Thank you to Penguin Random House for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

What a horrifying, stunning read!

I normally do not tend to reach for horror books but I've AJW's works have always piqued my interest ever since I read Hell Followed With Us.

Horror and gore are always, to me at least, done best when they are executed to make some societal commentary -- because that's when the horror-fantasy elements start to feel entirely possible and real and when I start to feel entirely moved and sucked into the book.

At the core of the violence here, is a wider allegory to be made about those who are shuttered away by society, who become voiceless and discarded and used as the playthings of those with rich sociopolitical capital determined to control those who do not fit into predetermined socially constructed categories, ie those who are not heterosexual, able-bodied, white rich men. The resulting emotion I kept diving back in and out of was a great sense of tragedy, anger, and intense nausea. Yet, AJW doesn't intend to leave you nor these characters in this mindset, as he sets out to carve out alternative forms of agency and self-determination that the characters, Silas and Daphne in particular, engage in.

Reading this contemporarily, AJW's writing overall shows that regardless of whether it's the Victorian or Modern era, there is always hope and warmth to be found in the most cruel and oppressive moments, particularly in the nexus of gender identity, neurodiversity, and resistance.

Andrew Joseph White has had a stunning writing career so far-- THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH is just as potent and scary as HELL FOLLOWED WITH US. Raw and brutal but full of heart (bloody, messy heart). I'm so excited for COMPOUND FRACTURE.

I ended up reading this book after being published. I greatly enjoyed it! Absolutely love AJW's work. Unfortunately my read was more than 6 months ago and I don't think my review now would reflect my feelings all those months ago. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book early.

My god. What an utterly horrifying, amazing, awful, wonderful story. Another stunning trans horror from AJW. Everything about the world were thrust into really is horrifying and amazing. I’m so interested in the spirits and the violet eyes - and the Speakers! I’m absolutely nauseatingly disgusted by these men and their organization, but I want to know more. Not in this book - the world building and the amount of information we get in this is perfect!

As are the main characters. They’re flawed, scared, fragile, strong, wonderfully real people struggling so hard to be who they are. Relatable to anyone, but especially trans people. The cast is excellent, everyone is so vivid and rich and. I’m just. In love with this book.

Everything this author writes is so incredibly gorey, horrific, but somehow still beautiful. I absolutely loved this.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a dark, haunting, and utterly mesmerizing gothic horror that I couldn’t put down. Set in an alternate Victorian England where mediums communicate with the dead, this book explores themes of gender, identity, and survival in a world that’s as oppressive as it is eerie.

Silas Bell is an unforgettable protagonist—determined, sharp, and full of defiance against a society that refuses to see him for who he truly is. The exploration of gender and identity was beautifully done, capturing the struggles of being forced into a role that doesn’t fit and the quiet, fierce strength it takes to push back. I especially loved the autism representation; Silas's unique perspective adds so much depth to his character and to the story as a whole.

The love story threaded through this dark, gothic setting was unexpected but tender, bringing a glimmer of hope and warmth to an otherwise chilling tale. It was subtle, real, and heartwarming, perfectly balancing the intense atmosphere of Braxton’s Sanitorium and its sinister secrets.

Andrew Joseph White’s writing is raw, vivid, and compelling, with a world that grips you from the first page and doesn’t let go. If you’re looking for a book that combines gothic horror with a powerful exploration of gender, identity, and resilience, this is the one. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy!

Andrew Joseph White, you know how to pack a punch with your visceral writing. While such descriptive horror writing absolutely terrified or disgusted me at parts, it also spoke so deeply to me with its raw connection to true inner thoughts and feelings.

This read just had an incredible way of making my jaw drop in horror while also making me aggressively nod my head in complete agreement with how the main character describes their personal experiences.

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Everything Andrew Joseph White touches turns to gold, or in his case, incredibly well-written books. I first discovered Andrew with his debut, Hell Followed with Us, and immediately knew I’d be wanting to read whatever he wrote next. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a tour de force in queer literature.

It has taken me several months to sit down and write. The story resonated so deeply and beautifully that I wasn’t sure I had the words. Initially, I was hesitant to read this book because I was worried the character would get lost in stereotypes but I was very glad to find out I was so wrong!

Silas was amazing and his struggles with being neurodivergent in an even more unaccepting time feet all too relatable.

I could keep gushing about the exquisitely written the characters, but I want to give some time to the story itself. The elements of suspense and horror and gore were perfection. I can not encourage you enough to read this book!

I loved this book! Andrew Joseph White depicts autism, transgender identity, girlhood and boyhood with such expertise and nuance. Silas's bravery and strength in the face of religiosity and oppression is inspiring. The plot is fun, grotesque, and powerful.

Thanks to the author, Net Galley, and Peachtree for this ARC.

3-3.5 stars.

As my first introduction to the horror genre, im not sure how to feel about this book.

On one hand, its very complex, I liked the setting and Silas' pov, but...it doesnt feel right to say I enjoyed the story. maybe Im faint-hearted, idk .

Either way, I can at least say it was good literary work.

This book is amazing. The autistic representation is what really stands out to me and made me absolutely adore this book as reading about a character who acts and thinks the same as me is so healing. The difficult topics handled in this book are devastating and it makes me so so emotional despite the many times I have reread it the writing is so emotive and each character is so full of personality it feels like I really know them.

I loved the premise of this book, and I love how devoted the author is to providing representation of different types of people in his books, but I unfortunately struggled to get through The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. The characters feel shallow and one-dimensional, including the MC. The historical aspects of the book are ambitious, and I get we're meant to look past some of the inaccuracies in order for the story to be told, but it's hard to do when it feels like stuff is swept under the rug because it didn't fit the plot. Maybe that meant the plot didn't make sense and needed to be changed instead? I think a modern mindset could possibly be written into a piece of historical fiction very delicately, but this was too heavy handed to be believable at all. I can tell a lot of work went into writing this book, but I don't think I would read it again or recommend it.

I absolutely loved Hell Followed With Us so I was very excited to receive this ARC and see what came next from this author. Horrific and traumatic - he did not disappoint.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth reminded me of The Savage Instinct with the amount of detail that was included about women who did not fit the mould in this time period. White makes a point to address this in the end - that while some historical facts are accurate there was much worse done to so many. The fantasy aspects only helped the emphasise the absolute horrors of the acts being done to these women.

I did get pulled out of the story a few times due to the large cast of characters and trying to keep everything straight but White always found a way to pull me back in. Usually with some very gory and specific medical details that I probably could’ve done without. I’m an optometrist but even I struggled with the amount of enucleations that were mentioned.

I am truly a fan of White's writing and I can’t wait to see what’s next. Hell Followed With Us andThe Spirit Bares Its Teeth were so different I couldn’t even begin to guess what he might write about next.

This book has left me spellbound. Every single word of this novel has bewitched me and is crafted with care and precision. I immediately fell in love with the characters, and I want to cradle them and their sharp teeth to my chest.

This is a book set in 1883 where being different is frowned upon. Silas and Daphne and the other waifs are for sure different so they have received abuses from the patriarchal society. Silas is an autistic transman who wanted to be a surgeon. Of course, at that time, Silas is not diagnosed or even allowed to be a transman or a surgeon. Fantastical elements are added to the story. Silas is purple eyed which means he has access to the Veil and talk to dead people. At the end though everyone is happy and everything works out which is I feel is impossible in that time frame. Silas undergo some terrible abuses and traumatic events but everything works out in the end with a red bow to wrap it all up. The ending seemed rush and I feel it could have been done better.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the advance copy in return of my honest review.

Andrew Joseph White, the PHENOMENAL author that you are, you have done it again. After reading Hell Followed With Us I had to do a deep dive and read all the other short stories that have been released and I took a little break but as soon as I started this one, I could not put it down. To write out exactly how it feels to be trapped in a body you do not recognize in such a beautiful and painfully descriptive way but still turn it into something that keeps people, not wanting but NEEDING to read more. If I had a better brain this is exactly what and how I would write. Going to be recommending this one to anyone who will listen to me ramble about it.

I was deeply disappointed that this wasn't an immediate hit for me after loving "Hell Followed with Us." I'm inclined to continue following this author in their future releases but this one simply was not for me. Though the premise had me intrigued, and I normally value representation very highly (I absolutely loved having an autistic and trans MC) the plot didn't grip me enough to hold my attention throughout the book. There wasn't any one particular thing about it that put me off aside from characters that I didn't find particularly developed and a very loose plot once you get mid-way through.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a historical fantasy/horror novel about a trans man maligned by society for his "veil sickness", essentially a diagnosis given in-fiction to those seen as women, who present a problem to patriarchal society. He is sent to a sanatorium for reeducating those with veil sickness, where a variety of horrifying things take place. Shortly after I began reading this, I began feeling a deep feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach; the kind you feel when you know something horrible is going to happen but you just have to see it through. The dread that pervaded me throughout this novel is a kind that is fairly rare amongst media, though similar to that found recently in the film "I Saw the TV Glow": a deep seated knowledge that your body is not As It Should Be and that you will be forever marked by society for this, forever a mistake to be "fixed". I, as a trans woman, am obviously coming at this book from the opposite perspective of our main character Silas, but even so the journey remained a highly relatable one (I could imagine even more so for trans masculine readers). As an avid horror reader, several times in this novel I read something so disturbing that I had to pause to collect myself. There is also a good deal of gore, both medical and otherwise, which may be a hard out for some readers. This is a stunning second novel from Andrew Joseph White, whose prior novel Hell Followed With Us I also very much enjoyed, and solidifies him as one of my favorite new horror authors working today.

This book was received by NetGalley in response for an honest review; thank you to the author and publisher!

I picked this up and put it down so many times and for only the best reason: Andrew Joseph White is a stellar author who manages to shock me to my very bones. I loved Hell Followed With Us more than I could put into words and I'm glad to say the same about The Spirit Bares Its Teeth.