Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

42 reviews

clockworkchild's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Medical trauma, Gore, Deadnaming, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Bullying, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Child death, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Rape and Vomit

ronjaorsomething's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

I loved this book so much. The writing is incredible and I felt extremely close to the characters. The trans and autistic representation was so good and even though this book takes place in an alternate London the experience these characters had were still very accurate and can be translated to the real world at the time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Ableism, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Gore, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Deadnaming, Grief, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and Murder

sunflower7skull's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

This book took a lot out of me. It is heavy and gruesome and beautiful. I will admit the surgical body horror made me a little squeamish, but as a trans autistic person, I loved the way the main characters were written. I don't usually like historical fiction, but I really loved this fantasy take. Highly recommend to anyone who is invested in dark fantasy, the trans experience, the autistic experience, and Victorian times (especially from a gendered/medical view) Just make sure you check trigger warnings for this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Ableism, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Transphobia, Child abuse, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Torture, Abandonment, Child death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Deadnaming, Grief, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Abortion, Cursing, Animal death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, and Lesbophobia

abitbetterbooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Andrew Joseph White does it again!

Hell Followed With Us was one of my top books of 2022, and I had high hopes for The Spirit Bares It’s Teeth. I was not disappointed.

AJW had a way of writing that makes me feel like, viscerally and violently ill, and deeply unsettled, and yet I can’t look away or put his books down. The writing is addictive; quick and panicky and frantic one second, luxurious and descriptive in the next, evoking a rich depth of emotion and connection to characters. 

The amount of violence and gore in this novel is extreme, to say the least, but AJW knows how to use it. It never feels shocking for the sake of it, but truly drives home the point over and over. You’re meant to be uncomfortable— you SHOULD be uncomfortable about what's happening to the students at Braxton’s, and you don’t get to look away from the true, sheer horror of it. 

I think queer & trans horror has something special to offer as a genre; for folks who have been subjected to all kinds of horrors, supernatural or not, there is something truly powerful in the reclamation of fear and danger. Of being the “monster” everyone thinks you are, and also being the hero of the story, because the real monster are the institutions and people that seek to break you. 

As a non-autistic reader I also appreciate the work of an #OwnVoices autistic author putting the focus on Sila’s autism in this story, and the way he navigated the interplay of being autistic and being transgender, without having the terminology for either experience. 

If you have the stomach for it, I highly highly recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gore, Deadnaming, Cursing, Abortion, Transphobia, Torture, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Ableism, Violence, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

dragnfary's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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: Medical trauma, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Medical content, Torture, Blood, Deadnaming, Body horror, Physical abuse, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Vomit, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Rape, and Pregnancy

dazyden's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Infertility, Homophobia, Death, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Vomit, Transphobia, Torture, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, and Abortion

loverrbboy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful

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

5.0

i still don’t understand how these people make money but OTHER THAN THAT i loveeee this book. much like this author’s other book it is godawful in the best way. gnarly, graphic passages of injuries and gore and ESPECIALLY surgery that made me wince listening. commentary on patriarchy, ableism and transphobia that is much needed. t4t love helping kids find themselves in a world that seemingly offers them no worthwhile future. again GRAPHIC but necessary (i am haunted by

descriptions of eyes being popped out, cutting your own organs out, blood blood blood, the layers of your tissue, fat, bone, handling of a freshly aborted fetus, the fact that the presence of bruises on a recently dead body means harm was inflicted BEFORE death)

this has cemented Andrew Joseph White as one of my fav authors and i’m so excited for more! 
the only thing i think is missing (from my trans perspective) is discussion of chest dysphoria. don’t get me wrong, i don’t want more dysphoria for this poor kid OR the author BUT as someone who fantasized about getting breast cancer as a teenager, i think some cool graphic descriptions of trans surgeries other than hysto would’ve been cool

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Dysphoria, Death, Cancer, Abortion, Blood, Child death, Body horror, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Gore, Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Trafficking, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, and Grief

darkefyres's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

I rarely cry at books but this one had me sobbing at times. I had to take some breaks here and there as this is a very heavy book but that doesn't alter my feeling on it being 5 stars at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abortion, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Transphobia, Gore, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Moderate: Torture and Vomit

dalek_caan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I have no words to describe how incredibly well executed this book is. It was honestly hard to read with how much it made me feel so strongly towards these characters. Amazing read, 100% recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Confinement, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual assault, Abortion, Blood, Bullying, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, and Violence

danaslitlist'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Do you know how angry the dead can be?

They must have convinced themselves they would never rot in the same dirt as we do.

In my review of Hell Followed with Us, I said the words "bold and furious" to describe the book. I said the book  is a story of rage consuming, of revolution and uprising, of setting ablaze the world and those who wished to use you for their gain.

While reading The Spirit Bares Its Teeth I was struck by how much of it is a mirror to White's debut. It's not  a simple reflection of his previous work nor is it just a rehashing of the same themes. Instead it's a rendition, a shadow, a closer look at the source, at the core of, where so much rage begins.

 Hell Followed with Us is about the beauty of decay and rot and the rebirth of one's self into their true monstrous form, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is about the power of breaking the cage within yourself to free your righteous fury and ripping the Veil all together.

It is a story that picks at the scabs of old wounds that many of us have endured at hands of a world that wishes to "fix us" through any means as long as we assimilated. This is an acknowledgement of the horrors of those who came before us (of women, of people of color, of queer and trans people, of disabled and mentally ill individuals) suffered. It is an acknowledgment of the battles many marginalized people still endure for simply not fitting into the narrow minded boxes (Christian) society demands. And it does shy away from the dark and truly disgusting horrors of humanity's greed and man's desire for power over all. 

While The Spirit Bares Its Teeth does indeed touch upon rage, upon anger and frustration; it is a story of pain inflicted by those in positions of power, of the suppression of self for survival, and overcoming of fear in order to not just live but to thrive. 

And it does this wonderfully. This is a  true gothic horror in every sense; from the setting and themes it utilizes, from the classic use of gaslighting and mystery against the characters to a pure feeling of isolation and desperation. 
 
For fans of Crimson Peak and Devil's Backbone this is for you. 
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Sexual harassment, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Misogyny, Ableism, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Vomit