The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
A Stonewall Honor Book in Young Adult Literature!

A blood-soaked and nauseating triumph that cuts like a scalpel and reads like your darkest nightmare.

New York Times bestselling author Andrew Joseph White returns with the transgressive gothic horror of our time!

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.

A Stonewall Honor Book in Young Adult Literature
A Chicago Public Library 'Best of the Best' Book
A Locus Award Finalist
A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year
A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book!
A Booklist Editors' Choice
A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year!
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

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400 pages

Average rating: 8.85

13 RATINGS

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3 REVIEWS

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Community Reviews

Mrs. Awake Taco
Nov 13, 2024
8/10 stars
So very gory. I had to skim a lot of parts, but a great story!
Booker&Hooker
Jun 25, 2024
10/10 stars
This was not what I expected but I loved it. The writing was beautiful. It will make you mad but in a great challenging way. There is some graphic medical scenes if you have medical trauma or don't like gore be aware. Loved the characters! Hated others just because you should hate them. Overall great read.
LMahoney
Jan 26, 2024
10/10 stars
that was intense! I almost had to read with one eye shut as it got kinda gross at parts. But so deep and so amazing. Great book.

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