Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

364 reviews

clichemarker's review against another edition

slow-paced

5.0

"Men all hurt us in their own unique ways. None of us carry the same bruises."

 This book is so sad, so triggering, so honest, so beautiful. 
It started a bit slow, but holy shit. Andrew J White hasn't missed yet. 
Definitely read with caution, as there are a lot of tough topics here. The whole book has very impactful negative self talk. Also the medical details are pretty brutal (apparently accurate too). Just fantastically written

"I have never been anything but this. Neither of us have ever been anything but this."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

minanonim's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Very readable, while also tackling extremely important topics, including misogyny and the way young people handle and adapt to societal pressure. It includes neurodivergence and LGBTQ+ representation that, in my opinion as someone without much experience, seems to be done very well. As a romance hater, I really appreciated the romantic subplot and the way it progressed. Was it a bit too fast? Yes, but that made sense in context, which is something I don't see often enough. The gore was present and often described in detail, which for me was a plus but may be a problem for other readers.

Please check the trigger warnings before proceeding!

Subjectively, having grown up in a very religious community (although not being religious myself), the portrayal of misogyny and patriarchy really rang a bell. Above all else, what really stood out for me was the way different characters responded to the culture they were forced into. While frustrating at times, the book very accurately showed the double standards, the internalised misogyny, the fight/flight/freeze/fawn response each person has. It may be hard to understand or believe the actions of some characters by the end, but having personally experienced a similar cultural context, they were entirely believable and reminiscent of people in my own life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Misogyny, Transphobia, Blood, and Abortion

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

basil_touche's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Been a while since I've read a book where I had to take a break due to how graphic a scene was. An enthralling, compelling read that had my heart beating as fast as the rabbit in Silas' chest and a story that uses it's fantasy elements to dismantle the cruelty of the victorian era and show it for what it was. 

I also loved how Silas' experiences of transness and autism felt real and how these facets of himself are able to be explored without the modern terminology. 

The one thing that kept it from being perfect was the love story, while it was sweet I felt that it needed more time to be fully convincing rather than just a relationship for survival. 

However, I am still deeply impressed and I hope to read more of White's work in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

ezpressomacchiato's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this book……. oh my gods

this was so good! honestly haven’t read something this well written and attention-grabbing in a long time 

the historical references are phenomenal! Andrew J. White did a fantastic job at depicting the realities of psychological abuse and what it does to a person

(the Mrs. Forrester shoe scene…. literal chills)

i also love how this book portrays the historical use of mental illness as a way to discredit people and justify their oppression and abuse, as well as how words like “sick”, “crazy” and “hysterical” have been weaponized against women and minorities 

i am an extremely squeamish person and the medical gore in this book was at times hard to get through, so keep that in mind if you’re like me! regardless, i made it through and i loved it

the black pages containing the spirits’ perspectives were genius!!! i thoroughly enjoyed them and the depth they added to the narrative

i also love the trans, queer and neurodivergent representation! (Daphne, you own my heart, girl s2)

final notes: i hate cishet white men

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Miscarriage and Vomit

em_of_swags's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jduejcueufjejeududh (it's sooo good) (but also so dark, check tws)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Gore, Violence, Blood, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Classism

milooo's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

i needed a minute to process this. dear lord this was good. don’t get me wrong, it was a VERY heavy read, but the author’s note in the beginning perfectly sets up expectations and creates a really safe feeling of knowing that the author is not doing any of this gratuitously. everything has its purpose. i do think i would’ve enjoyed this a bit more if i had read it physically (because most of the things i had an issue with were choices made by the audiobook narrator). the only other thing i wasn’t a huge fan of was how ‘LGBT 101’ and ‘neurodiversity 101’ some of the narration was, but this is not really a big criticism because we do live in a world unfamiliar with the inner worlds of such individuals, so having more ‘show don’t tell’ is a luxury we cannot yet have. other than that, the story was very compelling, and the characters were very engaging (as archetypical as they were, it lends itself to the story). it definitely reads as very young adult, but in a good way (like i would’ve gobbled this up as a teenager). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

helixlhart's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Misogyny, Transphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Abortion

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria

tamara_joy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Miscarriage and Pedophilia

joey_estrada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It's hard to put into words how I feel about this book. It's difficult. It's wonderful. It's relatable. The way it is written made me feel everything the narrator was feeling to the point of almost being overwhelming. 

I am not as in touch with my identity, whether that be me being autistic or trans, as I'd like to be. Reading some of these descriptions and explanations and just the thoughts of the narrator was healing and safe as well as scary.

I enjoy reading fiction more than nonfiction/informational books, so being able to read someone's thoughts and feelings as an autistic trans person during certain events rather than in a clinical way was refreshing and comforting.

I like how the narrator talks about and compares things to surgery and the body. It was very interesting. The gorey scenes were also very well written and detailed in an interesting and easily understandable way.

Though the ending was beautifully and satisfyingly done, I'm sad to see these characters go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Sexual violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Vomit, and Dysphoria

uraveragelizard's review against another edition

4.75

Loved this. Super atmospheric writing. Loved and fascinated by the setting. Obsessed with the body horror and gore-y, artful descriptions. The medical lens was awesome and delightfully gross. Pretty great prose and discussions.
Being in Silas' mind was so affirming and fascinating. First time reading a canonized autistic MC I think, and I was worried it would feel forced/too modernized, but I think it was so well done and interesting. There were a few moments that didn't flow easily, but I think it overall worked well. 
I think he did a good job of riding the line of being inspired by history, and commenting on it with a modern lens, without being too disingenuous or trivializing.

And I thought the romance was a little cringe/a little too convenient at first. But whatever, it's fantasy ya for a reason. Suspend your disbelief, and it was v cute and compelling. + the discussions of him finding Daphne and the groundskeeper and realizing the disparate parts of his identity were so interesting. 

also shame on me for underestimating the intensity of this because it's YA- damn. Def one of the darkest and most difficult-to-read-at-times novels I've read in a long time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Abortion

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual assault, and Transphobia