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allmight 's review for:

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
4.5
dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy

This book was a gory little gem. It did not shy away from describing how people who have historically been seen as "other" or "wrong" have been treated, and the dark history of medicine and misogyny associated with it (although, as the author also acknowledges, this often targeted racial minorities, which is not depicted in this book, and perhaps should have been acknowledged more in the text). This book is righteously angry, and horrifying, but still beautiful.

The book has very beautiful and descriptive prose, in a way that you could almost see and hear the scenes depicted in the book. However, there is quite a lot of gore in the book, so if that is something you cannot stand, I would give this one a skip. 

I liked the depiction of spirits as well as the autistic and queer rep in this book a lot. The romance was not that well developed since Silas and Daphne knew each other for only a few days, but I did find it sweet all the same. If I had one criticism, it would be the length. I felt the book could have been a bit shorter with some tighter pacing which I prefer in my horror books, but that is a minor gripe.