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A review by thebooknerdscorner
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
5.0
Dark, disturbing, and downright terrifying, "The Spirit Bares Its Teeth" blends the lines between history, fantasy, and the horrors that society often puts certain members through.
In an alternate Victorian England, the living and the dead aren't as separated as many would like to believe. Those born with violet-eyes can control the Veil that keeps the spirits out of the mortal world. The Royal Speaker Society yearns to conquer all those with this unique ability, including young women who are viewed as nothing more than a womb who can foster the next violet-eyed generation into existence. Silas Bell, a transgender boy who has to hide his true identity, would do anything to get out of an arranged marriage that can only lead to him suffering. After a failed attempt to escape his fate, Silas is sent to Braxton's Sanitorium and Finishing School in the hopes that they can "fix" him. The school seems suspicious right from the get-go, but it isn't until Silas meets the ghosts of past attendees that he begins to realize that the Headmaster is hiding darker secrets than Silas ever could have imagined within Braxton's walls.
I think this book officially beats "Trigger" by N. Griffin for the scariest, most disturbing book that I have ever read. However, I enjoyed my time with Silas much more than that particular novel. "The Spirit Bares Its Teeth" is truly a mind boggling novel that blurs genres, pushes the boundaries of acceptable amounts of gore in YA, and made my heart pound for intervals that lasted hundreds of pages. Seriously, my heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest by the time I reached the end of this novel.
Silas' journey within Braxton's showcases a part of history that is often forgotten about or intentionally hidden from the public eye. In the late 1800s, medical experimentation was often done in very suspicious ways, and this book doesn't leave much to the imagination. Just thinking about some of the things done to these girls within the walls of this "school" is making my heart pound all over again, and it makes me so sad to dwell on the fact that these types of things were done in real life. I won't go into the bloody details, but make sure to read all of White's triggering warnings before going into this one. I'm a very squeamish individual, so I mentally had to prepare myself for literal weeks before I felt up to tackling this one. I was aware of much of the things that occur in this one, but not why or how they occurred, so none of the intensity was lost.
This book also showcases how women in history have often been viewed as "unfit" or "mentally unwell" just because they don't fit into society's standards of how they should act. Many of the themes of this book venture into "The Yellow Wallpaper" territory. The girls who star in this book have been mentally, physically, and sexually abused to try to get them to conform to society which wasn't nearly as uncommon as one would like to think. The mental torment that these girls experience and the things that they do to themselves is already quite disturbing; it gets doubly so when you account for everything else.
On top of the exploration into mental health, abuse, and medical experimentation in this book, Silas is a trans boy who is also autistic. This only expedited all of the anguish that Silas went through when they were trying to conform him into a "proper young lady." Luckily, Silas does find those who views as his equals in his fiancée Daphne and the groundskeeper of the school. Seeing multiple trans characters as well as several that have autism added much to this story, especially when it comes to thinking about how aggressively these people were shunned and abused in this time period.
I have to touch again on how intense this book is. On top of all the gross medical stuff that happens, the extreme cases of abuse that the characters suffer, and the spooky spirit vibes, the thriller part also comes in because the reader is trying to figure out exactly what happens to the missing girls. This mystery had some tangible foreshadowing that allowed me as the reader to put it together, but I was always horrified by what all my conclusions were leading to. Much of this disbelief came from the fact that Silas literally can't trust anybody. As trustworthy as many characters first appear, no one seemed to be exactly who they said that they were. This just had me so anxious for Silas and the rest of the girls who where literally in danger of being murdered by the incidents going on in the house.
And somehow, this book only gets more intense all the way to the very end. The fight to escape the "school" is absolutely terrifying and I just can't. Aaaaaaaaaah! And then after everything appeared safe, there are a few threads left and way too many pages to have a soft landing from there. This book just kept pulling intense moments out of thin air. And the epilogue? Actually beautiful. It gives the reader plenty of satisfaction while also leaving off on an ominous note.
Overall, I could rant about how intense, artful, and genre blending "The Spirit Bares Its Teeth" is forever, but I think I'll call it off here. Every page of this book is just so creepy and eerie; I was so worried the entire time. This book may have seriously had me stressing and sweating throughout the majority of it, but it deserves all the stars and praises. I may be scarred for life from this one, but I can't recommend it enough, especially to horror connoisseurs looking for something beyond their average horror story.
In an alternate Victorian England, the living and the dead aren't as separated as many would like to believe. Those born with violet-eyes can control the Veil that keeps the spirits out of the mortal world. The Royal Speaker Society yearns to conquer all those with this unique ability, including young women who are viewed as nothing more than a womb who can foster the next violet-eyed generation into existence. Silas Bell, a transgender boy who has to hide his true identity, would do anything to get out of an arranged marriage that can only lead to him suffering. After a failed attempt to escape his fate, Silas is sent to Braxton's Sanitorium and Finishing School in the hopes that they can "fix" him. The school seems suspicious right from the get-go, but it isn't until Silas meets the ghosts of past attendees that he begins to realize that the Headmaster is hiding darker secrets than Silas ever could have imagined within Braxton's walls.
I think this book officially beats "Trigger" by N. Griffin for the scariest, most disturbing book that I have ever read. However, I enjoyed my time with Silas much more than that particular novel. "The Spirit Bares Its Teeth" is truly a mind boggling novel that blurs genres, pushes the boundaries of acceptable amounts of gore in YA, and made my heart pound for intervals that lasted hundreds of pages. Seriously, my heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest by the time I reached the end of this novel.
Silas' journey within Braxton's showcases a part of history that is often forgotten about or intentionally hidden from the public eye. In the late 1800s, medical experimentation was often done in very suspicious ways, and this book doesn't leave much to the imagination. Just thinking about some of the things done to these girls within the walls of this "school" is making my heart pound all over again, and it makes me so sad to dwell on the fact that these types of things were done in real life. I won't go into the bloody details, but make sure to read all of White's triggering warnings before going into this one. I'm a very squeamish individual, so I mentally had to prepare myself for literal weeks before I felt up to tackling this one. I was aware of much of the things that occur in this one, but not why or how they occurred, so none of the intensity was lost.
This book also showcases how women in history have often been viewed as "unfit" or "mentally unwell" just because they don't fit into society's standards of how they should act. Many of the themes of this book venture into "The Yellow Wallpaper" territory. The girls who star in this book have been mentally, physically, and sexually abused to try to get them to conform to society which wasn't nearly as uncommon as one would like to think. The mental torment that these girls experience and the things that they do to themselves is already quite disturbing; it gets doubly so when you account for everything else.
On top of the exploration into mental health, abuse, and medical experimentation in this book, Silas is a trans boy who is also autistic. This only expedited all of the anguish that Silas went through when they were trying to conform him into a "proper young lady." Luckily, Silas does find those who views as his equals in his fiancée Daphne and the groundskeeper of the school. Seeing multiple trans characters as well as several that have autism added much to this story, especially when it comes to thinking about how aggressively these people were shunned and abused in this time period.
I have to touch again on how intense this book is. On top of all the gross medical stuff that happens, the extreme cases of abuse that the characters suffer, and the spooky spirit vibes, the thriller part also comes in because the reader is trying to figure out exactly what happens to the missing girls. This mystery had some tangible foreshadowing that allowed me as the reader to put it together, but I was always horrified by what all my conclusions were leading to. Much of this disbelief came from the fact that Silas literally can't trust anybody. As trustworthy as many characters first appear, no one seemed to be exactly who they said that they were. This just had me so anxious for Silas and the rest of the girls who where literally in danger of being murdered by the incidents going on in the house.
And somehow, this book only gets more intense all the way to the very end. The fight to escape the "school" is absolutely terrifying and I just can't. Aaaaaaaaaah! And then after everything appeared safe, there are a few threads left and way too many pages to have a soft landing from there. This book just kept pulling intense moments out of thin air. And the epilogue? Actually beautiful. It gives the reader plenty of satisfaction while also leaving off on an ominous note.
Overall, I could rant about how intense, artful, and genre blending "The Spirit Bares Its Teeth" is forever, but I think I'll call it off here. Every page of this book is just so creepy and eerie; I was so worried the entire time. This book may have seriously had me stressing and sweating throughout the majority of it, but it deserves all the stars and praises. I may be scarred for life from this one, but I can't recommend it enough, especially to horror connoisseurs looking for something beyond their average horror story.