This book is very atmospheric. I really enjoyed the spooky vibes it gave off and how it felt immersive. I've been really into horror lately, so while this doesn't fully fall into that category (in my opinion), I still liked how reading it FELT like it could be horror. My favorite character is Bas, who was done dirty and given a blink-and-you-miss-it, off-page death.

I was thrilled to receive the audiobook for Boys with Sharp Teeth because I'd had it on my TBR a while before seeing it available to request. That said, it did kind of miss the mark with me. I'm not sure what it was, but I couldn't give the audiobook my full attention. It could have something to do with the narrator. I didn't enjoy their voice and found that all of their character voices sounded the same, which is more problematic for me because I couldn't tell Henry and Adrian/Graves apart and also didn't know if Adrian/Graves were the same person or not for a while. I didn't get absorbed into this story the way that I hoped and because of that, I was confused for the majority of the book.

The relationships between Marin/Jamie and Henry and Adrian/Graves were weird to me. Something felt off or like it was forced and honestly I couldn't understand why these boys kept kissing her... I really wanted this to have more LGBT+ moments, but in hindsight I think I kind of like the subtlety of it. Despite all the tension, it was really refreshing that this was NOT a romance.

That said, the ending of this was crazy and I'm still processing it. I would definitely pick up another book by Jenni Howell going forward.

3 stars

Fans of dark academia will enjoy the premise and creepy vibes of this new effort from Jenni Howell.

When Marin's cousin's body appears on fancy school grounds, a full Nancy Drew a la prep school event occurs. Readers must immediately suspend disbelief regarding the ways in which this all unfolds, and they also need a little time and patience on their side. For me, this was not as engaging a journey as anticipated, and even with the expertly narrated audio version, I felt the extended time.

Having just come off of another read that's been grouped with this one (and that worked a bit better for me), I'm finding more to nitpick here than I might have under any other circumstances. That noted, I still think this will really work for fans of the subgenre, and I enjoyed the experience overall.

This was an extremely beautiful and complexly written novel that had me sniffling. It was so dark and deep and dramatic and all the things you want from dark academia. However, it is very specific so if you aren’t into books that are extremely lyrical and are more focused on how things are said and presented than the actual action, pacing, and dynamics, then this might not be for you.

I listened to this in audiobook format at 2x speed, and I really enjoyed the narration and how the story progressed. There were of course some things I figured out, but there were definitely many moments I was knocked off my feet. You start off in the middle of the action, but the beginning of a plan and you get all the details as the FMC’s plan progresses. I really enjoyed this as it kept me curious and desperate for answers which created a beautiful parallel to the FMC.

I feel like if you’re a fan of Olivia Blake and Ava Reid, this would be for you.

I supremely enjoyed this and am definitely planning to reread and annotate as this is one of those books that you just want to analyze and dissect. There are SO many quotes I would love to rip from the manuscript I have, just to give you a taste, but I will wait to update with finalized, edited quotes once the book is released.

All I can say is it’s beautiful and thought-provoking, and I still have the shivers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC.

“Anger is a weapon. Sadness is a tomb.”

From the dedication (“To all the ones too monstrous to be loved: it isn’t true.”) to the last page, Jenni Howell bewitched me with every word. The dark academia, the monstrous characters, and the whisper-thin illusion of reality and what might lie beyond consumed until the very end. The interwoven philosophical excerpts fit seamlessly with the story and I enjoyed their addition to the narrative. The writing on a line-level is sharp and the narrator’s performance for the audiobook is perfection.

Boys With Sharp Teeth is perfect for readers who like:
Dark Academia
Boarding Schools
Sinister magic that may or may not be real
Complicated friendships
Coming to terms with the monster within
Exploring the dark side of the choices we make for the ones we love
Dark, gritty, and immersive writing

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC. I look forward to Jenni Howell’s future projects.

*As an aside, I listened to this copy and as such may not have quoted the book with proper punctuation. These errors are my own.

I went into this really wanting to like it, but the longer it went on, the more bored and confused I felt. By the end, I was just glad it was over.

Look, I'm a girlie who loves character-driven, dialogue heavy stories, but this book did not fit my standards of that. The characters, all four of them (Because there's no one else worth mentioning at this school besides a couple teachers and the principal), are pretentious in such a stilted, shallow manner. I was especially cringing when when the romance came into play; I was very glad Jennifer Pickens', the narrator, delivery made listening more tolerable and managed to keep my attention despite how bored I was.

I thought the fantasy elements were Marin hallucinating the ghost of her dead cousin until the last twenty percent or so when the magic is shown to be real?? I felt lost once the mirror became the magic item to blame for the whole plot, and the ending we got because of it rung so hollow to me.

Also, you really have to suspend your disbelief that an ultra rich private school would let a bounced-back enrollment check slide until the end of the semester, not in this day and age. Marin should've gotten caught a whole lot sooner, considering how bad of a con and detective she was throughout this whole book.

All in all, this was a disappointing read, but I'm glad I was able to finish it, at the very least.

4.5 stars rounded up

If you like your dark academia extremely angsty with morally questionable characters, Boys With Sharp Teeth is perfect. Gothic horror meets The Atlas Six and The Secret History, but make it YA. Philosophy is woven throughout as the characters question good versus evil, the existence of humanity and more.

Marin James wants revenge. Her cousin died supposedly of an overdose, but she's certain he was killed by a group of students at an elite academy. So she fakes her way into the school with the intent of discovering the truth. She is drawn into a toxic dynamic with twisted games and dark secrets. No one in this book is good, but they sure as hell are compelling to read about. I'm still sitting on how I feel about the ending. I won't spoil things, but I feel creeped out about mirrors if that says anything! It's deliciously dark with very broken characters. I look forward to seeing what else we get from this debut author!

The audio narrator for this is perfect- exactly the kind of gravely, devil may care voice you want for Marin and she does a great job nailing the emotion of key scenes. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Content warnings for violence, drugging, blood-letting etc.

This was an interesting story. The twists and turns were mind blowing, taking you deep into the dark and making you believe that you like it there. I enjoyed the characters and the narrator did a great job in bringing the tale to life.

They're all asleep, and she's their greatest nightmare. "Boys with Sharp Teeth" by Jenni Howell, is a twisted, dark academia story following Marin James as she assumes a new identity, in a new school intent on avenging her cousin. Marin and Sam did everything together, they had plans to escape the rumors, the town, the life. All of that was halted when Sam was found dead, in a shallow creek on the campus where he worked. Marin knows Adrian Hargraves and Henry Wu, Sam's "friends" are involved and never truly cared about him; she will do anything for revenge. What she didn't expect was to get sucked up into the life of a student at Huntsworth Academy, she never could've predicted she would come to care for them. Regardless, time is running out and there is still a murderer on campus.

Howell, spins a strange tale about what stalks us through our lives. Do we truly know the people around us? Would we be able to sense the darkness that follows us? Would we know if it was in us? All of these questions plague the students of Huntsworth and they might never get the answers...

4.5 stars! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

Boys With Sharp Teeth was definitely an interesting one! I don’t want to write a review with spoilers, so I’ll keep it short and to the point…

Just a heads up, it’s not your normal vampire type book. Don’t expect fangs.

There will be times where the FMC, Jamie (aka Marin), just absolutely irritates the sh*t out of you, but keep going. Just keep going. The entire time I sat there thinking it was the stereotype, but it ended up shocking me. This book was beautiful and shocking. It was definitely slow to start, and everything crazy happened at the end, but that’s the same with many books. The ride to the top was oddly insightful and partially infuriating, but very well written.

I will read more of Jenni Howell’s work in the future.

Another note, I enjoyed the narrator and think she did a great job. Only thing I want to point out was the inconsistency with her southern accent. Sometimes she had the twang, and sometimes she didn’t. Really wasn’t terrible at all, though. Her voice definitely fit the picture I had of Jamie/Marin.

I received an e-ARC and am giving my honest review.

I’m pretty shocked by this one. The summary saying it’s for fans of The Raven Boys, being a retelling of a staple in the queer community ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray,’ it literally being labeled LGBT?? And yet there is no queerness just ‘queer vibes,’ which is worse than none at all. It felt baiting and weird. I normally wouldn’t write a bad review for an ARC, but i’m truly just shocked by this.

2.75⭐️
Well I wish I enjoyed this more than I did. I feel like I was duped with the description of We Were Liars means The Raven Boys as I didn’t get that at all. This is also a case of “don’t judge a book by its cover” as the impression it gives has nothing to do with the story.

I received the Audio ALC for free from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley so I could enjoy it and give a review so
I’ll focus on that.

Personally i did not enjoy the narration by Jennifer Pickens. Even with speeding it up it was awfully slow and monotone. I think the narrator went for this deep silty and mysterious tone but it didn’t work at all especially when she was narrating teenagers.

It completely sounded age inappropriate and it was droning on and on. The story itself was disjointed and didn’t flow. And then the ending was so rushed that I had to relisten to
It to make sense of it.

So unfortunately I can’t recommend it on audio form. Also unfortunately is I do not expect the physical to be much better.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Boys with Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell
Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with early access to this audiobook for review.

Welcome to Huntsworth Academy.
Seventeen year old Marin James will stop at nothing to exact revenge on those responsible for her cousin's death, even if it means infiltrating an exclusive boarding school and getting in with the social elites.

Jenni Howell's raw portrayal of character emotion was nothing short of enrapturing. Narrator Jennifer Pickens did a phenomenal job gripping the reader and truly showcased the intensity of Marin’s confusion and inner conflict as she watches everything, within and around her crumble. This story and this audiobook were meticulously executed, this is dark academia at its finest.

Boys with Sharp Teeth comes out April 8th and is available for pre-order now.

I have mixed feelings about this one. The concept was strong, but the story started to lose its way around the 60% mark. While I wanted to love this, it felt a bit chaotic, with so much going on that it lost some sense of reality. For instance, what school would allow boys and girls to share a dormitory? The story tackled a variety of themes, perhaps too many at once. That said, the intro was fantastic! Marin, 17, infiltrates an elite school (a bit too easily, admittedly) to uncover the truth behind her cousin’s death—a premise that hooked me instantly. Despite being YA, the writing style didn’t feel overly juvenile, which I really appreciated. On a high note, the audio was excellent! Audiobooks can be hit or miss, but this one really delivered, capturing the mystery and suspense through the narrators’ voices. I’m definitely curious to see what Jenni Howell writes next!

PUB DATE: April 8th, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an advanced reader’s copy 🤎

I requested this book because of its cover. I was surprised to learn, after reading it, that it is a Dorian Gray retelling! Though, personally, I am not well acquainted with the original Dorian Gray story; I thought this was an interesting retelling that made me want to pick up the literary classic.

This was dark and gritty. The main character, Marin, was not scared to do what it takes for her revenge and I fully respect that!I also think Adrian and Henry were really interesting characters to discover as the story went on.

The writing was beautiful and dark. Admitedly, I got lost a bit 60% through before it picked back up again towards the end so I would love to pick this back up again and see what little details I had missed!

Genuinely not sure why this is shelved as queer (codependency != queerness, though if that is what you’re looking for, I definitely recommend The Wicker King by K Ancrum). The cover and synopsis do the book a major disservice by omitting Baz because she is what holds the story together and anchors everything beyond the thin veneer of the dark academia aesthetic.

I think I would have liked this book less if I’d read anything but the audiobook - the narration style is visceral, really highlighting the snappy rhythm of the dialogue (the rest of the writing is okay but nothing special; the dialogue is where the teeth are).

I also think we could have dived so much deeper. Again, something we really could have used Baz for. Intellect not just as a prop for pretentiousness (seriously the most annoying part of dark academia) but as armor and weapon. There’s the briefest brush of an examination of privilege, but overall it barely warrants a mention.