A huge thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House/Peachtree/Pixel+Ink/Peachtree Teen for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
–

Trigger Warnings:
- Transphobia
- Ableism
- Sexual assault
- Gore; medical gore; explicit mentions of performing a cesarean section and removing the uterus
- Pregnancy
- Miscarriage
- Violence

–

“There’s a difference between weakness and survival.”

This book is a wonder. It’s bloody, and violent, and freeing. It lets you be yourself, guts and all, and doesn’t shy away from honesty and being true to oneself.

Our main character Silas (“Gloria”) is trapped by convention to be nothing more than a wife to produce (male) children. Despite his interest in anatomy and becoming a surgeon, and absolutely no interest in being a wife or a woman at all. However, when he tries to break away from the life forced on him, he’s caught and sent to a kind of finishing school to turn “women” like him into perfect wives - or else. This is a great setting for a gothic horror. Our main character is trapped, with no or very few allies, and must do whatever he can to save himself before it’s too late.

The society clearly takes its inspiration from the spiritualist movement of the early 1800s. (I personally just want to mention this because this era is so fascinating to me, and I almost love every novel I’ve read that takes direct inspiration from it.) I thought it was interesting that originally women were the ones doing the medium work, but once it was discovered how to use the power for war and money women were banned from doing it - or risk becoming ill. And this begs the question - is this “Veil-sickness” real, or is it manufactured to ensure compliance?

–

I thought the worldbuilding for the setting was phenomenal - it’s not just simply info-dumping at us. Concepts that we learn more about as the novel progresses - the importance of the purple eye color, the existence of ghosts and mediums, the society controlling the use of contacting spirits - are casually brought up with the understanding that the person being talked to understands it already. Personally, I much prefer this type of worldbuilding, as I don’t like it when it gets to “anime-conversation” style, where I’m being explicitly explained concepts that, by all means, the character should already know. It’s much more natural to piece together the information we’re given, and to discover the whole picture more naturally.

We aren’t told until a conversation with his brother that our main character is even a trans man who secretly goes by the name Silas, which I thought was a nice change of pace to some books just Telling you. In the same way we’re told how the main character is autistic, simply by his reactions, his brother’s help, and how he reacts and thinks. It’s entirely naturally built into the character, and nothing feels manufactured.

The inner voice of the character - constantly mocking him, telling him to shut up, to behave, etc - being internally seen as a rabbit was an interesting choice. I felt it had a lot of symbolism, in the fact that we typically see rabbits as cute and nonthreatening, and yet the things it is saying to Silas are cruel. I thought it served as a nice mirror to the idea of their society “protecting” women (or anyone it deems to be women) by forcing them to be small and meek, and this being seen as a positive due to them being “the weaker sex.”

There’s also really well-done tension with the characters that Silas meets, where even when nothing is explicitly going wrong at that moment, you pick up on something being off. There were multiple characters that we met at the beginning who had some mildly reddish flags popping up for them, but otherwise were benign. But then, as the novel progressed, these issues became more pronounced until by the end you were almost expecting their heel-turn, but you were hoping the entire time you were wrong about it.

–

This novel ties together a lot of concepts and ideas extremely well, kept me hooked until the last page and even wincing at times. I highly recommend this book.

The synopsis for this book sounded wildly intriguing to me, but in the end, I wish more the spiritualism aspect would have been explored with more nuance. There was a whole lot of telling and not a lot of showing which I think was a missed opportunity.

That was also a problem for me in the area of character development. While each of the many characters were distinctive, none were very fleshed out feeling. I went along because I knew who I was supposed to view as the goodies and badies, but
I didn't feel truly invested in anyone.

This was a very quick read, and, again, the idea of combining the supernatural realm of spirits with Victorian, patriarchal ideology was really cool. I just wish the end product felt less forced.

I did VERY MUCH appreciate the content warnings that the author included in the beginning of this book. It is very dark and gore-filled, and I appreciated knowing that going in.

I did DNF this book it was too slow for me I would pick it up and just put it down ten seconds later I don't know if it was because it was YA and I mostly read adult. The ideas were there but the pacing of the writing just did not keep me interested. I did find the characters a little service based.

I'm not sure if I devoured this book or if this book devoured me. This is a book that I want to read again and again. Despite the horror in this novel, it feels almost like a comfort read. I identified so much with Silas and his story was just so wonderfully done. I almost didn't want it to end. I love the world that Andrew Joseph White creates in this book. I was immediately sucked into the story and by the end of the first chapter I was already obsessed. The books is paced well and has you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book.

Silas Bell is not what the world wanted. He's not the perfect violeteyed specimen, he's not the willing sacrifice for a Speaker marriage, he's not the "normal" well-mannered child his parents wished for, and he's certainly not the girl the whole world sees him as.

I give this book a 5/5 stars despite DISTINCTLY not enjoying it at points, since I recognize that my own biases colour my perception of the content. This book is UNCOMFORTABLE in a way that most horror books fail to be. Not only is there the horror of death, gore, violence against women, multiple phobias, non-consent, and torture, but there is also the horror of both being known and not being known at all. In a ghost story filled with hauntings, the spirits took a backseat as Silas Bell went through the most harrowing experiences.

I enjoyed the plot, characters, worldbuilding, and magic system, though I would definitely say the magic system was the most confusing by far of those four aspects. I think more time could have been given to the plot, but I wouldn't exchange the time we spent with Silas for it. The supporting cast was memorable and despite such a short time to establish so many young women, they all stand out for their own reasons. My favourite character by far was Daphne. I cried many times during this book, but one of the hardest cries was when she revealed the source of her name. I desperately want to read more historical fantasy with trans and autistic characters, a genre that desperately needs expanding.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the arc.

The review will contain slight spoilers, so proceed with care!

It has been a long time since I was this enamoured with a book. It fits the Gothic genre perfectly and still manages to weave a thread of hope throughout the story. This is a book I will definitely recommend to whoever wants to listen to my bookish rambles, but it’s not for the faint of heart!

The story is set in Victorian England, where by some mysterious event people are suddenly born with purple eyes giving them the ability to see ghosts. More interestingly, it seems like the Veil between the ghostly world and the ‘real’ world has thinned to almost nothing at some places. The people with violet eyes have to power to interact with the Veil and its ghostly inhabitants and it doesn’t take long until people try and harness this power for their own gain. Within Victorian England it is the Speaker Society that quickly takes over the reign over this power. Our main hero, Silas, is one of those violet eyed people, sucked into a world where the Speaker Society dictates the lives of those born with violet eyes. Where the men in power think they can dictate other’s lives and bodies for their own agenda.

The main hero of the story, Silas has stolen my heart. It doesn’t happen often that I’m completely amazed by a character, but Silas has quickly become one of my favourite characters. The strength, wit and kindness of him is everything. As does Daphne, who I admire so much. The characters are written marvellously and feel so real, that it feels like a representation of the people we may know and love in our very own lives.

The LGBTQ+ topics within the story are handled with such care, yet it doesn’t back away from the cruel reality many of our community have faced throughout history, a representation we desperately need within more literature. It shows the struggle of bodily autonomy, when society thinks it can take a claim on ones shape and mind. But also the struggle of the many for which the system isn’t made, and for those who cannot conform to the impossible norm that keeps being enforced.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to every Gothic lover out there! For those less used to the horror and gore of the genre, be aware, but if you can look past the blood and the guts, a heart wrenching and heartwarming story can be found at its very core.

Set in an alternate Victorian London where the veil between our world and the spirit world has thinned, and people with violet eyes have the ability to work spirit magic, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White follows the story of Silas. When the veil first thinned spirit work was considered suitable for women; until men realised that it gave them power. Now men are allowed by law to do spirit work, but women are prohibited and are used for breeding.

Silas is transgender, a boy born in a girl’s body, and with violet eyes he is destined to be married off to a wealthy man. The idea of being pregnant horrifies and terrifies Silas, and so he decides to do something risky. He dresses up as a boy and attends a Royal Speaker Society gala in the place of a young medium who couldn’t attend. Instead, Silas will receive the spirit-work seal meant for the real Mr. Roswell. With a seal he can escape his life, live as a man and train to become a doctor.

What Silas doesn’t take into account is the test that he has to complete to win his seal, and when things go very wrong he’s sent to Braxton’s Sanitorium and Finishing School. He’s “diagnosed” with Veil sickness, which he soon finds out is what all the residents at Braxton’s have been diagnosed with. They’re all girls who don’t fit within the Speaker’s perfect idea of what a wife should be, and they’re all there to be cured. When it becomes clear that not everything is as it seems, and that previous residents who were sent to Bethlem Royal Hospital never actually made it there, Silas starts to investigate further.

At first, he feels completely alone. The other residents are either unfriendly, concentrating on becoming cured or too terrified to draw attention to themselves. As Silas finds support and kinship from two unexpected sources, he begins to unravel the mystery of Braxton piece by horrific piece.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a dark horror novel that unapologetically looks at how society treats people who are different. I’ve recently seen people discussing whether young adult books are becoming too dark, with the suggestion that they are being written for adult readers rather than young people. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a difficult novel to read, and that’s from my perspective as a queer disabled adult. But that is not to say that it’s unsuitable for young people, nor was it written with them in mind. Rather the opposite; this book is White saying “I see you” and that is something that many teenagers need to hear.

While the main character of The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is transgender and autistic, the addition of Veil Sickness means that this is a book that will resinate with a many readers. White conveys so many feelings of being different, of what it’s like to be viewed as useful/a commodity to non-disabled people/people in power when it suits them, and to be considered as wrong, “ill”, just because you’re different. The residents of Braxton are powerless apart, but together they are able to achieve much more and that is an important message in a young adult novel.

White provides content warnings at the beginning of the novel. I strongly recommend checking them before picking this one up because his descriptions are very graphic at times and in conjunction with the storyline it can be quite triggering (it was for me, at least). I say all this not to put people off reading, but to ensure everyone has a positive reading experience. I thoroughly enjoyed The Spirit Bares Its Teeth and I will definitely be checking out his other book, and any future titles.

Thank you, NetGalley, Andrew Joseph White, and Peach Tree Teen for sending me an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review! 🥰🫶
.
Let me first say, I loved The Spirit Bares Its Teeth even more than Hell Followed With Us!!! I don’t typically read historical fiction so I wasn’t sure if I was going to love this one the way I did Hell Followed With Us, but wow was I wrong. 😅 This one is very gorey and grotesque so if that’s not your thing this one probably isn’t for you, but if you read and enjoyed Hell Followed With Us then I think you’ll like this one as well! Personally, I liked the gore and think it added to the novel’s atmosphere. Andrew has such a way at describing gore that it is so easy to imagine even if your eyes haven’t seen what’s being described. I really enjoyed it in HFWU and I think his writing has elevated even more in this second book. I think this was a very powerful novel and one I can definitely see myself coming back to. It shows how cruel the world can be to those who don’t fit societal standards and with some fight we can get our happy endings too! ☺️
.
I also liked the fantastical elements of this story being violet-eyed humans who can communicate with spirits. I like how this fantasy is woven in so wonderfully into the realistic that it makes it seem like ‘oh yes of course violet-eyed humans’. I also like how this skill isn’t like a main focus of the story but at the same time, it is.
.
[SPOILER] One of my absolute favorite things was the relationship between Silas and Daphne! 🥰 Daphne is such a sweetheart and Silas needs that! They even each other out in the best way and Daphne is Silas’ light in such a dark story. [SPOILER END]
.
I also really enjoyed watching the relationships with the girls at the school and Silas develop. It was really interesting to see how the girls changed from when Silas first started at the school to the end of the novel. All of the girls at the school are cunning and ruthless in a means of survival and it's really fascinating to see the separate personalities play out. Also, the characters in the book can switch up so fast! There were characters at the beginning of the novel I thought I would love and ended up hating and vice versa!
.
One last thing, can we please give a round of applause to the cover!!! 👏 I was wondering when that sliver of glass in Silas’ hand would come into play and goddess it certainly does! I can’t wait to see the fanart for this book! Also yes, I will be buying every edition of this fabulous book that I can! 10,000 stars out of 5!!! 😊🫶
.
⚠️Please please please check the trigger warning before reading!⚠️
.
👁️🐇The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White comes out on September 5th! 🐇👁️

4.5

Oh my God this book!!! it took me a while to get used to the story because there was a lot of new information and I was a bit confused about who was who, but once I got it, it was ADDICTIVE.

I knew I was going to be HORRIFIED when I started reading it, and it was as I expected. It was such a well written terrifying experience, and if you're thinking of reading it, definitely give it a chance.

After reading it, I feel strong enough to try and strangle my fucking rabbit.

Thank you to netgalley for the e-arc.

Andrew Joseph white’s first book quickly became one of my all time favourites so I had some high expectations for this one and it definitely did not disappoint. I loved this book, the characters, and the adventure! This is a must read and I can not wait to read more by this author!

4.5 stars.

Thank you so much to the Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely fucking loved this. I don't even know how to fully articulate all that I'm feeling. I truly adored this book so much and I am eternally grateful that I got an arc of it. This story follows a young autistic trans boy named Silas, set in Victorian-era London. He attempts to escape his arranged marriage, but fails and ends up diagnosed with Veil sickness, which is said to cause madness in violet-eyed women. He is then sent to Braxton's Sanitorium and Finishing School, a facility whose objective is to cure the sickness and produce obedient Speaker wives. However, when things aren't as they seem and girls end up going missing one after the other, Silas is determined to get to the root of things and what he discovers is more horrifying than he could have ever imagined.

Silas is such a beautifully written main character. I loved him so much and getting to see the world from his point of view. It is so evident how much care and compassion was put into his character and his arc throughout the book. I truly loved his romance with Daphne and how they were both so caring and gentle with each other. It was so heartachingly precious and definitely a needed reprieve from the horrors of Braxton. I also really loved the friendships that Silas made both with the other students and another autistic character. I really liked that each of the students had such distinct personalities and ways of thinking. Even for the girls that I disagreed and got upset with, I truly understand why they acted the way they did and their reasonings.

I am not a big reader of horror, so I was initially very nervous to read this, which is funny considering I finished this in three days (and that was with me trying to take my time). I knew Silas's special interest was surgery and was expecting to have to put the book down more, but shockingly, the surgery talk was easy to get through, especially compared to the "therapy sessions". During those, I felt so sick to my stomach with dread and disgust. The horror aspect of the book was less gory than I was expecting and more viscerally sad and upsetting. ***PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS!***

I loved the discussions surrounding transness and neurodivergence and how Silas cannot separate being trans from being autistic. I also loved that he got to have close relationship with people who shared in one of his identities and having a deep connection with them due to that. In addition, I really liked the discussions of masculinity, especially when we see the difference in how Silas views his masculinity compared to how another character views theirs. I appreciate Andrew Joseph White for showing the ways that marginalized people are harmed and taken advantage of by the patriarchy. He also shows how those who firmly hold onto these patriarchal values will do so, even if they also suffer the effects of it, directly or indirectly. Some will hold on for the illusion of safety and others for the desire for power.

This book was just completely amazing and I want to recommend it to anyone and everyone. This is the first of Andrew Joseph White's books that I've read and despite being a bit squeamish with horror, I'm looking forward to checking out more of his work.

Thank you netgalley for the arc!

PLEASE CHECK CONTENT WARNINGS!!

I’m extremely excited to give this my first five stars of year for novels! Everything about this book was phenomenal in the most gross and graphic way. Set in 1883 London, Silas is sent away to a finishing school for “veil sick” girls after trying to escape an arranged marriage. Not long after being there ghosts of missing students start asking him for his help.

I was worried at the beginning that I wasn’t going to be able to stomach the story, but it was written so beautifully it was worth it. Silas is trans and autistic, and how he was presented was realistic in every form of the word. It felt good to be seen and represented on a deeper level. Every thought and actual felt accurate and unique to the character in so many ways.

It’s written so beautifully, and executed in the perfect way. I will be picking up a physical copy the second it comes out.

Mark your calendars fro September 5th i promise you’re not going to regret it !

Thank you to Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for sending me an early copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

Where do I start with how obsessed I am with this book? Should I start with the Victorian era medicine that has always captured so many hearts in this modern era? Should I start with the rollercoaster that is the romance? Or maybe the heart wrenching autism representation? Or how about the beautiful growth of self-discovery and self-love that happens with the trans representation? Or maybe the battle against the patriarchy and how much female rage it bubbled up within me?

Do I really need to say more to get you to read this book?? What are you still doing here? This was a haunting tale of the ways that society can steal the joys of your passions and the love of your true self all in one. It's a story of strength in the face of these harrowing thoughts and the ways in which love and hope can break through and shatter it all.

As a chronically ill female in modern medicine, this book felt like a love letter straight to my soul.

**PLEASE be sure to read the content warnings for this book before picking it up!!**

I feel like this book has done exactly what it set out to do, and it’s beautiful. I see myself in writing for the first time. The story was a bit slow at first, and took me a while to get through, but I liked the middle and end part the most.

It's rare that I'm willing to even try to read ARCs in PDF over .epub, especially fiction--like so much so that I just don't request them in the first place if they're only available in PDF, unless the author or description really sells me on the book-- but I made an exception for this one, and ended up devouring the whole thing in a couple of sittings after it hooked me immediately and didn't let go. The only slight letdown was that I kept hoping for more background on how the existence of Speakers affects everything in this world at large, which is such a fascinating concept, but ultimately went underdeveloped in favor of claustrophobic Gothic horror (which, to be clear, it works as very well; I just felt that as a ghost book, it also could've done a little more with the actual ghosts). But overall this was still an extremely effective and viscerally written piece of storytelling, and I'm excited to see what the author does next.

The Spirit Bares It's Teeth
Andrew Joseph White
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5)

*spoiler free*

Thank you Netgalley and Peachtree Teen for the chance to read this book!

initial thoughts: oh my goodness, this book was just phenomenal. I loved Hell Followed With Us, so i was super excited to receive and ARC for Andrew Joseph White's second book, The Spirit Bares It's Teeth. It did not disappoint.

summary/plot: The Spirit Bares It's Teeth by Andrew Joseph White is a historical fiction horror fantasy novel about an autistic trans boy. The main character, Silas, is put up to an arranged marriage, and all his family wants is for him to be "an obedient speaker wife." Silas eventually gets diagnosed with Veil sickness trying to escape, and gets shipped away to Braxton's Finishing School and Sanitorium. Students who lash out too many times tend to disappear. Missing students reach out to Silas for help, and he decides to investigate.

characters: I loved Silas, and I found myself relating to him a lot more than i originally thought I would. There was also a really awesome side cast with unique personalities, and it was really cool.

what i liked: There were times that Silas was talking about being a trans boy and how that exactly felt and how the world always perceived him. It was really awesome to see those feelings be put into words. I also loved that there was so much representation, and it was just really nice.

final thoughts: This was fantastic, however if you do plan on reading it, please, please, please research trigger warnings before picking this up, it is quite heavy.

release date: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth comes out September 5th!

The Spirit Bares It’s Teeth
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars)

This book takes place in 1883 London where the veil between the living and the dead has thinned. People with Violet-eyed people commune with the spirits under the watchful eyes of the royal speaker society. Silas Bell is trying everything he can to escape becoming an obedient speakers wife. When his plan to escape his arranged marriage fails, Silas is diagnosed with Veil sickness and shipped away to Braxton finishing school. But things at this school aren’t as they seem and when Silas finds out girls have been disappearing, he plans on learning why.

The whole time I was reading this I kept asking myself “is @ajwhiteauthor okay? Am I okay??? Is anyone okay?” And the answer is no. But I needed this story that dug it’s claws in me from the first sentence and did not let go until the very end.

This story was almost cathartic in a way (and I felt the same with Hell Followed With Us) because there’s this underlying hope that even with all this horror, and all the ways the world try’s to break and change you, you can still come out of it alive! You’ll be bruised and battered but still at your core the person the world tried to repress and change. A person worthy of life, love and happiness!

I saw so much of myself in Silas, who is both trans and autistic and that was so important to me! The way Andrew wrote about those two pieces of Silas and how they interconnected was truly amazing and very special to me. I’ve never seen someone put it into words so well!
This book also has a T4T relationship and I don’t want to talk too much about it because I will never shut up but YALL! I love them so much and it added another little extra layer of perfect to this book.

The horror aspects had my stomach churning but I could not look away! Yes there’s an on page c-section and an eyeball dissection and so many other things. Yes Andrew takes you to the darkest place you’ve ever been, but as I said before it’s still oddly hopeful. It’s also a feral trans rage filled story and I want so much more of that!

I can’t recommend this enough but that being said it does have very triggering content!

Perhaps I’m a little bit broken (or traumatized I suppose…) but I didn’t find The Spirit Bares it’s Teeth all that gory. Only one scene at the end involving both teeth and an eye made me think “ew.” Eyeballs creep me out.

I loved the atmosphere. I loved the trans rep.

I only wish there was more scenes involving the Veil and those on the other side of it.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an arc!

I knew that I was going to love this book from the moment I read the "Letter from the author". Well...I knew before that, because the author is a genius. I loved "Hell followed with us" so much and this book is probably even better.

In "The spirit bares its teeth" we follow Silas. He is one of the few people that are able to open the veil between the living and the dead. Because of him being trans (and physically presenting as as woman) he is not allowed to use this gift. He wants to become a surgeon, but no one takes him seriously. Silas is diagnosed with the veil sickness and has to attend a special school, in which the cruel (and absolutly disgusting) headmaster tries to fix his "issues". Soon girls from the school go missing and Silas starts to see their ghosts asking for his help. He decides to get to the bottom of this school and what he discovers is even more gruesome and evil than he could ever imagine.

The thing that makes Andrew Joseph Whites books so special to me is on the one hand the explicit and incredibly well-written gore. I have never read YA books as gory as his books. I'm normally not a person that likes violence and gore in books, but it is different when it comes to his books. The gore is well thought out and it always fits into the scene. You won't find any unnecessary blood. It always fits beautifully and I especially appreciate the medical gore in this book. However it is definitly not for the faint of heart. If you get triggered by blood and descriptive images of surgeries, I would probably avoid this book.
On the other hand the characters and the representation makes it special. I especially loved the main character in this book. The way that Silas fights against his own struggles -being autistic and trans- (that are portrayed as his inner rabbit) as well as the cruel obstacles that life during that time throws at him is absolutly breathtaking. Silas has to face the discrimination against women (because he is forced to present female), the transphobia and the ableism. He is one of the strongest characters that I ever came across. But not only Silas (ftm), also Daphne(mtf) Mary (wlw) and Francis(wlw) bring amazing representation to this book.

I'm not a big romance person, but the relationship in this book will melt your heart instantly...it even made me cry a little bit!
You probably noticed that I am NOT a english native speaker. So for everyone that is not a english native speaker as well. There are some medical terms that are a bit difficult to understand( I had to look some of them up). BUT they are not that important to the story, so you probably won't have any issues when it comes to the language that is used.

Overall: THIS BOOK IS A BANGER. If you like horror and lgbtq+ rep, you need to read this book. It has trans rage, ghosts and spirits, explicit gore and will make your skin crawl! AND I also really loved the effect with the black pages (You will understand if you read this book). The perfect read for rainy, spooky days. You need this on your Halloween tbr. I will definitly buy a physical copy when this gets puplished.
PLEASE CHECK THE TRIGGER-WARNINGS! I'M NOT KIDDING! DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR!!!

I devoured this book in less than a day, and it got me out of a three month reading slump.
I have no idea how such a dark story, that had enough gore I closed my eyes as if it was a movie, was also somehow the most comforting book I’ve read in a long time. It was really nice seeing a character like Silas, who has a lot of the same mannerisms and traits that I grew up with. I assumed everyone had trouble understanding others, and social cues, and understanding their own feelings. I was an adult before I learned that’s not true. I wish I had a YA book like this growing up, to help me feel validated and seen while also giving me an amazing story to absorb.
The story itself was compelling, and it was hard for me to put the book down to do anything else. I’ve read other asylum for Victorian girls type books and this is exactly what I wish they had been. This is my favorite book I’ve read so far this year.