This is a novel about revenge going very, very wrong. Marin James's cousin, Sam, was dead, and she knew that students at the Huntsworth Academy were responsible for his death. So she assumes a false identity in order to get justice for Sam. She quickly finds herself face to face with forces far darker than what she anticipated and things quickly spiral out of her control. Marin goes from trying to stay detached from the students, to possibly becoming friends with the students she believes to be responsible. Her investigation leads her down a confusing path as she struggles to determine who is really responsible for Sam's death. This novel had promise, but the story simply dragged on far too long.

This was a lush, overwrought, well-written dark academia for teenage audiences. You've got to *like* dark academia in all its pretentiousness - really commit to liking dramatic, self-righteous, arrogant teenagers - but if that's your jam, there's a lot to like about Boys with Sharp Teeth. It's part mystery, part thriller, entirely navel-gazing prose about how hot yet unknowable yet charming yet awful privileged boys can be, and I would have eaten it UP when I was a teenager. Fun stuff.

This was brilliant - twisty, sharp, incisive, and so, so vividly good. My students are excited for their copies to arrive!

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I posed another book review by mistake. Will post the review once I finish reading it.

Boys with Sharp Teeth is a atmospheric dark academia novel with mystery and a group of sketchy friends -- need I say more?

Dark revenge YA set at an elite boarding school, Boys with Sharp Teeth is an atmospheric and mysterious read that was really captivating. I would have loved to have felt more of a connection to Marin, Jamie, Henry, and Adrian. It felt almost overwhelming with characters and description, but I still had a good time reading it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5

Boys with Sharp Teeth is a dark, twisty YA novel with captivating characters and a propulsive plot.

I loved this one. There were lots of strange, dark moments throughout the story that hooked me. I loved the dark academia vibes and philosophy and contemplation. The romance was *chef’s kiss and written beautifully. The story was brilliant and sinister, with excellent pacing, lovely prose, and an intriguing setting. I am so excited to see where the story goes in book 2!

Thank you to the publisher for the free ARC!

thanks to netgalley & macmillan's children publishing group for the free earc in exchange for a fair and honest review!

this book is extremely ambitious, with an insane premise and characters that are far too philosophical for their own good. but somehow, in all of the introspection and quotes, the book sort of imploded. as i was adding tags to this book, i realized it really wasn't much of anything; it wasn't a mystery, or a romance, or... anything, really. just a story about people who live in a different world, with different problems.
this book is by no means bad, but i think it's a little too big for its boots. it feels as if the author aimed to shove a full, 6-book dark-academia teen suspense series into one ya novel. i dont know; maybe it was just me it fell a little flat for.
jamie is a really good character, with good motivations and a level of ruthlessness that was honestly really refreshing to see in a female ya character. however, i found baz to be very 2-dimensional, and adrian and henry to be simply confusing beyond comprehension.
i also found sam's character to be less fleshed out than i would have hoped. obviously as a dead character there's a minimal amount of expectations regarding scenes that include him, but i really love flashback scenes in books like this, so i was hoping to see a scene with marin and sam, but oh well.
read this if you enjoy books that are too convoluted for their own good, but are somehow still entertaining, and characters that probably do exist somewhere in the world but by no means seem realistic.

A wonderful addition to the YA dark academia canon; perfect for fans of The Raven Boys and The Secret History.

I thought that this was a very interesting dark academia book. I like the idea that the main character is infiltrating this elite school in order to find out what happened to her cousin. It was a very unique premise for a dark academia book. Also I was very excited when I saw that this book was compared to The Raven Cycle which is my absolute favorite series, and I feel as though the book delivered on that. It is full of privileged rich boys and the not so privileged girl who gets in with their group, and tarot magic, and spending time in the woods. But Jenni Howell also delivered in her own way and made a book that is unique. I had a really good time reading this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Things with sharp teeth that are NOT in this book: vampires.

The prose in this book is beautiful and atmospheric, and the mystery had me hooked from the start. However, I found that the story's pitch set slightly different expectations; while there are queer moments and hints of romance, this isn’t primarily a queer book or a romance. The dynamic between Marin, Jamie, Henry, and Adrian centers on a compelling love triangle fueled by obsession, and I would’ve loved to see this play out over a longer time to deepen these connections. Though there were a few descriptive details that felt a bit unrealistic, this debut is still highly enjoyable. The characters, relationships, and plot were all intriguing, and I’d absolutely recommend giving this a try. I look forward to seeing what this author does next!

I tried really hard to like this book. The main character is probably one of, if not the only, best part of this novel. The other characters just annoyed the crap out of me and the whole fantasy element was not obvious and just plain confusing by the end.

3.5*

Boys with Sharp Teeth filled a void that had been empty since finishing The Raven Boys.

The crafting of the world and the characters was beautifully done, balancing humanity against fantasy.

Though the book doesn't have the strongest opening, and I'm not the biggest lover of love triangles, it was worth suspending disbelief and sticking with it.

I love boarding school books that involve murder and intrigue with a flair of magical realism in them. This one read like a dream; it was the equivalent of biting into something hard and crisp with a soft, melting inside. I love the fact that the main character is not who she says she is, hiding in an untruth to reveal the truth at the boarding school.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved the dark academia vibes of this books. The book was very atmospheric and I was very drawn in by the Raven Boys comparison. However, this is where things went downhill for me. There wasn't very much that happened and the characters fell flat. It felt like I was being told what was happening in a very direct manor and character motivations were told to the reader very bluntly instead of shown.

I also think that book overall was very far fetched from the start. The MC signs herself up to go to a fancy boarding school and writes a check that bounces and they still let her attend and live there? The premise in itself was bit much.

I was really looking forward to this book, it simply did not hit the mark for me. The cover art is super sick though.

This one is a really difficult one to rate! The prose was beautiful and atmospheric, I was hooked with the mystery, and I really loved Adrian and Henry's characters. I think this is going to be a huge hit and will be some the book of the year for a lot of readers. I do, however, think that the story's pitch left me with some mixed feelings because I went in expecting one thing, but got another.

BOYS WITH SHARP TEETH is unquestionably good. This book sinks its fangs into your soul from the very first page. I loved it obsessively, and you will, too.

I really appreciated that this was a dark academy that really dove into and utilized academia, not just the aesthetic. It reminded me of The Secret History — with that tension, close knit mysterious group, and outsider in their midst — but with an extra, paranormal sort of mystery layer added on. The writing was beautiful, almost literary leaning. I was completely in awe that this is the authors debut.

This book is 60% vibes, 25% characters, 15% wtf. I looooved the writing style and the dark academia vibes are solid. On the one hand, there are pretentious try hard edgelord teenagers. On the other hand, there are...pretentious try hard edgelord teenagers. They're interesting though! Everyone in school is obsessed with the blond bad boy (can bad boys even BE blond? is that allowed? feels wrong). He's the love interest..ish, his nickname is Graves, and he's kind of the nihilist blond boy version of Wednesday Addams but he plays the violin instead of the cello and is an artist. I found Henry the most compelling character even though he was a horribly manipulative unhinged evil disaster. At least he had a spark of anti-life. Graves was just there to brood and smolder and doodle and bleed. Baz as the last part of their trio just made me feel bad.

This book also kinda gave me slight The Covenant vibes? Except unfortunately we don't have Sebastian Stan kissing another boy. If you have hopes for some quality queerness between Graves and Henry, dash those. It's more tension-filled queerbaity vibes from 10ish years ago. Like that's fun to read? maybe? idk? but not truly gay so not truly that fun. Only Heterosexuals In The Building here. Even though Graves and Henry's relationship is the most romantic/interesting/toxic. I just wanted to point this out since I keep seeing this book tagged as LGBT, and as a queer myself, I do not feel that's accurate.

Immense suspension of belief is needed to get past how the MC Maren cons her way into a fancy prep school and somehow has a male roommate. There were separate dorms in my prep school and you'd get immediately expelled for "intervisitation", do not pass go, do not collect $200. But I'm fine with that, whatever, we're moving on. Maren's master plan to get back at the boy who killed her cousin, however, is to... steal his friends? Make him lonely? And that plan is actually somewhat working because they all instantly obsess over her, even after a single day?

I had some more questions. The four of them live in a tower on the same floor but can see through each other's windows? (Maybe my brain is just bad at architectural layouts)
Why was Graves running in the woods?
What was up with Henry and his death nap? Was he just hungry?

65% vibes!! Remember that since I keep forgetting while writing this review. It was poetic and atmospheric and a quick overall entertaining read, and I did love the good bad ending. I wish this had been stretched out into a series like The Raven Cycle.

Boys with Sharp Teeth is a truly atmospheric dark academia novel that makes you question EVERYTHING. I loved it!

And that ENDING?!

Read if you love:
Dark Academia
Paranormal
Murder Mysteries
PHILOSOPHY