The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White | Spoiler-Free Review

"I read everything as it is given to me, exactly how it is said, only to discover that the world always operates just below the surface."

    The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is Andrew Joseph White's sophomore novel, a historical fiction/horror about a trans autistic teen with the ability to rip open the Veil between our world and the land of the dead. Silas Bell is a contradiction: the body of a girl with the soul of a boy; the eyes of a medium with the mind of a surgeon. He wants nothing more than to escape Victorian England and its law that prevents violet-eyed women of ever accessing the Veil, to shed himself of his birth name and family, to pursue medicine and become a surgeon who would listen to the women coming to him. But after a botched escape attempt, Silas is diagnosed with Veil sickness and sent to Braxton's Finishing School and Sanitorium: a house for young women to be rehabilitated in a secluded environment, under the watchful eye of the Headmaster and his wife. Only there are dark things happening under the surface, and Silas has to figure out a way to survive this school before he can even think about life on the outside.

    This is my first book by Andrew Joseph White, and wow, what a way to start, huh? I knew that this was going to be a tough read before I even picked it up--there are plenty of content warnings, and the author himself warns everyone that unless you have a strong stomach, this book will be hard to swallow. But somehow, even with all of the warnings, I was still taken aback at how gory this book is. White pulled zero punches with this one. 

    In case you're looking to read this book and haven't looked up what it's about yet, here is a list of all the trigger warnings I could find:

- Graphic violence

- Sexual assault - implied, attempted, and on-page

- Medical gore, including an on-page Cesarean section

- Transphobia (explicit misgendering, dead-naming, transphobic violence/conversion therapy)

- Anti-autistic ableism

- Medical/psychiatric abuse, including dubious diagnosis and treatment

- Gaslighting and abuse

- Minor discussions of miscarriage 

    Please be mindful of your own triggers before reading. If there is anything in this list that would harm you, do not pick up this book. I promise, it's okay. Always put your own mental health first. 

    All that being said, let's talk about The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, now. 

    Despite the gore and the very tough subject matter, I really loved this book. Was it an enjoyable reading experience? No, not really. But it definitely stoked that fire inside me that burns from injustice. 

    I saw so much of myself in Silas, and the girls at Braxton's. While I do not relate to the trans experience and therefore cannot comment on the representation (there are plenty of reviewers who can, though, so don't take just my word for anything), I absolutely understand the autistic experience, and I felt so seen with this narrative. Especially since, in 1883, there was no word or proper diagnosis for autism. So autistic people had to go through their whole lives being ridiculed, ignored, and forced into potentially dangerous situations all to fit the status quo, with nothing to advocate for them other than the voice in their head saying "you're different." The undiagnosed autistic life is really sucky, and I can't imagine what it was like back then, when there was nothing to explain what was happening in your brain. 

"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."

    Even though this is primarily a historical fiction novel, I thought the fantasy elements were very well done. You could clearly see that this book is set in our own world, 140 years in the past. There were no super radical changes to the economics, politics, or societal norms. The only difference is that some people were born with purple eyes, and those people had the ability to tear open the Veil. Ghosts became a part of life. (Technically, ghosts were already a huge part of Victorian society, it's just that there wasn't any proof of them in our own time.) But the oppression was real. The misogyny was real. Young girls and women were sent to sanitoriums all the time for not conforming to what society expected from them. Medical procedures were preformed without consent. It was, and is, a cruel world for AFAB persons. 

    Okay, I think I need to stop before I go on and write a full blown essay on this book and the historical context surrounding it. I gave The Spirit Bares Its Teeth a CAWPILE score of 9.00, which of course comes out to a grand total of 5 out of 5 stars. 

    I would recommend The Spirit Bares Its Teeth to those who like medical shows, who hate injustice, and who sometimes need a reminder that they're aren't alone.

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You know, I can't tell at this point if I'm just numb to the awful things that happen in books or if they just genuinely don't affect me. Aside from a little queasiness at certain parts, I was practically unfazed throughout my time reading this novel. I guarantee you, if I read this book like five years ago, I would've been sobbing in frustration and horror. Now I'm just like "Oh, evisceration? Vivisection? Nah, that's fine." Weird. 

Have you read The Spirit Bares Its Teeth yet? I'd love to know what you thought about it. Let me know your feelings in the comments below, or DM me on Instagram (link in sidebar under the heading "More Media").

Until next time, friends!