Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

362 reviews

divergentdaydreamer's review against another edition

5.0

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: Complicated

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we LOVE autism representation especially when its COOL autism representation and also ghosts are there so thank you for the food

this book slapped it's historical AND it has good rep (minor miracle) and also has a mystery aspect and also GHOSTS and TRANS YOUR GENDER and i legit sat down and read this all in one go and now it has a place of honor on my bookshelf. i was SO invested in this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage

fair warning serious medical horror/institutionalization like. you know what happened to people who were institutionalized at least from the horror stories. this is also a horror story. be warned. if you have a weak stomach and you dont understand exactly what medical thing is going on, DO NOT LOOK IT UP UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED. because i did that. and you WILL discover some very terrible parts of history. im fine but like the author even warns you at the start of the book take that serious

diaday333's review against another edition

5.0

dark 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

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At first, I didn’t think I’d like the book especially because it was hard to get through, more than Hell Follows With Us, but just reading it, everything is beautiful. You can see how White improved his writing so much more especially with the gory descriptions, they actually had me flinching. And all the plot twists! They were very well done and actually made me gasp at times. Overall, though a tough read, it was very worth it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Transphobia

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion

sephiefoxx's review against another edition

4.75

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: Complicated

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“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”

For fans of:

• Queer and autistic representation 
• Historical horror
• Medical horror 

Once again, Andrew Joseph White has delivered a story that is as deeply resonant as it is chilling. This story crawled into my chest and took root there, from the first to final page. 

There is always a bittersweet beauty in seeing myself within masterfully portrayed autistic representation, whilst also witnessing the horrors of history and its treatment of the neurodiverse, queer, and ‘other’. 

This tale is moving, heavy, unnerving, and beautiful - with Andrew Joseph Whites signature raw body and medical horror throughout. A ferocious and blood-soaked story that is not for the faint of heart, intermingled with a beautiful queer love story. A promise that no matter how dark and dire, you can find people who understand see you for who you are.

If you are interested in picking this one up, highly recommend checking the trigger warnings. As mentioned so eloquently in the author letter at the beginning, “this book is not a necessary procedure, you don’t have to endure it” and there are themes and topics that could be deeply upsetting to some readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion, Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Vomit

imgunnagetyou's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy

wellwrittenautisticrep's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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This is a book I would not recommend without a serious consideration of the content warnings, so I appreciate that Andrew Joseph White shares that at the start of the book! I think it had the most satisfying ending that it could have and that it did justice by the characters of the book. It’s a really fantastic use of the Victorian (?) era and sanitariums/culture of institutionalization of women for hysteria to explore misogyny and femicide, which makes it a very painful read. I think the love story here was a beautiful addition, Silas deserves T4T love just like the rest of us, and that the character development of his schoolmates is genuine, for better or for worse for their fates. I’ll read anything he writes, and while this was a hard read I wouldn’t go back and unread it in the slightest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Transphobia, Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Vomit

mxpk's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Pregnancy

elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition

4.75

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: Yes

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Dark. Brilliant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Rape

alphabetmafiamember's review against another edition

4.5

challenging 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Dysphoria

Minor: Bullying, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Slavery, Vomit, Colonisation, War, Classism

eencreatievebeleving's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective 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

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I read this book in 2 days and had a hard time putting it away. It's a tough read in the sense that there's quite some detailed descriptions of medical treatments and abuse. 

I absolutely adore the way A.J. White puts things into words. Both the feelings and experiences of trans and autistic people are being described in a way that hits close to home. The fact that it's situated in the 18hundreds only makes it even more layered. 

I highly recommend A.J. White his work, but only if you can handle the gore. Definitely look into the content warnings of each book before reading them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Gore

brawbukes's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Gaslighting