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frenchpants 's review for:
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth
by Andrew Joseph White
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Decided to read something spooky for Halloween and this book did not disappoint. If you don't like blood and gore, this is 100% not for you.
I absolutely love LGBTQA+ representation in YA novels (and a cannonically autistic character— absolutely AMAZING). However... it took almost a quarter the way through the book for Silas to start feeling like a real character.
So much of the beginning was focused on his anxiety and gender dysphoria. Which being trans in Victorian England, is totally understandable! However, it felt like every page was just him being an anxious, sobbing mess (don't even get me started on the rabbit...). And listen, as someone who struggles with mental health, that's kind of a lot to read over and over and over again.
I also felt like I barely knew him as a character. For the longest time, all I knew about Silas is that a) he's trans, b) is a violet-eyed medium, and c) loves medicine and wants to be a doctor. Which cool, love that he has aspirations, but like, what else? The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is good, it just wasn't a 5/5 for me.
I absolutely love LGBTQA+ representation in YA novels (and a cannonically autistic character— absolutely AMAZING). However... it took almost a quarter the way through the book for Silas to start feeling like a real character.
So much of the beginning was focused on his anxiety and gender dysphoria. Which being trans in Victorian England, is totally understandable! However, it felt like every page was just him being an anxious, sobbing mess (don't even get me started on the rabbit...). And listen, as someone who struggles with mental health, that's kind of a lot to read over and over and over again.
I also felt like I barely knew him as a character. For the longest time, all I knew about Silas is that a) he's trans, b) is a violet-eyed medium, and c) loves medicine and wants to be a doctor. Which cool, love that he has aspirations, but like, what else? The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is good, it just wasn't a 5/5 for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Gore, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Dysphoria
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Murder
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent