Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

382 reviews

sincerelyeriss's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Blood, and Medical trauma

keepcalmblogon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth initially drew me in because of the cover, it’s absolutely stunning and it’s not even a special edition!  I had seen it around here and there, but I’m not always drawn to books with references to ghosts and hauntings, personally I have a fine line between paranormal gothic-type reads and straight horror.  I enjoy horror movies, but not so much books.  But having read that this was about an autistic, trans boy and not overtly a horror story but more like a story with horror elements, I couldn’t bring myself to stop thinking about it, so I put a hold on the audiobook and the moment it came through I absolutely devoured this book.

Immediately, I related to Silas’ experiences with autism–it’s not called this in the book, but it is what it is.  He is overcome with his own emotions sometimes, nearly prisoner to them when he can feel and watch himself be lost to too many feelings.  He has touch and sound sensitivities that I share, as well as a hyperfocus on his passion to the point of overlooking his own safety.

CW pregnancy:  The other thing I related so viscerally with was Silas’ feelings/fears/disgust about his body’s ability to become pregnant.  As a woman who very staunchly chooses not to have children, a large part of my reasoning is my body.  It’s hard to describe without sounding superficial, but Silas put so many of my own feelings into words and I felt so validated.

As much as most of this story is heavy, haunting, gory, and nearly hopeless, there are beautiful moments of resistance, self-identity, hope, and connection that made this my favorite read of the month and definitely one of my faves of the year. Five stars!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

chrisb913's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I was not prepared for this book. While I loved it, I probably should have read some of the TWs before hand 😅😅. This was weird and creepy and I loved the medical aspect of it along with the gorey subject matter. Overall this was a fantastic read but again please check TWs before hand as the author handles a significant amount of tough subjects throughout the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Transphobia, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, and Vomit

devs_frog's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Pregnancy

rueys's review against another edition

4.5

another difficult read!!! Thank U andrew joseph white i love queer horror <3 

time to read: 3hr, 15 min

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gore, Misogyny, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Vomit and Colonisation

flapjack_octopus's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I found this to be beautifully dark. Honestly a gut wrenching book, broke my heart but the ending somewhat stitched me back together.
This book handles some very dark themes and if you especially do not like gore or blood, do not read. Please take in any warnings/description. Despite the heavy themes I still found this book to be very good, well written and the plot was intriguing, dark yet brilliant. The characters really made me feel too, my emotions where running high.

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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, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Dysphoria

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

ibeau's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Infertility

lizzie_yc's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

bluebreex's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical content, and Abortion

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Transphobia

euyrdice's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I'd grown out of the juvenile fantasy quickly enough. The eyes were a symptom, not the disease. If I wanted to resort to surgery, I'd have to go to the root: a hysterectomy, a total removal of the womb. Until my ability to continue a bloodline is destroyed, these men don't care how many pieces of myself I hack off- but that doesn't mean I haven't

popped the eyes out of a slaughtered pig

just to feel it.

Andrew Joseph White is a real talent, if you love horror- especially body horror- I cannot recommend his works enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gore, Transphobia, Medical content, and Abortion

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Miscarriage