Seventeen year old Marin James is determined to seek justice for her cousin Sam's mysterious death. Suspecting Adrian Hargraves and Henry Wu, the charismatic, yet dangerous, leaders of the elite Huntsworth Academy's inner circle, are responsible. But as Marin infiltrates the school, she becomes entangled in a web of attraction and deception, questioning her own motives and the truth behind the boys’ dark secrets.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for this digital e-arc.*

I’ve always been OBSESSED with Donna Tartt’s THE SECRET HISTORY and it’s been hard to find its match. Jenni delivers with BOYS WITH SHARP TEETH in all the best ways: forbidden love, secret agendas, philosophical musings, mutual destruction pacts, and rakish intellectuals doing very bad things.

This is DARK-AS-THE-DEEPEST-PITS-OF-HELL Academia, with claws out and ready to go for your jugular.

Such a wild ride.

RATING: 3.5 rounded up to 4

Thank you to Jenni Howell, Macmillan, and Netgalley for an opportunity to read an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love dark academia as a trope. However, it also poses a challenge to seek out books that utilize the trope effectively and not just as an aesthetic. Boys With Sharp Teeth is a debut that manages to blend the gothic atmosphere associated with dark academia while challenging readers like myself to think beneath the surface of philosophical learning.

The story follows Marin James, an average American teenager who disguises herself as wealthy transfer student Jamie Vane in order to sneak into the prestigious Huntsworth Academy. She's determined to attain justice for the murder of her dearest cousin, Sam, and purposefully entangles herself into the lives of Henry, Adrian, and Baz, three students who she suspects are directly involved with Sam's death.

For a YA novel, I enjoyed how the more mature themes were presented yet still formed a story that can be digestible for a teenage reader. Marin's friendship with Baz carried a level of longing that made Baz's eventual fate land an effective emotional impact, and the love triangle with Marin, Henry, and Adrian didn't shy away from showing its toxic development. The complexity of the main characters made it so that every morally gray action and choice that they committed to led to a compelling plot.

I did wish that the timeline for Jamie's period at the academy was more than a few weeks long. More physical exploration could have been done around Huntsworth Academy, and I think there could have been just a little more foreshadowing with the paranormal component toward the truth behind Sam's death.

Nonetheless, this was still an enjoyable read, and I recommend this book if you like authentic dark academia and relationships that get realistically dark for a YA demographic.

I went into this book expecting a murder mystery in a dark academic setting, but by the end it felt like a fever dream. I believe a lot of that has to do with how the paranormal elements of the story weren't really present in the first half of the book. The "ghost" felt like an manifestation of Jamie's grief, but then suddenly it was in fact supernatural. There was a lot of repetition throughout the book and no questions were answered until the very end, and it still somehow felt disjointed in a way. While I initially felt sympathy for Jamie, by the end of the book I felt no attachment to her or any of the other characters, not because they were all dislikeable but because there didn't really feel like any real development happened outside of plot twists. While I disliked the direction of this debut novel I will still be looking forward to more of the authors work in the future.

3 ☆

hi so i can't stop reading dark academia ya fantasy like it's still 2020 tiktok 😙

⤷ thoughts
✷ starting off on a positive note, i wanna say the atmosphere is super exact for dark academia! throughout the whole book & even parts where it's not even remotely something you'd think is on theme, you can still picture the environment the author is writing.

✷ i guess reading books with comp titles i hate is always a bad idea. i can't can't stand we were liars but the premise of boys with sharp teeth & definitely the cover hehe stood out to me, like okay great character art we see u, & i think i'm biased but a lot of the characters i didn't care for 🙈 esp the main character AND sam i think thats his name like i don't even know you why should i care about you. and i rly do think when writing thrillers, or books where the premise is focused on finding out something abt one character, u rly do need to grow to care about them a lot, & the character portrayal's aren't so bad just archetypal i guess, and not really enough for me to really like them! anyway. lowkkkeey the supernatural part was not that interesting... i just wasn't that invested in it. i don't have much to say abt it, & not much about the prose style either 🙈 it was definitely super on theme and not bad at all imo!

✷ thank you to netgalley for the arc !

Arc Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Boys with Sharp Teeth

Release date: April 8, 2025

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for this ARC ( my very first Arc) in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I don’t think I was the target audience for this book. For starters the cover art is absolutely stunning. It really does a phenomenal job at grasping the readers attention.

Immediately from the first chapter im taken aback by the authors prose. Very unique and it beautifully encapsulates the dark academia vibe that she’s trying to portray. A good percentage of the book I found it a bit difficult to grasp what was really happening in certain moments. I would have to reread certain paragraphs or even skim through the chapter I just finished. It seems like the writer was a bit hyper focused on the writing aesthetic of it all and lost sight of keeping the reader engaged with the plot. It had its poetic charm to it though.


Quick synopsis. The story follows our main character Marin James aka Jamie Vane, infiltrating her way into the very elite Huntsworth Academy to seek justice for the murder of her cousin. The suspects in question? Our two intriguingly dark and mysterious male characters Henry Wu and Adrian Graves.

They’re wicked. She’s worse.

I was expecting a female main character that would have these two boys begging for mercy. A true force to be reckoned with. The twist that nobody saw coming. I was a bit too hopeful.

How easily our main character was able to forge a $20k tuition check, fake printed test scores, and walk away from the life she was currently living without anyone batting an eye amazes me.

Up until the 45-50% mark of the book I was intrigued. It had its high moments but it also had its lows. After a certain point It started to feel like I was forcing myself to finish the book. It just felt a bit try hard and forced throughout the reading process.

The character dynamic had its moments that I was drawn too. It was beautifully chaotic at times. It had a certain dramatic charm to it.

Im definitely considering on giving this book a reread at some point in the near future. It had some beautiful quotes that I wouldn’t mind annotating.

I would recommend this book to someone maybe if they were trying to get into the dark academia sub-genre. It’s definitely for a certain niche of people. I definitely look forward to seeing this authors future work years down the line.

This is perfect for those of us girlies who love dark academia, self sabotage, toxic relationships and codependency, and crying. I’m still thinking about it days after finishing it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! All opinions in this review are my own.

1 star. DNF’d at 30%/end of Part One. Would not recommend this book to anyone.

My problems with this novel started in the beginning. The issue with setting a book in current times and in a real existing place but changing it slightly is that it still needs to be blended together in a way that doesn’t cause an uncanny effect or a constant questioning of geography/real world knowledge. I am VERY familiar with the area this novel takes place having lived there for over a decade and obviously we all live in a time where cellphones and the internet exists. The geography of where Huntsworth sits, the towns surrounding it, the everyday life of people there, and just general common sense of how the world in general works was mish mashed together and didn’t make sense. One can overlook a couple of odd things here and there for the sake of plot but when you have multiple of those in just the first few chapters, it immediately crumbles the foundation of the novel you are trying to write and it tanks the whole book into unbelievability.

Firstly, an hour cab ride from Sevierville, Tennessee literally puts you outside of two large cities with massive industries and two medium to large towns. Not only that, its next to a large sprawling lake in the mountains and what do rich people love? Cabins and lake houses. What do they love even more? The local peasants working to serve their every whim at a plethora of places to shop and eat. Do small villages and a population of poor to middle class people exist in the area? Absolutely but none of those are more than at most a 30 minute drive to the nearest small town with more than a convenience store gas station and there wouldn’t be many people that live off the main roads and if they do, most are vacations homes/cabins. The geography and corridor of that particular area of Tennessee doesn’t support Huntsworth being far from modern conveniences in any direction. If this was set lets say like an hour outside of Jackson, Tennessee then that would make wayyyy more sense. The geography of that part of Tennessee is way more flat and spread out. Would it still be weird to have a rich kid boarding school set somewhere other than outside Nashville, Murfreesboro, Franklin, Knoxville, Chattanooga, or Memphis? Yeah but at least the geography would match the “there is nothing in this small town” bored teen narrative that doesn’t get blown apart by looking at a map. And sure, one could argue that this is supposed to be fantasy and Amberdeen, Tennessee doesn’t exist (per Googling and scouring a map) but thats my point. The IRL elements and the made up ones are not blended well. Either commit to this taking place in the real world as we know it or just make up the names of ALL the places name dropped in this novel with the background inspiration being set outside Sevierville, Tennessee. Like Sevierville as a name does work for a random modern fantasy inspired town and at first I wasn’t batting an eye about any of this at all until Nashville got name dropped and it was so specific that it literally can’t mean anything else other than THE Nashville, Tennessee.

Secondly, her underage cousin being a security guard and the boarding school in general. Just… how? I just can’t think of a single instance where a rich kid boarding school would hire a drop out 16 year old for security and that 16 year old having the free range to just hang out with the rich kid students all willy nilly. Then there is the fact that raging parties happen on campus and no teacher bats an eye AND the fact there are co-ed dorms IN THE SOUTH. I cannot stress to you that it does not matter how rich the students and their parents are, Tennessee is very, VERY firmly in the Bible Belt and the conservative culture is deeply ingrained into the fabric of every institution there. There would be no drop out 16 year old bodyguards, there would not be co-ed dorms, and there most definitely not be alcohol filled parties that the faculty turn a blind eye to. In fact, I am having a hard time seeing how this being a prep boarding school, that there is even time between tutoring and classes that the students have much free time at all. That type of environment would be so structured and grueling. There would be very little free time or anatomy for these students. Also this takes place just a week or so before Christmas per the dates mentioned. Do you know how cold it is in Tennessee (especially in the mountains near a lake) is? Its heckin cold and most students would not be lingering about outside if they can help it if there are any even in residence at that point in time. Usually by this point the kids would be back home with their rich parents for a winter term break or on a beach vacation somewhere. There is also the fact that apparently this rich kid school lacks any type of cybersecurity. How did Jamie/Marin even know her cousin's mother’s credentials from a SUMMER job here? How was unused credentials not flagged being used months later? And absolutely no one in admissions called Jamie/Marin fake “parent” to hash out details and talk shop? To top it off she was accepted and showed up within DAYS of her cousin’s death ALONE. Like for any school that is worth its salt (which a richly funded one would be) it would take weeks of back and forth emails and calls between the school and parents to hash out expectations, arrivals, tution, and just general sucking up before a student is ready to be enrolled. There is just so much paperwork, meetings, and other intricacies involved. This whole novel is over before it even starts.

This review is already too long and I’ve only just covered the first couple of chapters so in the interest of saving my time and sanity I am just going to briefly go over the other issues this novel had that caused me to DNF.

- I don’t understand any of the characters, could never get a bead on them and who they were. Just the details of what they were doing and what they said just didn’t give a clear picture of well, anything.

- The writing is overly pretentious but not in a way that enhances the novel. It has a lot of purple prose that doesn’t actually say anything. In particular, I still can’t figure out what even happened in chapters 9-12. Like none of it makes sense. What actually happened and what does any of it mean? The whole novel was written like a fever dream and strung together with the barest amounts of philosophical talk (that also didn’t make sense) and the barest movement of the plot moving forward.

- This one is more for the publisher but the cover and title is a choice considering what its presenting but not showcasing in the novel itself. Its not queer and there are no vampires. Also it is missing Baz who is someone that Jamie/Marin interacts with the most during the first part of the novel AND is one of the ones suspected to have killed her cousin. Like why even have her as one of the suspects if she is not even going to be presented on the cover? It was a deliberate choice to exclude her and make this novel seem like it would result in a love triangle and/or be queer between Jamie/Marin, Adrian, and Henry. The synopsis also does no favours in this regard, not a single mention of Baz and honestly other than the ripped jeans, this could’ve been set in the 1800’s or something. Half my criticisms of this book wouldn’t exist if it had been set in an all boys school that Jamie/Marin infiltrated pretending to be a boy especially if this was set in a non modern time.

In conclusion, I did not enjoy reading this novel and would not recommend.

If there’s one subgenre that I will always read, it’s a paranormal romance. Takes me back to my middle school roots I guess?

This book started very promising with a girl enrolling in an academy to hunt down her cousin’s killer at any cost.

I like the setting for the book. It’s perfectly dark academia, pretentious and off putting. I felt like some of the characters could have been fleshed out a bit better. That maybe the mystery surrounding them made them feel more disconnected than alluring in some parts? The character of Henry was by far my favorite. He was spectacularly unhinged.

Despite every twist and turn the book threw at me, one of my main takeaways was having second lead syndrome (even against the main character’s best interest and in favor of an undeniably interesting turn in plot).

I definitely wasn’t expecting the ending and very much enjoyed it. Overall the book was very interesting and I’m hoping there might be a sequel!

Also thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing the ARC in exchange for a honest review!

"...I know boys, and now I know monsters, and there isn't that much difference between them."

3.5/5 stars

Wow! Ok, so YA isn't usually a genre that I lean toward, but the cover of this book really caught my attention! Marin James assumes a false identity and enrolls herself in an elite private school following the death of her cousin to seek answers and closure surrounding his demise. They say it was an overdose, but Marin knows better, and she's going to settle the score. The problem is that things aren't quite as straightforward as she thought.

This murder mystery/whodunit/revenge story was not what I expected it to be. I love a good dark academia book, and the setup reminded me a lot of Dark Fae (minus the "adult" and fantasy parts). That being said, romance is not an accurate categorization for this book. I enjoyed that, for at least a while, this book had me confused about whether Marin/Jamie was sane or not, but unfortunately, I had most of the book figured out pretty early on. If the relationships being built between the characters had more depth, it might have blinded me a little bit more and made the overall story more impactful in the end.

Please check the content warnings for this book before reading. In my opinion, there isn't anything too bad, but there are scenes in this book that may be triggering for some.

Boys with Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell is a haunting and lyrical exploration of desire, danger, and transformation. Blending dark fairy tale elements with raw emotional depth, Howell crafts a story that pulses with tension and vulnerability. Her prose is both sharp and poetic, drawing readers into a world where love can be monstrous and survival is never guaranteed. The characters feel achingly real, even as they navigate the surreal and the savage. It's a gripping, visceral read that lingers long after the final page—perfect for fans of gothic romance and dark speculative fiction.

ARC review | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | YA

Release date: April 8, 2025

Publisher: Roaring Book Press

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another highly anticipated read that has let me down 😭. This was billed as YA romance yet it was anything but. I went in expecting a Saltburn/Cruel Intentions situation (why did we all think this was queer?!) and instead got a very confusing quasi-paranormal attempt at critiquing the academy.

On a positive note the prose and atmosphere were absolutely stunning. I just don't think this writer's story telling style is for me.

To say I was disappointed in this book would be a severe understatement.

BOYS WITH SHARP TEETH was one of my most anticipated books of the year but unfortunately it did not live up to the promise of the premise, nor the gorgeous cover.

While the prose was beautiful and the author is certainly capable of writing a lyrical sentence, the plot and characterizations lacked the depth to make that arduous prose worthwhile.

Marin's path to Huntsworth was incredibly convenient, so much so that I was completely unable to suspend my disbelief. I mean, seriously NO ONE questioned why or where she had gone? She was apparently enough of a tech genius to break into the school's database and forge paperwork? The school was fine with her staying there after having given them a bad check and not being able to contact her mom? She gets to campus and just so happens to be rooming with the exact guy she's looking for? (co-ed dorms in high school? really?), and then the only other people on the floor also just so happens to be the other people she's looking for? And then she's placed in a class that only has three other people, and, you guessed it! Those three people are somehow the EXACT three people she believes killed her cousin?

That's not to mention the shallow examination of class disparities that's essentially reduced to: poor people dumb bad education do drugs, rich people learn philosophy.

Beyond that, the characters are all one note walking tropes with no substance, the setting is lush enough, I guess, but the school itself is kind of a pointless setting. The inclusion of philosophy was needlessly nonsensical and the supernatural elements were ultimately unsatisfying.

To top it all off, the author has allowed readers to believe the book is queer, though it is not.

And despite the very romantic cover, there is no romance in this book beyond plot reductive obsessive yearning that reads more like bad fanfic than romance.

I really feel like I have no idea what I just read. But I can appreciate that it is very well written. I did enjoy the hauntingly dark academia vibes.

I struggled with where to rate this. There were parts of this story I really, really enjoyed, but I didn't feel very satisfied at the end. I think my biggest takeaway is that I prefer dark academia as an adult genre. YA often takes some of the teeth out of dark academia, stopping the narrative from digging as deep into the twistedness of it all as I want.

This comes out in Marin/Jamie's character. The tagline for this book is "they're wicked. she's worse" but I don't think she delivers on that. Jamie's mission is justified - I was firmly on her side as a reader, which doesn't make me think she's "worse" than the boys. I think we should have either gotten a much more morally complex heroine or just stayed committed to her anger being justified - instead, it muddied the waters and didn't hit either note.

I enjoyed the interplay of violence and desire, but felt that could've been taken to it's full potential with an older set of characters and non-YA genre. There was definitely more to explore there that just couldn't happen in a young adult book.

Overall, I did enjoy Boys with Sharp Teeth and would still recommend it for fans of YA dark academia with the caveat that if you prefer adult dark academia, it might not go as far as you want it to. Thank you to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book gave dark romance a new twist! I was captured by the MFCs quest for vengeance and truth. The romance if you can call it that I’m still mentally trying to figure this all out but it’s not your usual buildup it’s darker and more sinister. You’re either going to be team graves or team Henry great job to the author on this next phenomenal book

The dark academia vibe is there but I fear that’s all there is. The pacing was slow, and the plot kept going in circles. I was confused most of the time.

Thank you netgalley and publishers for an eARC in turn for an honest review

I am a SUCKER for this cover, oh my god. I do want to warn you, though, that there are some pretty big TW for this book: suicidal ideation, self-harm/self injury, murder, drug use. I really didn't know what to expect from this story. When I first read about it, I assumed it was a gothic academia romance, but it was not a romance (which I'm definitely not upset about). This story was a shockingly in-depth examination of human nature, power dynamics, hatred, etc. The ending of the story was unsatisfying, but in a way that was so compelling. The intention of the author, I believe, was to leave the reader thinking and questioning---and I have done so for days on end, I am being consumed by this book long after I put it down.
I loved this book, and I am also being haunted by it.

Just not my cup of tea...

I didn't really know what to expect from this book. It sounded intriguing, but turns out, it's just not the book for me. I think this book has potential to find it's audience, but unfortunately I am not part of that audience. It was a little too dark and not enough romance for me personally. Now I understand that not every book needs a romance plot, but it's something I prefer as a reader. And although it is a YA book, it does lean a little more towards the upper YA range closer to NA. However, I did not finish this title so I can't speak as to where it goes. I do think this book will find its audience, and it does have the potential to be a great dark academia read.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and the NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: DNF

I was immediately drawn in by this GORGEOUS cover. The remarkable artwork appropriately sets the tone for the entire book. Boys with Sharp Teeth truly has the best dark academia vibes paired with gothic horror elements that are just utterly eerie and stunning.

This book was completely devoured. I found it impossible to stop reading.

I want to note right off the bat, there are some HUGE trigger warnings including murder, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse. Please be mindful of this prior to any reading.

I made the mistake going into this thinking it was a romance. Let me be clear, this is NOT a romance. This does showcase the powerful dynamic between undeniable attraction and hatred, highlighting how interchangeable these feelings can be. This was such an interesting perspective that I really had never thought of before.

This is not a mindless book to read, it really makes you think. It is deeply rooted in philosophy and human nature. The writing is truly top tier with such strong, vivid imagery.

There is a strong paranormal presence within this story. I first thought it was merely ambient paranormal activity, but it is actually a large factor for the plot. I am normally not the biggest fan of paranormal anything, so this was not my cup of tea but if that is your thing, this is perfect for you.

When I finished reading the last page, I felt confused, almost unsatiated, and wondering if any of this was even real. As the days progress, I absolutely cannot stop thinking about this book. It has haunted and consumed all my thoughts. It makes me wonder, was that the intention? The author leaving the reader with a sense of uncertainty, a craving that has not been sated. I am still pondering.

I do know that my appreciation for this book continues to grow every day. This story is philosophical, it is dark, it is twisted. It is such an impressionable read that I definitely recommend.