I need to sit down for a minute after finishing that.

This was such an interesting historical paranormal! It is a deeply upsetting and disturbing society that preys on women and considers them worth little more than the value their bodies can give men and future children. Silas is a trans-man living in a world that not only does not allow him to be his true self, but actively oppresses and keeps him in the female mold the men all see ripe for exploiting. It has candid and devastating conversations about gender roles, ableism, marriage, and pregnancy in the Victorian era against a backdrop of ghosts.

Honestly, this book is a heartbreaking read. The way women are abused and silenced is so sad, and viewing it through the lens of a trans-man makes it even worse to experience. It is well thought out and executed and the pain these characters feel is truly visceral. They all deserve the world and I so badly wanted to give it to them. Also, with this being a horror, I'm kind of glad that part of the approach this book took towards pregnancy was as body horror, because not enough people look at it that way when it is practically the very definition of it.

Fair warning that this is at times very gory and graphic. I had to skim a couple paragraph descriptions throughout, but literally skipped almost an entire chapter because of an incredibly macabre scene that made me sick to my stomach. I understand why it was put into the story and support the thinking behind it but I simply couldn't do it. When in doubt, please check the content warnings.

For all the bleakness and terror, this does have a happy and hopeful ending. I will definitely be looking out for more from White in future.

This was the best book I’ve read in 2023 so far. It’s haunting, dark, gory, and rotting from the inside…and I loved it. THIS is the body and gothic horror that all other books in the genre should be measure against. Not only was the atmosphere and prose written in a way you’re scared to sleep at night, it was also written with a respect and tenderness unlike anything I’ve seen. The journey and turmoil that Silas experiences while dealing with transphobia, misogyny, violence, and loneliness is visceral and you feel like you’re experiencing it with him. When Silas meets Daphne, you feel their joy. When the girls start disappearing, you feel their fear. When they find what’s left of the girls, you feel their anger. This is a book about feeling and about injustice, but also about friendship and bravery. This book is steeped in mystery, fear, love, and revenge. It’s beautifully written and one of my new favorites.

A beautifully written tale of the courage it takes to be who you are when the world does not accept you. 11/10. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC (all opinions are my own) - it’s without a doubt one of the best books I have read in all its genres.

Read the trigger warnings at the start of the book if you’re unsure whether this book is for you. I’ll paste them here: transphobia, ableism, graphic violence, sexual assault, discussions of forced pregnancy and miscarriage, mentions of suicidal ideation, and extensive medical gore.

Silas’ voice rang so true, and many aspects of his story resonated with me despite how different my own circumstances are. The author has crafted a world in which necromancy is a normal thing, but like anything else that makes marginalised groups ‘different’ from the ‘normal’, it is used as a tool to further oppress those who already treated as less - in this book, it’s those who are seen as women.

Though these words aren’t used in the text due to the genre, Silas is autistic, trans, and queer (if he were to use a sexuality label, I think it would be bi/pan, but of course no such words are directly used in this book, it being a historical fantasy and such). A tender and devoted romance forms between him and a transgender girl, Daphne. There is also an autistic character whom Silas befriends, but they are not a main character (but play an important and touching role in the story all the same). A character who was something of a main character was also a lesbian.

So what’s it about? Silas is sent to what seems like a school but it is essentially where women with violet eyes, necromancers (they can reach into ‘the Veil’ and talk with spirits), are sent to to be forced into becoming good wives - or they are killed. It is not a murder mystery or an adventure - rather the story of a boy who is trying desperately to carve a place for himself in a world that will not accept many parts of who he is. This story showed anger, rightfully so but not an in-your-face way - rather it cleverly and horrifyingly conveyed the everyday injustices that its characters and many others faced.

And there was hope woven throughout, slowly at first, until Silas began to grasp for a gentle future for himself and fought for it with everything he had. And he does get that future - and so do most of the main characters. They are all complex and multifaceted, and deal with their trauma and experiences in different ways.

Just- do yourself a favour and pick up this book. It is wonderfully written, horrifying and unforgettable and uncomfortable and so, so hopeful. The characters jump off the page and you will feel for them with your whole heart. The insight and depth with which society’s injustices were dealt with, in such a subtle and authentic way, while not diminishing the beauty and hope that the characters’ identities embodied - incredible.

Flesh and bone make more sense to me than the people they add up to.

the spirit bares its teeth has become one of my favourite reads this year. this is the first title i've been able to read from white (i mean come on, that synopsis!) but i know that it most definitely won't be the last—there's something about his writing that just latches onto you.

The dead no longer have reason to lie, so they never do.

something i appreciated was that TSBIT didn't make me as queasy as i had expected it to; i found myself absolutely obsessed with silas and everything he thought, rabbit and all. i think a lot of queer, neurodivergent people will find solace in his character and his experience, even the gruesome and not-so-great parts, because his voice was done so, so well.

You can’t cure something that isn’t wrong. It doesn’t work like that.

i loved reading TSBIT for so many reasons but if not only for the fact that the horrible people got what they deserved and we get some sense of justice for those remaining. the world-building was superb, the characters jumped off of the pages and the world was as suffocating as it was fascinating. please do not take the author's note lightly—but if you find yourself able to get through the story, i 100% recommend doing so.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read The Spirit Bares Its Teeth as an ARC! This is my first time reading something by Andrew Joseph White, and to say I'm enthralled would be an understatement.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a queer historical horror fantasy novel; this book is so beautifully written, but I BEG you to check TW's- including, but not limited to, transphobia, ableism, misogyny, sexual assault, violence/abuse, and gore. This book is graphic and gut-wrenching and painful and beautiful and ends in a way that truly brought me so much joy. Silas held me in the palm of his hand from the first page and kept me there until the very end. Perfectly paced, indescribably raw, and deeply uncomfortable to process- I truly felt every emotion reading this book.

I think this is the kind of book that will bury itself in your bones. I also think that I will be thinking about this book for a very, very long time. I will immediately be picking up a copy of Hell Followed With Us, because I need everything Andrew Joseph White has for me.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Wow wow wow wow wow!!! Andrew Joseph White is a new must-buy author for me, all of his books are just phenomenal. This book was fairly traumatic, with lots of transphobia and physical and psychological abuse, so go into it prepared and mentally well enough to read it. However, I still enjoyed the book so much!!!
I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Andrew's first book, Hell Followed With Us. After reading his first book, I expected there to be more body horror (which is not something I usually ask for/look for in a book, but he just did it so well) in this book, even though there still was some!
I felt like the romance was a little bit rushed, it felt like Silas and his love interest had only met one or two times and Silas was already in love with her. That's one of my only negatives to this book, but with the shorter page number, I think Andrew did the best he could and it all worked out perfectly in the end!
The gaslighting in this book oooooo the gaslighting hurt my soul, it was so visceral, especially with the "reasoning" behind Silas being trans being about his powers. I'm so glad Silas got a semi-happy ending though even though he just went through all of that trauma.
Overall, I loved it!! I will definitely be buying a physical copy once it is released in September, all of the covers of his books are gorgeous as well, which is a big plus for me.
4.25/5 stars

I thought maybe I just related to Hell Followed with Us and won't like The Spirit Bares it's Teeth because it's usually not my genre and I am an adult. Nope, AJ White is just really good. I loved the novel and I really appreciate it breaching difficult topics and taking young readers seriously. I think the author will revolutionise YA fiction and I think books like this one is just what the teens need in current sociopolitical climate.

I didn’t think Andrew Joseph White could top Hell Came With Us, but I think he has. This book felt like it was written especially for me, and I know a ton of folks who are going to feel the same way.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this arc,

5/5 stars

Things I liked:
Felt seen which is something amazing

Things I didn’t like:
Not an easy read - but I understand why


The horror is on full display but it is beautifully written.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is many things. As I said in my initial fanboy ramble of a “review” on my Instagram: “Have a jumble of adjectives, all of which apply: heartbreaking and haunting, grisly and unsettling, challenging. . . Exquisite.”

The story is horrifying on so many levels that you can just take your pick: are you enraged by the misogyny, disquieted by the mores of Victorian society, disgusted by the treatment practices at Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium (and in a general sense, al sanatoriums back in those days)? Maybe you’re both incensed and devastated by the attitudes towards neurodiversity. Possibly you’re just so creeped out by all the body and medical horror.

I could see it all. At the end of Silas’ story, you’re left with so many different emotions to process. This is one of those books that leave you hazey-minded, having to take a minute or two to remember how to just carry on with ordinary life.

So, there’s one adjective that I have yet to explain. I did that on purpose, of course. This book is exquisite. White’s characters are so recognizable and the writing so sensory that it’s hard not to get sucked into the story.

It’s because of the familiarity of the characters, more than anything else, that I think Andrew Joseph White may have just become my next favourite author (trust me, I don’t bestow the “favourite” title capriciously). It's not terribly difficult to figure out why I’d find it so easy to step into characters like Silas- because of the transness, obviously. “Because of the transness” might, to some, seem like a frivolous, arbitrary reason to love someone’s book. It’s really not, though.

Let me tell y’all a story (it’s one of *my* reviews, you all had to know something like this was coming):

When I was a teenager/ young adult, I had this fixation on gay men. If the book was written by a gay man or had even a hint of possible gayness between male characters, I wanted to read it. If the movie or TV show was about gay boys or gay men, I watched it in secret. I couldn’t have stopped gravitating to all that queerness, even if I’d wanted to. What did I get out of it? Well, it’s kind of hard to explain. . . or maybe it isn’t.

Consuming all this queer media, I felt this weird sense of belonging. I felt comforted in that “this is your scene” kind of way, but at the same time, I felt like I was still on the outside. Imagine how you feel when you’re accepted, but not actively included. That’s how I felt. Surrounding myself with male homosexuality felt right, but somehow incomplete. Fraudulent.

If books like The Spirit Bares Its Teeth had existed when I was that bewildered teenager- oh. my. God. I finally would have felt that full, true sense of kinship that always eluded me. Truth be told, I likely still wouldn’t have come out. A friend once suggested that I didn’t entertain the suspicions and innate knowledge I had about myself back then because I knew, on some level, that I was not safe. It’s a valid theory, and probably correct. I tell you, though, having these books would have meant more than the world to me. It would’ve meant the universe.

So, reading White’s work and meeting characters like Benji (from Hell Followed With Us), Silas, and Daphne feels like reaching back through the years, and telling myself, “You’re home now. You belong.”

Thanks NetGalley for my ARC!

I WAS SO excited when I was granted this ARC, and it did NOT disappoint.

A thrilling, stomach churning and soul igniting ghost story - AJW has absolutely done it again. I couldn't put down this book, even when I wanted to to avoid some of the more distressing bits because he drew me in so tight and made me want his characters to survive so badly, I couldn't bear to abandon them.

Big, big TW's need to be taken seriously by would-be readers - they can be found on the author's website here: https://andrewjosephwhite.com/content-warnings%3A-tsbit

When I first read "Hell Followed With Us," I knew that Andrew Joseph White would take off. His gritty description of the setting and experiences of his characters were top-notch and visceral. After reading it, I pre-ordered the book and (figuratively) celebrated with him as he hit the NYT Bestselling list, when he was a finalist for William C. Morris Debut Award, and so on. When he announced the three new books he was working on--"The Spirit Bares Its Teeth", "Compound Fracture," and "You Weren't Meant To Be Human"--I knew he was an author I would buy every single book of.

So, when I saw that The Spirit Bares Its Teeth on Netgalley, I knew I had to request it. With bated breath, I waited for the acceptance or the denial of getting an ARC, and when I got approved, I jumped with joy.

While I already have a preexisting enjoyment of Andrew's books, I am being completely unbiased when I say that "The Spirit Bares Its Teeth" is Andrew's best book thus far.

Initially, I wasn't too sure about how I felt about the Victorian England setting. I'm not usually a historical fiction kind of person, but I am a person who is interested in macabre, old haunted stories, so I still wanted to inhale the story. However, the book makes me want to look into the history of places like Bedlam. We all heard that women (as well as afab nonbinary folks and trans men) were frequently thrown into places like real-life Bedlam and fictional Braxton's to "reform" them, so books like this make me want to deep dive.

I also find myself connecting with Silas a lot. While I'm not trans, I have questioned my neurodivergence and there are certain things Silas would do that I can relate to: always needing to fidget, pacing, things of that nature. Additionally, I find myself having my own rabbit. I'm constantly anxious about something and if my brain is too quiet, it finds something else to make me anxious about. I hope to find a day when I can conquer my own rabbit.

Within the first handful of chapters in this book, I was unsure if there would be romance. It would have worked without it, but when White brought Daphne onto the scene, it made me happy that there's some t4t representation! While there is a surge of LGB(T) (specifically trans) representation of books, there hasn't been a lot that I've seen that are t4t and I think it's so important to have that representation throughout all genres.

Lastly (at least with what I'll let myself talk about--I could ramble all day about this book), Andrew does such a good job of breathing life into all of his characters and settings. I could perfectly imagine the characters working through the scenes. I could feel the frost beyond the Veil. Andrew has a beautiful knack for being able to truly paint the gory, gory picture before us and I just can't get enough of it.

I'm so glad I was blessed with the honor to read this amazing, depressing ARC and I cannot wait for this book to get the absolute praise it deserves. Until 2024, when "Compound Fracture" is released!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc. This is my new favourite AJW book! The pacing, character work, and worldbuilding were all stellar. The romance between Silas and Daphne was also BEAUTIFUL. There was not one single point in this book where I knew where it was going, even if I thought I did. I can't wait to force customers to endure the same emotional distress :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for this ARC.
Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.
This is the second novel from Andrew Joseph White, and let me tell you...it is insanely good.
Set in Victorian England, it focuses on a group of teens who are believed to have "Veil Sickness" and being forced into marriage and conforming to societal norms.
The characters are expertly written with great depth. Even though it is set in the past, the issues and situations are very modern. This is a story that people will be talking about for a long time.
Trigger warnings for suicide, body horror, transphobia, and conversion therapy. The author does a good job of contextualizing the use all of these at the beginning of the book.

I absolutely loved this book. It was filled with such a sense of rage that really spoke to me as a queer person. The plot follows Silas, a trans boy in an alternate Victorian London who can open the Veil between life and death, and his interactions with the harsh, unaccepting, and abusive society as they attempt to make him someone he is not. I could feel true emotion emanating from this book. In some places, I began crying because it just felt so raw and visceral. The worldbuilding is truly excellent, and I can tell the author did his research when it came to information about anatomy and medical practices at the time, and I truly enjoyed reading about the true history behind the characters' fascination with the field that was masterfully integrated into the fantastical setting. And I LOVED the portrayal of Mary. I really liked the depth that the characters' personalities had--characters like Mary weren't all good or bad, but really just trying to survive, and my heart broke for them. The only character who I would have liked to see more from was Daphne, who was already marvelous as it was, but who left me wanting more even still. This book is incredibly dark, but I think that the stories that make us uncomfortable are the most important for telling us not only about ourselves, but the world we live in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I don't think I could love a book more if I tried, and I don't think I have the words to do my feelings about it justice.

From the very start to finish I loved every second of reading this. Even before the novel starts, the dedication and letter from the author pulled at my heartstrings. The letter from the author informs the reader of the myriad of dark and potentially triggering topics contained in the book, and is already a demonstration of Andrew Joseph White's stunningly emotional writing.

"So if nothing else, I hope this story means something to you. I hope the scalpel is kind to you. I hope your sutures heal clean. You deserve that much; we all do."

To say this story means something to me is a grotesque understatement. I didn't know how much I needed to read about a character like Silas, and I could not have guessed how emotional that experience would make me. Silas' depiction as an autistic trans boy was not only very well executed, but it also resonated with me. His internal monologues, his self-doubt, all of the questions, and all of the anger were so familiar it sometimes felt as if they were taken straight from my brain. Knowing I've related to so many of his fears and anxieties at at least one point in my life, and then seeing him find acceptance and recognition with the groundskeeper and Daphne had me tearing up multiple times.

As announced in the author's letter, this book can get extremely heavy throughout, but it is never done without regard. Despite the prevalence of dark themes like sexual violence, transphobia and gore/medical content, they are never justified, romanticised, or let go by without having acknowledged the impact their depictions can have.
I was never left feeling like something I had just read was unnecessary or out of place. A.J.W.'s in-depth grasp of the characters, plot, and themes of the story were reflected in every one of its beats, like Silas' characterisation. It is distinctly and tightly woven into the narrative, and he shines so blindingly as a protagonist, no matter how shrouded in loss and horror.

As a whole, The Spirit Bears Its Teeth isn't a happy story. It is horrifying, visceral and honest; a brutally stark tale about what it means to be other. It is told unapologetically and I would not have it any other way. It is terrifying, yet there is hope to be found in it.

Andrew Joseph White created an amazingly twisted book—its setting, all of its setpieces, and characters—and breathed life into it with his vividly thematic prose and masterful depiction of emotion.
It is written with care for not only the integrity and historical context of the narrative, but also the reader and I am beyond thankful this book exists. I know I needed it to, and I hope everyone else who is waiting to see themselves in the pages of a book also gets the chance to read this.

[I received a free ebook copy from Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink and Netgalley. This review is done freely, honestly and without payment].


„At least the doctors had the decency to kill me before they opened me up (...) After i was dead i watched them cut me apart.“

·

Summary:
Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.

London, 1883. The Veil between the living and dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife. According to Mother, he’ll be married by the end of the year. It doesn’t matter that he’s needed a decade of tutors to hide his autism; that he practices surgery on slaughtered pigs; that he is a boy, not the girl the world insists on seeing.

After a failed attempt to escape an arranged marriage, Silas is diagnosed with Veil sickness—a mysterious disease sending violet-eyed women into madness—and shipped away to Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium. The facility is cold, the instructors merciless, and the students either bloom into eligible wives or disappear. When the ghosts of missing students start begging Silas for help, he decides to reach into Braxton’s innards and expose its guts to the world—if the school doesn’t break him first.

Featuring an autistic trans protagonist in a historical setting, Andrew Joseph White’s much-anticipated sophomore novel does not back down from exposing the violence of the patriarchy and the harm inflicted on trans youth who are forced into conformity.

·

I’d like to say I was endlessly excited about this book, but somehow it sounds wrong when you know what the book is about. Was I tense, jittery, and pumped up like a toddler before Christmas? I think so.
Already with „Hell Followed With Us“, Andrew Jospeh White has sneaked his way into my heart and I think I can say that after only two (actually already after the first) books, he is one of my favourite authors.
I love his books not only for the inclusivity and creativity, but also for that beautiful, sometimes poetically cruel writing style, horror-like settings, AND addressing topics that many don’t dare to approach. (Especially not in this way and combination?).
Where „Hell Followed With Us“ was post-apocalyptic and thus more horror-heavy (at least for me), „The Spirit Bares Its Teeth“ created a tightness in my chest and throat that I could hardly breathe at some points.


„(...) I need you to remember that. You are beautiful, well-bred, and so, so lucky.“

„Just like a woman does not fully experience womanhood if she doesn’t bear her own children.“


When I have a physical copy in my hands at some point, I’ll probably have to get a second one. Why? So I can throw one around the flat while re-reading, screaming and crying.
I’m actually pretty tough when it comes to books (and other media), but Andrew Joseph White wove such a tight web with his language (and the great formatting in the book) that I couldn’t keep myself separate. It made me sick to my stomach and made me cry; had to take long breaks while reading and I would say this book (just like its predecessor) is not a „light read for in between“.
This book has something to say and it screams and whispers and cries and fights. It throws around rotten words that none of us want to hear but should never forget. This book is not just fiction (The story is, of course!) - but in there, between the lines, in all those words, is history. Our history.


„DON’T HURT HIM HE’LL HURT YOU DON’T HURT HIM HE’LL HURT YOU“


I think I fell in love with Silas (protagonist) almost immediately; he must have taken my heart by storm and that didn’t make the book any easier. He was so approachable, so ... I can’t even put it into words. I guess it felt like he was lying next to me on the couch/bed telling me his story; suffocating me with his words and experiences. It hurt.
All the characters in this book hurt and the little bright moments were like a glass of water in the desert. They felt like a illusion.


I can’t say this book was a „nice“ experience, but I love it. It’s cruel and brutal and tears your heart apart and then somehow tries to stitch you back together.
I love the characters with all their facets and quirks.
I am once again grateful for a book that shook and moved me deeply. A book that shows how much pain and injustice can be inflicted on people / living beings just because they are „different“ / don’t fit the norm and you don’t understand them. Because one is afraid of things one cannot control. Because one wants to have power - power all to oneself.

Thank you. <3


Over and Out, I’m watching kitten videos on Youtube now.

I have read another book by the same author, Hell Followed With Us, and going in this one with high expectation... and not disappointed. At all.
I love the mystery and thrill, and all the struggles of Gloria/Silas in navigating his life. I adore the gloomy, haunted, dark academia feeling of the setting. The world building was amazing, along with all the detailed and gory details. I love all the characters and the storytelling is just * chef kiss *
All the love!

This book reached through my ribcage, grabbed me by my heart, and refused to let go.

I knew to expect autistic and queer rep (which as a queer, autistic person myself, I was so eager for), but what I did not adequately prepare for was how much the storytelling of this book (set so long in the past) had to say about the current climate we live in. At certain moments, I was left screaming in AFAB rage, mourning for the trans community, and pumping my fist into the air at points well said. This book drives so many points about the tragedy of patriarchy and how the world in general treats those who dare to be different without being preachy or really saying much at all. We experience it all through the gifted writing and the character of Silas who leaps off the page, feeling like someone I have known all my life. Silas is myself. Silas is everyone who has ached to be themselves in a world that refuses to accept things it does not understand.

I do also want to note that as a medical provider, I felt the medical aspects of this book were well researched and well done, on top of capturing a moment in the history of medicine that should never ever ever be forgotten.

I'm struggling to find words to sum out how speechless this book left me; how it chilled me to the bone in ways that had nothing to do with ghosts, because the horrors it describes are real. They happened, they ARE happening now.

This author deserves a million stars. I want to read this book again and again and again.

My only critique is that I felt like the brief content warnings at the beginning of the book should be expanded upon. Please be aware that this book is graphic and does not pull it's punches. I loved that about the book, but it is not for the faint of heart. The author says it best. For some readers, it would be best for them to walk away from this book. For everyone else, READ IT!

This book blew me away. I was already a big fan of White's previous works, so I was thrilled to get into The Spirit Bares Its Teeth and it does not disappoint. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is graphic, violent, and many of the disturbing elements of this book are rooted in real points of our history adding a deep level of unease. A story featuring an autistic trans protagonist stuck within the politics of Victorian England is already an enticing plot, but add in the elements of magic and the spiritual realm and a masterpiece is made. I grimaced through a fair portion of this book, and yet I could not put it down. Despite it's intensity, we are enveloped in the mind of Silas and feel the strength of his resilience and the warmth of the relationships he builds - all despite being thrust into the worst situations imaginable. I don't want to give much away about the plot as it's fun to discover as you read, but truly this book is one I have not stopped thinking about since I put it down. It is an incredible story, and while it's fiction, it's links to the real world, both modern and victorian, are a huge part of its success. My heart aches for the many who were hidden away due to living their truths or speaking their minds. Thank you for this story. It is important. Thank you for Silas and Daphne who will make so many feel seen, loved, and maybe even a little less alone. Just thank you!