The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up - was rly excited for this & i did enjoy a lot about it but not as much as i expected to. think compared to hell followed with us i just wasnt as invested in the world the story was taking place in & think it would've benefitted from more world building. will always enjoy queer trans autistic characters being represented & the twists & turns of the story was rly well done

I picked this book up for r/fantasy bingo challenge, but it's not worth forcing myself to finish it since I'm just not vibing with it.
There are a lot of degrading thoughts of the main character about their body that just made my reading experience with this book challenging. At moments I found them more disturbing than the graphic gory scenes, which definitely was the point but I just personally didn't enjoy reading about it.

Oh YA.

reading most ardently today made me want to go back rate this one especially high. love when the YA does NOT fuck around

this book pissed. me. off. in the best and most intended way possible.

i am filled with rage that only this type of topic can induce in me. topics like bodily autonomy, biological sexes, gender identity, objectification of women drive me crazy. and sometimes its easy to forget about it. sometimes its so easy to let the rabbit inside of you just forget about all those troubles that people are going through because hey you're not going through them right now and why start a fuss and this is the easiest and quickest and quietest way of thinking. fuck. that.

this book pissed me off in the way that i needed to be pissed off. not because of the plot or the writing or the characters. these were all so top tier that i'm actually in shambles now that i know i will never bare witness to their story again (unless i inevitably reread this).

no. this book pissed me off because everyone was ~in~ on it. everyone. there was no one silas could turn to ~truly~ because everyone was the bad guy. society was the bad guy. society will either break you into the perfect man fearing wife or they will call you crazy as they burn you. i am a wreck after reading this. i am filled with rage. its not fair. i feel like a child screaming at whomever will hear. its. not. fair.

i could write a full dissertation on why this book carved out a little hole in my chest and will live their for the rest of my days. i will not. i will, however, continue to be filled with rage as we mark today as the 2nd year anniversary of roe v wade being overturned. i will continue to fuel my rage this november. i will rage. i will burn. i will gnash my teeth like mary and ellen and do what i can as the rabbit in my chest continues to thump. i am unwell.

Where do I begin? I finished this book and immediately ordered Andrew's other book from my library. After page 128, I devoured the book in one sitting.

As someone who is not neurodivergent or trans the way Andrew writes Silas's internal struggles and inner monologues was truly eye opening. He does a perfect job of describing what it feels like to be born into the wrong body. The societal and personal struggles are not only historically relevant, but I'm sure easy to relate to even now. As a YA book, I know that young people (and even old ones, like me... 34) will see themselves in these characters and find comfort whether they struggle with wanting to feel “normal” as a neurodiverse person or even someone with depression/anxiety. Despite all of the internal struggle that Silas goes through, he never wavers for more than a few moments about his true identity and his strength shines through this book from beginning to end. I loved the side characters of Daphne, Mary, and Isabella and felt sorrowful for many others. I love a book that can connect you to its characters in such a way that you don't want it to end. This book has everything- gothic vibes, romance, self-discovery, found family, suspense, historical basis, and beautiful representation. Many TWs but being YA I personally did not feel like anything was so horrible that I needed to put the book down. If you are VERY sensitive to sexual assault in books, probably don't read this, if you can handle some, you'll be okay.

I feel like there is so much more I want to write but right now all I can say is that this book is AMAZING and it will live rent free in my brain forever. <3

Yes.

This is the second book by this author that I've been really intrigued by the premise (also [b:Hell Followed With Us 57911600 Hell Followed With Us Andrew Joseph White https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630498579l/57911600.SY75.jpg 90726926]) but the execution has been...well really not for me. And part of that I think is that White is really writing for a trans audience and I hope that readers who feel represented by these books will read them and get what they need from them. But also in both cases it feels like the worldbuilding is really...cursory? Like here I just really wanted to know more about this magical apprenticeship/arranged marriage situation because in some cases it seemed like there were very clear rules about it but then also kind of like, it just existed to set up the scenario? Which I guess is kind of always the point of fiction. IDK IDK I just didn't care for this. Again other readers may find what they need here, especially ones looking for trans romance and also maybe a kind of historical Handmaid's Tale kind of vibe...idk there are definitely vibes here that will appeal to some readers. Just like, not me!!

I just finished the Spirit that bares its teeth by Andrew Joseph White and here is my review.

The Veil between the living and the dead has thinned and the violet eyes mediums can open the veil and speak with the dead, under the guidance of the Royal speaker society.

Silas Bell is a biological female but knows he was born in the wrong body. His parents paid a fortune to tutors to hide the things they considered not normal. He would give anything to be a surgeon and not someone's wife but it's 1883 and this is just not possible.

Silas tries to escape his fate of the arranged marriage but fails spectacularly in front of the whole society. He is then diagnosed with Veil sickness, a mysterious disease that only affects Violet eyed women and sends them into madness. He is then shipped to Braxton's Finishing school and Sanitorium... One step away from being Bedlam.

The place deals out daily torture and the end game.... To be cured and become a wife or you disappear. Silas can't ignore the ghosts in the building begging him for help and sets out to find out the real reason the school is operating but will he make it out alive?

The cover of this book is amazing. It was the first thing I noticed when I received it in the mail. It was almost too pretty to read. The synopsis was so original I was really excited to start reading it.

Silas (born Gloria), knows in his heart he isn't a girl and the idea of living his life as one, is more than just depressing. I loved how Silas' brother allowed him to dress like a boy and undertake practicing surgery on pigs. George even used Silas' name and not the one he was born with. It was interesting to see the flip of George on Silas towards the end of the book. I loved Daphne. I think she was my favorite character in the book.

It was interesting how the author used the concept of veil sickness to reign in and control women who could do something that regular men couldn't and used their independence and obvious anger for being repressed as a symptom of an illness to lock them up and “rehabilitate them”. Excellent writing and the book was very well researched, you could tell.

The book was pretty graphic in places and covers a lot of more disturbing content which I loved but you may want to make sure this book is good with your triggers before reading.

I read the whole thing in one sitting and I was really pleased with it from start to finish.

5 stars! Thank you @penginrandomca for my gifted copy.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Andrew Joseph White did it again. The Spirit Bares It's Teeth is an incredibly heart wrenching book while somehow also heart warming. It held the balance of being very hard to read due to graphic gorey scenes and then intimate scenes around friendship and identity and love. 

I'm not going to lie, my two gore topics I avoid are eyes and pregnancy and this book hit both of them and yet I didn't ever want to stop reading. Andrew's writing is so captivating and poetic it's hard to put down. Even though this took me almost a month to read, it wasn't ever because I got bored or didn't want to be reading it. It was constantly on my mind and I already wish I could keep reading it. 

The characters really embedded themselves in my heart. I was so deeply invested in their stories and what would happen to them. Silas felt very special to me as a person both in the trans community and neurodivergent. I related to the struggles he faced and how his mind worked. All the girls were also so well written and I wanted to know more about all of them, just like Silas. I was also so attached to the groundskeeper even if he wasn't in a ton of scenes. The element of spirits and the veil were both scary and intriguing at the same time. I really enjoyed that. 

I am still fairly new to the horror genre but this is the first book that I've physically felt my heart pounding and my eyes trying to skip ahead to find out what happens and if the characters are okay. I was in such a state of anxiety but for once, it was enjoyable. It was a really intense reading experience. 

This book has made me much more interested in looking into the history of forced institutionalizations of women / minorities. Horror based in history and real life hits so much harder and really opens my eyes to things I didn't put much thought into previously. Even if it isn't a completely accurate representation. 

Overall, I would highly recommend this book!! I would especially recommend it to my fellow queer and neurodivergent readers because this just felt so special and I want more people to experience that! Thank you Andrew Joseph White for writing such incredible books and I can't wait for more! 

CWs : graphic violence, sexual assault (both implied and on page), medical gore, on page c-section, abortion, transphobia, ableism, medical / psychiatric abuse, gaslighting, physical / emotional / verbal abuse, forced institutionalizations, body horror, dysphoria, torture, confinement, death of parent, murder, adult/minor relationship, self harm

Can I be fair and objective with this book? Probably not because I want White's literary voice to have existed in my life 20 years ago when I was a teenager who desperately needed a voice like his even though I didn't know it at the time and I'm so glad that it exists now that I have no words. When I tell you that I literally squealed with delight when my ARC request was approved...

Alright, on with the review. White captures the small daily horrors of the autistic experience as well as the sweeping systemic ones and blends them masterfully with the supernatural, the result is raw, honest, and refreshing. While this book takes place in something akin to the Victorian era its commentary regarding ableism is shockingly and devastatingly timely. The pacing is a rather slow and steady one where the horror deepens through accumulation rather than outright shock. Silas is endearing as all effs and it makes the whole thing even harder to read because you just don't want bad things to be happening to him!

I loved every minute I spent with this book and I'm about to be as annoying with it as I was with Hell Followed With Us, I'd apologize in advance but I'm not actually sorry about it.

Thank you to Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for granting me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Review edited to add: I rarely reread books but after hearing much good about the narration for the audiobook I decided to give it a go. The narrator was great but I really struggled to associate the voice with a teenager.