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Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Deadnaming, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Abortion, Outing
THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH is about a trans boy who is institutionalized for "Veil sickness", a condition which is basically a supernatural version of hysteria, itself a historical catch-all term for "that person we think is a woman isn't doing what we think she ought to do and we want it to stop". What's unique about Veil sickness as opposed to hysteria is that it specifically applies to people with violet eyes, a mark of those who can contact departed spirits. Violet-eyed British men are channeled and constrained by a strict social hierarchy and a physical mark that they are following the socially approved path of a Speaker. Silas is not a girl, he's an autistic trans boy whose interest in anything unfeminine is a threat to the Speakers' power. THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH focuses on Silas as both trans and autistic, as well as times when he meets people who are one or the other but not both. These experiences help him parse the ways that these two facets of himself are so intertwined for him but are not necessarily linked for other people. He deals with an intersection of transphobia, misogyny, and ableism, as the times when he is dismissed for not following the social path of a woman can be inseparable from dismissal of him as an autistic person or not understanding the overwhelmingly allistic social hierarchy and assumptions. Trapped at the institution with few connections to the outside, Silas must try to figure out what's happening to the girls who disappear, and who he can trust to get answers.
As a nonbinary trans person, this was a hard book to read due to some overlaps with my personal experiences (thankfully not at the level of an actual horror novel such as this). I read it in large sections, taking a few days in between each to process and prepare myself for the next part. I'm very glad I read it and I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror, especially medical horror (which features heavily). If you would prefer something more apocalyptic and less medical but are otherwise interested in themes of body horror and transphobia, I suggest reading Andrew's debut novel, HELL FOLLOWED WITH US.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing
Minor: Miscarriage, Slavery, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Colonisation
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This is one of those books that I love so much, that I find it hard to write a review that reflects the burning adoration I have for the work. Let's try though.
Truly a masterful follow-up to his debut, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth feels refreshing, while evoking all the same great (although not exactly pleasant) feelings - anger and connection chief among them - from Hell Followed With Us.
The writing and imagery continues to be exquisite and the plot feels like a galloping rabbit through the meadows of Victorian England. If you're looking for a book about the survival of intersectional identities in a world where anything but the norm is broken apart, about humans surviving despite the narrow-eyed views of the powerful, about bringing them down the best you can, this is for you.
If you're hesitant over the content warnings and the gore, I don't think it was that bad, and I'm quite squirmish at times, unless specifically medical gore messes with you. but the discrimination CW are very much there and very much real - I said anger was central, it will be central in the reading experience too.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the PeachTree for providing an ARC. All opinions are my own.
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder
White is the type of author that knows what he wants to say and is excellent at executing it. He writes the autistic, trans, and queer experience extraordinarily well, he creates compelling depictions of toxic families and their deep indoctrination into abusive systems, as well as complex characters with complicated relationships. What draws me to White's writing is his themes are clearly thought out and his writing makes a statement, but he doesn't coddle the audience and he isn't interested in being didactic. He doesn't overexplain identity but allows for nuance in these various experiences and his writing is more interested in the individual characters rather than appealing to the masses. These books will not be for everybody, but I'm glad that they do seem to have found their audience.
This book is still settling in my brain, but I think I liked it more than Hell Followed With Us. I could definitely see improvement from White's previous novel. The pacing was excellent, it was well researched, and all the connections were all there to make a great reading experience. This is definitely a great addition to the queer horror genre. And I have to say, the cover is so perfect.
If you love horror, historical fiction, and queer fiction, I'd highly recommend this book. You will definitely want to check content warnings because it is extremely graphic (I went in prepared, having read the warnings and his previous book, and I was still surprised).
Thank you, NetGalley, for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Deadnaming, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Pregnancy
Minor: Cursing, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Dysphoria, Classism
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape
Andrew is not capable of writing a bad book.
When I read Hell Followed With Us it immediately became a new favorite, but now The Spirit Bares Its Teeth has surpassed it a million times over and I'm kind of shocked. I feel like the writing and content has clearly matured from the first book and I love that. It did also make this a little heavier and darker read, at least for me, compared to Hell Followed With Us (which was already heavy enough with all the religious trauma lol).
I admit I got a little lost with the names of the girls at the school in the beginning, but I started to get them after a while.
I could perfectly see this story as a tv show and I honestly hope it gets an adaptation someday in the future.
Representation: autistic bisexual trans boy mc, trans woman li, sapphic secondary characters, autistic secondary character.
Content Warnings: ableism, deadnaming, transphobia, gender dysphoria, misogyny, gaslighting, gore, animal death, detailed medical procedures, medical content, injury detail, rape, child abuse, pedophilia, blood, murder, torture, violence, sexual violence, confinement, forced institutionalization, pregnancy, child pregnancy, gory 'homemade' abortion (sorry I don't know how to describe it), mention of miscarriage, mention of self-harm and suicide attempts, vomit, religious bigotry.
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, Religious bigotry
Silas is transgender, a boy born in a girl’s body, and with violet eyes he is destined to be married off to a wealthy man. The idea of being pregnant horrifies and terrifies Silas, and so he decides to do something risky. He dresses up as a boy and attends a Royal Speaker Society gala in the place of a young medium who couldn’t attend. Instead, Silas will receive the spirit-work seal meant for the real Mr. Roswell. With a seal he can escape his life, live as a man and train to become a doctor.
What Silas doesn’t take into account is the test that he has to complete to win his seal, and when things go very wrong he’s sent to Braxton’s Sanitorium and Finishing School. He’s “diagnosed” with Veil sickness, which he soon finds out is what all the residents at Braxton’s have been diagnosed with. They’re all girls who don’t fit within the Speaker’s perfect idea of what a wife should be, and they’re all there to be cured. When it becomes clear that not everything is as it seems, and that previous residents who were sent to Bethlem Royal Hospital never actually made it there, Silas starts to investigate further.
At first, he feels completely alone. The other residents are either unfriendly, concentrating on becoming cured or too terrified to draw attention to themselves. As Silas finds support and kinship from two unexpected sources, he begins to unravel the mystery of Braxton piece by horrific piece.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a dark horror novel that unapologetically looks at how society treats people who are different. I’ve recently seen people discussing whether young adult books are becoming too dark, with the suggestion that they are being written for adult readers rather than young people. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a difficult novel to read, and that’s from my perspective as a queer disabled adult. But that is not to say that it’s unsuitable for young people, nor was it written with them in mind. Rather the opposite; this book is White saying “I see you” and that is something that many teenagers need to hear.
While the main character of The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is transgender and autistic, the addition of Veil Sickness means that this is a book that will resinate with a many readers. White conveys so many feelings of being different, of what it’s like to be viewed as useful/a commodity to non-disabled people/people in power when it suits them, and to be considered as wrong, “ill”, just because you’re different. The residents of Braxton are powerless apart, but together they are able to achieve much more and that is an important message in a young adult novel.
White provides content warnings at the beginning of the novel which I have copied in my review and added my own as well. I strongly recommend checking them before picking this one up because his descriptions are very graphic at times and in conjunction with the storyline it can be quite triggering (it was for me, at least). I say all this not to put people off reading, but to ensure everyone has a positive reading experience. I thoroughly enjoyed The Spirit Bares Its Teeth and I will definitely be checking out his other book, and any future titles.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia
Minor: Self harm, Torture, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Hell Followed With Us was one of my absolute faves of last year so I was overjoyed to get a chance to read the author's second book early on. And even though this time I knew what I was signing up for, woah, did it still hit HARD.
I'm pretty sure that Andrew Joseph White is on a mission to find all the settings that terrify me the most, squeeze all the awfulness out of them and fill them with gore and queer rage. I won't be surprised if his next books is set in 1950s US (*shudders*).
It's a book filled with gore and involuntary medical procedures and experimentation. It's about forced institutionalization, there's sexual assault, and did I mention gore and gory, bloody details? There's so much transphobia and ableism and misogyny.... and somehow, it all balances out. It doesn't feel like too much or maybe it's just that all these elements aren't there for the shock value. Andrew Joseph White fills these horrible things with queer rage and reclaims them. Even when the world and all the horrible people try to break his characters over and over, even when they're helpless, they keep on fighting. They keep on surviving. And isn't that what we, queer people do?
The characters, as in Hell Followed With Us, are amazing. I love that Silas gets to meet another autistic person and another trans person. I love that whatever he goes through, there are others with similar experiences. It's a reminder that in this horrible horrible world you're never truly alone.
Everyone in this book is seriously messed up, omg. All the characters are morally gray to say the least. But then, as the book itself says, would you judge an animal for doing everything it takes to survive? Why would you judge a person differently?
I need to reread Hell Followed With Us soon.
***Thank you NetGalley for the eARC***
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria