The Spirit Bares Its Teeth transports readers into the Victorian era in London. We follow Silas, an autistic trans boy with violet eyes that enable him to communicate with spirits—and also mark him as a target. In parts inspired by his older brother, Silas is fascinated with medicine and wants to become a surgeon. However, in a society that values women only for their bodies and their abilities to give birth to the next generation of violet-eyes offspring, Silas is neither allowed to practice medicine nor to be who he really is: a boy. After trying to escape an arranged marriage, Silas is placed into “Braxton’s Finishing School” an institution for women affected by the “Veil sickness” that teaches them how to be the perfect, obedient wives. Students are either forced to comply or mysteriously disappear. So when the ghosts of missing students beg Silas to interfere, he decides to rip Braxton apart and expose its rotten innards to the world—provided the school and its inhabitants don’t do the same to him first.
Am I a huge horror reader? No. Do I enjoy gore? Also no. Did I still devour this book in a single sitting because it was impossible to put down? Absolutely.
There is brutally brilliant commentary on gender roles, marriage and pregnancy, ableism, and so much more, all set in a world where ghosts do more than haunt people. It’s at times a direct mirror to our current society (and the deeply upsetting rules and conventions that some people still desperately cling to) and therefore often heartbreaking to see Silas and so many others stuck in it. Silas’s pain (and his unique perspective) is incredibly visceral. There are so many scenes that address for example Silas’s body dysmorphia that had me tearing up. This book is many things: deeply upsetting, horrific, tragic, and humbling, but it’s also so, so powerful. It reclaims the narrative from a trans point of view with so much fervour and vigour. Silas now has a special place in my heart. While he’s not the only character who goes through the ringer in this book, his journey was definitely the hardest to follow. His insights on what is happening to him and to others, the way he describes people trying to force his autism out of him and the confines he is put into is so heartbreaking at times. Yet there’s also his determination and refusal to give up which I know is going to be incredibly empowering for a plethora of readers.
The faint of heart should be warned though: if you’re squeamish or new to body horror, be aware that there are scenes that are really descriptive. There is a particular chapter that kind of knocks you out emotionally and spiritually, so heed the trigger warnings (though it was written horrifically, it was absolutely fantastic, White is a master of words).
Filled to the brim with unflinching rage, brutally accurate social commentary, and a trans neurodivergent main character that you will want to have in your corner, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth will carve readers wide open and lay a haunting story of terrible truths and breathtaking perseverance at their feet.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
New York Times bestselling author Andrew Joseph White returns with the transgressive gothic horror of our time! A blood-soaked and nauseating triumph that cuts like a scalpel and reads like your darkest nightmare.
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 trans, autistic Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife.
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 Finishing School and Sanitorium. When the ghosts of missing students start begging Silas for help, he decides to reach into Braxton’s innards and expose its guts to the world—so long as the school doesn’t break him first.
Featuring an autistic trans protagonist in a historical setting, Andrew Joseph White’s much-anticipated sophomore novel does not back down from exposing the violence of the patriarchy and the harm inflicted on trans youth who are forced into conformity.
