Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

165 reviews

miarbol05's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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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Absolutely wonderful read. I had so much fun reading it - the author truly knows how to structure each chapter to keep you reading and wanting more. the pace wss excellent - every chapter moved the story forward and it was such a fun read (well, the whole story was pretty dark but it was so eventful I was completely hooked). sooo damn good I definitely recommend it if you like a trans main character and mysterious deaths - and if you wanna get out of a reading slump.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment

canadawithoutthec's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion

Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Grief

nightshaderoots's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I want to throw up in the best kinda of way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Vomit, Alcohol

Minor: Cannibalism

hanah_leia's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I will probably read everything Andrew Joseph White writes. He is (rightfully) unapologetic and real in how he writes trans and autistic protagonists and it is absolutley beautiful. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is certainly horror, so I definitely reccomend checking out the description and content warnings before reading. I would also absolutley reccomend reading this to anyone who is at all intrigued and is okay with the content warnings. Side note- the author's note about cw at the start did make me cry, not because of the warnings but because of the care extended towards the reader (quote included below). 

“You don’t have to endure it. You can get off the operating table and walk away at any time."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit

hannah657's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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Just finished this, read it all in one go. I think this is my new favourite book. As an autistic person I've never read anything before that's made me feel so seen, it genuinely made me teary to see so much of myself on the page. This book has basically everything I like in fiction; horror, his orical setting, LGBT+ and autism representation, supernatural elements. The way the horror is in the parts of the story that are rooted in reality rather than in the supernatural parts really emphasises the horror of the real world issues depicted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Vomit

nocturna_of_space's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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There was a lot about this book that I really liked. A clearly autistic protagonist was one of them. I really enjoyed Silas' characterization for the most part.

The one thing I will note is I'm not sure if the rabbit was supposed to represent self-doubt/fear or an anxiety disorder. I'm happy he was able to overcome it, but I wish its fate was more nuanced? I'm not exactly sure how to explain it? I did appreciate that Silas wasn't all 'fixed' at the end and still had to fight against PTSD from his experiences. That makes me think that the rabbit was supposed to be self-doubt/fear based, but I still didn't like the thought that Silas could just kill that part of himself.

 

Daphne was by far my favourite, and I wish we got to see much more of her in the book.

Daphne and Silas' being 2 sides of the same coin and mirrors of each other was a real credit to the story. Usually, I don't like the love at first sight trope (or love at first conversation), but this actually made sense to me.

The sanitorium/school was pretty scary for the most part.

I wish there had been more adults there. The idea that the students couldn't band together and take the Forresters down was a bit difficult to believe. In the end, that's kinda what happened. I just wonder why it didn't happen sooner.

Some of the choices that the adults in this book make does make it feel very Y/A. That's not a bad thing, just something to note. I was just lacking a sense of extreme danger in some places.

However, the abortion/c-section scene was fantastic. That whole section was done super well.

I can't decide if I want a second book or not.

The brother's takedown would be super fun. Also, I felt like that was a thread that was left loose that I would have liked to see tied up. On the other hand, I was pretty happy with the ending as a whole. The squad going to take down The Speakers is a great ending. Ok, I do actually want a second book. Mostly, I just want Silas' brother to get punched.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

2.5

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Excrement, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, War

librarian_aj's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious 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: Yes

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MIND THE TRIGGER WARNINGS 
oh my god
A dark read I generally would not agree falling into YA, really more New Adult or just adult with a teen protagonist, similar to Library of the Dead. 

Some very relatable and authentic representation of autistic and trans characters that was at times heartwarming and other times soul crushing. 

The ending wrapped up ridiculously quick, which lost it a star. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault

Minor: Miscarriage, Cannibalism

katiburd's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional 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

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Oh this was some brutal body horror that will live in my brain for a while. Such a wonderful exploration of themes... I was horrified. Silas is a strong character and being in his mind was interesting (specifically when he was thinking medically or about carving into someone). 
I really appreciated the autism representation!! I'm excited to read White's debut soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Medical content, Abortion

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death

rookadee's review against another edition

5.0

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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A must read for every autistic trans person.
And the 3 pages of doomed yuri are better than the romance subplots of most books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment