silentserennity 's review for:

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

5.0

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

The Sprit Bares Its Teeth is excellent. I've reread this book several times,  my copy is annotated to the nines and is actually starting to fall apart from all of the abuse I've put it through. Silas is an excellent protagonist, being everything that the Speaker Society despises: queer, autistic, and strong despite everything he's forced through throughout the book's plot. Watching his growth throughout the story legitimately made me cry, being autistic and suffering from anxiety myself. The main plot was absolutely delicious in how horrifyingly grounded in reality it is, despite the supernatural elements. The other characters are also incredibly written, they really do feel like real people with three dimensional goals and actual feelings about what's happening around them, which only makes the tragedy hit all that much harder. I would die for Daphne, she's perfect, 10/10 no notes. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Transphobia