Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

66 reviews

carlyrosehughes's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

dwhiting's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

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

cmolidor's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional tense fast-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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Vomit, Medical trauma, Abortion

Minor: Animal cruelty

cedar_wood's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

minanonim's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark 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: No

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Very readable, while also tackling extremely important topics, including misogyny and the way young people handle and adapt to societal pressure. It includes neurodivergence and LGBTQ+ representation that, in my opinion as someone without much experience, seems to be done very well. As a romance hater, I really appreciated the romantic subplot and the way it progressed. Was it a bit too fast? Yes, but that made sense in context, which is something I don't see often enough. The gore was present and often described in detail, which for me was a plus but may be a problem for other readers.

Please check the trigger warnings before proceeding!

Subjectively, having grown up in a very religious community (although not being religious myself), the portrayal of misogyny and patriarchy really rang a bell. Above all else, what really stood out for me was the way different characters responded to the culture they were forced into. While frustrating at times, the book very accurately showed the double standards, the internalised misogyny, the fight/flight/freeze/fawn response each person has. It may be hard to understand or believe the actions of some characters by the end, but having personally experienced a similar cultural context, they were entirely believable and reminiscent of people in my own life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Misogyny, Transphobia, Blood, Abortion

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

lucakocsis's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Such an incredible read. I've listened to the audiobook and loved the narration. The writing is very captivating, the characters are simple but so complex at the same time. 

The horror is more gore than anything scary so depending on taste that could be a pro or a con.

Overall I couldn't recommend this book enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment

kryzysowa_narzeczona's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

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, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria

whatkatyread87's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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: Complicated

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Holy shit. I have no words for how important this book is to people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

szuum's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 59%

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Classism

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