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A review by tackysapphic
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
dark
tense
5.0
(Originally posted to goodreads)
Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a young adult horror novel about a young autistic trans boy trying to figure out what's happening to the other girls at the sanatorium he's been forcibly placed at. I have never seen this combination of characters in a historical novel, nor have I seen such incredible depictions of autism, outside of AJW's debut Hell Followed With Us. I'm currently sitting here just at a loss for words. I'd be reading the more mundane scenes and Silas would start stimming in a way that I myself do and I'd just go"!!!!!! I DO THAT :D!!!" Aside from the depictions of autism and transness, the plot itself was just. Ough. Oh man. AJW was not lying when he said this book was heavy. Just imagining some of the scenes were absolutely horrific and so sad, I think the author has done an incredible job of writing everything so viscerally. Every aspect endears you to the book in some way, there's at least one side character for everyone to latch onto. The reveals near the end did so well in portraying that moment of realization that everyone around you is complicit and the absolute sickening feeling it is. I was very excited to get my hands on this title from the moment it was announced and it was as incredible as I thought it was. Genuinely don't have any criticisms here, and I'm excited to see what Andrew puts out next.
heavy content warnings for: blood/gore/descriptions of injuries, ableism, sexual assault, discussions of eye mutilation, miscarriage, heavy bodily injury, transphobia, medical procedures depicted and dicussed, torture.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a young adult horror novel about a young autistic trans boy trying to figure out what's happening to the other girls at the sanatorium he's been forcibly placed at. I have never seen this combination of characters in a historical novel, nor have I seen such incredible depictions of autism, outside of AJW's debut Hell Followed With Us. I'm currently sitting here just at a loss for words. I'd be reading the more mundane scenes and Silas would start stimming in a way that I myself do and I'd just go"!!!!!! I DO THAT :D!!!" Aside from the depictions of autism and transness, the plot itself was just. Ough. Oh man. AJW was not lying when he said this book was heavy. Just imagining some of the scenes were absolutely horrific and so sad, I think the author has done an incredible job of writing everything so viscerally. Every aspect endears you to the book in some way, there's at least one side character for everyone to latch onto. The reveals near the end did so well in portraying that moment of realization that everyone around you is complicit and the absolute sickening feeling it is. I was very excited to get my hands on this title from the moment it was announced and it was as incredible as I thought it was. Genuinely don't have any criticisms here, and I'm excited to see what Andrew puts out next.
heavy content warnings for: blood/gore/descriptions of injuries, ableism, sexual assault, discussions of eye mutilation, miscarriage, heavy bodily injury, transphobia, medical procedures depicted and dicussed, torture.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Deadnaming, Medical trauma, and Sexual assault