This is just another case of me not being the target audience. Anyone who loves a queer hero, the YA genre, horror and fantasy will love this. I love queer main characters and horror but the other things really aren't for me. Trying to be objective, this is well written and moving and the complexities of gender identity are well explored.

This was a good read, and if you're a fan of Andrew Joseph White's other work (like me) you'll get a lot out of The Spirit Bares It's Teeth. I didn't quite enjoy this book as much as the author's other work, which is why I couldn't rate it 5 stars. This book is a well written, well paced and thoughtful horror with visceral and evocative imagery that will stay with you long after you've finished it. White excels in making his reader deeply uncomfortable and his second book is no exception.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White is a compelling and deeply emotional read. I appreciate the story and its themes of identity, oppression, and resilience, offering a poignant representation of a trans and autistic protagonist.
White’s writing is evocative and layered, immersing readers in a vivid, gothic-inspired world. However, while the narrative's tension is gripping, I found the horror elements less pronounced than expected, with the suspense feeling somewhat diluted at times. Despite this, it remains a powerful and thought-provoking novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was my first time reading a book by this author and I still am not sure how I feel. Was it creepy? Yes. Was it atmospheric? Yes. Could I not stop reading it? Also yes. I love the queer and disability rep especially given it was set in the 1800’s and how someone was treated which unfortunately is not much different to now in some cases.
Silas does not want to go through what they have seen all the girls go through. They don’t identify the same way the girls do but is being made to because of their parents, because Silas was born with violet eyes and that meant they were worth a lot to other men. When Silas comes up with a daring plan to change their life’s trajectory and is caught they are sent to a “reformatory” school for girls to be taught how to act and behave like a wife should. Although Silas is the main character you could not help but be pulled into the other girls stories and the heartbreak and horror they have also had to deal with.
The horror and gore although in your face at time , making me cringe and look away but then immediately looking back and reading on. This will not be my last read by this author.

Excellent book, love it! Looking forward to more from this author! Apologies for the lateness of my review

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read this book is because I'm trying to consume as much LGBTQIA+ media this year and honestly, I applied for all of the books Andrew had available. As you saw in my last review, I felt a bit meh about "Hell followed with us" so I didn't know how I was going to feel about this one but wanted to give his writing another chance. Friends, I am so happy I did. I LOVED this book so much. Before I get into the review, I would like to say, if you're going to read this book PLEASE look up the trigger warnings. The author does put the TWs in the start of the book also but I was not expecting it to be as graphic as it was. I surprisingly love horror, I love when a book grips you and does not let you go and this is exactly what this book did to me. The atrocities that happened in this book felt so awful because they felt so real. Whenever the MC felt panic, I felt panic, whenever the MC felt sadness, I felt sadness. It was really easy to emphasize with the characters in the book, and I found it so hard to put down. I definitely would recommend this to anyone who wants a good gritty YA horror to read, especially if you're in the LGBTQIA+ community like myself.

(If you'd like to see more of my reviews please go to my blog:
https://doesden.blogspot.com/)

Thank you Netgalley,, Daphne Press and Andrew Joseph White for the eArc of The Spirit Bares its Teeth.

This is the second book of Andrew's Ive read ( Hell followed with us ) and I really love his writing style. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth takes us on a wild ride through London in 1883. The Veil between the living and the dead has thinned, violet eyed mediums become speakers wives. We follow Silas, an autistic, trans teen who has been diagnosed with Veil sickness and sent off to Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium. Spirits start speaking to him, asking for help.

Firstly, the main reason why I love Andrews writing is because he is so inclusive and in my eyes, his representations widen my perception of both these characters and those who I know in the LQBTQ+ community. His writing is visceral, comes alive with his similes and comparisions which link straight back to the MC. There is also a dark side to Andrew's writing, compounding the real life horrors of the time period in which is was set in. It really gets under your skin.

The pacing of the book is spot on, slowly building the atmosphere, the terror and the body horror within this narrative. I felt for all the characters, especially for Silas and Daphne. I just loved their dymantics so much.

Raphael Corkhill narrates The Spirit Bares its Teeth. I loved her voice, which added to a deeper, even more visual experience

5 stars

Well, the author has done it again with this book. A triumph!
Filled with the usual care and attention to detail that he’s shown in his other works, this more than matches it.
Excellent characters, good storytelling all come together to give us this absolute treat!

"I want to take myself apart into something else, and if I cannot do that, I want to destroy every part of it that could ever be used against me." – The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

⚠️ cw: misogyny, transphobia, ableism (especially against autistic people), blood, violence, gore, medical content, sexual assault, rape, miscarriage, vomit, it really keeps going huh

We're in London, in the late 1800s, but this is not the world we know. In this world, the separation between this world and the next has thinned, with violet-eyed mediums being able to tear through the veil and commune with the other side.

Being partly biological, violet-eyed women are highly coveted for marriage, and this includes our protagonist Silas, regardless of the fact that he isn't even a woman, despite what everyone around him insists on saying. After escaping an arranged marriage, he is diagnosed with veil sickness and confined to a women's institution where most of the book takes place.

Silas, like all the other protagonists from AJW's book, is an autistic transmasc queer teenager, and I freaking love that. Like the others, Silas is a fantastic character, facing such a string of horrifying events that make you want nothing more than to pull him out of the page and hug him.

This book, especially, was an incredible page turner. There is so much going wrong in so many ways that you just can't help but continue, hoping that, somehow, things will turn out alright – or at least not completely terrible.

A wonderful read for anybody wanting to explore how the real horrors lie in how some of us are treated by society: the misogyny, transphobia and ableism in this book will make your blood run cold, and the fact that the AJW was inspired by true events doesn't do much to alleviate that feeling.

I can't wait for his next one.

"It would be so easy not to hurt us, and the speakers can't even do that. It's more work to hurt us. It's more work to be cruel. And yet they continue."

This book shattered me and I thanked it.
Victorian England was a terrible place for woman, trans people, disabled people, or anyone that dared step away from the strict societal norms imposed by white rich men. This book illustrates this perfectly, while adding a fascinating streak of fantasy.
Veil sickness, as hysteria, was a disease fabricated to justify punishing women who dared to dream for more than themselves than being an incubator. I felt such rage every time the nonsensical and contradictory symptoms of Veil Sickness were described.
I loved every single girl at the house, loved Silas and Daphne, and was rooting for them all to get the happy ending they obviously deserved.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a perfect portrait of the grim reality of misogyny, transphobia and ableismn during the Victorian era, which will surely make you feel rage and sadness and desperation for the characters you are immediately compelled to love.
I will recommend this book to everyone I know, and I am looking forward to read more by Joseph Andrew White.

How can I start talking about this book? I am speechless in the best possible way. While I did like 'Hell followed with us', I didn't feel very attached to the characters or the story in general. I was expecting something similar to happen with this book, but ohh people, was I wrong. The story has a pretty slow beginning, and it takes a little while for the main action to start. However, the way it is presented, as a queer horror story set in the victorian era, with a magic system that talks about the systemic oppression, paired with AJW's compelling writing, hooked me from the start. I loved the horror vibes present in the book, how the main characters evolved, the representation, and how the constant oppression that queer people and women have faced is explained (I really liked the author's note added at the end). 'The spirit bares its teeth' is a book that made me feel a lot. I wanted to cry, laugh, fight alongside the characters... I would have loved to see a bit more development in the main relationship, but honestly, it is not a romance book, so it wasn't something that bothered me a lot. It has become one of my favorite books ever.

Books like this are why I keep reading.
The characters
The characters in this book felt so real when they chose to do something, it was for themselves rather than for plot convenience. Their actions made sense and made them feel like real people who were placed in this story.
The representation
This book has some of the best representation that I have read in a while. Without even having to state what the character has, I can use the information given and work it out for myself, which is something I haven’t been able to do with a lot of books recently. I felt like I was able to understand all that the character is going through and I love them for it.
The plot
The plot in this book was insane, every time I felt like something couldn’t get worse, it went crazy. And not like the crazy where it didn’t make sense, but in the sense that it made sense, I could remember the foreshadowing, and yet I didn’t notice and still had my mind blown.
The writing
I found the writing in the book so beautiful; it manages to be easy to read while also giving horrifying details. I felt sick with the level of descriptions in some scenes and yet I couldn’t put it down.
Who would I recommend it to?
I recommend this book to people who are on the older end of YA and don’t mind lots of gore. I will also say that you should search for your trigger warnings before you go into this book.
Thank you to Andrew White for the free review copy!

This book was so special. It was my first Andrew Joseph White book and definitely not the last.

I don't think I have ever read something like this; so strong, raw and heartbreaking. It broke me to pieces while healing me somehow at the same time. It also made me rethink many things and view life differently. I wasn't that familiar with trans people struggles, and getting to educate myself through and because of this book was a total pleasure. And I will keep learning.

I couldn't be more happy and grateful to be able to read this book. Also, incredibly in love with the artist behind this cover. I'll buy a physical copy to add it to my collection and buy the rest of this incredible author's books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Daphne Press for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc

Whoa I didn’t really know what to expect when I started this book, it was written so well and the storyline just flowed it was easy to not want to put this book down. Descriptions of body horror and gore were also done with enough graphic information it made me a tad queasy and I was here for it! My heart broke so many times and I was left absolutely shocked at some parts! This was my first book by this author but I’m happy to say it is definitely not my last

This was my first read by AJW and it won't be my last!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the copy.

This book made me cry so many times, but it has still become one of my favourites. It’s a gothic medical horror, filled with gore, spirits and female rage, but also, surprisingly, hope. The author uses the topics of hysteria and Victorian misogyny to talk about sexism, ableism, and transphobia. White created a fantastical version of Victorian society, blending the historical with the supernatural. I found the setting captivating and original.

There is something raw and honest in White’s writing style that always makes me feel for his characters. Apart from Silas, we hear stories of other Braxton students, which are heartbreaking, horrifying, and enraging. But there is also hope in this novel in the characters’ determination to remain true to themselves despite society’s oppression and in the beautiful romantic subplot.

I should also add that I found this book less scary than Hell Followed With Us, but it is filled with detailed descriptions of medical procedures. It would be wise to check the warnings for this book.

A dark imagining of female hysteria and medical experimentation in Victorian England. Chilling, gruesome, and utterly un-put-down-able

This has been one of those books I could barely stop reading once I started. It is haunting, the kind of horror book I love - with roots in Victorian times as well as dabs at modern times. As a (gender-)queer autistic person I love how this book shows the dangers of what was basically ABA too, how molding people into hiding who they are to fit into society is wrong and dangerous, all in a great and well written story.

4.5 stars. Andrew Joseph White is now an autobuy author for me, despite both YA and horror not being my preferred genres. There's just something spellbinding about his writing and few authors build stakes and tension like he does. I loved the historical setting of this novel and how, while it is about spirits and haunting and misogyny and violence against women, it is about so so so much more, specifically about gender, about identity and about self-determination, healing, growth and above all, love. My one bug bear was that the language and dialogue didn't always suit the time period but i know other readers will be (rightly) more forgiving.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a horrifying, haunting novel. It's brutal in ways that you don't want to look away from. It's not an easy read and it's not meant to be. The themes of queerness, oppression and hidden injustices that are explored through the lens of Silas' surgery knowledge offer an excellent motif that really had me horrified and angry. I agree that the side characters and the narrative aren't the strongest but where writing and theming is concerned, this book captured me.