I recieved a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for providing an honest review. Additionally, I will be briefly discussing some of the body horror elements of the narrative, so please be aware when reading.

When I finished reading Andrew Joseph White's debut, Hell Followed With Us, I simply knew that I would be jumping onto reading his next release as soon as I possibly could. In fact, I made a Netgalley account just to read it before September because I couldn’t wait to read it.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth was once again, a love letter to trans and autistic people who are forced to fight to make a space for them to live and to thrive in a world that often tries to destroy us. I cannot speak to the autistic representation in this book, as I’m not autistic, but I do want to speak about the trans aspect of Silas’s identity.

The trans experience that White tells in Silas’s voice spoke to me so hard, because it’s my own experience. Like Silas, my body is not one that can easily be mistaken for anything other than AFAB. Even so, his dysphoria is not wholly about his body, it’s about how society perceives his body. It was a different transmasc story to what I usually see, and it filled my soul. I wrote down so many quotes related to Silas’s trans identity, even a whole paragraph that just explained my experience at one point.

I am not usually someone who enjoys gory horror, it’s just not my style. But something about the brutality of this book, the clinical blood and meat combined with the horrific treatment imposed on the women (and Silas) in the narrative is cathartic. It’s healing. As White says in his foreword, sometimes survival hurts, and hearing that narrative told soothes a wound that should never have been dealt.

Intersection with my own identity aside, Andrew Joseph White told a masterful story that kept me engaged the whole time, managing to shock me with things that had been lead with at the very beginning of the book. I never knew what to expect next, and the ending of the novel was a wonderful conclusion to the book, and I felt perfectly suited to reflect the long-term impact these experiences would have had on the characters.

With The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, Andrew Joseph White has confirmed his position as my favourite author, and I will be throwing money at his next release at high speed.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If only a keyboard smashing would count as a review...

<b>TW: transphobia, ableism, graphic violence, sexual assault, discussions of forced pregnancy and miscarriage, mentions of suicidal ideation, extensive medical gore </b>

I was screaming inside since page one. I felt the shards of a glass plunging into my guts and twisting them in a sickening, horrible but satisfying way that only AJ White is able to. I am utterly at lost for words.
Silas, baby, precious boy living in a world where the different is discarded as unnatural and sent to a place where it is left to rotten or broken until "fixed" in a shape that would only satisfy the real monsters of society. I loved every single character in this book, how rounded and nuanced they all are. Not only that, but I felt like one of the spirits, the pain and injustice of it all is now deep inside my veins, permeates every inch of my skin and lungs, and by the end of the book I was ready to join the fight. This book is not for the faint of heart, but should be a must. It is a giant f* you to the patriarchal society we still live in, and a reminder to never, ever let your guard down. I can't wait to buy it and bully my wife to read it.

Oh, and now I want a tattoo of the rabbit.

I know I am being incoherent. I am not okay. Blame White for this.

This book, though amazing, is not for the feint of heart, so please read through the content warnings on the front. It's a great trans autistic survival story mixed with historical fiction vibes and ghosts. There is beauty even in dark times, and it does celebrate trans joy, but the book makes you work for it. That being said, it's a satisfying story of revenge against abusers. I read it in two days, I couldn't put it down, but I did have to skip some descriptions because wow they are graphic. The writing is also very refreshing compared to Death Followed, and the MC is more realistic and well rounded.

First of all, thanks to NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for letting me read an ARC of this book.

The authors go me FROM THE NOTE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK. THE STORY HADN'T EVEN STARTED YET.

Andrew's writing is just so beautiful. So honest. I think the thing about it is that he understands humans so well? Is that weird to say?? And then he's able to translate it into such clear words.
This book talks big about nd don't get me wrong, they go through horrible things, and it's not sugarcoated, but it's not torture porn, it's not there to satisfy anyone's morbid curiosity. They hurt and we see their pain and then we turn away, not because we pretend it's not happening, but because we're not entitled to the victim's pain. The tender way this book handles tragedy, seriously. Get everyone to take notes.

The mc just made my heart feel so full 😭 And all of the girls. @ andrew thanks for letting us be angry and hurt and happy and loved.

While ofc the most important thing is for everyone to get to see themselves in stories, I think this book is also good for people who don't expect to see themselves here. As I said, the writing is so good at showing the reality of its characters, and I think people who might, for explample, not be acquantainced with a non-ableist portrayal of autism to start to realize that hey, maybe I don't know as much about this as I thought! Maybe it IS important for me to know!

what joseph white nails here is how he breaks down the stereotype that autistic people are naive because, if anything, silas as a protagonist is anything but. he's wonderfully ambitious and intelligent, but also kind despite all that he has to endure as a trans boy in the 19th century. there's a lot to unpack here about what it means to be trans, what handicaps (and subsequently privileges) a visible gender identity presents, and more. however, at the heart of the story is one of found family, which is so, so important because even if one passes as another gender, the experience of being trans is still othering. that doesn't negate the possibility of strong friendships and intrinsic understandings though and it isn't naive to want that. this emotional crux didn't hit as hard as i would've wanted because the relationships described are sometimes more subtle, but i can't wait to reread down the line.

(*3.5)

i don’t even know how to begin this review. the only coherent thought i have about this book right now is i absolutely adored it. every single word.

the spirit bares its teeth truly exceeded every expectation i had for it going in. i adored the characters (silas, daphne, isabella, and mary you will always be famous) and i was not expecting a romance at all!! and it blew me away!!

but i think what made this reading experience so special to me is how much i related to the main character. every single one of silas’ mannerisms and most of his thoughts feel like they were pulled directly out of my brain.

the horror elements, of course, did not let me down. i could barely put it down, the suspense!!!! my stomach was churning, my heart was burning, tears were streaming down my face. i felt every emotion.

i think. i loved the spirit bares its teeth more than hell followed with us, which is insane to me because of how much i love hfwu.

i’ll need a few weeks to recover from this (and i still probably won’t fully recover.) i truly think every single person should pick this book up, if you are able to. it’s powerful, important, and i cannot stress this enough, astonishing.

Thank you to the publisher for sending this to me as an ARC!

This is the best book, and probably the most important piece of literature that I've read all year. We are reading from an autistic trans boy's POV, and discussing real issues that women and people with any difference have faced throughout history. The most amazing part of this book to me was that the horror lies in the fact that this book has just exaggerated things that could actually happen to marginalized groups.

Along with this, AJW helped me see my partner in a new light. My partner is a trans-femme individual, and her struggles are things that I understand conceptually, but haven't been able to understand in reality. Through Daphne, I was able to understand and bond more closely with my partner, and for that, I am incredibly grateful:)

This book hooked me right from the start. I was craving something spooky and dark, but with a unique premise –this was the book! The main character, Silas, is misunderstood by everyone for his unique way of looking at the world and feeling like he doesn't belong in his own body. I really loved hearing about the perspective of a trans/autistic character (although these aren't terms ever used in the book, of course) during Victorian England, It was definitely grim and not for the faint of heart, but well written and compelling. My only qualms with this book were that there were coincidences that seemed a little too perfect.

Whenever an author has a powerful and unique debut novel as Andrew Joseph White did with Hell Followed With Us I tend to dampen my expectations for their second book because of the dreaded sophomore book curse. Surely lightning can't strike twice?

I'm here to tell you it has.

Throughout the novel I found myself rooting for, fearful for, and wanting to fight for Silas. White does a fantastic job of weaving Victorian horror, mystery, and suspense to explore the transgender experience while keeping you on the edge of your seat until the last page.

The body horror and medical gore are used brilliantly and in a way that is not gratuitous, wanton, or excessive but accent the themes of the book. The autism representation was wonderfully done as well.

I hope everyone gives this gem of a book a chance.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow wow to this book!! I loved the representation in this book and the overall spookiness!! I thought the mix of horror/supernatural elements and real-life events from the 1800s was done so well. Girlies that had a love of The Yellow Wallpaper short story will love this book.

This is my first time reading a novel by this author and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book. To sum it up, it’s a Victorian, gothic, horror, fantasy book with queer and transgender characters. To be honest, I started reading this book with no expectation of how it was going to play out. The characters are beautifully rendered with all their flaws and insecurities. I had definitely gone through an emotional rollercoaster ride while reading this. There are a lot of dark, serious, and disturbing themes in this book but the author was able to balance it out. The story is evenly paced and though fictional, has thought-provoking, real world themes.

To properly enjoy this book, please be advised of the following trigger warnings: graphic violence, sexual assault, medical gore, transphobia and medical/psychiatric abuse.

Thank you, NetGalley, Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink, Peachtree Teen for the chance to read this amazing book.

TW: gore, violence, deadnaming, misgendering, sexual assault, torture.

The Veil between living and dead is thinned and those with violet eyes are able to commune with the spirits, but only under the rules of the Royal Speaker Society. Silas Bell is sixteen years old and having violet eyes means being seen as a thing to be used, to become a wife and an obedient future mother. It doesn't matter he wants to be a surgeon, he's struggling to hide his autism and he's a boy and not the girl everyone wants to see.
After a failed attempt to escape an arranged marriage, Silas is diagnosed with Veil sickness and brought into the Braxton's Finishing School and Sanitorium, where he'll be shaped into an obedient wife and girl.
When ghosts start asking for Silas' help, he starts to understand how sick the school and its inhabitants are and how they will do everything to fit girls into their boxes. Even mutilating or killing them. To save himselves and those he loves, Silas has to be ready to do anything in his power.

The spirit bares its teeth is one of the best book I've read this year. Or in a long time. For one being truly in love with medicine and surgery, I absolutely loved how Andrew Joseph White uses metaphors and references to veins, body functions and surgery in the whole book. It's wonderfully written and it's a story with a fantastic, brave and smart main character, ready to do anything in order to live freely his own life and, also, to unveil the hidden sickness in the school. And in the whole society. Interesting how the Veil sickness is everything the world doesn't accept in women: being brave and intelligent, being outspoken, refusing to obedy and to follow men's rules.

The main character is Silas, an autistic trans boy and the story is set in London, in 1883, in a society where ghosts can be seen and used for people's own gains, like the Royal Speaker Society and where women are only seen as obedient wives and mothers.
Silas isn't a girl and he will never be ready to accept the fate his family and the society want from him. While navigating the school, while trying to understand what's happening there, Silas will find allies in people like him and also understand how, sometimes, to survive, people are forced to hide themselves and accept their destiny. He's not ready to do that.
Incredibly powerful and intriguing is how Silas sees the rabbit in his chest, how he was forced to hide himself, to hide his identity, his autism, his being a boy and not a girl and how he grows in the whole book, becoming more and more confident and ready to act on his fears and to save himself and his loved ones.

In The spirits bares its teeth, Andrew Joseph White talks about the violence of the patriarchy, a mysoginist society ready to do anything in order to crush women who want to be free and indipendent and, if in their previous book it was the religion the weapon used to destroy them, now it's the science and the fake sickness women caught.
In a crude and gorey novel, this book underlines lies and violence and how the patriarchy harmed those who didn't want to conform, expecially trans youth.
I loved everything in this book. It was fierce and violent, brilliant and wonderfully written.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced copy of this book. One minor note is it's frustrating that I wasn't able to download this to my Kindle. This has not impacted my review here.

What an incredible (and gory lol) read. I was a big fan of White's debut Hell Followed With Us and I just loved the historical setting in this one.

Oh my god. I can't figure out how to stress just how good this book is.

It's an incredibly powerful and sad and angry and gory read. But it's also full of joy and love and support and hope in the most harshest of places. This book will make you recoil and cry and gasp. You'll want to hold it dear. You'll see yourself in a range of different characters and feel their suffering. The writing is gorgeous and powerful, always. I loved this book.

[Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!]

I thought that this book was amazing! Honestly, I was concerned that it would be too young-adult for me, seeing as it's classified as a young adult book, but this story was incredibly dark, disturbing, gory, disgusting and wonderful.
Some things I loved:
Silas's character. I fell in love with him as a protagonist, and was able to heavily empathise with him as we shared a lot of the same experiences. I found myself wondering how the author managed to get inside my own head at some parts!
The representation. I truly believe that novels such as this one should pave the way for 'young adult' books to come. We got trans men and women, different ends of the autism spectrum, lesbians and more. This kind of representation is so very important for modern literature, especially aimed at 'younger' audiences.
The story. The pacing, the plot, the twists and turns, everything. I genuinely couldn't put this book down!
The disturbing-ness of the story. I loved the creepy and unsettling vibe the whole book had, and the extremely dark and gruesome but entertaining twists.
The only thing I was a little put off by was the fantasy element, not because I dislike fantasy, but because I feel like it could have been explored a little more. I would have loved to know more about the actual logistics of the mediums and the violet eyes, and how the veil actually works.
Fantastic read overall, I will definitely be picking up Andrew's other books as his writing style is magnificent! Thank you to NetGalley for this advance release copy!

Thank you to Andrew Joseph White, Holiday House and Peachtree Teen, and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review-- all opinions are my own.

This book is easily one of my top ten favorite reads so far this year. I was so excited to receive an ARC for this book because everything about it- the blurb,cover, and author are just really cool!! I devoured this book in two days. From the very beginning the book grabbed my attention with the world-building, characters, and plot. The beginning really throws you into the thick of the plot and I was hooked. I really enjoy and appreciate how the author does not shy away from the horror and grittiness of the issues at hand. Sometimes it was almost just too much to handle, but that added fuel to the I need to keep reading to find out what happens fire. I also appreciate the notes at the beginning and end on historical accuracy and the representation of medical experimentation and how they specifically cite and recommend two books in particular that highlight and explain a dark part of medical history and the oppressive and torturous practices done to minority populations. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a dark and heavy read so please read and understand the content warnings before reading.
Overall, a very great read and will probably read this again.

3.5 STARS

**Content Warnings (from the author)**

Graphic violence, sexual assault, gore, transphobia (explicit misgendering, dead-naming, transphobic violence/conversion therapy), anti-autistic ableism, medical/psychiatric abuse (including dubious diagnosis and treatment), gaslighting and abuse, discussions of miscarriage

**You know what happens to little girls who play with ghosts.**

This book is dark, hard and heavy straight from the beginning. Our MC is a troubled autistic boy fated to be in the wrong body with a family who clearly does not accept or understand them. My heart aches for this character as they tried to hide who they are, hide their ticks, hide their confusion and hide their pain. All of the characters are simple and yet stand out in their own way as they are tied to the MC for different reasons. I thought our MC would be a difficult narrator but I very much enjoyed and empathized with them.

I have always been sick to them. Because I am a boy, because I want to be a surgeon, because of the way my mind works. Because they gave birth to something they do not understand, because they tried so many times to fix me and they *failed*.

I was on the edge of my seat reading this book, I thought some of the story felt a little choppy but once I was halfway through I was chomping at the bit to find out how it would end. The emotions and atrocities that happened to these characters felt so real, and so lived in while being described by someone who sees things at face value that I could see myself in them - which was a little painful at times but also gave a sense of “being seen” which is always a relief.

**We don’t talk about what people do to us. We all have our own pain, so it makes sense that we wouldn’t want to burden the others. Sharing pain is meant to make it easier, but all of us are at our limits.**

I think the only complaint I had - and this is coming from an avid fantasy lover - was that I wish we got more information about the magic used in this world since it is such a large backdrop for the story. It is constantly being referenced and yet it is extremely vague. Other than being able to identify it as “spirit work” I have no other information about its rules, how it is controlled or how it is manifested by different characters. If we had even gotten a couple blocks of info dumping about the magic system, it could have been a much stronger backbone for the story but it ended up just existing in the world even though it did seem like it was meant to be very important. Its hard to complain about it though, since it isn’t the main issue in the book - clearly the characters emotions, and struggles are at the forefront. But just having magic to make it ‘fantasy’ or to make the plot more believable without a lot of information about the magic is a hard thing to deal with - it seems that the magic just comes up whenever its convenient.

**I will not be beholden to the voices in my head telling me to be a good girl, to be quiet, to do as I’m told. No mater how scared I am. Some things are more important than just surviving.**

Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree for the advanced copy of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Andrew Joseph White, and Peachtree Teen for an ARC copy given to me for review.

Do you know how angry the dead can be?
5/5 stars for a book that turned my stomach, ripped my heart out, and left me vengeful, angry, and satisfied. A gory, gothic story of the ways that the medical and social establishments in society can be turned against those who are deemed "unacceptable" for the way they act, the way they think, or the way they were born.

This is definitely not a book that I would recommend ignoring the trigger warnings for. It is deeply explicit, both in depictions of gore and depictions of systems of oppression. If you don't have the stomach for that, and that's totally okay, I would recommend taking a step back from this one.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this arc. I sat down and devoured this in one sitting. My body physically ached from this one - both from the cruelty experienced by the characters, but also from the pure frustration of people bound by the misogynistic and hypocritical society of cismen. The story is told through the eyes of Silas, an autistic trans boy, who exists in this society that both denies his identity, all while simultaneously attempting to take advantage of his very existence. Reading through with bated breath, worried for the characters that you’ve gotten attached to, culminates to a righteous anger and the vindication (or at least the start) for the ones who have suffered most from this society - “Hurting them is the only way they learn.” Very much a book that will stick with me, and one I’m sure will reveal more to me as I process it.

I could scream I love this book so dearly. Even without the seamlessly woven representation that made me weep, the story itself was told so hauntingly beautiful.
I'm not a horror or gore reader at all, but there's just a certain way White writes it that makes feel safe in my discomfort.
Back to the representation. There's just something so wonderful about reading the experiences of people with my identity in times before they had the words we have now that make them feel like modern ideas.

I adored 'Hell Followed with us', but this has solidified White as a auto-preorder author