Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

1 review

breadbummer's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Abortion, Sexism, Self harm, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Death, Deadnaming, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Blood, Child death, Body horror, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Transphobia, and Ableism

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Rape, Colonisation, and Vomit

Minor: Infertility, Animal death, Genocide, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

There was no specific option for animal dissections or something close enough to it listed here, so I thought I'd make note of it. Everything that is done to animals in this book is post-mortem, though it's still graphic.