THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH - Andrew Joseph White

5 stars

Wow. A hard read, but beautifully written and with unputdownable energy.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is my first read from Andrew Joseph White, but certainly not my last. Of the three currently published YA novels out by White, this one had the best hook for me--gothic story with 1800s spiritualism vibes tied into a plot regarding gender-based horror on the female and trans spectrums.

Speaking of horror, please take this moment to immediately stop and review the trigger warnings for this novel before continuing either with my review or with choosing to read this book yourself.

This is the story of Silas Bell, a boy with autism and an interest in the macabre surgical arts. But it's London 1883, and Silas has to hide his identity because the world sees him as female. Women have it hard enough in this time period, but to add further complications to Silas' gender dysphoria problems is the fact that he was born with violet eyes. This denotes he is capable of seeing the Veil and communicating with the dead--a practice that society covets greatly, but only in its men. Women with violet eyes are glorified broodmares and have it even worse than the usual Victorian woman. (It was hard to read White's version of London, as he took an already upsetting real-life history and found a way to make it even worse.)

Obviously this scenario is a horrifying trap for Silas on multiple levels, the least of which is that he also struggles with autism in a society that punishes any and all difference, and Silas desperately wants to avoid the trappings of marriage to pursue his interest in medicine.

As you can tell from my earlier trigger warning notice, this novel tackles some very serious and upsetting topics in a mostly historically accurate way.

So when Silas tries one last desperate attempt to ensure his freedom from the violet-eyed trap awaiting him, he is caught. And he is sent to a place where all problematic women get sent in history when they dared to deviate from their narrative: a correctional facility.

Silas' correctional facility isn't Bedlam (a "madhouse" from our real history) or even a medical institution for the "insane". Because of his violet eyes and potential for powerful magical children, he is instead sent to a girls boarding school where deviances are corrected.

But things are even more horrifying in this girls' "school" than Silas initially thought. And it's up to him to figure out what's happening at this school before it happens to him...

I really don't have much to say about this story, because I'll be honest—I thought it was perfect. I read this novel in one sitting because I just couldn't put it down and I found myself positively gripped by the narrative, the unique twist on the undead spiritualism thing, and the personal journey of Silas and others like him within the framework of the Victorian era.

Very happy that even though this YA novel was a horror story, both for the genre and the subject matter, it still found its way to a happy ending. I needed that as I'm a "happy endings" person, even in my horror when I can have it.