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A review by leahrosereads
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Holy shit what a book to start the 2025 Trans Rights Readathon with. This is the second book I've read by White, and I genuinely can't imagine ever giving his works anything other than 5 stars.
The Trans and Autism rep, the horror, the history, the settings - it was all so, so fucking good and horrifying. Because the historical elements of illegal surgeries done on marginalized identities, while recorded, was worse than what was in here. And what was in here was a disturbing, brutal piece of what happened.
This was haunting, and I flew through it. Started and finished in the same day, like under 5 hours.
Highly recommend but please be in the right headspace. There's a lot of triggers to note, and I'll do my best to mark them all.
The Trans and Autism rep, the horror, the history, the settings - it was all so, so fucking good and horrifying. Because the historical elements of illegal surgeries done on marginalized identities, while recorded, was worse than what was in here. And what was in here was a disturbing, brutal piece of what happened.
This was haunting, and I flew through it. Started and finished in the same day, like under 5 hours.
Highly recommend but please be in the right headspace. There's a lot of triggers to note, and I'll do my best to mark them all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail