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A review by theoddduckling
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Mors vincit omnia.
Sixteen-year-old Silas Bell knows there are only two things about him that matters: the girl he looks like on the outside and his violet eyes. His violet eyes mean he can talk to the dead. That the world sees him as a woman means he'll be forced to marry one of the Royal Speakers before his seventeenth birthday.
Even after decades of tutors teaching him to how to walk and talk like every other proper young lady, how not to fidget, not to flap his hands, to sit quietly and endure the noise, the lights, the uncomfortable clothes - things that everyone else seems to handle just fine - Silas knows any marriage he would find himself in would be nothing short of torture.
So, he concocts an escape plan: dress like boy, get an official Speaker's seal and set up a surgery practice far from London. It's risky, if he gets caught, it's a death sentence. But when his escape attempt goes horribly wrong, instead he is diagnosed with a mysterious illness called Veil Sickness and sent to Braxton's Sanitorium and Finishing School.
All is not as it seems at Braxton's. Girls leave and are never heard from again and spirits are breaking through into the real world. Silas must solve the mystery of what's happening before consequences more dire than an unhappy marriage come crashing down.
The Spirits Bares Its Teeth is a biting commentary on patriarchy and the harm it inflicts on women, the insidious nature of both current and Victorian medical practices, and the cruel treatment of trans people, both historically and today. Unflinching and brutal, Andrew Joseph White does not shy away from the gruesome details of life as a trans man in Victorian London, of a woman labeled "crazy", or the barbaric surgery practices of the day.
This book is a fast-paced, dark, gut-wrenching roller coaster ride. It reaches inside, grabs you by the heart and doesn't let go.
Sixteen-year-old Silas Bell knows there are only two things about him that matters: the girl he looks like on the outside and his violet eyes. His violet eyes mean he can talk to the dead. That the world sees him as a woman means he'll be forced to marry one of the Royal Speakers before his seventeenth birthday.
Even after decades of tutors teaching him to how to walk and talk like every other proper young lady, how not to fidget, not to flap his hands, to sit quietly and endure the noise, the lights, the uncomfortable clothes - things that everyone else seems to handle just fine - Silas knows any marriage he would find himself in would be nothing short of torture.
So, he concocts an escape plan: dress like boy, get an official Speaker's seal and set up a surgery practice far from London. It's risky, if he gets caught, it's a death sentence. But when his escape attempt goes horribly wrong, instead he is diagnosed with a mysterious illness called Veil Sickness and sent to Braxton's Sanitorium and Finishing School.
All is not as it seems at Braxton's. Girls leave and are never heard from again and spirits are breaking through into the real world. Silas must solve the mystery of what's happening before consequences more dire than an unhappy marriage come crashing down.
The Spirits Bares Its Teeth is a biting commentary on patriarchy and the harm it inflicts on women, the insidious nature of both current and Victorian medical practices, and the cruel treatment of trans people, both historically and today. Unflinching and brutal, Andrew Joseph White does not shy away from the gruesome details of life as a trans man in Victorian London, of a woman labeled "crazy", or the barbaric surgery practices of the day.
This book is a fast-paced, dark, gut-wrenching roller coaster ride. It reaches inside, grabs you by the heart and doesn't let go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Gore, Misogyny, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Body horror, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy