What a beautiful, haunting, tragic story. I don't usually gravitate towards body horror but when I saw the cover I just had to give it a shot. I wasn't all that into Hell Hath Followed but I heard good things about this one so I wanted to read and I'm so glad I did. I urge everyone to pick this one up and let White take you through this gorgeous and spooky story

The first thing I have to write about this amazing book is to pay attention to the content notes — Andrew Joseph White opens the book with a “letter from the author” including that the book “contains transphobia, ableism, graphic violence, sexual assault, discussions of forced pregnancy and miscarriage, mentions of suicidal ideation, and extensive medical gore”.

If those triggers aren’t a problem for you, then you should go buy this book right now; it is exceptional.

I devoured his debut (see my 4⭐ review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4305076869) but the Christofascist cult antagonists didn't really instil in me the same sense of connection and being seen as with Silas, the transmasc protagonist here, even as a cis autistic guy myself, and there are so many great secondary characters.

“Andrew writes about trans kids with claws and fangs, and what happens when they bite back.” And hells yes he does! Enjoy is never quite the right word for queer horror that uses our queerness quite so effectively but his debut was great and this is even better.

An amazing book that I couldn’t recommend more highly.

I love everything that Andrew Joseph White writes and this book was no exception! Horrifying mixed with brutally poignant, and Silas was a fantastic protagonist who I was rooting for the whole way through the book.

Seriously one of the best books I've read in a long time! Andrew Joseph White is a masterpiece storyteller and really knows how to suck you into a story!

AJW continues to exceed my very high expectations. A second novel can be hard, especially when a debut explodes as HFWU did! But this novel hit even harder for me.

Brutal and devastating, frequently uncomfortable — I frankly devoured this in such a short period of time because of how it hooked me. Silas as a lead is everything I could ask for in an autistic trans person trying to live in a world that hates him. He’s scared and there’s a voice deep in his chest that echoes his deepest insecurities. I have so rarely read a perspective that makes me want to weep so consistently, but also makes me want to burn down the systems and people that hurt him.

Wonderful prose that cuts deeper than any scalpel, AJW is undoubtedly a singular voice not just in the genre but in literature as a whole. Cannot recommend his work enough for those with the stomach and anger to consume it.

This was a really fascinating and pretty gory tale that I thoroughly enjoyed. Silas was a wonderful protagonist and it was interesting to see the portrayal of a trans man in a historical setting. The treatment of the 'veil sick' women felt all too authentic and made for an uncomfortable read. Overall I thought this was a powerful novel and am intrigued to see what the author comes up with next.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

5/5 stars! I loved everything about this book. The cover, the premise, the characters. This is a darkness to this story that appealed to me and the way the prose was written was enthralling.

Thank you so much Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink, Andrew Joseph White, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I first read Hell Followed with Us, fell in love with it, and was super excited to learn I was approved for The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. I’m truly speechless because of how much I loved this book. From the pacing, worldbuilding, setting, characters & their development, writing, and more. 5/5 stars and highly recommend this book!

Every day, I spout the praises of Sir Andrew Joseph White, and i will never stop. that being said, while i did enjoy this book, it wasn’t my favorite AJW. the only qualm i had was the ending, but even then, i just tell myself it’s fiction.
I did keep calling daphne phoebe bc those are the same name in my head apparently.

Set in an imagined Victorian era where violet-eyed people can speak to and control the dead, a violet-eyed transgender boy named Silas is sent to a finishing school designed to turn him into the perfect wife. But there are secrets hiding in the dark underbelly of the school, and Silas will have to use every bit of knowledge and courage he has to save himself and the other students. A dark, bloody, and ultimately hopeful read.

And absolutely excellent book!
Andrew Joseph White is truly one of the greatest writers of our time!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for a honest review.

Firstly this cover is absolutely DIVINE. It hooked me straight away.

Listen up, gothic horror lovers and fans of queer rage—The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is not just a book; it’s an experience. Imagine The Haunting of Hill House meets A Series of Unfortunate Events, but make it violently trans, viscerally gothic, and filled with unapologetic fury. It’s the kind of story that crawls under your skin, scratches at your bones, and dares you to look away—but you won’t. You can’t.

We’re talking:
💀 Victorian gothic horror—think dark manors, asylums, and eerie séances.
🩸 Body horror & medical horror—twisted science, forced conformity, and the fear of being trapped in a body that isn’t yours.
🕯️ Ghosts & supernatural intrigue—but the real monsters are the living.
🔥 Queer defiance & righteous rage—Silas Bell refuses to be erased, and you’ll be screaming for him the whole way through.
📖 Found family in the darkest places—because sometimes the only people who understand you are the ones society fears the most.

Silas is a protagonist for the ages—neurodivergent, autistic, trans, and so filled with justified fury that it practically bleeds off the page. He’s trapped in a world that wants to break him, but instead of bending, he bares his teeth (literally and figuratively) and fights.

This book is brutal, beautiful, and unrelenting. If you like your horror gothic, your prose sharp as a scalpel, and your protagonists burning with white-hot defiance, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is your next obsession. But fair warning: it’s not for the faint of heart. This book hurts—in the best way possible.

Now go. Read it. And prepare to feel.

AJW always knocks it out of the park. After the author's debut, I wasn't sure how excellent the second book would be since sometimes there's a sophomore slump. Not here!!! AJW is going to write an amazing story with gorgeously complex queer characters and the story is going to hurt every single time.

I specifically loved this book because it's a Victorian ghost story set in part in a creepy girl's school. That's a story I've loved since my own childhood and AJW put his own spin on it which made it refreshing and intriguing. The story swept me up and kept me locked in until the end. The characters were original and complex but still so relatable. As always, the body horror/gore SLAPPED.

I can't wait for the next AJW novel!!! Would recommend this to everyone. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC!

It’s always hard for me to write a review for books I really enjoy because I struggle with putting into words what I enjoyed about it. I don’t always have the right words or sometimes I don’t have any words at all and so my mind ends up staying blank. Silas’ autism is much like my own and it was.. refreshing yet raw to see someone act like me in a book, to see someone and go ‘yes, I also do that, and I was also ridiculed for it’. This book is beautiful and heartbreaking and so very autistic that it made me indescribably happy. I love horror, I love medical things, and I think Andrew Joseph White did such a wonderful job of blending everything together in this book. I can’t wait to see all that he does in the future.

I did not get very far in this one before NetGalley yanked it from me. What I was able to read was extremely dark, extremely wrought and very tragic.
This is an alternative history, magical realism Queer identity book that I will (at some point) be getting from the library so I can finish it.

I absolutely LOVED this book!
My favorite so far from Andrew Joseph White!
This was my 2nd favorite read of 2024. Everyone needs to read it!

This book reached deep down inside me and pulled something out, like all Andrew Joseph White books. I felt wrung out after finishing it. He can't keep getting away with this.

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.