compared to Evocation where the occult society is such an important aspect of 2 of the main characters lives (both are running for president or whatever) but we know fuckall about the society. And the characters here felt so much more vibrant and tangible after suffering through the flat characters in Evocation.

TLDR; I loved this book very very much. I was tabbing the hell out of it and writing down so many quotes in my commonplace book. I will definitely want to read this again in the future and I'm excited to read everything else AJW publishes (especially his debut adult novel coming out later this year!) 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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