The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

Can I be fair and objective with this book? Probably not because I want White's literary voice to have existed in my life 20 years ago when I was a teenager who desperately needed a voice like his even though I didn't know it at the time and I'm so glad that it exists now that I have no words. When I tell you that I literally squealed with delight when my ARC request was approved...

Alright, on with the review. White captures the small daily horrors of the autistic experience as well as the sweeping systemic ones and blends them masterfully with the supernatural, the result is raw, honest, and refreshing. While this book takes place in something akin to the Victorian era its commentary regarding ableism is shockingly and devastatingly timely. The pacing is a rather slow and steady one where the horror deepens through accumulation rather than outright shock. Silas is endearing as all effs and it makes the whole thing even harder to read because you just don't want bad things to be happening to him!

I loved every minute I spent with this book and I'm about to be as annoying with it as I was with Hell Followed With Us, I'd apologize in advance but I'm not actually sorry about it.

Thank you to Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for granting me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Review edited to add: I rarely reread books but after hearing much good about the narration for the audiobook I decided to give it a go. The narrator was great but I really struggled to associate the voice with a teenager.

I picked this book up for r/fantasy bingo challenge, but it's not worth forcing myself to finish it since I'm just not vibing with it.
There are a lot of degrading thoughts of the main character about their body that just made my reading experience with this book challenging. At moments I found them more disturbing than the graphic gory scenes, which definitely was the point but I just personally didn't enjoy reading about it.