Thank you to Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for this e-arc!

Andrew Joseph White is an artist. This was my first book by this author and I am ready to go pick up their debut!
We follow Silas, a trans-boy stuck existing in 1800's England. They are born into a somewhat Secret Society of Mediums who can convene with those who have passed. Silas was born a woman and is raised with only their use as a "woman" in mind. But Silas knows they aren't a woman and they have no place as a wife. He is sent to a "finishing school" after a diagnosis of "Veil Sickness" and there is far more hidden than Silas ever assumed.
This book discusses hard topics such as misogyny, ableism, and transphobia. I rated this book 5 stars and can't wait to have a copy in my hands.

Note: I was provided with an ARC of "The Spirit Bares Its Teeth" in exchange for an honest review. Many, many thanks to Andrew Joseph White, Peachtree Teen, and Netgalley.

My expectations for this book were exceedingly high - seeing as AJW's debut book was my favorite read of 2022, and it still remains one of my favorite books ever -, and, surprisingly, they were surpassed. TSBIT delivered everything it promised and so, so much more.

It tells the story of Silas Bell: a trans boy in a time he wasn't supposed to exist, autistic in a way that is not palatable for the people around him, extremely intelligent, incapable of reading the room, ready to become a surgeon at sixteen, so full of love and joy and deprived of any way to show it.

"The Spirit Bares Its Teeth" is set in a Victorian London where, decades ago, the veil between the living and the dead thinned. Suddenly, there were purple-eyed people, and they had the ability of manipulating the Veil. They became mediums, capable of communicating with spirits. But men in power do what they always do: turn something that should be accessible into something exclusive of the higher class. They create the Speakers. They self-regulate. No one dares stand against them, since they have the dead on their side.

From this, come the rules. Only people who are vetted by the Speakers can legally open the Veil. Everyone else, especially if they're from the British colonies, is committing a crime. Women are not allowed to do anything related to the Veil - too feeble-minded, too frail to stand its effects -, except when it comes to bearing children. Everyone wants a son with purple eyes, and no one seems to care about the price. They turn, as they've turned many times in history, women into bargain chips, stocks to be traded, things to be broken and molded into the perfect, submissive, agreeable wife.

And then we have Silas. After a failed attempt to finally be free of everything that is weighting him down - his family and their hatred, his arranged marriage; his many tutors that ensure he never even thinks of acting differently, the Speakers -, he ends up being thrown into Braxton’s Sanitorium and Finishing School. It's an asylum, it's a prison, it's a torture chamber. The choice is clear to Silas: become a obedient little girl or perish.

As usual, AJW creates the perfect tension. As soon as Silas steps into the school, the reader is immediately on edge. Everything feels off, it feels cold and impersonal and there's so few people it's disconcerting. But this is Silas' only chance at survival, and he needs to take it.

The characters, every single one of them, are amazingly crafted and fleshed out. No one is perfect, no one is just good or just evil.

Everything about Silas resonated with me. I might be biased, as a trans masc ADHD-riddled person, but I just felt so seen. What hit particularly close to home was how Silas kept stopping himself from stimming, even when no one was looking. He spent so many years being corrected and berated that, no matter how much his body needed the outlet, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Although my hyperfixations are not usually of the medical realm, I too have very intense interests that are frowned upon by the people I love most.

I do realize this review is a bit all over the place, I will probably come back to it later.

There was one thing that really stood out to me: the way Silas dealt with his boyhood. And his dysphoria. TSBIT presents a point of view that can only have been written by someone who has experienced every part of it, all the pain, all the shame and the self-hatred. Not really at ourselves, but at how other people insist on seeing and addressing us. Every time Silas struggled with "maybe simply being a sick girl", with doubts that he's only pretending, performing the gender he is, because others refuse to see him for who he really is. And the way he defends his boyhood. Not the violent masculinity forced upon him, but the soft masculinity, how he cares, how he wants to protect. In the end, being a boy is just being. There's no requirements.

To summarize: I loved the story. Loved the blood, the gore, the entrails spilling out of body cavities that should not exist. Loved the setting, how claustrophobic it felt, how the reader also feels surrounded at all times, with no place to escape to. I loved the romance, how such tenderness bloomed in the middle of so much abuse and bloodshed.

All in all, I'm giving "The Spirit Bares Its Teeth" a 4,75 stars. The missing 0,25 are purely because it's YA, and I felt something lacking. The ending was too clean, the story too well wrapped up. But I'd absolutely loved to have had this book when I was younger, a weird teen that felt they would never meet someone like them.

I went into this book expecting an interesting read, but not one that still rested on the edges of my mind days after finishing it. This was the creepiest, most horrifying read, yet managed to write it in such a beautiful and heartbreaking way. This isn’t a book for the faint of heart, so anyone looking to read this should pay attention to the trigger warnings.

Andrew Joseph White's novels are always such incredible reads. I knew this would be no different. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is an amazing follow-up to Hell Followed Us. I absolutely loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is beautiful, gut-wrenching, and one of the best books I have read in a long time.

"Everyone is made up of stories, when you think about it. You only really come to understand yourself by comparing other's people's stories to yours; you find where things are the same, and where they're not. It's difficult when the story isn't one the world wants to hear, though."
This book was gut-wrenching, gruesome, and horrifyingly beautiful. White does it again when it comes to combining the trans and queer experience with history and religion. This book is not for the faint of heart, and it honestly has changed my brain chemistry for the better. I loved this book so much, and I was so thankful for being able to read an e-arc of this book. I loved the trans-rep in this book with Silas and Daphne's character. I also loved the rep of autism with Silas and the groundskeeper.
The Veil plays such a heavy part in the story, and I love how little it is shown until the end. The pressure of wanting to know the extent of the veil, its inner workings, and what resides within bubbles up throughout the story until it explodes. I loved the characters in this book and loathed the actions against them. This book needs to be read by everyone!

I absolutely adored this book. It was so well-written with characters that felt real and that you wanted to root for and a fascinating plot that kept me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read more from Andrew Joseph White.

Beautiful, dark, sometimes truly shocking and very necessary. I loved the writing and all the ideas, everything was brought to life with such admirable boldness and power. Highly recommended to everyone.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a visceral look at society and the unrealistic expectations it has over us, especially those of us society does not understand.

I loved following Silas as he tries to navigate a world where he will never be seen as the boy he is and only ever be seen as what the Speakers tell him he is. The medical mistreatment, the gaslighting, the way people treat Silas and some others is frustrating and an unfortunate truth even of todays society. I went through a whole range of emotions in this book from happy, angry, sad, and more.

For me, Andrew Joseph White know how to weave and tell a story. The writing style and the story he wrote seemed to know exactly how to pull the emotions out of me. I could see parts of myself within a lot of the characters.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is not as angry as his previous novel. However, it is just as emotional, dark, and horrific.

I absolutely loved this novel!

Thanks to NetGallery and the publisher for an early copy of the book.

The cover is really really beautiful, i have no words to explain how much i love it. I didn't expect to be so horrified by the descriptions and i loved it.

I feel deeply grateful that authors like Andrew Joseph White exist, as well as the support needed to bring this book to life. I'm actually finding it difficult to articulate all the ways in which The Spirit Bares Its Teeth surprised me and made me feel seen. I found myself stopping at points throughout the book to reread, reflect, and just let in the feeling of experiencing something new... The interesting and spooky storyline, as well as its satisfying conclusion, were added bonuses! The author included analogies to multiple systems of oppression that, while at times felt a little heavy handed, were very necessary and cleverly executed.

I very much appreciated the author's note at the start of the book, warning of graphic descriptions of medical procedures/anatomy, because that is indeed the one aspect of the book that hindered my enjoyment of it. Just like when watching a horror film, I had to cover my eyes for some parts... :) However, I want to reiterate that the author noting this beforehand was extremely helpful and I'm grateful I was able to enter with that awareness. This medical realism did lend even more grit and gravity to an already harrowing premise. (Another author's note I appreciated came at the end of the book: Note on Historical Accuracy and the Representation of Medical Experimentation. I do wish the reality of medical harm toward racial minorities had been represented/addressed more in the context of the story, although I understand this is a work of fiction.)

I did not find Silas particularly endearing as a character--sometimes it was difficult to experience the relentless horrors of the story so starkly through his eyes--but I did find mirrors of myself in him that were both beautiful and forgiving. I also think this quality is a strength in its own way: Silas is unique, without being the "chosen one" at the center of a story, and more believable as a multi-faceted human being because of his flaws/strengths together. I'm SO glad I read this book and I highly recommend reading it, especially during the quickly-approaching spooky season. Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink, Peachtree Teen for this ARC! I feel lucky to have been chosen, as I see this book becoming an important, lasting addition to LGBTQIAP+, social justice, and feminist literature.

Goodreads review link, posted 8/13/23: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5650555506

**Two grammatical errors found will be listed in this review, but are not included in my public Goodreads review above. Thank you, again!
Typo on pg. 156 of 399 (pdf pg. reference) -- "You need to experience the TRUTH depth of manhood..." Should be "true"?
Missing word on pg. 302 of 399 -- "I turn, reaching toward Isabella's body on [the] table..."

E-ARC generously provided by Peachtree Teen via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!

5 stars. Written with the unflinching sharpness of a polished scalpel and starring a queer trans protagonist, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a gorgeously Gothic and gruesome novel that examines Victorian England’s mental institutions through a speculative lens: gore and guts and all.

This book is hard for me to talk about.

Not because it's bad. But because it's opened up my chest and ripped out a lot of feelings I had pushed down for a long time. The experience of queerness, identity, and social place with the self and family are themes that White continues to capture much like he did in his debut.

This novel is gross, and I say that as a full compliment. However, for many this may not be to their taste. I think you must keep the content warnings in mind and be honest about what you can and cannot handle. White addresses some of the hard, sometimes violent questions of the trans experience and where transphobia and misogyny collide, both in transmisogyny and the misogyny experienced by trans men that often enforces their 'place' in society. In this case, discussions of preganacy (and abortion) and marriage and worth can make for an uncomfortable experience that I think it worth the read. In addition to this, White continues to press the importance of discussing ableism and does so with utter fury and ferocity. As as a neurodivergent reader, these parts really got to me. I sobbed. I had to put it down. I picked it up with my teeth clenched needing to know more and read the same words used to hurt me, and thousand like me, and see it through to the end.

I would say that The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a book that challanged me. At time I did not enjoy it for that discomfort, but it engaged me, ripped through me, and broke me down. This novel shows to me that enjoyment has a spectrum, and for me, there was enjoyment in my, at times, disconnected feeling from it. That might seem like it makes no sense, but I feel queer readers especially know this feeling when reading about experiences they now all too well but have put distance to.

White continues to prove the need for queer stories that hurt, that are violent, and that don't treat us as delicate flowers unable to confront hard topics. Stories like these are just as important and validating as the stories in which queerness isn't confronted. White chooses to sink his claws into dismantling by force, with blood and fangs and anger... and I love that.

I think Andrew Joseph White is here to stay, and for that I am blessed to be here in the same time to read these stories. This makes my top ten favourite books of all time.

How are you supposed to review a book when it leaves you speachless?

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White chews you up, spits you out, leaves you lying all bloody and bare and you still end up wanting more. It's gory and brutal. It's ferocious and angry, but it's angry for a reason. It's wild and hopeful and validating and it's so, so beautiful!

I didn't even know you could put gore and beauty in the same sentence, but for all the gore I've read before nothing has ever been written so beautifully. And I didn't know you could find so much comfort in a book like this, but it definitely proved me wrong.

So, if you have the stomach for reading graphic medical gore, go read this book! It would be worth it!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review*

TRULY a FANASTIC historical fiction story featuring a trans male and autistic MMC. The #ownvoices rep was amazing as was the historical insights into female mental health and incarceration during this time period! Part historical fiction, part horror/fantasy, this book deep dives into the horrifying (BUT REAL) medical practices performed on women deemed outside the norm.

Great on audio and HIGHLY recommended. I can't sing the praises of this book enough and it was especially good narrated by Raphael Corkhill. Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and @prhaudio for complimentary early digital and audio copies in exchange for my honest review!! Read especially if you enjoyed A lady for a duke by Alexis Hill or The perks of being a wallflower by Erica Ridley.

DARK, GROTESQUE, EXQUISITE.

Those are the three best words to describe this book. I did not expect to love this book so much, since when the author's debut novel came out I did not like it and dnfed it, nevertheless, since the first moment I read the synopsis of this book I was excited and felt that I was going to like this book, and what happiness I felt when I started it and from the first chapter I was completely hooked, because yes, it is that good.

In this book we follow our main character, Silas, a boy who just wants to live as he is, to be recognized by society for who he really is and to be a doctor, just like his older brother, something that seems even more impossible when he pretends to be someone else and is discovered, causing him to be sent to a sanatorium type of "school" to correct his deviations and make him the perfect woman, everything that his parents and society expect of him, but being in this horrible place he discovers devastating facts that cannot stay that way, so he will try do whatever it takes to get out of that place and expose to the world what is happening in the hopes that they will see all the horrible things that are done to women and people who do not meet the expectations of society.


I really loved the representation and the characters, their motivations and actions seemed very real to me and I empathized a lot. The ending, in my opinion, is left open for a possible sequel, but at the same time, I think that where it ends is still very good and leaves you with a feeling of hope for the characters that survive.

How do I explain this book? I don't even know how. Horror, especially body/ medical horror, is not my thing but the characters are. Sila was an amazing character and my heart went out to the girls at the school. The real horror for me was the society and my argument in my head is the horror that people treated others like this is totally fictional and knowing it happens. Happened. Happens. I want to always believe the best in people and, yeah.

This is a book that will stay with you a long time.

Morbidly fascinating, riveting, and unique. The perfect combination of horrifying situations and characters to love, as well as characters you can love to hate. With masterful and beautiful writing, and a plot that kept me glued to the page, this is one of the few books I can honestly say was impossible for me to put down.
Additionally, I could go on for ages about the representation and personal stories given to us in this book, but for the sake of simplicity, I will say only this: what Andrew Joseph White is doing with his words is incredible, important, and infinitely meaningful.

The Spirit Bares It's Teeth is one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint. Silas's story as he navigates societal expectations that constrain him as they try to make him out to be what they want him to be is as moving as it is horrifying. One thing that really stood out to me is that throughout the entirety of the book, Silas never once questions who he is. He knows that he's a trans boy and that he's autistic, and he never thinks that there's something wrong with him. His only problem is that others are putting pressure on him to be someone he's not no matter how much he wishes they'd see him for who he is. Silas's conviction to himself made this book somehow feel like a love letter for trans and autistic people everywhere, despite the graphic content and the terrible ways in which others treat him. The care and craft that went into this story make it a phenomenal book that places it easily in my top three books of the year so far.

Absolutely check the trigger warnings, but if you find that you're willing to risk them, I can't recommend this book enough.

I'm incredibly thankful to PeachTree Teen and NetGalley for providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“They can’t keep scraping away layers of me thinking they can find the girl they want underneath. I’m not the dead flesh on top of a healing injury, devoured by maggots making way for the tender meat underneath to bloom. I am not the septic organ or the infected tooth. All of this is me. They can’t just remove whatever they want.” ⭐⭐⭐💫

Andrew Joseph White’s “The Soul Bares Its Teeth” is one of those books I know I’ll need to sit with for a while before I can be certain how I felt about it, so it’s possible my rating may fluctuate over time. Maybe pay more attention to my thoughts than the ratings themselves.

Thank you to @peachtreeteen and @netgalley for giving me the chance to read in exchange for an honest review. “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth” comes out on September 5!

CHARACTERS ⭐⭐⭐ One of my criteria for 3-star characters is “won’t necessarily think about them beyond the last page.” I don’t think that’s the case here; Silas will remain in my thoughts for at least as long as I need to turn the book as a whole over in my mind. But beyond that I did care about what would happen to him, but maybe no more than any other character in the book. I also had issues with too much telling over showing when it came to some of the side characters.

ATMOSPHERE ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Cannot fault this one for its atmosphere. The first words that spring to mind are ‘cold’, ‘tense’ and ‘stifling’, and it remained those throughout.

WRITING ⭐⭐⭐💫 White is a writer I would be very interested in coming back to a couple books down the line (I won’t actually wait this long because of who I am as a person, and will also probably read his previous title, “Hell Followed with Us”). There was a lot of beautiful stuff here; he’s clearly in the right business. I did bounce off some of it though, particularly his metaphors, which landed quite well for me 40% of the time but did not the other 60%. This is because Silas sees the world through bodies and his singular focus on and purpose to be a surgeon. At one point he narrates, “I think literature consumes her the same way surgery has swallowed me. She sees the world through the lens of it: she is to stories like I am to meat.” I love that; I appreciate the perspective. But the actual metaphors were more often than not quite strained and excessive to the point of distraction. Neat idea with an execution that didn’t work for me.

PLOT ⭐⭐💫 Started off a little slow for me, but I would certainly have rated this higher were it not for the ending, which took quite a turn and then allowed for very little time to process its impact. The About the Author section says, “Andrew writes about trans kids with claws and fangs, and what happens when they bite back.” I think in the interest of making that happen the end actually betrayed Silas a bit. That’s all I can say without spoiling, but I’m beginning to wonder if horror endings are for me, since I tend to bounce off of them often. But that’s the subject of another post.

PACING ⭐⭐⭐⭐

WORLD BUILDING ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Love the ideas for a haunted Victorian England and how that manifests in the horrors of the day (though White confesses to playing fast and loose with historical accuracy).

ENJOYMENT ⭐⭐⭐ I valued my time with this book, but ultimately it was too dark for me. In all narratives I need more hope, or at least a different kind than we’re offered here.

(RELATIONSHIPS ⭐⭐⭐💫 With the slow start, the point where I started to really care about what was happening was when Silas started to create bonds with the girls in the school and how that then affected the narrative. It just took a while to get to that point, which was effective at showing Silas’s loneliness (and subsequent surprise at realizing his loneliness) but did make it harder for me to invest at first.)

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a gothic horror novel set in an alternate Victorian England about Silas, an autistic trans boy who just wants to be himself and wants the opportunity to do what he’s best at, surgery. But, after a failed attempt to get out of an arranged marriage, Silas gets diagnosed with Veil Sickness—a disease that sends violet-eyed women into madness—and gets sent away to Braxton’s Sanitorium and Finishing School. But when the ghosts of missing students come to Silas begging for help, he must risk himself and everything he loves to get justice.

This novel is a tough read (check trigger warnings below) but it was definitely worth it. The writing was beautiful. I found myself highlighting so many quotes. The character work was great. I loved Silas and Daphne and even eventually loved characters that I never thought I would! I am a gore girlie, so I loved all the medical talk and gory scenes! (Even though there was one scene that was even a lot for ME, the girl who loves horror and watches real surgeries on YouTube) But I loved every second of it.

I do wish that the ghosts were a little more prevalent. Most of the book focuses on the horror of the humans, as it should’ve, that’s what the story called for. But in the synopsis there was a lot of emphasis put on spirits and being a medium, so there was less of that than I was expecting. Also, there were a lot of characters introduced at once toward the beginning of the book, and it took me a while to remember who was who and keep up with everyone’s names. Those were my only two complaints though, everything else was great!

This book was a hard read at times, very triggering, but it was worth it! And I liked that there was a note in the back of the book that addressed the fact that in reality most of the things that were done to these characters were historically done to people of color. I’m glad the author shed a light on that for his readers that don’t know. I’d definitely recommend this book to someone looking to get lost in gorgeous writing, characters you care about, and a heavy but necessary story.

Thank you Peachtree Teen and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: sexual assault (on page), transphobia, ableism, discussions of forced pregnancy and miscarriage, suicidal ideation, misgendering, misogyny, animal disection, abuse, abortion, medical gore, murder, pedophilia