I had higher expectations for this book. While it was a decent read and I will recommend it. I did find it to be a bit YA on the maturity, and writing. The cover was very nicely done, and I feel like the vast majority of YA that enjoy a bit of mystery, dark, love triangles would enjoy this. I know I would have if I was 10 years younger, 20s.

This book wasn't for me. I DNF'd at 33%, it just wasn't moving as I'd like. Out of respect for the author and not to bring down her debut, I did not post my review, just positive encouragement on my instagram stories.

⭐️.5 (rounded to 2)

First and foremost, thank you to @netgalley and Macmillan Publishing for providing an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Boys with Sharp Teeth was definitely a book I was excited for, but it did not live up to my expectations. I was excited for a plot filled with vengeance and revenge in a dark academia setting, instead we got a try hard double agent in a drug induced school. There were a couple times where I felt like dnf’ing but I was really hoping for the second part to get better, however that was not the case.

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑮𝑶𝑶𝑫: It had a lot of promise, the male characters were definitely brooding and had some personality. The book focused a lot on the characters, which really drove the plot of this novel. However, even with this I felt that I had a hard time connecting to the characters. The found the FMC to be rather annoying, as she struggled with her self identity crisis trying to fit in and befriend the very people she is suspicious of murdering her cousin.

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑨𝑫: There was rarely any world building, and I was hoping for a true dark academia setting, and this was just not it. The writing imo was super inconsistent, one chapter would be drowning in metaphorical prose followed by a chapter with very basic writing - I struggled to understand some sentences as the sentence structure, possible grammar just did not make sense to me. This book was quite literally a “tell all” with high predictability, and no substance. I felt the progression of the story stayed so stagnant throughout.

Thank you to Netgalley, Jenni Howell, and Roaring Brook Press for the ARC of the book!

I really enjoyed Boys with Sharp Teeth. It's giving dark academia with a heavier supernatural presence in a small town. Can you ever really trust the boys? No, especially not the ones at Huntsworth Academy.

Elements:
- Small town secrets
- Fantasy
- Hints of Romance
- Mystery
- Supernatural
- Murder

In a word: pretentious.

The only redeeming thing about this book is the title and the gorgeous cover artwork. Everything beyond that is irredeemable. The purplest prose I've read in quite some time and a heroine (I'm using that term very, very loosely) whose combination of stupidity and concrete confidence in her own incorrect assumptions made me want to give up on slogging through this mess multiple times.

I read this so you don't have to, so please, read some actually good dark academia like The Secret History instead, especially considering that this one seemed ripped directly from Tartt's pages, including a strange boy named Henry, a murder, an outsider, and endless waxing poetic about philosophy. Howell tried to create a moody, mysterious setting, but only managed to draft a circle around our four protagonists (Baz being left off the cover is a crime, but how else will we love triangle-bait our audience?) with their surroundings existing only as a murky suggestion of an upscale prep school, where a girl is admitted without her credentials verified or tuition paid, students conveniently live in co-ed dorms (in the South, no less!) and kids throw alcohol-fueled parties that teachers and administrators turn a blind eye to despite multiple students literally dying at these events. My disbelief was hard enough to suspend from the first page, where Marin/Jamie paid her cab driver five dollars for an hourlong ride, and it was only downhill from there.

I guessed the plot, and the "twist" (if you can call it that) less than halfway through the book. Marin/Jamie being so convinced that Henry was her "vandal" was one of the dumber things about the book, as there's absolutely nothing in Henry's character that would indicate he's capable of something like that. Yet she is so damn sure about her own convictions despite being so obviously wrong. The characters have known each other for a matter of weeks, yet Howell writers their interactions and Marin's feelings towards each of them with such uncomfortable intensity you'd think they'd been in the literal trenches together. Characters do things that don't make any sense for anything except dramatic tension (Baz's drowning scene comes to mind) and despite the length of the book, not much really happens while Marin is skulking around the school, vowing vengeance like a Shakespearean villain. It's simultaneously over the top and dull.

An interesting dark academia. The prose is lovely, if the story is a bit slow. It’s the same sort of tale you’ve heard before though. Despite what the title may imply, there are no vampires, but there are monsters, So that was fun. Overall I enjoyed the book, even if the pacing was a bit sluggish to begin leading into rapid at the end.

2.5 ⭐️

This was unfortunately a DNF for me.

The cover is what intrigued me, but I felt a bit bored.

Boys With Sharp Teeth is a book that I was excited about when I first heard about it. It had many elements that I was excited for like dark academia, love triangle, and an intriguing mystery. An Asian male lead was also a selling factor. Now that I have dived into the book, I have many thoughts about it.

I felt that Jamie’s relationship with Adrian and Henry felt a little forced. There were many moments where the chemistry felt artificial with me wondering when did they develop the intimacy to do acts like hold hands and lean on each other's shoulders when they have known each other for only two weeks.

I also felt that the book was a little bit too long and could have benefited if it was shorter. Overall, the book was just not for me and there were many plot holes and questions that were left unanswered.

This book was exceptional! It was witty, dark, action-packed, dramatic, and mind-bending all in one!

Before I get into my review, I want to break any misconceptions you may have about this book. It is NOT:
About vampires
A fluffy romance
An M/M romance
A poly romance

It is:
A dark romance with love triangle vibes

This book follows Marin who attends this private boarding school under a pseudonym “Jamie” to find her cousin’s murder. It has the typical private school antics, well-developed characters, and dark academia vibes. I was OBSESSED with this book, and finished it in 3 days. The writing is pretty straightforward, but it does have some philosophical quotes that can be a little confusing at times. It has a type-1 diabetic character so hooray for representation! The majority of the main characters (3/4) are unhinged, which made the book seem very fast paced and kept me hooked until the end.

While this book is more of a dark thriller than a romance, it does have some romance in it. The romance is very well done, and I liked both of the love interests. Yes, there are 2. Do not let the love triangle discourage you because it does not play a huge role in the overall story. It has very little spice; there are a couple heated moments and implied encounters, but nothing explicit. The plot is driven mainly by the murder plot, which becomes more and more complicated as the story goes on. The ending kind of turned the entire story on its head, which I was not expecting at all!

If you are needing a book that will pull on your heart strings, then rip your heart out and step on it, pick this up! It is devastating in more ways than one!

Possible trigger warnings:
Death
Suicide
Self harm
Mentions of drowning
Drug use
Alcohol use

A very captivating story! I was very intrigued by the characters and the setting. I'm looking forward to more from this author!!!

The premise of this sounded so interesting that I was really excited to read it. But it fell so flat for me, and I just couldn't continue. Didn't love any of the characters, and it's hard for me to get into a book when that's the problem. Had to DNF at 20%.

DNF at 65%. In this book the main character Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way comes to Huntsworth Academy on a mission, to find out who killed her cousin Sam, who we have to take her word that she was devoted to because he's never enough of a character to get personality traits or even a flashback scene. She does this by up and leaving in the middle of her own senior year, which nobody including her own father cares about, and forging her way into this school that wishes it were as cool as Ellingham Academy in Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious series but isn't. To do so she commits check fraud. She is not like other girls!

She's immediately moved into the same rooms as the suspects in Sam's murder, all in co-ed suites. (Sure.) What kills me about this is the shared Jack and Jill bathroom situation these rooms have, because sharing a bathroom with a 17-year-old boy sounds like a punishment, not something you'd pay $23,000 a year for. (Not that she's paying, because of the check fraud.)

All three of the murder suspects immediately fall in love with her. They are as follows:

1. Brooding Leather Pants Draco trope Adrian Hargraves, who of course has that name, and of course is called Graves. He's a brilliant violinist and a moody bitch and he and Henry have a vibe so ambiguously bisexual as to be insulting. He's mean to the MC, so, keep your panties on ladies!!!
2. Pitiful little Baz, short for Basile, because why not, who seems to like MC Mary Sue Fakename because she has mommy issues and possibly has never received positive female attention even once in her life.
3. Henry Wu. He's soooooo naughty and RICH and HOT and DRUNK, and obsessed with MC Love Triangulator because she can volley back his unwitty little ripostes which has him so enchanted that even though they spend a ton of time together he never bothers to make a move. I'm not saying this author is still thinking about Henry Cheng in the Raven Cycle and the weird implied MMF threeway year-long roadtrip note Stiefvater left us on, and I'm not saying this author spent some time daydreaming about a younger Henry Golding, but if someone else were to say similar things I'd be like, yeah, seems like it. Just never even bothered to name-swap, huh?

The writing style rang of discovering Baudelaire in the seventh grade and not being able to shake off that effect in your bad poetry for years. (Guilty.) The timeline was so incoherent that it seemed to take place outside of linear time entirely, with them all existing instead in a kind of vibe stew. By the time supernatural elements started to creep in I was like, huh? I put this book side because I was starting to just go to sleep early rather than picking it up to read before bed like I do with every book, and ended up reading a whole entire other book in one afternoon. I can't keep doing this to myself. Thank you to those who spoiled this book in their reviews so I could find out where it was going and then be like, huh?

My thanks to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for the ARC.

A teenager grieving the death of her cousin goes undercover at the elite boarding school where he died, trying to get vengeance on those who are responsible for his death.

I liked the concept here and wanted to like this more. But from the start, I just found the setup flawed - Marin (aka Jamie when undercover) turns around THREE DAYS after her cousin's death to get into this boarding school??? And they are just like ok cool new transfer student without almost any questions. The cover and description make it seem like this book will have lots of queer themes, but they just are not there (or are way too subtle throughout). There were some bright points along the way, but then the ending was just weird and made the book feel pointless. So much promise, but did not deliver for me.

I went into Boys with Sharp Teeth expecting a dark, twisty blend of mystery and fantasy with a sharp edge of romance, but unfortunately, this one didn’t work for me. I ended up setting it aside before the halfway mark.

The premise is undeniably intriguing—grief-stricken Marin infiltrating an elite prep school to uncover the truth about her cousin’s death, only to get tangled in the web of two dangerously charismatic boys and the school’s eerie secrets. But while the setup had promise, the execution felt muddled.

The pacing is slow and disorienting, with a narrative that leans heavily on atmosphere but leaves the plot feeling vague. Marin’s voice didn’t quite hook me—her motivations often felt inconsistent, and the rapid shift from vengeance to romantic entanglement with the very people she suspects made it difficult to stay invested. The romantic tension, meant to be seductive and morally murky, came off more confusing than compelling.

Hints of a supernatural element eventually emerged, but by then, the story had already lost momentum for me. There’s definitely an audience for this kind of story—moody, surreal, and emotionally heightened—but I struggled to connect with the characters or find a reason to keep turning the pages.

In the end, Boys with Sharp Teeth had an interesting premise, but its dreamy, meandering style and underdeveloped stakes just didn’t hold my attention. DNF.

When I first saw the cover and title, I was super excited to be able to get an ARC, especially with all the PR I kept seeing on this book. After reading it though, I am very conflicted. Some people were saying this was queer. but theres barely anything queer about this besides the complex relationship between Adrian and Henry. There was nothing really pulling me in and overall was a boring read. I spent like weeks trying to get through the first 40 or so chapters to finally get to something interesting. I enjoyed the last few chapters, but if it takes that many chapters to get anywhere it might not be worth it. The story itself had potential, but the writing was just pretty with no substance. I had a hard time enjoying Jamie/Marin character and found her reckless. Usually, main characters in her position would be more well prepared for what she was doing, but she was playing checkers while everyone was playing chess then she just sort of fell in "obsessions" with everyone even though these people killed her cousin. The whole point to her plan was to get revenge, but she took a detour and got too attached to everyone involved while also despising them. I guess she was suppose to be more relatable by being a normal person who is attempting revenge without being a genius. The way it was written made no sense to me and was a little convoluted. The idea was there, but I felt like it needed more time to be fleshed out and to make everything more cohesive.

Jenni Howell has gorgeous prose, and I enjoyed the setting of this book so much. The mystery, the complex characters, all added up to one twisty novel. The ending was SO GOOD. The tension was so delicious.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel! Opinions are my own.

I was very excited to be granted an e-arc of “Boys with Sharp Teeth”, the debut novel by Jenni Howell.  Everything about it seemed tailor made for me from the dark academia setting to the spooky vibes and mystery. Unfortunately I’m very sad to report that this book really didn’t work for me.  I struggled mightily with the pacing; the first half was gripping but everything slowed way down in the second part and I struggled to focus on the book enough to finish.  I also found the characters to be a little flat — Marin and Adrian were the most fully drawn but Henry and Baz were very flat.  

I did enjoy the atmosphere and the concept (although I was expecting polyamory based on the cover and was sadly disappointed).  I am willing to try the author’s next work because the vibes were impeccable and I’m interested to see how she develops as an author.  Overall I think that this could be a great read for someone who loves dark academia and is willing to overlook somewhat flat characters and slower second half.  

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fun time! I thought this was a strong debut with a hooky premise and an interesting cast of characters. Can't wait to see what's next from this author.

2 stars - siiiiigh. This should have been good! The writing is there stylistically, but everything else lacked substance. This really felt like some sort of fanfiction and I hadn’t consumed the parent content.

The relationships made no sense. The reader is just supposed to believe these boys are attracted to the FMC when Adrian had barely had a conversation with her. No one was buying Henry/Jamie. And even Jamie and Baz’s friendship was stuttered and confusing.

Jamie (Marin) suffered from the typical stupid FMC trend. An insane amount of hand waving about Marin even getting into the school. That piece alone could have explained much more about Adrian, Sam, and Marin. The fact that she insists on believing Henry was innocent is just baffling.

The “magical realism” piece of the book was some sort of afterthought. It could have been such a cool piece of this mystery and instead just left me wanting more.

Lastly, idk if we all thought this book was queer because of the cover or because it was advertised as “The Raven Boys” meets “We Were Liars” but it had nothing in common with the Raven Boys other than a boarding school.

This novel is a dark, emotionally layered exploration of power, desire, and identity. The writing is immersive, rich with atmosphere, and carries a quiet tension that builds steadily. Characters are drawn with nuance, their flaws and contradictions making them feel painfully real. Relationships shift and strain under the weight of secrets and unspoken truths, adding depth to every interaction.

What sets the book apart is its careful balance between emotional realism and eerie, otherworldly undertones. The strange elements never overshadow the story’s emotional core; they sharpen it. The result is a narrative that feels both grounded and dreamlike, familiar yet unsettling.

This is not a story that offers easy answers. It invites the reader to sit with discomfort, to question motivations, and to follow the emotional logic even when it resists neat conclusions. It is a book that lingers, quietly haunting and unexpectedly moving.