Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

474 reviews

madamvonsassypants's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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: Complicated

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This book did not feel like it was YA to me. The writing was really well done, sophisticated, and dealt with a LOT of heavy things. I found the tale gripping, the intimate inner monologue of a trans person so well done and fraught with emotion, and the world in which the story exists to be fascinating and frustrating. Truly so well done. I tore through this in just a few days, and recommend it highly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

___person___'s review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark reflective sad tense slow-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: No

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One of my favorite books! Wonderful trans and autistic representation, I love being able to delve into these topics in a historical fantasy context! The horror really shines with how White writes and describes what’s going on, holding the reader in building suspense and dawning horror as more discoveries are made.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria

deadly_kitten777's review against another edition

5.0

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: Yes

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Beautifully written and truly displayed some of the horrors a not so distant past held, as a queer person I found the graphic descriptions of the disgusting reality of conversion therapy and forced child birth deeply heartbreaking and horrifying, loved the magical twists but honestly got invested enough in the vileness of it being so close to reality I might have preferred a more realistic setting, truly a masterpiece of fiction

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Transphobia, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Sexual harassment

Minor: Self harm, Classism

aimeeslittlelibrary's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging 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: Complicated

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Well, that was a lot! I can't beleive this is young adult?! There was such a lot of TW Content: mentioned sexual assault, child SA, a lot of medical content and body horror, self-mutilation, self harm, murder, torture, and animal death. And not that young adults aren't affected by or shouldn't read these issues, but damn, it was graphic at times! This was great. I loved the character of Silas so much. He was so well-rounded, complex, and his voice was so clear. The rabbit was an excellent device, and that dark inner critical voice was so brutal to read. The plot was so well delivered I honestly had no idea what was happening until the end, I had vague thoughts, but to discover THAT was happening.. phew. Mary also gets honourable mention for being the most viscious and violent lesbian in this world. This whole book is a good, 'good for her' moment of the wrongs women, female presenting people, and AFAB people have dealt with through time - with a magical realism twist that brought horror and fear into this book. I couldn't put it down. I wonder if there will be a sequel. I hope so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

inkstainedghosts13's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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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Amazing, read all in one night. Amazing trans and neurodivergent representation. Got the Gothic style perfectly. Fantastic book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

lochnessvhs's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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How am I ever supposed to read another book ever again??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Torture, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia

captainpiika's review against another edition

5.0

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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Abortion, Dysphoria

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide attempt

bi_mermaid_'s review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional 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: Yes

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Listen I liked Hell Followed With Us quite a bit but... this is probably the book that's made a full Joseph Andrew White convert and I will read EVERYTHING he writes now. Like wow this book was amazing. Or maybe just the stars aligned perfectly because it feels like I read this book at the perfect time. I'd been reading a lot of cozier fiction lately so I knew I wanted something ediger and a little fucked up. I remember really liking how Hell Followed With Us did body horror so I thought I'd give his second book a go (by the way can we talk about for a sec how all these covers are beautifully designed). This was the absoulte perfect book to quench that thirst. I loved Silas and Daphne and getting to know the girls here forced into this horrible situation. AJW does such a good job building up dread and tension and of course, the bits of body horror and gore in this book was exactly what I was looking for. I also really appreciated this portrayal of an autistic protagonist. 

Maybe it's because I read them back to back, but I can't help but compare this to Evocation. There was so much that worked well here that failed there. For one, the society in this book is purposefully elusive and vauge because our protagonist isn't allowed to be part of that group, therefore doesn't know much about the goings on. Compared to Evocation where the occult society is such an important aspect of 2 of the main characters lives (both are running for president or whatever) but we know fuckall about the society. And the characters here felt so much more vibrant and tangible after suffering through the flat characters in Evocation.

TLDR; I loved this book very very much. I was tabbing the hell out of it and writing down so many quotes in my commonplace book. I will definitely want to read this again in the future and I'm excited to read everything else AJW publishes (especially his debut adult novel coming out later this year!) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

bethany_paige's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad fast-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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Sexism, Transphobia, Pregnancy

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault

there’s gore, but described mostly clinically through the mc’s POV. The goriest descriptions are probably when a character attempts an abortion on herself and when the MC murders someone brutally.

manta_moony's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Yes

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It was very interesting and the main character was so great to see the world through. I’ve never read gothic horror so this was an amazing introduction to it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder

Moderate: Deadnaming, Miscarriage, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria

Minor: Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, Suicide attempt