Thank you to NetGalley and PeachTree Teen for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

Words cannot explain how I feel about this book. I started reading it at the beginning of last month, but didn't get around to finishing it due to personal events. After I realized that it comes out quite literally tomorrow, I knew I had to start reading it (and fast).

I realize that The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is not something you slowly read. It demands to be read as fast as possible because you get sucked into the world, starting from the first chapter. The world was eloquently designed; taking place in 19th(?) century, but there's a twist to it. People with violet eyes can tear open the Veil (also known as the other side) and speak with the dead and vise versa. The Speaker Society, whom control these people with the violet eyes, has a hold on what is appropriate for people who have these powers. Silas, our main protagonist, would rather do anything than become a Speaker's wife because Silas is a boy, not a girl that everyone insists he is. After being diagnosed with Veil sickness, Silas is sent to Braxton's, where he will be "cured" in order to be the perfect wife for a Speaker family. However, something isn't quite right when Silas arrives. Girls are going missing and no one is sure where they are.

White doesn't shy away about the pressures of a patriarchal society towards trans youth and women and it was done with the precision of a surgeon: clean, factual, informant. Throughout the novel, we see different people telling Silas that he doesn't actually feel that he should be a boy because of the Veil sickness. This mirrors society today due to numerous people in power wanting to erase the identities of trans youth *and* take away the bodily autonomy of numerous women. The girls and Silas all had their ways of surviving Braxton's Finishing School and it made me root for them so much harder (if that makes sense lol). I wanted most of them to survive and be free. When some didn't, it hit a lot harder than I expected it to.

I loved how White illustrated the medical horror in the book. There was something about it that I loved, though I can't quite put my finger on it. I guess the best way to put it was that it was tastefully done. It wasn't excessive in gore; rather, the details of it were meticulously done and perfected into the mind of a surgeon. I enjoyed reading how Silas' mind worked when faced with bodily injuries of himself and the girls. At the forefront of his mind was how he wanted to help the people, not cause them harm. The horror is not for the faint of heart as it goes into graphic detail of different animals being dissected and the bodily injuries that people throughout the novel faced. There's also an on-page Cesarean section that I was not expecting, but it was something I could stomach.

I loved Silas as our MMC. I loved being in his head and following his journey. I think he may top being one of my favorite MCs of all time. In fact, all these characters felt realistic in their own special way. They all wanted to survive and did anything they could to do so. I rooted hard for Silas and Daphne. It didn't feel very insta-love to me; it felt more of that they were two people who knew and understood what the other was going through. They felt like a flicker of hope and I was happy with the outcome.

I enjoyed the plot, as well. I loved the magical realism that this book set up with the Veil. It was well integrated into the plot and it kept me wanting more. And did it deliver. The winter atmosphere held a bite to the Gothic horror that it was. It kept me enticed and kept me wondering what was going on. I liked that all these characters felt realistic and had some depth to them, rather than just being two dimensional.

This novel touched something in me that made me feel understood, amiss a lot of confusion growing up. It's a reminder of the power that one can wield and push back against the expectations that society sets up. It reminds you that you are acceptable as you are and you have no need to conform to what society wants.

I absolutely loved “Hell Followed With Us,” by Andrew Joseph White, so I was super excited to get to read his follow up novel “The Spirit Bares His Teeth.” The author does horror so well, creating unique and fleshed out settings and stories, and characters you will fall in love with immediately. Personally I don’t get scared very easily, but there were parts in this book that made me have to close the book and take a little break. (Totally a compliment, the gore is fantastic.) While set in a supernatural world, the story is strongly rooted in reality, and the mistreatment of trans people throughout history. However, it doesn't leave you feeling hopeless. The story shows the strength, and resilience of queer people and the power of love and friendship.

Huge, huge thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

After really enjoying the author's debut, I was super excited to see what he had in store for us next. And friends, I daresay this one is even better than its predecessor! I was quite impressed because The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is altogether different than Hell Followed With Us, but still maintains a lot of the same messages in a wholly fresh story.

I fell in love with Silas from the start, and as such was instantly invested in his story. He is sent to some kind of finishing school (which is obviously a front for some kind of horrific "taming women into subservient housewives" schtick) because he was deemed "veil sick", which means basically that he didn't conform to some bullshit societal standards. You know, the way they'd lock folks away for being different. So look, he knew this was going to be bad, but I don't think even he had any idea just how bad. There are some good points, though. He gains some friends in the women who were there before he arrived, and he finds that he actually might sort of like the person who is meant to be his husband, and it turns out has more in common with Silas than he could have imagined.

Make no mistake, this is not for the faint of heart, as there is a lot of awfulness that is happening to Silas and the girls at any given time. The secrets that Silas and company uncover are absolutely messed up, but they are also compulsively page-turning, so if you can handle the material, it is very worth it. The found family aspect, especially amidst all the horrific events, gives the book the hope it needs despite the truly awful situation.

Bottom Line: An absolute must read if you can handle the body horror, I cannot wait to see what the author delivers to us next!

It is utterly horrifying to watch others in this book accept & justify of the acts done in this book.

'The Spirit Bares Its Teeth' perfectly utilizes the horrors of society, patriarchs and how a person, whom the world views as a woman, can be used and abused like an object instead of a human being.
While this story is fictional, the expansion of what women, non-binary & transgender folks most likely went through during the Victorian era was not. The era of insane asylum, surgeries, prisons & abuse that many suffered in that time was far from fiction, and I appreciated it, while still feeling sad/sick about it all. If you did not fit the mould that men and those in power chose, you were considered ill or in need of fixing, and they could justify anything in the name of 'saving' you - we have seen this from actual history reports.

My favourite quote from the book is, "Do you know how angry the dead can be?" because this book portrays rage, grief, injustice and vengeance as such incredible fuel for Silas & us as readers.

This was excellent! I rarely read horror or gore but idk AJW just makes me want to read it! Can’t wait for more people to get their hands on this book! It was a wild ride. Took me a few sittings to finish it because the gore had my skin crawling.

The term autism isn’t used even once in this novel. If you want to leave a one star review then please read the book otherwise just don’t (also yes i did finish this book just to prove this person wrong.)

I also want to mention that i won’t be commenting of the trans and autistic rep because it just isn’t my place, i you want to know more about the rep please seek out own voices reviews.

I requested this ARC because i love Gothic fiction, I’m writing a whole master’s thesis about neo-gothic, its more complex than that but at least you can understand that I LOVE Gothic fiction and I kinda know what I’m talking about. This novel lacked one major thing; it doesn’t let the reader think for themself. It hands out everything and lacks nuance.

Even if the authors says that the anachronisms were left for a reason I couldn’t get past them. Please i urge authors to read about more about corsets, they weren’t a symbol of restriction, they didn’t hurt (except if they weren’t the right size, same as bras actually.)

Protecting one’s stomach doesn’t mean that one is pregnant, please and thank you. The other comments on women left a weird taste in my mouth, like how all men want to be with women because they want to control them but Silas isn’t like other men so he doesn’t to be a woman to control her, and even though the intent wasn’t to objectify women, it felt like that. Also a miscarriage isn’t just a ‘little tragedy’, this felt so disrespectful to anyone who has ever gone through one.

The characters were likeable but not really memorable. I wasn’t really enjoying myself but I just couldn’t stop reading, it was fast past and quite smooth to read. I would still recommend this book if you like the Gothic aesthetic (like really just the aesthetic not the thinking that usually comes with it) and you don’t care about anachronisms as much as I did.

I love how terrifying everything is in this book. The supernatural aspects were chilling, but the societal aspects were worst. The intersections between being trans, experiencing misogyny, and being autistic are perfectly interwoven. Silas is a great mc and I loved his voice. Overall the book is amazing and I can’t wait for it to get the love it deserves.

I loved so many things about this book. Just like White's previous book, it connects a trans teen's fight for life with blood, gore and monsters, and i adored every page of it. I found Silas to be an incredibly relatable main character and was moved by the description of his autistic traits - all of them seemed so natural to him as a character, matched the tone of the book well, and didn't seem forced or oversimplified for the sake of a neurotypical reader. The t4t romance made me super happy, although I wish we could've seen them interact a bit more. Silas' relationship with gender (both his and otherwise) showed the complicated feelings I've personally dealt with really well, and I'm super grateful for that. I think the last third of the book could've been stronger and felt a tiny bit dissapointed by the end, but I still had a great time and am glad to have discovered an apparent new favourite sub-genre of mine - trans horror.

4.5 stars

wow wow, this book! i read "hell followed with us" by the same author last year and was completely in awe of andrew joseph white's writing, and "the spirit bares its teeth" did not disappoint.

"'Mors vincit omnia'...
Death conquers all. Everyone will die and there is not a soul who can escape it."

"the spirit bares its teeth" is not for the faint of heart. it is perhaps even more gory and brutal that the author's previous book, and filled with such trauma and cruelty that sometimes i just wanted to shy away from it all. but that's not to say that this book didn't have some lightness and comfort in it as well, because our main couple - daphne and silas - were the most precious little duo of beans, and i wanted to hug them tight the entire novel.

"She smiles. Her eyes shine like something vicious, and I have never been more attracted to anything in my sixteen years of being alive."

our story follows silas, a trans, autistic boy who has a great interest in surgery, and can tear the veil to talk with ghosts, a trait specific to all those with purple eyes. i adored silas - he was such a brilliantly realistic character, and the entire book i felt such love for him. his relationship with daphne was so beautiful and i loved the way it was written, i may be an adamant insta-love hater, but it wasn't really insta-love. it was like a connection between souls, as two people who understood each other finally found someone they could trust.

i also loved the magical realism aspect, with the ghosts adding an occasional perspective to the book, which was really interesting. the entire book i begged for the girls to be allowed their revenge, and i really appreciated the sense of fulfillment that white gave me regarding that aspect.

"if we still had the fingers to take out their eyes
we would feast on them like witches"

all in all, this was such a beautifully written and highly captivating novel. it was dark and heartbreaking in parts, but overall had such a powerful ending, and the characters were each so realistic (especially mary!! i LOVED mary). highly recommended! (but check those trigger warnings)

thank you so much to the author, publisher and netgalley for the free copy provided in exchange for an honest review!!

WHAT.A.BOOK!! It feels like I read it in one sitting, and I still need more! I enjoyed Hell Followed With Us, but The Spirit Bares Its Teeth blew my mind. I can't find anything I didn't like, so GO AND READ IT!

Thanks to Netgalley and Peachtree Teen for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I adored Hell Followed With Us when I read it last year, so naturally The Spirit Bares Its Teeth was one of my most anticipated releases of this year.

To say it blew my expectations out of the water would be an understatement. From the dedication to the last page this book was everything I could have hoped and also hit me in unexpected ways. As a queer person, I related to Silas' desire to be seen while also struggling with his rabbit's desire only to survive. It's hard to put into words why this book had such an impact on me, but it was like reading something I didn't know I needed. Like the dedication says, this book is "for the kids with open wounds they're still learning to stitch closed."

Beyond the story, the world itself was incredible, I tend to avoid historical fantasies because the fantasy element can often feel like an afterthought. However, this book interwove and balanced the historical and fantasy elements so well. Where I normally fall in love with the fantastical, it was the mundane, historical aspects and viewpoint that really made this story work.

I also want to say I really appreciated the author's letter at the start of the book. I am not one for horror, especially medical horror. I often skip past those parts in movies, so having the author say point blank this isn't something you have to endure, you can leave at anytime, was really refreshing. I really appreciate the thought and care that went into the letter and content warnings.

To end, I cannot wait to read literally anything Andrew Joseph White writes. I highly recommend this book, but be sure to check the content warnings before reading.

*ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

As soon as I finished reading Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White, I knew that I needed to pick up his next book. I was thrilled when I got the approval in my inbox for the arc. I can’t believe I’m saying this as I truly loved Hell Followed With Us but The Spirit Bares Its Teeth just took the top spot for me.

Andrew Joseph White writes such brutal and heartbreaking stories yet I always come away feeling hopeful. Hopeful because Andrew is out there, writing these stories, and giving these characters a voice. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is full of queer & feminine rage and doesn’t shy away from showing us the violence that these characters experience. This book clearly demonstrates that not all monsters are otherworldly. Sometimes humanity is the greatest monster of all.

Even through all the heartbreak, I had so much joy reading from the perspective of a Trans and Neurodivergent character. Silas has my heart forever. As well as Daphne and the girls of Braxton. Honestly my biggest complaint about this book is that I read it so quickly and I miss the characters already.

GO READ THIS BOOK!

Thanks to Netgalley and Peachtree Teen for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White is a heavy story that covers many complicated topics. The book was well written and kept me hooked but the pacing was all over the place - specifically it started way too low. The world created in The Spirit Bares Its Teeth left me haunted and shocked. This is a perfect for the spooky season - but please be sure to check your trigger warnings on this one and take caution.

The Spirit Bares It’s Teeth was gut wrenching and beautiful. I found the characters to be loveable, especially Silas Bell, a trans and autistic teenage boy navigating his ability to commune with spirits, his talent for surgery, and his place in London society. I appreciated the lens this character brought to a fictive historical London society rampant with sexist, ableist, and transphobic ways of governing bodies. The inner turmoil, survival instincts, and fear felt so real as we moved throughout the story with Silas and the friends found along the way.

The gore, medical, and psychological horror was heavy, but felt important towards the end because amidst the horror, Silas is a relatable anchor who finds love and compassion in unexpected places. I am grateful for stories like this, ones that bring out a very real ache for the horrors masked in society (transphobia, sexism, ableism), and that remind us of the safety and strength within community.

The TL;DR is "this stressed me out, you should read it too".

THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH is about a trans boy who is institutionalized for "Veil sickness", a condition which is basically a supernatural version of hysteria, itself a historical catch-all term for "that person we think is a woman isn't doing what we think she ought to do and we want it to stop". What's unique about Veil sickness as opposed to hysteria is that it specifically applies to people with violet eyes, a mark of those who can contact departed spirits. Violet-eyed British men are channeled and constrained by a strict social hierarchy and a physical mark that they are following the socially approved path of a Speaker. Silas is not a girl, he's an autistic trans boy whose interest in anything unfeminine is a threat to the Speakers' power. THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH focuses on Silas as both trans and autistic, as well as times when he meets people who are one or the other but not both. These experiences help him parse the ways that these two facets of himself are so intertwined for him but are not necessarily linked for other people. He deals with an intersection of transphobia, misogyny, and ableism, as the times when he is dismissed for not following the social path of a woman can be inseparable from dismissal of him as an autistic person or not understanding the overwhelmingly allistic social hierarchy and assumptions. Trapped at the institution with few connections to the outside, Silas must try to figure out what's happening to the girls who disappear, and who he can trust to get answers.

As a nonbinary trans person, this was a hard book to read due to some overlaps with my personal experiences (thankfully not at the level of an actual horror novel such as this). I read it in large sections, taking a few days in between each to process and prepare myself for the next part. I'm very glad I read it and I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror, especially medical horror (which features heavily). If you would prefer something more apocalyptic and less medical but are otherwise interested in themes of body horror and transphobia, I suggest reading Andrew's debut novel, HELL FOLLOWED WITH US.

Firstly, I’d like to thank NetGalley and Peachtree for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

All Silas Bell wants is to be able to live his life as a boy, go to medical school, and become a surgeon. When he’s caught breaking the law, he finds himself shipped off to a so-called finishing school to be cured of his “sickness” and trained to be the perfect wife his parents expect him to be. But when girls begin disappearing from the school, and the spirits start talking, Silas has to unearth the truth - before he gets disappeared, too.

This book really was excellent - the prose was captivating, painting stunning (if gruesome) portraits of how Silas sees the world. The gothic vibes were absolutely immaculate, and the tension built through the story kept me enraptured.

The characters were all very distinct, clearly showing their own personalities, but I did find that the secondary characters seemed flat. Whether this is because of Silas’s POV and processing style, or because we just didn’t get enough history or background I don’t know, but I would have liked them to be more filled out.

I did have two bigger points of contention with the book - one, the anachronisms. I know there was a sort of disclaimer at the end that societal/cultural anachronisms were intentional, but there were a lot of places where medical references or language were out of place.

The second issue is I really couldn’t get over how similar the story is to Cemetery Boys. Maybe it’s because I read it too recently, but from the base concept to plot progression, these could practically be the same story with a different filter layered over top.

All in all, the book was beautifully written and a great read, despite the problems I had with it. Would very highly recommend!!

Andrew Joseph White is the only author I would trust to write something so graphically horrifying but beautiful. The story is deeply haunting, the characters are raw and real- Silas and Daphne have so much dimensionality. The contrast between the softness of their relationship and the violence Silas becomes capable of. The depth of research White went into for it as well is evident- the settings are fleshed out, the societal dynamics have complexity to them-the medical scenes alone must have taken extraordinary research to capture so thoroughly. Silas’ entire relationship with surgery and medicine was so cleanly executed from page one, it rang clearly as a way his autism influences his interior world and interests, and gives real grounding for the increasing horror that comes throughout the book.

This is obviously a book you should be wary of triggers with- gore, transphobia, forced institutionalisation ect. is written throughout and written well. Yet, White has a very good sense of how to dive deep into what is horrific, and the know when to let the reader come up for air. Even before the book begins his message to readers represents the care he weaves for us, throughout the book.

It’s gruesome and ragefilled and tragic and joyful and terrifying all wrapped in a bow, and probably one of the most intense, horrifying books I’ve read this year. It’s also my favourite. 5 stars.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a epub in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Wow! I´m having a hard time finding the right words to properly describe this book. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth captivated me from the moment I read the blurb to the last line of the book.

It pushed me far out of my comfort zone as horror is a genre that I usually shy away from; but I´m extremely glad that I picked this book up. It horrified, disgusted and fascinated me in turns. There were times I had to put it down for a few minutes because the horrors, the suffering and the injustice the characters were facing became too much to bear. But I also couldn´t stop reading. I had to know what happened next.

I adored Silas as the main character. His honesty, kindness and determination to survive and be his authentic self, made him a wonderful protagonist. Seeing everything unfold through his point of view made the story feel almost immersive. He took the reader with him on his journey. I thought the rabbit as a manifestation of Silas´ anxiety was a genius idea. It gave a voice to everyone with anxiety and self-doubts who, no matter what they do, think they are not good enough. But I adored the character of Daphne just as much. Their romance took me by surprise. I did not expect this book to be so tender and heart-warming amidst the heart-wrenching events. I desperately hoped for a happy ending for them.

Even though the book is set in the Victorian era the exploration of gender roles transcends the historical setting. “What makes a man a man?” and “What makes a woman a woman?” are questions that are just as relevant to society today as they were to Silas and Daphne in this book.

I´ll definitely be thinking about The Spirit Bares Its Teeth for a long time!

In The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, Andrew Joseph White has created a thoughtful and engaging story that provides insight into a character struggling with who they truly are and how they fit into society based on how they are perceived.

This story follows Silas Belle, who is transgender and autistic, in London in the late 1800s. This is considered historical fiction but there is an element of fantasy that is well-executed, in which the Veil between the living and the dead is becoming thinner and there are violet-eyed people who can open the Veil and communicate with the dead. As is often the case throughout history, men viewed women as unable to handle the interaction with the Veil and women who didn’t conform to this were considered to have Veil sickness and sent off to hospitals or, in Silas’ case, Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium.

While at Braxton’s, Silas begins to uncover a terrifying secret and struggles to overcome and endure the unorthodox training of the Headmaster, who is determined to force Silas to confirm to the role of wife and mother. But Silas has a dream of becoming a surgeon, like his brother, and has a deep knowledge of human anatomy and healthcare. Following Silas’ perspective of the world and how he relates to it through this passion is one, of many, things that make this novel so compelling. In addition to the parallel between the body horror throughout the novel and Silas’ struggle with the body he was born in–I found that connection really drove home what Silas was feeling.

The novel gives incredible insight into how transgender people feel when their body is not reflective of the gender they feel they are and with which they identify. As a cisgender person and not experiencing that, I believe this novel, and Silas, helped me better understand the feelings and internal conflict for a transgender person. The desire to reflect who they truly are and how disconnected they can feel when they look at themselves and don’t see what is true to them. And the harm inflicted when society won’t accept them and goes to extreme means to force them into what they consider acceptable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and found it educational as well. The writing is atmospheric, visceral, and captivating. I think fans of horror, historical fiction, and even thriller novels would enjoy the mystery, gore, and historical context of this novel. Again, it also has a fantasy element to it, but it’s still very relevant to the time period.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!


SPOILER BELOW
I did love how Silas overcame a lot throughout the book but wasn’t the hero who solved the world’s problems either. I think there can be a lot of pressure and expectation that he and Daphne would overthrow the system at the end, but that’s not really how the world works. There is a hint to a revolution at the end and I thought that was perfect.

I will post this review (sans spoiler) on my Instagram on 9/2.

Visceral, vile and vulnerable! Wow, this story is a level up from Hell Followed With Us and Andrew Joseph White does not pull any punches. I am enraged just thinking about this book, but also oddly comforted, which feels like two opposing ends.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is gothic historical medical horror that explores ableism, patriarchy, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, female hysterics and more. It is raw and fierce amidst despicable acts by the male authority who seek to tame women.

Silas, the violet eyed autistic trans protagonist, is born to a Speaker family which means that he will be married off as a commodity and women are not allowed to practice as mediums. His internal rabbit thumps heavily within his chest, which bolsters the commentary on Silas' experience.

The scenes where Silas meets others who are like him just have my heart. The love and understanding shared between Silas and Daphne is beautiful and heartwarming.

The precise body horror speaks directly to who Silas is at his core, as well as provides the shoulder raising grimacing response to the atrocities committed against women who don't conform. From a bathroom Cesarean to pig dissection, this isn't for the squeamish, but it is so effective for the story being told.

I would've liked to know more about the Speakers, veil and hauntings, but understand the choices made since the focus was more on the students at Braxton's. I appreciated the author's note at the end and will be looking into further resources.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a horrifically stunning powerhouse novel that I absolutely recommend to readers who can stomach the brutal horrors.