Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

323 reviews

baileybeloved's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Sat down & read through it in a day. I cringed, I cried, I was sick to my stomach, I shivered, & my skin crawled. Absolutely recommend. Perfect ending. I will say that some of turns of this story are predictable - but knowing where it’s headed almost heightens the dread? Screaming DONT DONT NO NO NO (along with the rabbit) when you know what’s coming or what he will find (but then being shocked & appalled anyway) happened a few times for me, but did not detract from the story. 

Heed the tags, but know that the content is there for a reason. It’s not torture porn or AJWhite trying to hit checklist of horror tropes - it’s a story with real roots. 

One small detail that really struck me - from the very end was hearing about

how the freezing had happened in other places too, like in India & in American plantations

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

Frequent detailed descriptions of medical procedures the narrator wants to inflict upon himself to get rid of the parts that make him a target.

whatkatyread87's review

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

Holy shit. I have no words for how important this book is to people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

readclimbrepeat's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

4.75

I loved this book! It’s mortifying and sad, but so good. The main character, Silas, is what really drew me in. He felt very real to me even in a setting that was horrifying and supernatural. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault

astralasher's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I recently listened to this authors debut book and I liked it, but there were some elements lacking. Oh boy. I’m so glad I decided to pick this one up. One of the best books I’ve ever read. I don’t write long reviews but this was so visceral, engaging and powerful. I think he really found his voice with this one and I can’t wait to read Compound Fracture next!! Definitely not for the faint of heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexism, Blood, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism

krheaume9's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Please read TWs before reading! That being said, what a grotesquely beautiful story. It explores what it means to be disabled, a cis woman, a trans man, a trans woman, and so much more. An exploration into what we owe each other and systems of oppression, with a fantasy twist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria

kermittuesday's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

It was a little tedious at the beginning but then it picked up so I’m glad I stuck with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

inesbtavelino's review against another edition

dark sad

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

livyadri's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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? No

4.75

“We are the same species. We’re all human. It’s not that people cannot understand me; it’s simply that most of them don’t want to.” 
Heart wrenching & raw. Incredibly vivid imagery and effectively reflective writing. 

Toward the end, Silas and Daphne helping each other get dressed and Daphne cutting Silas’ hair for him tugged at my heart so hard 💜

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion, and Pregnancy

crusoe's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was everything I imagined it to be: a nuanced exploration of what it means to be trans, a mystical historical fantasy with a fascinating (and horrific) structure of power, and a hell of a lot of gore with very little comfort to be found. White has shed the first-time-author things that were less appealing in Hell Followed with us and -in my opinion- presented a story with a stronger plot and characters while keeping the things that make his work unique.

All I'm saying is: if compound fracture is better than this book, Andrew Joseph White has officially broken my bookrating scale. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage and Classism

Minor: Animal death and Infertility

rainestormsaari's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism