Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

I new I was going into a story that was raw and punched you to you guts, and I was ready for it ; I wanted to feel this righteous anger about the horrors who happened, about what they say of the horrors that still are. It delivered - it was raw, and hard, but not as much to me as it may be for someone who would feel represented as autistic or trans person, I think (giving how I emotional I was when I reacted to a book that represented *me*, I can only see how this book would open an autistic/trans person insides and lay them bare). I was very grateful for the autistic representation as I was looking to learn about the experience from first person point of view to better understand autistic people, but as so I can not judge if the representation was accurate or a bit exagerated. At some points it felt a bit forced (as the character explained "I am like this", "my brains does this"), but I think I'd need that to fully grasp something that is foreign to me, so I think it was the right thing to do.
I enjoyed all the imagery and metaphors about surgery and body gore because I could really feel the special interest of the main character, and also it fit very well in the narrative, I could feel the despair and rage to control one's own body, and the adequacy of the imagery with the horrors happening.
I also appreciated that there was hope and comfort to be found in kinship - this person is like me, I can be myself and true and safe with them. It helped going through a story with such hard events.

Be warned if you're a sensitive person though : beyond the horrors that would happen to a person perceived as a girl who is not complying to society's standards, and to a trans person, in a Victorian era, the writing also invite quite a gore imagery. It fits very well, but if you're bothered by body and wounds imagery, it will probably be hard to read for you. There are also a lot of sensitive topics touched, so please look at the warnings if you're unsure. I felt the book did a great job exploring the topics without too much voyeurism, but the subjects are here nonetheless.

Content Warnings

corsetedfeminist's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

I would give this book all the stars in the world if I could. I was not prepared for this book, but I’m not sure how one could be prepared for this book. To begin, it features the most realistic and visceral descriptions of gender dysphoria and autism that I have ever read. This book is intensely emotional and physically gory, but it has a passionate heart that I fell in love with. The romance is raw and tender in a very intimate way that I adore. It’s t4t love in the best possible way. This book is a story about queer love and hope and pain and rage. If you can handle the very detailed (and special interest fueled) discussions of organs, the detailed descriptions of violence, and the multiple murders (as well as an abortion) you’ll find the the best poetry and the starkest honestly about what it is really like to be queer and autistic in a world that tries constantly to force you to be neither. I audibly gasped and yelled at the book several times at various plot twists, and the ending is the perfect example of catharsis and queer victory… just with a side of magical murder this time. 100/10, absolutely read this book.

Content Warnings

breadbummer's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

It's been maybe five years since the last time I remember being so engrossed with a book! For once, I'm so glad I judged a book by its cover (it's a pretty neat cover), as The Spirit Bares Its Teeth has just about everything I could want from a story.

Trans protagonist (written by a trans author) ✅
Murder mystery ✅
Set in the Victorian era ✅
Upfront trigger warnings ✅
VENGEANCE!!!! (no bs about forgiveness) ✅

I cannot recommend this novel enough!! As I said, though, please note the HEFTY list of content warnings before jumping in. White makes sure to cover the big hitters like anti-transness and ableism, but it should also be noted that

abortion

(among many other things) has its very graphic moment.

Content Warnings