Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

201 reviews

erinsreadinglist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.5

Incredibly dark and scary, and deeply uncomfortable but SO GOOD. Major content warnings for every kind of abuse and torture you can imagine but well worth the read. Silas is a great character! Andrew Joseph White is a talent!
Edit: dropping to 4.5 for some repetitive elements that were grinding on me a bit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

avrija's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book — it’s certainly something. This is the first horror I’ve read in a very long while and it was very good. Please, please be mindful of the trigger warnings in the “letter from the author” at the beginning. It was very well written, I loved the characters, especially Daphne and Silas and it was suspenseful and gave you that sense of something creeping up on you. However, I think it deserves a mention that I don’t think this book is for anyone who is sensitive to transphobia and body dysmorphia regarding that. Even if you say, you can handle that, please do read this on a good day and check in with yourself. It’s quite heavy and mentally hard to read at times because the descriptions of Silas’ struggles are so very well done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Pedophilia, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

emscolqu's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Such an intense read but highly recommend the ENDING i sat there in shock when

Lord Luckenbill brought out the ring

tbf i didnt trust him but still and some of the surgical scenes in this were so detailed it made it such an uneasy read but so compelling i was so happy that

Silas and Dauphine and Mary escaped at the end

also

kinda got this odd gut feeling with the mask men that one of them was george and i KNEW IT . so mad that he turned out to be so awful and no reprochassions for him in the end

this book destroyed me but in a good way just wanted to give Silas a hug also the dynamic between Silas and the groundskeeper i died that was the only thing keeping me sane through that crazy scene with headmaster

literally about to fucking cut open mary and drill into her skull

jeez was just a lot to take it but really really good read - definitely look at the warnings and take them seriously before reading 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

overbooked207's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

knittyreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

This has been one of those books I could barely stop reading once I started. It is haunting, the kind of horror book I love - with roots in Victorian times as well as dabs at modern times. As a (gender-)queer autistic person I love how this book shows the dangers of what was basically ABA too, how molding people into hiding who they are to fit into society is wrong and dangerous, all in a great and well written story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Violence

livelaughlovejackie's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

this book had me on an absolute chokehold while reading which is v rare for me <3333

The actual rating is probably something like 4.5 but the experience is just so fun i need it higher 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death of parent

xosirenox's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

mfallon3491's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Medical trauma

kellamyles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexism, Transphobia, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Bullying and Rape

raine_forest_cafe's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail