This one is brilliant, as expected from Andrew Joseph White. Every single one of this man's books has a special place in my heart, always. The writing is amazing, the plot is amazing, and the way he executes it is beyond amazing. I'm unable to properly describe in words what his stories make me feel like.

White has an unbelieveably dark and twisted imagination and I mean that as the highest compliment. The Sprit Bares its Teeth is not for the faint of heart and the author lists the triggers in his intro better than I can. But if you can stomach it (in the knowledge that it is graphic but not gratuitous even at its most detailed) this visceral (in the most literal sense of the word) story of female incarceration and oppression and Victorian Spiritualism is a gut-wrenching, fist-pumping read. Silas is sixteen and longs to be a doctor like his elder brother. More accurately, Silas longs to be a Doctor like the storied Dr Barry, because like the good doctor, Silas has a girl's body in society's eyes and thus a girl's limited place within it. Especially a "girl" with violet eyes and the ability, but not the permission, to breach the veil and make contact with the dead. Destined for a young marriage so that his son's can inherit this gift Silas tries to escape and instead is sent to Braxton's Sanitorium and Finishing School to learn to accept his born gender and the roles associated with it as well as hide all of the signs of his autism so that he can be transformed into a perfect bride and lady. The regime is brutal and the only way to escape is through an acceptable marriage, those who fail are damaged and disappeared and Silas can feel their ghosts asking for help. It is a deeply challenging read, based in an alternative Victorian reality so while the period is recognisable and provides fertile ground for gothic horror it is not intended to be entirely historically accurate. Put this aside as well as any misgivings from other reviews about a trans autistic main character in the nineteenth century as these words are not used to describe Silas's reality though his identity as both is the heart of the novel. White's world-building and his characters are wonderful and there is great style to his writing that is fresh and modern and merciless and bold. I enjoyed this even more than Hell Followed With Us.

Thank you to Daphne Press and NetGalley for my digital review copy.

I really enjoyed this!

I read this straight after reading "Hell Followed With Us" and I knew they were going to be different types of horror, and I loved it.

This book is more of a Gothic horror, filled with suspense and supernatural.

I loved the setting so much (the Sanitorium/Finishing School is a perfect background for a sinister, supernatural Gothic horror) and seeing Silas come to the bottom of the mystery was so engrossing as I just needed to know what happened next.

This book is very heavy on medical horror. There's a lot of gore in a surgeon way (which I hope makes sense) and there's some very graphic medical procedures that we read about on page.

This is a historical fantasy book, so there are liberties taken with the Victorian setting and I really enjoyed seeing White's interpretation of Victorian England.

I think this one may be my favourite of White's books that I have read.

I am viscerally shaking as I write this. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is an absolute masterpiece. Gritty and raw and horrifying and it had me absolutely hooked.

Those born with violet eyes have the ability to communicate with spirits, and the Royal Speaker Society want to control their power and take it for their own. Silas Bell knows this. A trans, autistic boy viewed as a violet eyed imbecile, Silas is set to be married to maintain the gene. What would be recognised as autism and gender dysphoria is diagnosed as ‘Veil Sickness’ caused by the inability of women to handle their powers. He is sent to a Sanatorium with horrific ideas of treatment. Soon, the ghosts of students who have gone missing in its halls begin to step out.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth at its heart is an incredibly difficult and heartbreaking read, dealing with topics of gender identity, sexism, neurodivergence, and imperialism at time where these were unnamed, nevermind understood.

The book is set in the 1800s, but it felt so reflective of the trauma so many trans and neurodivergent people face even now. Oppression through class and gender, the oppression in mental institutions, the cruel idea of conversion therapy before it was named.

The supernatural element was great, but felt like it kind of fell away in the middle, but the story didn’t suffer for it.

Overall, this is such an important read but it is in no way easy. It’s brutal, it’s raw, it’s gory. I ached for these characters, and as a trans* autistic person, I ached for the mistreatment we still face. Andrew Joseph White, you are doing so much so beautifully.

Thank you to Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for the ARC!

Review - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.25)

It is 1883, and a thinning of the veil between life and death has given unspeakable power to those who crave it. Those born with violet eyes have the ability to communicate with spirits, and the Royal Speaker Society will do what it takes to control their power and take it for their own. Silas Bell knows the reality of this all too well. Born a boy but viewed as a girl, Silas is set to be married off to maintain the violet-eyed gene. However, Silas has long been forced to hide what we would now recognise as autism, and is diagnosed with ‘Veil Sickness’ caused by the inability of women to handle their powers. Sent to a Sanatorium to be ‘healed’, the ghosts of students who have gone missing in the its halls begin to reach out - begging Silas to run.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a very difficult and gory read, dealing with important topics of gender identity, sexism, neurodivergence, and imperialism at time where these were even less understood or accepted. The issue of oppression and control using mental institutions and child-bearing was very powerfully present. The supernatural element was interesting, but felt a bit absent at times, falling off in the middle and picking back up at the end. The Speaker Society and their control of mediums was an intriguing plot point which I would have loved to see more of, the glimpses we did see were great and felt reflective of reality. There was a lovely romance included which I would have liked to see develop more, it felt a bit instantaneous. Similarly, the ending felt anticlimactic in a way, as the work they did to uncover the truth went largely unnoticed, but perhaps that is just sadly reality. Overall, a very important read but by no means an easy one, please check the trigger warnings, of which there are many!

‘Dead men have no reason to lie, so they never do. They have no reason to not fight back, so they will. Mors Vincit Omnia, right?’

Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for a e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

" If we are not perfect, obviously our power has corrupted us.
It doesn't matter how closely we've followed their laws.
It doesn't matter if there's proof or not.
We're sick, so we're guilty. That's all the evidence they need".

I don't usually read horror books, but I saw so many positive reactions to this story that I had to give it a try. I have to say, I was not disappointed. This book left me completely surprised; it was not at all what I had expected. Was I ready for the explicit descriptions of medical procedures? Not really (yes, there are trigger warnings at the beginning), but without these descriptions and the presence of the rabbit, I would have never understood Silas completely.
One thing I hope is that this book will also be translated into Italian so I can recommend it to some of my friends, who I know would love it as much as I did.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

~ 5 ⭐️

I would like to thank NetGaley and the publishers for giving me a chance to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautifully written original story, full of spirits, history, and important representation. There were very few things I didn't enjoy about this book. I absolutely adored the main couple, loved the complex characters, and hated the villains. However, there was something about the author's writing that just wasn't for me. I'm not quite sure what it was, but, at times, I couldn't really focus on the story and skipped over a couple of parts, even tho I was really interested in the plot. Other than this, I really don't have anything else to "criticize," and I hope that if I read more of this author's work, I'll get used to the way they write and enjoy their work even more!

White truly never misses. Although his books are all quite different in their stories, White’s voice is very distinct in all of them. Trans, neurodivergent kids are a central part of the “AJW universe” and it’s honestly so refreshing. As White writes himself, his books are about “trans folks with claws and fangs, and what happens when they bite back”.

This story was so different from what I expected. I expected more hauntings and ghostly-ness and I think the world White describes could have been expanded a bit more. But though it was different, I still really enjoyed it. The way White writes makes it a completely immersive experience into the world he’s describing and how the character is experiencing it.

This story had me gasping with pure shock multiple times. Even though I expected horror and terror, this story goes even beyond that. Maybe because it’s partly rooted in truth and historical facts (of which the accuracy is even addressed in the end!! I loved that).

Please look up TWs before reading, it’s intense…

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is set in a Victorian England where spirit work is not the work of charlatans but rather a highly respected position and those with purple eyes are marked as being the most powerful. Despite many women bearing purple eyes, they are viewed as only being suitable as bearing children and being good wives, not the powerful spirit-workers they are destined to be. When people look at Silas, they see a woman but he knows that that is not who he is and in order to give himself the freedom to live the life he is meant to, he comes up with a hare-brained scheme however it fails and he is forced into an asylum-cum-finishing school for other purple-eyed young women to shape him into a good wife.

In the author note at the beginning of this book, White notes that the truth of history is often more horrifying than anything we can make up and there is definitely a lot of darkness and pain within this tale. In many ways, this book hits all the harder than White's debut Hell Followed With Us because it feels so much more grounded and that just makes it all the more horrifying.

Something that I really appreciate about the way that White writes about transness is the fact that it is not neat and don't necessarily fit the mould of what some might think of as a trans person. In reading this book, it feels as though White is giving me language to talk about transness that I hadn't found for myself. I connected with the way that Silas simultaneously was able to hold the fact that he is a boy and the fact that society has seen him as a girl and the way he has experienced the world as a result of that.

There are many moments of this book that made me uncomfortable but that was exactly the intention of those scenes. This is a story that may cut particularly deep for some readers and, as always, please make sure that you look into content warnings before picking it up. This book is well worth the time and the pain.

⊰ 4 stars

First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

“Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all..”

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a fantasy horror novel set in the 19th Century in historical England. The main character, Silas Bell, is a sixteen-year-old boy who is trying his best to find his way in a world where he is not accepted for who he is. The world, especially the Royal Speaker Society, insists on seeing Silas as a girl; one fit to become an obedient Speaker wife no less. As Silas struggles with his identity and autism, he is forced to take matters into his own hands to escape the arranged marriage that his parents are forcing him into.
When his plans fail, he is diagnosed with Veil sickness – a mysterious disease sending violet-eyed women into madness – and shipped away to a mysterious facility in order to bloom into the eligible wife the Royal Speaker Society so desperately wants him to be. But what happens to the girls that don’t turn into eligible wives, and why is Silas suddenly seeing the ghosts of those very same girls?

Our protagonist Silas is trans and autistic, living in a society that would rather he pretend to be something he is not than see him happy. Silas is a very loyal friend and has a determined sense of right and wrong. Being an autistic person myself, I felt very understood and seen when reading this book. The constant struggle with your own mind, trying to fit in, trying to resist your tendencies in fear of others seeing and judging you, it really made me connect to Silas.
Even though this story is set in 19th Century England, I feel like the portrayal of behavior towards people that are different (both LGBTQIA+ or autistic) in this book are still perfectly relevant. This book perfectly shows how difficult it is to constantly be at war with yourself or the world around you and the toll it takes on a person.

I absolutely loved reading The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. My main reasoning behind rating this book 4 stars instead of 5 start would be the very graphic scenes, as it is not something I read often as I do not particularly enjoy them. Nonetheless, I will definitely be reading some other books by this author, because graphic scenes or not, the author definitely has a way with words that is hard to find in fantasy horror novels in my opinion.

Another fantastic YA from the hottest voice in trans horror right now! White manages that tricky balance between suitable for a teen audience and brutal horror with such skill - I’m sure teens will eat this right up nightmares and all but there’s plenty to enjoy for seasoned horror fans too.

“I think the entire world depends on people pretending they don’t know they’re doing terrible things.”

Andrew Joseph White’s “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth” explores society's expectations: what do they do to those who adhere, as well as those who don’t? We follow Silas, a trans teenager who is declared “veil-sick” and sent to a school to be “healed”, so that he can become a good wife.

The school has particular ways of educating; it is believed that reprimanding the body will make the mind understand. And it might work, because sometimes being told that you are something–enough times, by enough people, and in enough ways–will make you believe it.

Understanding oneself in a world that is insisting you are something you are not is hard. Silas has at least had a person who has stood behind him: he could borrow boy-clothes, he could learn about medicine, and he could be called his real name. But if that one person who has stood behind you refuses to stand with you, self-understanding becomes even harder.

When identities are assigned the day you are born, it’s inevitable that some will struggle. Being different is confusing and lonely, but in this way “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth” is comforting–you are not alone. Other people are confused and lonely too.

What I hope will stay with me from this book is the letter from the author. Horror is not really a genre for me, but I was assured that I could stop reading at any time. I had a safety lever, and I was not afraid to use it. It’s also easier to do something difficult when someone acknowledges you are doing something difficult.

Thank you to Daphne Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was very well written. I was immediately captivated.

“They must have convinced themselves they would never rot in the same dirt we do”

Set in a slightly fantastical Victorian England where spirits are able to be contacted through the veil, This story follows Silas, a young trans man that is unaccepted by society and instead diagnosed with ‘veil sickness’. He is sent to a Braxton’s sanatorium and finishing school where we start to see the real horrors of what this society does to people they view as ‘sick’. All of this seen through Silas’ very clinical view of the world, with his passion to become a surgeon front and center.

The story is told so expertly and is able to evoke such emotion. The anger at the injustice of the things these children are put through, the hope that despite that a safe place to land exists, the disgust at what is being described, the list goes on. I also think this story needs to be told and discussed wince it explores such important themes including trans identity, feminism, homophobia, ableism, …

We get such an insight into our main character’s mind. He is very well developed and unlike any other character I have read from before. I cannot speak on the trans of autism representation but I will say that it did not feel at all like a caricature. I loved a lot of the other characters as well, each of them just a morally gray as the next, nevertheless I will defend them at all cost. They all are fleshed out characters that you want so desperately to help.

I do not read a lot of horror and I will say some sections of this were able to make me uncomfortable. Specifically when it comes to the medical descriptions, a few specific scenes really affected me, which was clearly the intent.

I would like to mention that I would really hesitate recommending this to teens under the age of 16 and thus question categorising this as YA. The themes and even the tone definitely have a place in the YA demographic, however I think this story is so explicit that I think it is more suitable for older ages. While this could be seen as a critique, I think this is actually what makes the book so strong: it’s unflinching depiction of what is being done at Braxton’s, and made it so impactful for me.

If you want a truly visceral reading experience interlaced with shock, love, injustice, and rebellion this is absolutely a stellar pick, though please look at content warnings before going into this book.

I read the blurb and was not entirely sure what I was expecting, but it sounded good. Victorian era England, autistic trans boy Silas is sent to a reform school for being a woman suffering with 'veil-sickness'

Loved the setting, characters, medicalisation of language, relationships and the trans main and side characters sense of self.

Not sure if I missed something, but I found the world building a little confusing. Why are people reaching beyond the veil and why are the violet eyes so coveted? The Speakers baffled me a bit too. Could just be I wasn't paying attention at some point though.

Will definitely be checking out the author's other work

This is a story about identity within a gothic horror-esque world set in London in the 1880s. It has elements of magic, ghosts and a boarding school filled with horrible grown-ups. Main character is a young man called Silas although rest of society perceives him as a young woman, and he is forced into this gender and role he is not comfortable in. Therein lies a bit of the horror, I believe, within all the supernatural bits. Sometimes the horrors of man is worse than ghosts and such things.

I wanted to like this more than I ended up doing but I never really got into it.

I loved this creepy horror book, the voice of the MC is so unique with the rabbit interjecting and the internal dialogue of someone both trans and autistic. The description of the feeling of meeting someone else with the same lived experiences as you when you thought you were alone made me cry. Every emotion was so vividly written throughout the book good and bad.

The other characters are also described so beautifully, I had a soft spot for Mary immediately when she was described as a predator that had learned manners and was showing them off. Was gory without being gross (this opinion may vary depending on how much horror you read)


Thank you NetGalley for the copy!

I rather enjoyed Hell Followed With Us when I read it a few months ago, but The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is something spectacular on an entirely different level. I found it an incredibly compelling read from the very beginning, and I finished it in less than a day because I couldn't bear not to know what happened next.

I think the one thing that really struck me while I was reading this is just how fantastic Andrew Joseph White is at writing trans horror. It's brilliant horror in general, of course, but mixed into it all is an element of transness that can't be extricated from the horror as a whole, and it is something I simply love to read. The sanitorium was a great setting for the story, made all the more eerie in the knowledge that while this may be fiction, it carries a great deal of truth. The girls there were each uniquely fascinating, with their own ways of coping with what they were being put through. Everything about this book felt perfectly crafted, and I never wanted to put it down.

Horror is not a genre I enjoy but historical and fantasy are and so I found this second book by Andrew Joseph White a less disturbing read than his first. But this is very much a matter of degree, and The Spirit Bares Its Teeth maintains both White’s quality writing as well as again crafting a deeply disturbing and horrifying plot.

This book feels almost impossible to review equally because the depth and complexity of the story and the symbolism throughout feels impossible to do justice to and because of a desire not to spoil any elements. This is a text I would encourage the reader to experience for themself, after carefully considering the multitude of content warnings provided by the author and deciding whether to proceed.

In his opening letter from the author White writes that he hopes the story means something to the reader and that was certainly my experience. As a trans person I found much to relate to and ponder in White’s exploration of the social construction of gender, of what and how characteristics are attributed to supposedly essential biology, and the ways in which so many things feel inherently gendered (especially our physicality).

This is an intensely difficult read in which the bodily autonomy of most characters is violated in a multitude of ways. The novel also encourages us to consider the ways in which those with power use and abuse their authority in violent and intensely cruel ways to punish those who do not or are not able to conform to rigid gender and/or neurotypical norms. However, this is not just a gruesome story of trauma and oppression, it is also a beautiful love story and an exploration of the ways in which solidarity and the capacity to resist can exist in the face of what feel like insurmountable odds.

It is this capacity to such write multilayered, dense, profound and revolutionary stories that keeps me coming back to White’s books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Daphne Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

To start with, I really appreciate the authors note at the start. The book tackles heavy subjects and I did find myself putting it down when it was too much so it was nice to have that author acknowledgement.

There are a lot of content warnings for Spirit and I'd strongly recommend but it never felt like any were used for shock factor.

Silas character arc was my favourite part of the book. The way he grew into himself and how it tied into the inner voice rabbit was excellent. I really rooted for Silas and Daphne the whole way and I was genuinely stressed whenever I had to put the book down.

The writing was so vivid. I do generally enjoy body horror in media so I was surprised at how off-putting the medical scenes felt (in a good way). These were well balanced with moments of hope.

The worldbuilding was probably the weakest part for me. I struggled understanding the magic system and society for most of the book which was a bit disappointing as I like the worldbuilding in Hell Followed With Us so much.

Overall a solid 4 star read. I'm excited to read more from AJW! Thanks to Netgalley and Daphne Press for the eARC

This is a book that will make you want to burn down the world (or unleash the rage of the spirits onto it!) - it is full of horrors and cruelty, but will leave you clinging to hope despite all the trauma.

Silas is struggling to survive a world that doesn't understand or acknowledge him - it views him as a girl, wants to erase his stims and mold him into something desirable, tolerates his existence only because he has the purple eyes the Speakers so wish to hold onto. Eyes that can tear open the veil and speak to spirits.

After an attempt to escape this life goes awry, Silas finds himself at Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium as a patient being treated for 'veil sickness'. Soon, though, he uncovers a dark and sinister secret that threatens everything.

This book was so ruthless, and my heart broke for Silas and the girls as the school from start to end. They're trapped by a world that deems them unwanted and unworthy, and the system brutalizes their minds and bodies. It captures the twisted medical practices of the nineteenth century (along with the concept of female hysteria) and shapes them into something equally grotesque and fantastical.

Daphne's understanding, the quiet support of the groundskeeper, and the girls' solidarity were the only beacons of light in this gothic tale. I loved how these characters came together to fight against the wrongs of men in positions of power, and the ending shows the flicker of change that is so desperately needed.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth will be under my skin for some time I think, and I think it's a book to share far and wide. It deals with issues of inclusivity, assault, arranged marriage, autism, transgender identities, sexuality, emotional abuse, patriarchy, colonialism, medical experimentation, and more. Read it, shudder at the violence, remember the desperate perseverance of the survivors, and don't forget their stories have truths based in our own reality.