sunflower7skull 's review for:

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

4.25

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This book took a lot out of me. It is heavy and gruesome and beautiful. I will admit the surgical body horror made me a little squeamish, but as a trans autistic person, I loved the way the main characters were written. I don't usually like historical fiction, but I really loved this fantasy take. Highly recommend to anyone who is invested in dark fantasy, the trans experience, the autistic experience, and Victorian times (especially from a gendered/medical view) Just make sure you check trigger warnings for this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria