Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

419 reviews

noura's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Transphobia, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Miscarriage

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

a_dara_ble's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is one of the first books I've gotten all the way through in a while. I really enjoyed the world it was set in and the main characters. I personally didn't find it really Scary most of the time, but the author definitely doesn't shy away from descriptions, so I'd really recommend checking the trigger warnings if you have any issues with medical/body horror in the most literal sense. I have a pretty strong stomach for written horror, but this would not be a story I could probably stomach if it was in a visual media.
I'd love to read a second book with these characters, or at least in this world, maybe diving into more of the supernatural elements. But as it is, it's a really good stand alone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Pregnancy, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

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

eliansen's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

i loved it!!! the horror is reallly visceral and well-written, the mystery is fascinating, and i really like both silas' character development and his relationship to the girls and how that place affected/traumatized all of them differently

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault

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

lucygrayswife'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

biobeetle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Torture, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

elenahasashelf's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

This one was a page turner. The writing style made it easy to just fly through. And everyone on here listing it as “dark” was ooooof not wrong at all! 

I really appreciated Silas’ POV and its explicit transness, autism and anxiety through the language of the time period. A lot of Silas’ internal insecure, questioning or self-destructive dialogue in regards to his gender and anxiety are things I’ve found in my own brain, and it was hard to read at times but nice to feel seen. I liked Silas’ reflections on his gender and autism being inseparably linked in his experience. It was all explored in nuanced ways that felt relevant to how Silas was navigating the plot and other characters and never felt shoehorned in. The book’s exploration of how societies past and present oppress anyone who’s Other was effective in that way.

That said, oooooooooof

it was hard to watch Silas and his classmates being punished over and over in the worst possible ways! The middle lagged a tad for me because it felt like I was just watching Silas be tortured and not seeing him be able to counter it yet.

 

I absolutely loved Daphne and the T4T romance! She was such a vividly drawn character even though we get relatively little time with her. It made me so happy having Silas find a love that makes him feel known. I also loved Mary and her relationship with Frances. It’s giving Felicity in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, mean blonde Victorian lesbians club

This wasn’t my fave book of the year but I really liked its exploration of trans experience in a past time. It reminded me to think of all the people in the past who couldn’t live as themselves, or who did against incredible odds. I loved having such loud and proud trans representation with characters who were often limited in how much they could express their genders. I think that’s as important to show as trans characters who are modern, out and thriving are. Always trans, baby. Always been here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, and Vomit