Nope. Sorry, this just wasn't for me. It really dragged on, I found it boring and I did not like the romance or plot AT ALL. Had to dnf it early. It was weird but interesting premise, just wasn't executed well imo.

Boys with Sharp Teeth is a YA take on dark academia. The writing is poetic and haunting creating a great narrative for philosophical exploration. I most enjoyed the murder mystery, which had a paranormal element making this more interesting. In terms of the characters, they are all complex and full of reflections. At times the feelings were a bit intense for me as I felt there wasn’t enough time or space for them to have reached that point. But I also did enjoy the drama of it all. The highlight of this book is the beautiful prose and I certainly would recommend to dark academia readers. This is a book of revenge, reality and romance. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

This book is both nonsensical and boring.
Lacking in plot and character development (and also coherent dialogue), Howell has written Boys with Sharp Teeth on vibes alone.

This was one of my most highly anticipated releases of the year - because a mix of gothic horror and dark academia with a murder mystery and morally grey MMCs and FMC sounded like a bit of me. So I cannot describe just how disappointed I am that this was a huge miss for me.

In this we see all the normal themes and tropes of an elite boarding school dark academia / gothic / horror novel but the frenzied writing of madness and reality was just too fractured and slow to keep me me both interested and understanding what was happening. They’d be doing or talking about one thing and then skip to another which left me wondering if my copy was missing pages.

I saw a video the author posted where she talked about how many rounds of edits and rewrites this book has had over the course of many years, and unfortunately it really shows. It’s a mix-mash of a few different books, sliced and spliced together that makes it so difficult to read and follow.

I spent the vast majority of reading this book internally screaming “what are you talking about”, “what are you doing” and “what do you mean” because it’s so overly written to the point of making no sense. After 20% I was bored and picking this up to continue felt like a slog.

Again, this deeply saddens me because the idea and the premise is excellent but the execution is not there.

Thank you to NetGalley, Scholastic UK and Jenni Howell for the e-arc and the opportunity to read Boys with sharp teeth.
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As many others I was drawn to the cover which is simply beautiful and gives a bit of hindsight into the characters.
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This book is fully YA and has a hint of romance, but it’s more like interest due to finding who the real culprit is. I see that the author tried to make it somewhat of an obsession but it felt more like a sudden thing than a really developed romance. It might also be due to the fact that the story spans for just 2 weeks and not a whole semester.
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The next few paragraphs might have spoilers so please read carefully

[TL;DR] 3,5/5 too many pages which felt useless instead of explaining more about the world building. Nice atmosphere with likeable characters.
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I really enjoyed the fake identity part and Jamie/Marin always being on edge about being discovered by the school staff. However, about the school, nothing is really explained as to why it was founded, who gives off money, who are the other students than the 3 others ? Why is Victoria mentioned and then we forget her ?
Also why are we having philosophy classes in a greenhouse and detention is free to get in and out.
Marin leaves her place but her dad does nothing, neither her friends ? No one looks for her ?
I felt like the world building was a tiny bit lacking and it would’ve needed around 50 pages more of it.
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Now for the whole relationship parts, idk why but I expected it to be a bit queer.
There was a moment between Graves (Adrian) and Henry (when Marin gets out of the shower) where I fully expected Henry to kiss him. However nothing happens. It’s just like : oh yeah remember in middle school I felt so alone I decided to burn my family home with everyone inside but then I remembered my best friend that I saved. But now I’m going to guilt trip him into doing everything I want?
What about Graves parents ? Where are they ? Wdym it’s your 3 bike you crash in the semester ?
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How did Henry figure out it was the mirror and everything around it ? Was he seeing ghosts before just like Marin and her mom.
Marin’s mom is mentionned very briefly every time, she died of substance (and physical) abuse but we have no idea about how close Marin and her were.
Why us Marin still living at her dads ? Shouldn’t she have moved to her friends place or with Sam and her aunt ?
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Now Baz (Basile) pretty much neglected by her mom who seems to care about her, she’s also president of the student council ? Feels a bit random. Why is she afraid of mirrors? Why did she really get into tarot ?
The part I really liked about her friendship with Marin is that she just opened up little by little and really cared about her. Marin kept feeling guilty about lying and felt like this was a stolen friendship.
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Now Graves, he seemed to be pretending to be cool having girls around etc but always running and working out ? Do the kids have 2h of school per day ?
Why is he cutting his body with the mirror ? Just to feed Henry who guilts trip him ? but when we had the first page of every chapter it felts a bit more deep than that and it was never mentioned again.
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I fully expected this book to NOT have any paranormal/supernatural moment, like yes it was just mentioned at the start with the whole Sam’s dying mystery (which was forgotten pretty easily) and then you think about something else. This part just felt rushed and added just to spice things up.
I totally forgot about Sam for like 200 pages, the grief was replaced by curiosity never hate like Jamie/Marin seems to be talking about.
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At the end, Marin is not accused of anything, no one can find her but she’s literally down the hill, Adrian recognized her immediately but how did Henry find out ? Why did none of the adult did the same ? Especially the sheriff ?
So she gets half into the mirror and is half alive, decides to let her go BUT sends a letter to Henry who is in jail like : I’m bored let’s make a second book ?
This just got me to sigh very loudly.
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Why is Henry paying for the school by himself ? Like he’s the biggest contributor and it’s not the older alumni students ?
So many quotes by French authors and Latin sentences, if you have never read the books or did Latin it seems a bit too much.
Who sent the memento mori text ? What’s up with the somewhat cult like party they did ? Was it just in memoriam of Sam ?
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I have a LOT to yap about around this book however my final thoughts is that it was 150 pages too long. The book was more tell than show. The characters could’ve been more complex. The paranormal bit was not made correctly and then tragedy part was very quick. Especially with grief.
Also no one actually has sharp teeth more like a sharp tongue…
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Thanks again for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank-you to NetGalley and Scholastic UK for the opportunity to read an eArc of this book.

the cover is nothing short of perfect, it fits the vibe the book was going for and it draws you in.

The story has amazing potential, there was things that pulled me out of the immersion but for me it wasn't enough to drop my rating.

I was intrigued when I heard this described as We Were Liars meets The Raven Boys. I wondered how that would work, but I think that comparison was very fair.

The story was intriguing, and I found myself questioning what was going on although occasionally that descended into the plot being outright confusing or a little slow.

The ending made sense with the rest of the story, but perhaps demonstrated this was not quite the right book for me, but I think there will be plenty of readers who will love it.

I have found this a tricky book to rate. I enjoyed it enough that I will definitely be looking out for further books by this author. I think it’s 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank-you to NetGalley and Scholastic UK for the opportunity to read an eArc of this book.

Before I dive into this book, a round of applause for this cover because DAMN!

I might have gone into this story with unrealistic expectations. I was ready for a queer, sexy, haunting, dark-academia kind of story with a sprinkle of romance and a messy love triangle. I did get some of those parts, just in a pretty muted fashion and felt a bit let down by that.

The prose was gorgeous and Jenni Howell has a real talent when it comes to crafting beautiful sentences that immediately suck you into the story and build a compelling atmosphere.
The characters were also really interesting and all really fleshed out, but I could not get behind the obsession and romance part of it all. A lot of it felt forced and unnatural to me.

There was also some confusion on my part when it came to the sheer easiness with which Marin infiltrated a literal ELITE boarding school and how no one batted an eye at that. Some things just weren't adding up and yes, even though this is fiction and anything is technically possible, it still needs to make sense for the reader and for me a lot of it didn't make sense.
It felt like the author focused more on the prose and the vibes, than the whole architecture of the story and plot itself, which led to these confusing elements and the lack of establishing a compelling story.

This book was nothing like I expected, but Jenni Howell has an unusual way of telling a story. Boys With Sharp Teeth is full of angsty characters, twisted morals, and although I wanted to love this book it did leave me confused many times throughout the book.

Unfortunately, this book isn't for me - although being marketed as queer it definitely isn't and the world building/storytelling in general was lacking. I found it quite difficult to get into and had to try multiple times before I was able to read it all the way through. This will be someone's 5 star read, it just wasn't mine.

I'm a big lover of character driven stories, even above plot-driven. So in that respect, this book felt really appealing to me.
I absolutely loved the dark academia theme, and you can't really go wrong with the rich brat kids behaving badly trope. The only thing I wasn't completely sold on was Marin/ Jamie as the unreliable narrator. Not because I dislike first person narration, which I do. However, I think it's important to allow backstories to unfold, allowing readers to find out about a character. Unfortunately here, it never felt like there was anywhere near enough information early on to set the scene and all the way through the book I kept waiting for information to help build Marin/ Jamie as a character, but I felt like what I needed never really arrived.
For example, the background story of Marin's mother is so fragmented and unclear, I never really fully understood what happened there, and this felt like much of a theme throughout this book- also for what concerned Sam.
As a result her feelings, hatred, loved and fears felt too detached to allow me to justify them, or understand her at all, which in turn made the book less engaging and in the end I wasn't all that interested in what happened to her- not a good place to be, when you have a first-person narrative.

I felt like too many scenes are there 'just because'- they don't particularly help progress the story or build the characters, which in turn makes them feel like written to unnecessarily prolong the story without adding much to it.
Everything is always hinted, which is fine initially, to keep you on your toes and to keep you guessing. Unfortunately, at times, hints were too subtle to give the story enough focus. A lot of smoke and mirrors, but not enough action and clarity, until the point I felt it was too late.

I think what ultimately let this book down somewhat is the fact that it's YA. The writing is dark and atmospheric; the tension, dynamics, obsession, are all there. But I couldn't shake the feeling that all that tension could really go somewhere good if allowed to peak and unravel- unfortunately it doesn't, and it all wastefully just fizzles out.
Sadly this book felt too much like style over substance- like it was trying a bit too hard, just like Marin.
I'm very sorry, because I really wanted to love it.

The premise and the cover? Fantastic.
The execution? It wasn't great for me, at least as far as I got. Lots of unrealistic aspects that destroyed my immersion (I can suspend disbelief but there was a LOT to suspend here) + unclear vibe + rushed writing (?). Maybe I should have read longer, but I really wasn't clicking with it.

Wow—what a breathtaking dark academia debut! This novel masterfully explores the depths of obsession, delusion, and the razor-thin boundary between love and hate, drawing readers into a world where nothing is as it seems.

At just seventeen, Marin James is relentless in her pursuit of the truth surrounding her cousin’s mysterious death. Her suspicions fall on Adrian Hargraves and Henry Wu—the enigmatic, dangerously magnetic leaders of the school’s most exclusive circle. Determined to uncover their secrets, Marin infiltrates the academy’s elite world, only to find herself ensnared in a tangled web of attraction, deception, and shifting allegiances. As the lines between justice and vengeance blur, she begins to question not only the boys' culpability but also her own perception of the truth.

Jenni’s writing is utterly spellbinding—each twist and revelation upends everything you thought you knew, creating a narrative that constantly straddles the line between reality and illusion. The novel’s atmospheric tension is palpable, its characters beautifully layered and emotionally raw, making this a story that lingers in your mind long after the final page is turned.

Boys with Sharp Teeth is a dark academia triumph, perfect for readers who crave intricate storytelling, morally grey characters, and an intoxicating sense of mystery. With its hauntingly lyrical prose and perfectly paced suspense, this book is an absolute must-read for fans of the genre. An enthralling, thought-provoking experience that demands to be devoured—five stars, without question.

Boys With Sharp Teeth is one of the most unique novels I have ever read. I was immediately drawn in by the plot - 'wicked' boys, dangerous characters and a dark academia setting I adore. Accompanied with the beautiful, if sometimes self-indulgent and grandiose, prose that marks the genre.
Overall, I had a good time whilst reading, enjoying the unique storytelling which had a lot more questions than answers. I was happy to suspend my disbelief for the majority of the plot as the tone was giving me all spooky and dark vibes I love about the genre. Plus, that gorgeous cover!

The issue I had throughout, is that in the name of being 'mysterious' there were times were the plot stepped from being intentionally cryptic to outright confusing and incomprehensible - whilst a lot of this becomes clearer towards the end, I still spent a little too much of the story feeling lost when a little more understanding would have only heightened the tension and building sense of dread.

Nonetheless, the toxic and twisted character relationships within this book really were a highlight and for that alone I would be interested in the authors future work. Plus, who doesn't enjoy a villain origin story?

I love a story with morally grey (sometimes morally black) characters and a constant air of danger; so, Boys With Sharp Teeth hit a lot of marks for me. But for those who are happy to be swept up in the mystery of it all this book really is YA dark academia at it's core.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher & the author for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you’re looking for a book that feels like a fever dream wrapped in a philosophical debate and sprinkled with just enough danger to make you question your life choices, Boys with Sharp Teeth is it. It’s eerie, it’s mesmerizing, and it’s nothing like anything I usually read—which made it all the more refreshing.

Our main character, Marin, decides to go undercover as ‘Jamie’ (because that always goes well!) at an elite boarding school to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend. Her plan? Move in with his former roommates—the very people she suspects. Smart move? Absolutely not. Entertaining? Oh, definitely. These boys are progressively more unhinged, and after Jamie purposefully crashes a car (as one does), one of them—Henry—develops a rather intense fascination with her. Their relationship isn’t so much romantic as it is a psychological tug-of-war. Henry wants to possess Jamie. Jamie wants to use Henry for information. It’s less enemies to lovers and more morally gray chess match with a side of danger.

Meanwhile, Jamie navigates classes, lurks in the library, and finds herself exchanging quotes in the margins of a book with a mysterious stranger. It’s poetic, eerie, and somehow the perfect contrast to the chaos surrounding her. But speaking of poetry—this book? Philosophical to the max. I have a master’s degree, so I like to think I can handle complex writing, but Boys with Sharp Teeth really pushed my limits. Some passages were hauntingly beautiful, others left me staring into space wondering if I’d just had an out-of-body experience. And this is technically YA? Not sure if I agree.

That said, the writing is stunning. One quote that still lingers in my mind:

“It’s a boy, not a ghost; it’s a boy, not a monster, I tell myself. But I know boys, and now I know monsters, and there isn’t that much difference between them.”

Chills.

I had no idea where this story was going, but I was strapped in for the ride. There are twists, there are turns, and I’m not sure I fully grasped all of them—but maybe that’s the point. The beauty of Boys with Sharp Teeth is in the gaps, in the things left unsaid, in the meaning you create for yourself. It’s unsettling, it’s thought-provoking, and it’s unlike anything I’ve read before. If you’re in the mood for something dark, poetic, and a little unhinged—this one’s for you!

This sounded absolutely brilliant. YA dark academia that gave off 'Every Exquisite Thing' by Laura Steven vibes. However, this just didn't hit the mark for me. I really struggled to get into it and to then carry on picking it up.

The plot regarding Jamie coming to the school wasn't realistic to me at all. Coming in off fake results, a bad cheque and a fake ID lays a very shaky foundation. I know she was acting out of anger and grief and doesn't care if her plan is foolproof or not. But the fact she got away with the facade for so long was so confusing to me. Especially with the test results and her supposed intelligence, it just seemed too far fetched for her to fit in so easily without being called out.

The best scene was about 20% of the way through in the forest. The atmosphere was really great and I really liked the eerieness to it. But after this things just lacked the excitement from that scene. I found that the plot lacked intrigue for me as I was just so confused for the majority of the time. I hated that we were set up for Jamie to be with Adrian and then it ended up being more of a thing with her and Henry. I thought her and Adrian had much better chemistry. I don't understand why there was so much detail into her connection with Adrian, especially with the way the story went.

I found the characters hard to connect to. Especially Jamie/Miran. I understand the need to differentiate the two as Miran is pretending to be Jamie, and of course to show that Miran has a hard time being Jamie. But half the time I couldn't figure out who Miran even was. There were many things that didn't add up.. Including her relationship with her dad. If your daughter is gone for a month, surely you have some questions for her or have emotions around seeing her again. I just found her relationship with her family really hard to understand and odd. I also don't understand where or why her character went down the road she did. Her actions were very questionable and odd.

I just feel like there were so many other ways to go with this book that would've made it a stronger story and a more satisfying conclusion. It had such a cool idea around it but in my opinion, I just don't feel like it was executed well.

So, I don’t actually know where to being with this one. I was initially very excited when I 1. Saw the cover 2. Read the title 3. Saw what books it was comped with.

Sadly, it wasn’t for me. I couldn’t get past the writing style. I can see people liking it, but for me it didn’t work and I usually love lyrical prose. I couldn’t engage with the characters or plot in the way I would have liked to. If you asked me what this book was about and what happened, I’d honestly say I don’t quite know. So much happened, but also not a lot at all, and when things did happen towards the end, it was fairly predictable.

I did really find the dynamic between Marin, Henry, Adrian, and Baz interesting. Some scenes when all four of them interacted I really enjoyed, and the overall ambiance of the book was great. The hatred, the little touches, the long glances, the secrets. Whew. Those got me stressed and invested all the same. Though, don’t misunderstand me, that’s not for romantic purposes. This is NOT a romance. Far from it.

To add, I can see this one make a great tv-show or movie. I actually kept seeing it more as reel playing in my head while reading, and I think that might have been my way of making sense of it all. I was there for the vibes. And ultimately, I do really hope it lands with the right audience and find its true fans, because with the right people, this will most likely be a winner.

Dark, unsettling, and utterly hypnotic, Boys With Sharp Teeth sinks its fangs into you and doesn’t let go. Jenni Howell crafts a world dripping with eerie allure—one where grief, obsession, and power swirl together beneath the elite walls of Huntsworth Academy.

At its core, this is a story of vengeance. Marin infiltrates the school seeking justice for her cousin’s death, but her mission quickly spirals into something far more complicated. The lines between love and hate, predator and prey, blur as she becomes entangled with Adrian and Henry—two enigmatic figures who rule Huntsworth with a dangerous kind of magnetism. Their dynamic is charged with a tension that feels almost unbearable at times, an intoxicating mix of attraction and danger. But nothing at Huntsworth is as it seems, and the deeper Marin digs, the more the story takes on a surreal, almost nightmarish quality.

Howell’s writing is haunting, laced with sharp prose that perfectly captures the book’s philosophical undercurrents. The novel leans into the darker side of Dark Academia—its gothic atmosphere is thick with paranoia, and the horror elements creep up on you in ways that are both unexpected and terrifying.

But what truly sets this book apart is its willingness to embrace the strange. It demands a suspension of disbelief, rewarding readers with an experience that is as disorienting as it is mesmerizing. There’s a fever-dream quality to it, where you’re never quite sure what’s real or what lurks just beneath the surface.

This is not a book for readers seeking a neatly wrapped romance or clear-cut morality. It is unsettling and unpredictable, with characters who are deeply flawed, often walking the razor’s edge between fascination and destruction. But for those willing to step into its shadowed halls, Boys With Sharp Teeth is an intoxicating, unforgettable read—one that lingers long after the final page.

can we start by saying how this cover is BEAUTIFUL!

This is my first story by Jenni Howell and may I say her writing is phenomenal - i highlighted so many quotes of this book and now I NEED the physical book asap to annotate. It kind of reminds me of a YA version of Olive Blake.

​I did find the book to be a tad bit slow and lengthy and I wished it had more romance aspect to it as sometimes I felt a little removed from the characters. But that did not stop me from devouring this debut up, I was hooked and can't wait to read more from the author.

overall I think it's the perfect book for dark academy lovers, the plot and dynamics were really gripping - I would definitely recommend!

First of all the cover and the setting of this book is fantastic for those with a taste for Dark Academia. I feel those that have rated poorly were expecting a pure romance novel based on the cover alone. This is a dark twisted narration that keeps you on your toes with lies and angst.

I received a copy of this book via NetGallery for review.

Howell’s debut novel is so addictive, toxic and enthralling! We follow Marin who is out for revenge after her cousin dies at a mysterious elite boarding school and wants to bring him justice while taking down the group that did it. But Marin gets pulled into a web of deceit, lust and obsession. I loved Marin as our main character, so it made for an easy and fun read because I was really rooting for her. The rest of the characters were compelling even if they weren’t particularly likeable at times (which is the whole point) and they were just entertaining to follow since you just didn’t know who to trust.

I adored the writing style so much! So I’m excited for the future of Howell’s career because I know her writing will only get better from here.

Overall it was just a really enjoyable read and I loved the ending a lot🙏🏻

I found this to be overall a bit tedious.
I may just not be the target audience for this.
Pacing was off, characters had no depth.
Just didn’t resonate with me at all.
Overall interesting concept but wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.
All opinions are my own.