Thank you Netgalley for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a sucker for dark academia, I was very excited to get my hands on this book. Reeling from the death of her cousin Sam, our main character enlists in the prestigious boarding school where he died. There she seeks revenge on those who were the cause of his death.

I feel like there were a lot of ideas floating around with this book, but none of them really landed for me. Elite boarding school and privilege that towards the end dove into the supernatural. A lot of words were on the pages, but I don’t feel like they sufficiently gave us a picture of what was actually happening. At the climax/conclusion of the book there were so many things thrown at the wall and none of them really stuck.

Minor things: Baz’s hair color changed at least twice in this book. If Adrien is bald, who’s the guy on the cover? In absolutely what world would a boarding school let a check bounce for a month with no transcripts or other paperwork turned in? Based on the cover alone I thought there was going to be a queer storyline, but I guess that’s on me.

This is definitely for readers who enjoy a murder mystery, mixed in with a bit of the paranormal, intense forbidden-like love, with a boarding school backdrop. I agree that it reminded me a bit of the Raven Boys when it came to the broody, rich, entitled characters and spooky paranormal stuff.

This story gets intense so trigger warnings should be searched if you are interested in reading and want to know a bit more of what you’re getting into.

The end left me extremely surprised. It’s been a while or honestly I don’t remember reading and ending like that. I really did not see that coming.

We actually interviewed the author Jenni Howell, and this review will be up April 25! Overall a really fun read, and I was so happy to get the chance to read it early.

“It’s a boy, not a ghost; it’s a boy, not a monster, I tell myself. But I know boys, and now I know monsters, and there isn’t that much difference.”

Sometimes you just need the beautiful prose and specific kind of pretentiousness and poor decision making that only dark academia teenagers kind provide.

Boys with Sharp Teeth is full of gorgeous writing and beautiful monsters- of both the human and less so varieties. The story focuses a girl undercover at a fancy private school on a quest for vengeance for her cousin’s death, and the three people closest to him at his time of death.

Overall, it checks all the boxes you could want for young adult, paranormal, dark academia, but the balance and pacing feels a little off at times. Around 40% in, I finally felt fully invested, but still frustrated by the teenagers being (rightfully so) teenagers. I did like the ending but think it’ll be kind of divisive depending on the reader. I would definitely recommend to fans of The Raven Boys, The Society for Soulless Girls, and morally gray characters in a dark academia setting.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for the arc!

Thank you Netgalley for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited for this book — marketed as a dark academia mystery novel, with our female main character assuming a false identity to discover the reason behind the death of her cousin, Sam. This book ended up falling very far from my expectations and what was marketed to me as. There was a lot of telling and not showing, and I feel as if there was so much emphasis on the character growth of Jamie and the boys that it seemed like the world was flat and two dimensional. There wasn’t enough emphasis on Jamie and Sam’s friendship and why exactly she was willing to asume a false identity and run away to a prestigious school to surround herself with a group of men that supposedly killed her cousin. I would have appreciated some sort of flashbacks or scenes to show why her relationship with Sam was importsnt to Jamie and her character development.

Overall, this was just okay, and it could’ve been better with some more fleshing out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this quick, easy and enjoyable read

Recommend.

A nice weekend or vacat5read.

(3.5 rounded up) Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I don’t want my rating to discourage anyone from reading it. However, I do think I would have appreciated it much more if I had read it in my teens. The book is very much geared toward a young adult audience, which is great… for teens. The writing is strong, and the story has a philosophical edge. It’s like Gossip Girl with a thriller twist. If marketed properly, I think this book could do really well, especially as an introduction to dark academia for that age group.

The story follows Marin James, a teen who transfers to a private academy after discovering her cousin’s death. Driven by a desire for revenge, she sets out to track down the teens she believes are responsible for her cousin’s murder. Under the alias Jamie Vane, she befriends her suspected targets, only to discover that the situation is far more complicated than she expected. They’re wicked—but she’s worse. Have they met their match?

Thanks, Netgalley, and roaring book press for this ARC.

Jamie is clawing for revenge. In order to execute this she must disguise herself in a world of popularity and deception. Even though the suspects are captivating and beautiful, she will risk anything in order to hurt those who killed her cousin.

I'm not sure how to feel about this one. There was so much poetry in Howell's words that it felt Shakespearean. I enjoyed the mystery behind her characters but still wanted more explored. I love her writing style, but I do prefer a more concise and clear plot, so that I could understand what I am rooting for. Still, I was very drawn to her storytelling and give her major kudos for her characters. It was like Gossip Girl meets Interview with a Vampire, and I loved that. I just felt empty at the end, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing, just not what I wanted out of it.

Yeah so this has been marketed wrong I think. everyone is talking about it and it's not what they are saying, not queer, not romantic, and... not for me. I don't mind the no romance or queer part but this style is the kind of dark academia I don't like. It's a debut book and I know a good chunk of people will like it but it was not for me. Characters felt flat and the story was too slow to not have depth of character. By 80% I didn't really care about the ending.

As soon as I read the first page, I knew I was in for a incredible story. Jenni Howell's prose itself is beautiful and intoxicating, gripping the reader not only from chapter to chapter but also sentence to sentence. The story itself had me in its grip, unable to think about anything else, until I finished it. Jenni's characters, brought to life by her incredible writing, is raw and real and unlike anything I've read in quite a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for a copy of this arc in exchange for an hones review.

Stunningly visual, at times dense and other times delectable, Boys with Sharp Teeth is a standout debut from Jenni Howell. A sibling to Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys, mixed with a little bit of the cult classic The Covenant and popular Wednesday, Boys with Sharp Teeth is gorgeous, captivating, and spellbinding whodunnit that examines grief and culpability in new and curious ways.

The novel follows Marin James who seeks justice for her cousin Sam after he dies under mysterious circumstances at Huntsworth Academy. Posing as a student herself, Marin infiltrates the elusive community filled with opportunity and temptation. She befriends Adrian, Henry and Baz, three friends she knows have something to do with Sam’s death. They’re beautiful, but are they deadly? It’s not as simple as expected to seek and destroy, and before too long, Marin herself is pulled into their web.

I really enjoyed this one – all the vibes, all the pretty boys. Yet, I also at times found it difficult to read and had to re-read certain passages to make sure I understood what was happening. My own amateur reading aside, I felt fascinated and I felt moved.

Book finished, review currently a work in progress and will be updated here and posted on socials when it's finalised.

This book is a love letter. From the second it starts, it’s a love letter, but not to who you expect.

Everything is done through love. But maybe not in the way you expect or to who you expect.

And this is my love letter to this book.

I was drawn in from the very first page and it haunted my dreams when I wasn’t reading it.

The sections at the start of each part are by far my favorite. I read them multiple times because the feelings they inspired in me are feelings I haven’t felt from a book in a long, long time.

Is it horror? No. Is it gothic? Sort of. Is it dark academia? Yes.

The atmosphere of this book added so much to the story that would’ve been lacking without it.

During the middle of the book, I felt like it was lagging, but after reading the final act (wow by the way), everything made perfect sense and I knew exactly why the plot slowed in the middle.

For one of the plot twists, my mouth dropped open, and I stared at the wall for a little while trying to figure out how I missed it and where all the pieces collected. 10/10.

I greatly enjoyed this book. In time, I would absolutely read it again. I ordered the Owlcrate edition before reading this book, and boy oh boy am I glad that I will have a gorgeous edition of one of my favorite reads of the year.

Keep in mind, this book is all about the vibes.

Thank you so very much to Macmillan, Jenni Howell, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. It made my year when I saw the notification that I received this ARC. All opinions are my own and are not influenced by the manner in which I received this book.

This was one of my biggest anticipated releases for this year so when I saw I was given an ARC for it I was so so happy. But after finishing it I have to say it was disappointing, first off the whole story starts off very unbelievable, the main character somehow sneaks into an exclusive school by faking her name and no one questions it and she just so happens to become close with the exact group of people she’s trying to hunt down without even trying they’re supposed to be a secretive group of people but they instantly let her in. The main character was also just very unlikeable i’m all for a morally gray FMCs but she was just trying so hard to sound dark and depressed and for someone whose whole goal is to find her cousins killer she literally does nothing to find them. The whole time shes complaining about catching feelings for these guys that supposedly killed her cousin while also trying to get them to confess and it just makes no sense.

Thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I almost DNF'd a few times in the first 80% of the book. I started getting confused with the time-line because it really felt like Jamie was at the school months, when in reality it was a couple weeks. There was so much packed into the last 20%. I did highlight a few lines. The writing was beautiful at times but lacked in the storytelling department. I'm sad because I love the cover and I'm sure the hard copy is going to be gorgeous.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Jenni Howell for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you love dark academia with angst and morally gray characters, Boys With Sharp Teeth is exactly what you’re looking for. Gothic horror and philosophy weave through the story as the characters grapple with questions of good and evil, humanity, and power.

Marin James isn’t just another student—she has a mission. After losing her cousin under suspicious circumstances, she infiltrates an elite academy determined to uncover the truth. But what she finds is far more sinister than she expected. Drawn into a web of toxic dynamics, dangerous games, and buried secrets, she quickly learns that no one here is innocent.

This book is filled with deeply flawed, utterly compelling characters. The atmosphere is haunting, the tension palpable, and the ending? Let’s just say I won’t be looking at mirrors the same way.

Jenni Howell’s writing is immersive, eerie, and impossible to put down. It’s exactly the kind of book that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

This was a weird one, often feeling like a fever dream or that I had missed some context. I think this’ll be fairly divisive – if you like dark, moody vibes with lots of sexual tension and thriller aspects, then this might be for you. But if you need your books to make sense, I wouldn’t recommend this.

Marin’s goal is to infiltrate a prestigious boarding school to enact revenge on her cousin Sam’s killers, but the difficult parts of that plan breeze by so that she can get right to forging odd romantic but hateful but bff-style relationships with the killers. She seemed to lose the plot of figuring out what exactly happened to Sam multiple times, instead getting caught up in her conflicting sexual feelings of this group that just automatically took her in. Some aspects of this do get explained near the end, but between her pinings, long-winded inner monologues, and philosophy tangents, most of this book went so slow that I had checked out by the halfway point, after which I sped-read to get it done.

Generally, I just wanted more from this book. More spookiness, more thrills, more focus on Marin trying to get the evidence she needs. Things pick up in the last15% but I kept getting taken out of the story because of the sexual tension continuing to play out with the people who she knows for sure killed her cousin.

Extremely well written dark academia, YA murder mystery. I love the inner monologues, the mysterious characters, the dark feels. Following the FMC undercover in a dark feeling academy seeking answers to solve a murder is a read that feels interactive. I wanted to solve the murder with her. I highly recommend this read.

Spoiler-free review: Boys With Sharp Teeth
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I mean this in a good way (I think?) but what did I just read? This read exactly like an A24 film and I don’t really know how else to describe it. I liked it… but I also feel like I didn’t know what was going on the whole time? It was deliciously WEIRD and incredibly unique. Would I ever read it again? No. Did I like any of the characters? No. Was it superrr unrealistic? Yes. But did I still like it? I think so. I’m confused but also satisfied if that makes any sense at all?

I absolutely loved all the quotes from different authors and philosophers throughout this novel. The thoughts on life and death and purpose were fascinating and added so much to the plot. The prose is gorgeous- I could read Howell’s writing every day.

But overall, I feel like this whole book was a fever dream.

Thank you SO very much to Jenni Howell and NetGalley for the eARC - The opinions in this review are left here honestly and voluntarily.

For some time after reading this book I was torn between rating it either four star or two. Four stars for surprising me with the twisty bits and the shocking conclusion - or two stars for practically the same reason. I didn't really want to settle on a three but after some chit-chat this is what I've begrudgingly decided, making Boys with Sharp Teeth unfortunately very middle-of-the-road despite the pretty words within that remind me of Kelly Andrew's and C.G. Drew's work - which craft such an eerie atmosphere that's just dripping with suspense and underlying horror.

I really wanted to give this book a higher rating but I feel that how easily it lends itself to suspending reality for pricey co-ed academies where checks for tuition can bounce for a semester, where teenage girls can go missing in a small town without anyone looking for her, and, ultimately, the supernatural makes for an odd end where real-world consequences are imposed. Maybe if the ending was a little more ambiguous, like most supernatural horrors, and didn't go on to cover the in-depth things it did then it might have secured that elusive fourth star.
It just felt odd to think that the reveal could be stomached by police and prosecutors without pushback mentioned when going to them was always otherwise refuted as an option.

I also wouldn't call this a romance because I don't necessarily think that kissing equals romance - even in YA books. It definitely plants itself solely in the horror / supernatural / suspense categories with perhaps a trope of a tangled-up love-triangle -- er.. square?? Speaking of, I also just can't believe that Baz, one of the main characters, is not mentioned in the blurb. She was as involved as every other character with just as much mystery but still it's marketed as mentioning just the boys and the roles they potentially play in the murder of Marin's cousin. There were times when I was equally as suspicious of her for reasons that were planted far more in reality than Adrian and Henry.