A review by sweetflipsbrah
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

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

2.5

While not the worst book I’ve ever read, “The Spirit Bares It’s Teeth” by Andrew Joseph White leaves a lot to be desired for me. Maybe my approach to this book is all wrong, but if the world presented in “Spirit” is meant to reflect our modern world in any way (which I think even deeply fantastical fiction can/does), then ours is an inhospitable cesspit of violence, misogyny, and transphobia. And as a trans man myself, I spent a lot of my time reading this book in despair of the author’s outlook on our present world, particularly his view of cisgender men. The level of both overt and implied sexual violence enacted against the main character is almost fetishistic, particularly when you remember this is a YA novel. 

I think there are a lot of elements to “Spirit” that are interesting - a trans male protagonist in a historical setting, the exploration of gender and weaponizing the pathology of human behavior, the aesthetic of Victorian esoterische and spiritualism, etc - that the author, in my opinion, doesn’t explore enough, or is lacking nuance. I think a more historically accurate approach to this story would’ve made it more enjoyable, as sort of a better analysis of Victorian and modern attitudes towards sex, gender, mental health and disability. I also find some of White’s stylistic choices grating, including an over-reliance on certain imagery in the form of simile that made roll my eyes (I challenge you to count how many times something is described as being “like a scalpel”). Overall, there were a handful of scenes I enjoyed, but I ultimately finished this book out of sheer determination.
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