Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

328 reviews

cnnrmmry's review against another edition

4.75

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

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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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion

jaaay_reads's review against another edition

3.75

dark sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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After DNFing two other books, this book was nice as it kept up my reading motivation. Lots of horrifying things happened. Definitely look at content warnings!! 

My personal reading taste isn't that into YA or softer magic systems so some of the how the author's prose just feeling very modern or the softer magic system didn't fully land for me but I still enjoyed the book. 

Great representation at the end of the day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Dysphoria

Moderate: Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy

kingkiller99's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious 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: Complicated

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This was so intense. I was listening to it in the car with my hands clenched tight to the steering wheel. Even though I knew where parts of the story would go, I was still horrified and stunned by it. This was chilling and I highly recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault

Moderate: Self harm, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Murder

Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy

brittbookshelf's review against another edition

5.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting

buecherverspeisen's review against another edition

5.0

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

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Abortion, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gore, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Vomit

Minor: Lesbophobia, Colonisation

shardsofstars24's review against another edition

4.25

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

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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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy

faeandferal's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious sad 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: No

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Beautiful written, full of dark twists, emotional moments and hidden mysteries. I found the characters highly relatable, especially Silas, and really enjoyed the trans and autistic representation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexism, Grief, Abortion, Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Self harm, Torture, Pregnancy

claire_not_rebecca's review against another edition

5.0

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

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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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

ghostmotifs's review against another edition

2.75

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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i have a lot of issues with this book- mainly, the historical setting seems like an afterthought and british colonialism seems to be an important aspect of this society to expand upon. however, putting myself in the position of a teen reading this book, i think it would have resonated with me so deeply. so, at the end of the day, it accomplished what it needed to. i loved the t4t romance <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Dysphoria

hampineapples's review against another edition

5.0

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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault

Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts