i'm buying a copy of this for my personal library immediately

this was incredible and poigniant and pointed and absolutely, horrifically brutal. i will say, for those squicked by viscera and gore, this is Not the book for you. however, it all serves a clear purpose--it isn't gore for gore's sake

i'm not often affected by books in the way this affected me, but by the final plot escalation i could not put it down

this is masterfully done. silas' experience is powerful and familiar in both personal and painful ways

i'm pretty overwhelmed and will need time to fully compile my thoughts. i'll likely come back and update this to be more coherent later ( )

I received this book from NetGalley. 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! ( )

Raised as Gloria and destined for an arranged marriage, Silas has violet eyes enabling him to have special powers. Refusing to follow accepted expectations Silas is institutionalized in a punitive and dangerous institution where the inmates mysteriously disappear. The horror and odious circumstances are relieved when the person Silas is expected to marry reveals that he is gay and likewise trapped in his body. ( )

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. ( )

Silas is a trans boy on the spectrum living in an AU Victorian England where people born with violet eyes can commune with the dead, but violet-eyed women are seen merely as breeding stock and not allowed to practice as mediums. Silas has violet eyes, and that, coupled with his trans identity, lands him in an asylum that claims to cure girls with “veil sickness,” which is, of course, simply another way for men to oppress women who have a chance at exercising power over them. Because there’s no ‘curing’ going on here and the women who are sent to the asylum are habitually abused in myriad and horrific ways. Silas wants nothing more than to be allowed to become a surgeon and live a normal life, but can he overcome all that is thrown against him not only to accomplish that goal but also to break down the patriarchal system and save the young women who are his fellow inmates?

Ooof. Okay, folks, this one is DARK. And it pulls zero punches in describing the awful, awful things done to its characters. But the story is pretty darn great. My only quibble is that it’s slow to get going, and the first third of the narrative gets too bogged down in Silas’ anguish at how difficult it is for him to be trans and on the spectrum in his world. I get that that’s necessary to the story, to a certain extent, but a little goes a long way and honestly, a little is all that’s needed here. If you’re in any way squeamish, you’ll likely be happier staying clear of this one, and I’d also recommend looking up a list of trigger warnings, if you have any worries in that direction as well (I’m not going to try to come up with my own list – it would be longish – and I’m certain someone else already has somewhere out there in the interwebs). ( )