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Review: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth
Andrew Joseph White
Peachtree Teen
Published September 5, 2023

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About The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.

London, 1883. The Veil between the living and dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife. According to Mother, he’ll be married by the end of the year. It doesn’t matter that he’s needed a decade of tutors to hide his autism; that he practices surgery on slaughtered pigs; that he is a boy, not the girl the world insists on seeing.

After a failed attempt to escape an arranged marriage, Silas is diagnosed with Veil sickness—a mysterious disease sending violet-eyed women into madness—and shipped away to Braxton’s Sanitorium and Finishing School. The facility is cold, the instructors merciless, and the students either bloom into eligible wives or disappear. So when the ghosts of missing students start begging Silas for help, he decides to reach into Braxton’s innards and expose its rotten guts to the world—as long as the school doesn’t break him first.

My Review

This book makes me realize how often I eat while I’m reading. I do not recommend doing that while reading this book– which is probably an obvious idea. It’s a horror novel, after all.

One of the main reasons this book hit my TBR list is that I was so blown away by the author’s debut, HELL FOLLOWED WITH US, which is a post-apocalyptic horror novel. If you ever wondered how post-apocalyptic stories and reimagined history could overlap, this pair of books would make a good study.

If I had to describe this book in under ten words, I would say, GIRL, INTERRUPTED but make it queer horror/historical fantasy. Just like his debut, Andrew Joseph White delivers stark prose and anguished characters. The relationships between some of the characters provide bright spots and soothing moments between the intensity of the other scenes.

I really appreciated the romance thread and the hopefulness that a few of the characters find as they form relationships with one another. It does get into some pretty intense body horror and gruesome medical descriptions, so this won’t be a novel for everyone. I also appreciate that the author includes a content warning at the front of the book.

All in all, horror will never be my favorite genre, but I am absolutely in awe of writers like Andrew Joseph White who deliver fast-paced, deep stories with incredible characters and unforgettable moments. If you’re looking for a dark, twisty horror novel with a hopeful undertone, grab this one immediately.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Silas is transgender and has autism. Another character is transgender. Brief mentions of women who have romantic feelings for each other.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used a bit frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
In one scene, a man grabs Silas and forces a kiss on him. Kissing between a boy and girl. Some characters shame others for being sexually active or for doing something perceived as flirting or being alone with a man.

Spiritual Content
Characters with violet eyes have the ability to see into the spirit realm and communicate with the spirits of people who have died. When men do this, it’s a sign of power, but women with this ability are told they’re sick and must be “treated.” (Read: tortured until their captors are satisfied they are submissive enough.)

Violent Content
Very specific descriptions of medical procedures, such as a hysterectomy. Some instances of torture. For example, one woman is forced to walk with glass in her shoes every day. A girl throws another girl down the stairs. At one point, a girl attacks another girl, choking and hitting her. A girl bites another girl. A man presents a woman to an audience after having removed her eyes, tongue, and teeth. The woman has apparently self-inflicted wounds on her wrists that look as if she bit herself.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH in exchange for my honest review.

Review: No One Left But You by Tash McAdam

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No One Left But You
Tash McAdam
Soho Teen
November 7, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About No One Left But You

A trans teen is swept up in a whirlwind friendship with lethal consequences in this taut YA thriller, for fans of Sadie, K. Ancrum and HBO’s Euphoria.

BEFORE

Newly out trans guy Max is having a hard time in school. Things have been tough since his summer romance, Danny, turned into his bully. This year, his plan is to keep his head down and graduate. All that changes when new It-girl Gloss moves to town. No one understands why perfect, polished Gloss is so interested in an introverted skater kid, but Max blooms in the hothouse of her attention. Caught between romance and obsession, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her on his side.

AFTER

Haircuts, makeovers, drugs, parties. It’s all fun and games until someone gets killed at a rager gone terribly wrong. Max refuses to believe that Gloss did it. But if not Gloss, who? Desperate to figure out truth in the wake of tragedy, Max veers dangerously close to being implicated—and his own memories of that awful night are fuzzy.

Both sharp-edged thriller and moving coming-of-age, this gorgeously wrought novel is perfect for readers who want stories with trans characters front-and-center.

My Review

I’m going to go ahead and admit that I laughed at some things in this book that I don’t think were meant to be funny. For example, at one point, the main character is making a point that he’s noticing some recovery from previous depression. He says something like, “I’m finally asking myself normal questions, like ‘do I want to do mushrooms in the woods with a girl I might like.” And I don’t want to minimize the shift in his mental state or the joy of noticing a new distance from depressed thoughts.

But also, I couldn’t help laughing at how differently I defined “normal questions” in my own high school experience. It struck me funny.

Interesting comparisons aside, though, Max’s emotional journey through the book really packs a punch. The story travels from him peeling apart his feelings about an ex he’s not over to exploring new feelings for a girl who might be too cool for him to reeling from grief over a sudden loss. Every emotion felt real and raw, drawing me deep into Max’s story.

The cover copy hints that Max grapples with hazy memories of the time of the murder, but the story doesn’t really focus on that much. It’s much more about Max trying desperately to understand why this person died and what the relationship meant to him. Those threads are so well-spun that I rocketed through the book from start to finish.

I think readers who enjoy Caleb Roehrig’s mystery books will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Max is a transgender boy. A minor character is Black. Another character is gay but closeted.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. In one scene, two boys go into a tent to have sex. We know they undress and that one asks the other permission to have sex, and the scene fades to black. In another scene, a group of teens decides to skinny dip at the beach. Some people choose to keep their shirts on.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Kids at school (often boys) bully Max after he comes out as transgender. They misgender him on purpose and shoulder-check him as he walks by. A boy shoves Max against a wall and kisses him hard enough to bruise and split his lip.

References to Max’s mom using his deadname. She misgenders him repeatedly in the couple of scenes where she appears.

Someone dies of a cut throat. One scene shows them dying.

Drug Content
Max smokes pot and drinks alcohol with his friends in multiple scenes. In one scene, he and a girl drink mushroom tea. In another, a girl pushes a pill from her mouth into his.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog. I received a free copy of NO ONE LEFT BUT YOU in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Always the Almost by Edward Underhill

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Always the Almost
Edward Underhill
Wednesday Books
Published February 7, 2023

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About Always the Almost

A trans pianist makes a New Year’s resolution on a frozen Wisconsin night to win regionals and win back his ex, but a new boy complicates things in Edward Underhill’s heartfelt debut YA rom-dram, ALWAYS THE ALMOST.

Sixteen-year-old trans boy Miles Jacobson has two New Year’s resolutions: 1) win back his ex-boyfriend (and star of the football team) Shane McIntyre, and 2) finally beat his slimy arch-nemesis at the Midwest’s biggest classical piano competition. But that’s not going to be so easy. For one thing, Shane broke up with Miles two weeks after Miles came out as trans, and now Shane’s stubbornly ignoring him, even when they literally bump into each other. Plus, Miles’ new, slightly terrifying piano teacher keeps telling him that he’s playing like he “doesn’t know who he is”—whatever that means.

Then Miles meets the new boy in town, Eric Mendez, a proudly queer cartoonist from Seattle who asks his pronouns, cares about art as much as he does—and makes his stomach flutter. Not what he needs to be focusing on right now. But after Eric and Miles pretend to date so they can score an invite to a couples-only Valentine’s party, the ruse turns real with a kiss, which is also definitely not in the plan. If only Miles could figure out why Eric likes him so much. After all, it’s not like he’s cool or confident or comfortable in his own skin. He’s not even good enough at piano to get his fellow competitors to respect him, especially now, as Miles. Nothing’s ever been as easy for him as for other people—other boys. He’s only ever been almost enough.

So why, when he’s with Eric, does it feel like the only person he’s ever really not been enough for…is himself?

My Review

Miles is preparing for a classical piano competition, so he plays the piano in lots of scenes. I really enjoyed the descriptions of his relationship with music and his process of practicing, learning, and growing as a musician. I loved Stefanie, his piano teacher, too.

Though he doesn’t have a lot of confidence in his identity, Miles has a solid friend group who do. Rachel, Paige, and Eric support him as friends and allies. Sometimes they can be a little much– especially Rachel– but it’s clear that their behavior always comes from a place of love.

ALWAYS THE ALMOST doesn’t shy away from the painful parts of personal growth. Miles makes some thoughtless and selfish choices and then has to bear consequences of those mistakes as well as learning how to rebuild relationships in the aftermath. I thought overall those conflicts were handled really well and resolved in ways that were both believable and satisfying.

On the whole, Miles’s journey as a young trans boy in love and his development as a musician were both super strong parts of ALWAYS THE ALMOST. I think readers who enjoyed CAN’T TAKE THAT AWAY by Steven Salvatore will want to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Miles is a transgender boy. Eric is pansexual and biracial. Rachel and Paige are lesbians.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. Kissing between two boys. Miles and his boyfriend take their tops off at one point.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Miles stumbles onto some transphobic comments about him on an online forum. Vague reference to a woman experiencing unwanted sexual advances at work and a man punishing her in her career because she refused him.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of ALWAYS THE ALMOST in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

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Cemetery Boys
Aiden Thomas
Swoon Reads
Published September 1, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Cemetery Boys

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

My Review

CEMETERY BOYS is another one of the books that’s been on my To Be Read list for a while. I wasn’t able to get a pre-release copy, but I did order a copy when it released. Yay! Recently, a friend gifted me an audiobook version, so I listened to that version and loved it.

I loved Yadriel’s character and especially his friendship with Maritza. I tend to love characters who say the thing that everyone is thinking, even if it’s a hard truth, so Maritza was pretty much guaranteed to be a favorite with me.

It took me a little bit to fall in love with Julian, though. At the beginning of the story, he keeps himself closed off and it takes a while for him to thaw. So I felt braced not to like him, but as he opened up, I found that I loved his strength and loyalty to the people he loves.

I liked the way the story explored Maritza’s veganism and how it impacted her place among her people and her relationship with magic. It brought up some interesting things and was cool to see a vegan represented in a YA story. I haven’t seen that very often.

In terms of the plot, I felt like it moved along at a really good pace. I liked where the story went and the speed at which things unfolded. It definitely kept me reading.

All in all, I enjoyed reading CEMETARY BOYS and I would love to read the next book in the series and/or other books by Aiden Thomas.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Yadriel is Mexican and Cuban American. Julian is Colombian American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. In one scene, a girl comments on the fact that boys are wearing hospital gowns which are open in back and she can see their butts.

Spiritual Content
Yadriel is part of a community of magic wielders who have the ability to heal or interact with spirits of the dead. Those roles are decided by gender and both involve the use of animal blood in order to complete the magic. In a special ceremony at fifteen, boys or girls are welcomed into their new abilities by Lady Death, the goddess who governs their magic. Spirits who linger may at first have the personalities they had in life, but the longer they remain, the more they risk becoming corrupted and turning violent and evil if they’re not released.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to murder. Rituals involving the use of blood. In one scene, a character finds a boy with a knife in his chest, slowly bleeding out. One man loses his life to a ritual gone awry.

Drug Content
Yadriel and Julian go to a beach party where kids are drinking alcohol, but they leave after a short while when police break up the gathering.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.

Review: Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

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Hell Followed with Us
Andrew Joseph White
Peachtree Teen
Published June 7, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Hell Followed with Us

Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.

But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.

Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.

A furious, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors. Perfect for fans of GIDEON THE NINTH and ANNIHILATION.

My Review

I don’t usually read horror, so this one is a little bit outside my usual book choice. I couldn’t resist checking it out, though. There’s something really compelling about the cover. I don’t know if it’s the pairing of the colors (obviously I have a thing for turquoise and orange) or the title, which references a Bible verse in Revelations? Either way, as soon as I saw the cover, I knew I needed to check out the book.

The plot: basically this cult takes the worst parts of humanity and clothes them in a twisted version of holiness. It’s bad religion taken to an extreme. Benji references all these scriptures he’s been taught as he’s trying to figure out what to do and what he believes. We get to see how they’ve been twisted for control or abuse. I felt like that was really powerful and also heartbreaking, especially when it was verses that I’ve also memorized and they were being used to cause such harm.

One of the things I liked, too, was that there are these moments where faith comes up and Benji really wrestles with whether God exists. He doesn’t believe what he’s been taught about who God is or what believing would command him to do. But he continues to pray, even if he’s not sure it’s doing anything. He has a conversation with another teammate who also is a person of faith. I liked that the story didn’t straight up demonize faith but created space to explore the difference between a religious terrorist organization and faith that uplifts or inspires people. That’s not what the story as a whole is about though. It’s just a moment in the book.

Character Elements versus Horror Elements

Benji is a pretty tormented character. He’s barely escaped what is obviously (mostly off-scene) a hugely traumatic upbringing in the Angels cult, so he still has a lot of processing to do about what happened to him. He’s only beginning to unpack what is actually true versus what he was told in order to control or manipulate him. The threads of thought he takes us through as he dismantles his abuse gripped me probably more than anything else in the book. That journey and the frank, in-process way that it’s related kept me locked into the story from beginning to end. Some of the cult exploration aspects of the book reminded me a little bit of THE PROJECT by Courtney Summers.

Would I have been more comfortable if there were less, er, slaughtering via teeth? Yeah. For sure. Ha. But I can’t help but be so glad I read this book. I get the hype about it. I love the ways it made me think.

Readers who enjoy fast-paced, post-apocalyptic stories or books that examine cults and recovery from being in a cult should check this one out. I don’t read much horror, but another in the genre that I enjoyed is IT LOOKS LIKE US by Allison Ames. If you liked the balance of character driven elements to horror elements, you would probably also like HELL FOLLOWED WITH US.

Content Notes

Graphic violence, transphobia, domestic violence and religious abuse, self-injury and attempted suicide.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Benji is a trans boy who grew up (and escaped) a radical cult. Nick is autistic. Other minor characters identify as queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. One scene leads up to oral sex but doesn’t describe it.

Spiritual Content
The Angels cult is loosely based on Christianity but is pretty twisted. They’ve created and unleashed a fatal pandemic as well as a disease that causes awful mutations. They kill anyone who disagrees with them or their ideas. Biblical scriptures are warped and used to defend murder and control.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle scenes with graphic descriptions of injuries and death. Graphic descriptions of mutations and death caused by the Flood. Graphic descriptions of bodies rotting. Some scenes show or reference execution. One scene (referenced more than once) describes domestic violence. Several scenes show or reference religious abuse. Several characters exhibit transphobia. In some scenes, a character is misgendered and referred to by his deadname.

Drug Content
A few characters sip wine that someone saved for a “special occasion”. Benji does not and a Muslim character does not.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of HELL FOLLOWED WITH US in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Cattywampus by Ash Van Otterloo

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , ,

Cattywampus
Ash Van Otterloo
Scholastic
Published August 4, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Cattywampus

The magical story of a hex that goes haywire, and the power of friendship to set things right!

In the town of Howler’s Hollow, conjuring magic is strictly off-limits. Only nothing makes Delpha McGill’s skin crawl more than rules. So when she finds her family’s secret book of hexes, she’s itching to use it to banish her mama’s money troubles. She just has to keep it quiet as the grave — not exactly Delpha’s specialty.

Trouble is, Katybird Hearn is hankering to get her hands on the spell book, too. The daughter of a rival witching family, Katy has reasons of her own for wanting to learn forbidden magic, and she’s not going to let an age-old feud or Delpha’s contrary ways stop her. But their quarrel accidentally unleashes a hex so heinous it resurrects a cemetery full of angry Hearn and McGill ancestors bent on total destruction. If Delpha and Katy want to reverse the spell in time to save everyone in the Hollow from rampaging zombies, they’ll need to mend fences and work together.

My Review

I started reading this book because Natalie at Literary Rambles mentioned it as one of her favorites from 2020, so it’s been on my reading list since then! When Barnes & Noble had their 25% off pre-order sale, I picked up a paperback copy of CATTYWAMPUS, and I’ve finally been able to read it.

It took me a couple tries to get into the story. I can’t figure out why. I really enjoyed what I was reading– the southern expressions and deep North Carolina vibe are things that generally excite me about a story. I loved both Katybird and Delpha. I think Katy became my favorite by the end of the book, though. Her struggle to accept her magic and overcome her fears was super moving.

Tyler was also a favorite for me. He’s this sweet, sort of nerdy boy with two moms who kind of winds up right in the middle of Delpha and Katy’s mess and winds up helping them in some unexpected ways. I loved that and the stuff about his uncle and the way that Delpha connected with him.

Once I got to the part with the zombies, I was pretty hooked on this book. I loved all the chaos in the midst of the small town, spring festival setting. There are great characters and so many quirky, fun moments in this book. It’s also got tons of heart as both main characters have to face some fears and hurts and learn to form new relationships with people.

I think readers who enjoy southern fiction plus magic would definitely love this one. If you liked A SNICKER OF MAGIC by Natalie Lloyd, try CATTYWAMPUS.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Katybird has angroden insensitivity syndrome, meaning she has one X and one Y chromosome, but her body is resistant to male hormones, so she has physical traits of a female and identifies as female.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Characters have the ability to do magic. There are also werewolf-type characters called Snarly Yows and some zombies bent on destroying anyone in the families they’re feuding with.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some brief descriptions of decaying bodies attacking people and turning them to stone.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.