A review by throwback682
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

dark sad tense

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

5.0

[For reference, I’m a white allistic queer cis woman with ADHD]

“I just finished reading a horrifying violent disgusting wonderful beautiful book,” I texted my friend immediately.

Horror/fantasy/historical fiction, set in Victorian England, with a protagonist we would call bi or pan, transgender, and autistic (and who is subjected to what we’d call ABA “therapy”). I love the protagonist so very much. 

This book is not for the faint of heart. The author gives a non exhaustive list of triggers in the introduction, and acknowledges that this book isn’t for everyone, reassuring would-be readers that it’s okay to walk away. 

For me personally, it was very  much worth it. I hesitate to say too much for fear of spoilers but I just loved this book so much. I guess some of my favorite things were 

That the protagonist

refuses to internalize oppressive messaging about autism

.

The

queer relationships

including one

T4T relationship

.

And [big spoilers] that the

bad guys AND their enablers/apologists get their just desserts

and

the protagonist and some other LGBTQ+ characters

get to have a happy ending

(although obviously trauma is a thing).

The depictions of

autistic

behaviors like

hand flapping. Even though therapists tried to train/torture it out of the protagonist, he speaks about it positively and does it when he can

. There’s also another

autistic

who is

nonverbal

. There’s also a scene where

the autistic protagonist asks another character to squeeze him as tightly as she can, and that his brother used to do this for him as well

.

Basically I feel like this book shows the almost unfathomable ugliness of  the world and the hatred and oppression of queer, trans, and neurodivergent people, but it also

depicts queer and trans love, autistic self love and self acceptance, solidarity, strength, etc. I found it very inspiring.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Torture, Transphobia, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Body horror, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Grief, Medical trauma, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Medical content, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

“Letter from the Author One of the cruel injustices of the world is that survival hurts sometimes. Open-heart surgery, for example, looks a lot like murder. Amputation before the advent of proper anesthesia was just a bone saw and a rag to bite. On that note, I will make this clear: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth contains transphobia, ableism, graphic violence, sexual assault, discussions of forced pregnancy and miscarriage, mentions of suicidal ideation, and extensive medical gore. But I will also make it clear that this book is not a necessary procedure. You don’t have to endure it. You can get off the operating table and walk away at any time. I won’t blame you. For those still reading—do you have a rag to bite?—I want to make note of some context. Ghosts and mediums and alternate histories aside, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth was inspired by Victorian England’s sordid history of labeling certain people “ill” or “other” to justify cruelty against them. Threats of violence enforced strict social norms, often targeting women, queer and disabled people, and other marginalized folks. I have included another note about these realities at the end of the book, including some that this book does not cover. True history is often much more heartbreaking than any horror novel can depict. So, if nothing else, I hope this story means something to you. I hope the scalpel is kind to you. I hope your sutures heal clean. You deserve that much; we all do. Yours, Andrew” For me, it’s hard to say what’s harder to stomach - the blood and gore, or the attitudes towards queer and trans, neurodivergent, and other marginalized people.