Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

If you enjoy murder mysteries with a touch of the paranormal, this book is for you! You'll follow Marin as she goes undercover at Huntsworth Academy to solve her cousin's murder and get revenge on the group of friends she knows was responsible.

The narrator of the audiobook, Jennifer Pickens, was easy to follow as she helped you get into Marin's head. There was plenty of emotion coming through her voice, and I appreciated that she didn't try too hard to change her voice for each character. I was never thrown out of the story because of the audio, I was in it the whole time!

Boys with Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell reads like a whispered secret in the back halls of an elite prep school, where the air is thick with dust,, blood, and betrayal. Marin James steps into the shadows, wearing someone else’s name, chasing the ghost of her cousin through ivy-covered walls and moonlit corridors. The mystery is intoxicating, but the prose, like cigarette smoke curling in a dim-lit room, sometimes lingers too long, clouding the path forward. Some twists hit like a lover’s last words, others feel like a song you’ve heard before. Still, for those who crave dark academia with a taste of the tragic, this one just might sink its teeth in.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC in exchange for an honest review!

I went into this completely blind - having been drawn in by the beautiful cover and title. I saw some comparisons for Jenni Howell's writing to Kelly Andrews, and I can definitely see why. The writing is beautiful and atmospheric.

That said, sometimes prose adds to a book's story, and other times, it detracts from it. Similar to how I felt about Your Blood, My Bones, I found things to be so wordy that I often got lost and couldn't keep track of the plot. It could be that this would have been better suited to a read - there are many quotes that I wish I could have highlighted.

The narrator, Jennifer Pickens, did a phenomenal job with the tone and pacing of her narration! My minor gripe is that she sounds like an adult woman and not a young woman in highschool for a YA novel.

Overall, I don't think this is my type of book. If you're into atmospheric/moody reads - pick this one up! Just note that you may have to overlook the plot for much of it.

Wow!! Every sentence of this novel was meticulously crafted! While I loved the audiobook, I definitely wished I read the print in tandem so I could highlight and notate my favorite passages. This haunting, supernatural world of tortured, philsophizing teens wound appeal to fans of Cruel Intentions and The Night Circus. Can’t wait to grab a hard copy of this!

I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book so rooted in obsession and psychotic tendencies where I really didn’t know who to root for because they’re all as twisted as they are hawt! Boys With Sharp Teeth is a dark academia dream, but one with so much tension, I would get lockjaw waiting to be kissed by one of these boys. I’m not saying I wasn’t into it, but there is no “waiting with bated breath” when I don’t even know if I can trust someone not to kill me.😅

I really enjoyed Jenni Howell’s writing and found myself wanting to make the story last longer. Rarely do I take my time with a story, because I’m like a tornado trying to consume all that’s in my path, demolishing a whole book before I know it. But the characters in this story were so mysterious and sexy and one of them is hellbent on finding out what actually happened to her cousin… and bringing the killer to justice.

I’m excited to see what dark and twisted story we get next from this author. If it’s even a sliver as good as this one, I’ll be a happy happy camper!

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯? 𝘖𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?

I went into Boys With Sharp Teeth hoping it would be kind of the love child of The Secret History, Don’t Let the Forest In, Summer Sons with maybe a smattering of The Raven Boys…it was adjacent in the end.

For the good—the story is written well and there’s good passages with quotable moments. I think this story of obsession will really suck people in. It’s a murder mystery with 4 very interesting characters to say the least.

Unfortunately, in the middle I found myself losing interest. Everything was starting to feel a little repetitive and overly dramatic. I’ve found, in my ready of academia focused books, that there’s a fine line between enjoyably pretentious and obnoxiously pretentious. Atlas 6 was one that fell into the later category and unfortunately I think Boys With Sharp Teeth was also leaving into obnoxiously pretentious for me.

You have to suspend some disbelief when Jamie gets into this fancy school with a big forged check and some fake test scores, there’s Co-Ed dorms, she just HAPPENS to be paired on the same floor/room as all three of her suspects and all the teachers seem to know and not care about their underage students throwing parties and getting drunk all the time on campus.

I think the ending was a bit abrupt, albeit an interesting twist. I just wish it had a little more of a payout.

This book unfortunately wasn't for me. I really wanted to like this book and I tried really hard but I find it so hard to relate to stories with rich white main characters. It just feel so hard to care about them in today's climate. Overall I can see this book being popular as the things that bother me rarely bother others.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan, for the ALC for Boys with Sharp Teeth in exchange for my honest review.

Whoa, this was a dark, twisty, and suspenseful, dark academia book. I get why I've seen a couple of comparisons to "We Were Liars," honestly, I think "Boys with Sharp Teeth" had that vibe but executed it better. (Though, admittedly I did not enjoy "We Were Liars.")

There was a lot I liked and a lot I felt could have needed improvement. The biggest issue was as soon as it felt like we were really getting into the story—we hit another slow patch. I feel like some of the middle could have been cut. I know the purpose of the red herring at the 50% mark was supposed to increase tension, and it did, but it was also frustrating, considering it was really slow to get going. There was also a lot of repetition with Marin and her inner plotting, and I get it because intentional repetition can be very powerful but there was just a little too much and ultimately it detracted from the plot.

That being said, I'm glad I stuck with it. I thought the ending was worth the wait.

I thought the characters were really interesting and I love me some dark flawed little monsters, because that's what they are monsters. None of them felt like a carbon copy of each other but what I really loved was how messy they were with each other.

Also, damn Jennifer Pickens was a phenomenal narrator.

This book had so much potential, but it just didn’t deliver for me. The whole “revenge mission at an elite boarding school” setup? Amazing. The morally gray, dangerously charming boys? Say less. But somewhere along the way, this lost its bite.

The atmosphere was there—dark academia with a sinister edge—but the plot felt like it was trying too hard to be mysterious and ended up just being… boring. Marin’s infiltration of Huntsworth had all the makings of a gripping story, but the execution dragged. The romance (if you can call it that) felt more like a fever dream than actual chemistry, and I kept waiting for the moment where everything would click—but it never really did.

Maybe I wasn’t in the mood for YA, or maybe this just wasn’t for me, but either way, I closed the book feeling underwhelmed. Not the worst thing I’ve read, but definitely not the dark, thrilling ride I was hoping for.

Described as We Were Liars meets the Raven Boys…. SIGN ME UP.

The writing in this is so beautiful and just phenomenal, it’s so atmospheric and creepy. Dark academia, toxic and twisted games and secrets. You get absolutely sucked in.

I really enjoyed this book! I think it mixes suspense and dark academia in a beautiful way. From the beginning this book had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen and how the character was going to succeed or fail. As a reader we are introduced to the main character knowing that she is not who she says she is and that mystery and why alone is soooooo interesting and such a great way to start a story.

However I will say about 50% in I was waiting for it to move faster. This story has a weirdness element to it similar to a Mona Awad novel. That is the vibe I got as I moved through the story.


The cover is beautiful! I do think the cover is leading and I didn’t see its full connection to the story.

As someone who is a frequent reader of dark academia, I greatly enjoyed this book and will definitely be adding it to my list of go-to dark academia books. I thought that the narrator did a great job navigating the suspense and enjoyed their use of voice for characters. I also enjoyed the writing, and the pacing of the story was easy to follow and grew suspense in a strong way. I will definitely read another book by this author and hope they start writing the next one soon!

A book with queer vampires? That's going to be five stars for me. The plot, pacing, story, and characters did not disappoint as well. I highly recommend this book if it sounds remotely interesting to you.

Boys with Sharp Teeth is a stunning dark academia debut that expertly blends themes of obsession, delusion, and the fine line between love and hate. A twisted tale of revenge and intrigue, it draws readers into the enigmatic world of Huntsworth Academy, where secrets, lies, and forbidden desires linger behind every ivy-clad wall. Seventeen-year-old Marin James is determined to seek justice for her cousin's mysterious death, suspecting Adrian Hargraves and Henry Wu, the charismatic yet dangerous leaders of the school’s elite circle, are responsible. But as Marin infiltrates the academy, she becomes entangled in a web of attraction and deception, questioning her own motives and the truth behind the boys’ dark secrets.

Jenni’s writing is nothing short of a masterpiece, capturing the spiraling obsession of her characters with a deft hand. The narrative is infused with unreliable narration, keeping readers on their toes as the lines between paranoia and the paranormal blur. Each twist and turn leaves you questioning what is real, as the story shifts constantly between truth and illusion. The emotional depth of the characters and the atmospheric tension make this an unforgettable read, one that lingers long after the final page.

Boys with Sharp Teeth is the perfect dark academia novel for those who enjoy intricate plotting, morally complex characters, and a story that keeps you guessing at every step. With its hauntingly beautiful prose and expertly crafted suspense, this book is a must-read for fans of the genre. A thrilling, thought-provoking ride that deserves a resounding five stars.

✨ALC Review✨

I love a good boarding school story and when you make it twisted? Even better.

When townie Marin James finds her cousin’s body in a shallow creek on Huntsworth Academy’s grounds, she knows he was murdered. And she knows the names of the three students to blame.

Marin becomes Jamie Vain (this is probably how it’s spelled, but remember, I listened to it), a transfer student whose tuition check is definitely going to bounce, so she has a limited time frame to find the murderers and prove they killed Sam.

They turn out to be super easy to find. She’s assigned to the same set of dorm suites as they are. She even shares a bathroom and common area with Adrian Hargraves (Graves, if you will). Henry Wu and Baz round out our weird little clique. And they’re all fascinated by Jamie Vain.

Marin/Jamie becomes part of the gang while she’s snooping for proof of Sam’s murder. She gets close to each of the three in different ways. The tension between Henry, Graves, and Jamie is palpable and not a good thing. What has she gotten herself into? And why doesn’t she care more about the potential consequences?

This book is almost all from Jamie’s POV and honestly, it did get a little repetitive in her head. But if we laid our thoughts out on paper, I reckon they’d be fairly repetitive too.

I don’t want to get too into the particulars of the story, but I’ll say it’s a good dark academia YA with paranormal elements. The solo narrator, @jenwrenpickens, did a fantastic job with the desperate inner voice of Jamie as well as her slight, southern accent. As a Southerner myself, I’m picky when it’s overdone. This was perfect!

Recommended for lovers of this genre.

I received an advance copy of the audiobook via #netgalley and @Macmillan.audio. All thoughts are mine alone.

#ya #youngadult #youngadultbooks #darkacademia #boyswithsharpteeth #jennihowell #audiobooks #narrators #bookrecs #bookreview #bookstagram

This was a really, really good debut.

The prose is so well done. Lush, but also grotesque I was really blown away with many of the lines throughout this book. In some ways, the writing feels wasted in a YA novel, and I'd love for the author to take it into the adult realm. I loved the characters with all their unlikeability and flaws. They have really interesting dynamics that have them circling each other that totally drew me in. The atmosphere was spot on. The plot was interesting, albeit confusing at times due to Jaime's unreliability. The paranormal horror was fun, but at times, it was not as well developed as I would have liked.

I, too, am most disappointed at the lack of lgbtq rep. Based on the cover and synopsis, I think readers were primed for a "true" love triangle that really doesn't pan out. I think there's some pacing issues as well. We rush headlong into the plot but take a huge step back from any development in the middle. The final quarter takes a sprint to the end that results in a confusing and convoluted ending. The paranormal aspects of the story are poorly explained.

Overall, this is a good book that I absolutely recommend. It's by no means perfect, but the positives outweigh the negatives and I'm excited to see what this author does in the future.

4.5⭐ (rounded up)

Oh, I was not ready for this.

The Story: Marin's cousin, Sam, was killed, and to prove it, she lies her way into the prestigious boarding school he worked at to investigate his so-called 'friends'. Her three suspects, Henry, Graves, and Baz, are quick to pull her in, forcing her to wrestle with her feelings and sense of justice.

My Thoughts: This book felt very 'Saltburn' to me, in the best way.
To start, I wasn't sure this would be for me. Marin starts out feeling deliberately young in her way of thinking, even for high school, making being in her head almost a chore. Thankfully, the character growth/expansion is quick, and whether that's who she actually is, or the role she is playing, it suits the story wonderfully. The characters and dynamic are so toxic, I was 100% here for it. The investigation, while well done, took a back seat (for me, at least) to how interesting the characters were.
Point of note: suspension of disbelief is definitely required to get into the story, as her getting into the school initially is highly questionable. Personally, I am unbothered, but that may be make-or-break for some people.

The Narration: The narration was perfect. I wasn't actively thinking about the narrator throughout, as the voice fell perfectly in line with the tone of the story.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Not my favorite. I feel like this book was trying really hard to be If We Were Villain's and it just didn't work. At first it's your run of the mill teen thriller where the main character is convinced a murder happened and she's going to prove it while the adults tell her she's crazy. Than by the end it's fantasy? I was very confused. The book is very flowery with it's writing which for me was not great but for others might be. I also was so confused once we added magic kinda into the book. I gaslight myself into thinking I was crazy and I still after finishing am not sure if there was magic or if the author was trying to use magic as a metaphor. And I'm still not sure if we got an answer as to why Sam or if it was just a "he's right there" kinda thing. I thought Jenni Howell did a pretty good job with the audio. She had the right sadness in her voice for Marin since she's suppose to be grieving and lost while trying to solve a murder.

Ａｕｄｉｏｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ
3 ☆
Seventeen-year-old Marin James has spent her entire life living in the shadow of the exclusive Huntsworth Academy. And when her cousin's dead body is found in a creek on school property, Marin knows exactly who's to blame: Adrian Hargraves and Henry Wu, the enigmatic yet dangerously alluring leaders of the school's social elite.

The premise and the cover art caught my attention, but unfortunately, the story wasn't keeping my attention, and I DNF'd at 70%. With that being said, will I attempt to reread or finish this book? Yes, I will, but will I rush to do so? No, because honestly, I'm not that interested in finding out what happened.

The audiobook is good, and the narrator did a good job telling the story. She literally gave you dark and gloomy vibes, and her voice was magical for this story. I listened at 2x speed, and she was still easy to understand and listen to.

Thank you, Netgellay, and MacmillanAudio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

The narrator really utilized and added to the alluring vibes and the gothic atmosphere for the book. I think their performance matched the tone of the main character. So I enjoyed that!

However, the story while very rich in atmospheric vibes for a haunting story, set on finding out the truth of a murder, lacked anything more than pretty words. It had no substance.
The lack of believable also affected the story. Look I know it's fiction but even I cannot ignore how a much school wouldn't follow up on a transfer student who's cheque's keeps bouncing back and has no transfer information. That's a fantasy at that point.

The students were pretentious and would have fit the story, but when the story is lacking, it all just lacks luster.
Disappointed in this.