Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

166 reviews

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

---

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

---

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

nixieba25f'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: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

baponthecob's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

the ending wasnt bad but left too much up to the imagination for me. i was a little confused. the entire rest of the book was absolutely phenomenal

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Vomit, Grief, Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Animal death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Cannibalism

_bookgremlin_'s review against another edition

5.0

dark tense fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria

pjv's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death

devinjai6655's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional mysterious 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

---

This story made me feel so seen as an autistic person who doesn't fit into the inherent gender binary. This book is dark and tragic and the newest contender for what I like to call The Feel Bad Club. 
That being said, I love books that make me feel something, and this had me running through so many emotions. And, just so everyone knows, the ending is

relatively happy.

Silas and Daphne live together and are married and living their best lives as their authentic selves, but some characters dont make it...

Yall shoulda heard my sqeal when Daphne introduced herself to Silas the first time in the parlor. I was hoping she'd be accepting, but we love a well developed and supportive T4T couple!

PLEASE, check your triggers. This book is intense but so good! Take care of yourself and know your limits. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Abortion, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Death of parent, Outing, Classism

Minor: Toxic friendship

Silas is a trans man that is regularly dead named, forced to mask his autism, and the whole book essentially misgenders him because this is a historical fantasy set in a supremely misogynistic society and he is viewed as a girl by almost everyone. There's INTENSE medical scenes in here such as

a cesarean abortion he preforms on his teenage friend who was raped and impregnated by an adult man, some scenes of animal dissection throughout, gross depictions of self harm thoughts such as removing his own eyeballs, finding his best friend dead after gone through a vivisection, and other scenes.

There's also gross pedophilia and sexual harassment. While there isn't anything penetrative on page, there's gross implications and extremely disturbing scenes of old men being gross because they can be

like impregnating teenage girls against their will with the help of the institution. I'm being totally serious. The youngest we know is 14 in this book, Silas is 16.

There's lots of pregnancy talk in the general sense about other people and, for Silas, lots of "do i not wanna be because I don't wanna be a parent, or is it because of my dysphoria?" Yeah, the trigger warnings for this book is extensive and i wasn't expecting it so please take care of yourself and know your limits.

aangelinee's review against another edition

5.0

challenging 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: Yes

---

Another amazing book from this author. I loved Hell followed with us, but I love this even more. I love that all these monstrous men got what they deserved, how so many women, people perceived as woman, and I, dreamt so often. It was satisfying to see them get retribution, even if this rarely happens in real life. The horrors of womanhood were perfectly portrayed. I greatly enjoyed reading about a character on the spectrum, seeing in Silas a lot of things I find inside myself as well. And the potrayal of trans people was so beautiful. We definitely need more books like this. I believe that they would help those that do not understand, see things a little clearer. The story kept me on the edge of my seat, especially after the first half. I definitely did not expect to love Mary. But she is wonderful, just like Silas and Daphne are. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Deadnaming, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical trauma, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail

jballin47's review against another edition

4.5

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

---

This book really exceeded my expectations and hit all the marks of great queer horror. This story is brutal and unflinching, and I appreciate that White makes this abundantly clear from their opening author's note with a clear list of content warnings. However, if you enjoy gross medical gore as an allegory for the tortures of the patriarchy and our own complicated relationships with our bodies, it's brilliant. Historically grounded within a fantasy world, White pushes readers to contend with the very real horror that has been experienced by minority communities in the name of a 'cure' while giving us lovable, flawed, and heroic protagonists to fight against it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment

spacedoutvenus's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous 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: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Pedophilia, Blood, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage

all the subjects in this book are handled in a respectful and calm way, no mocking or unnecessary proportions. these themes make the book as enjoyable as it is.