The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

Title: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

Author: Andrew Joseph White

Publisher: Peachtree Teen 2023

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 387

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Picked without reading the blurb; Library Love

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.

Be forewarned, this book is full of horror and gore. It is not for for the feint of heart, but it’s such a great story about a person finding their self. We are immediately thrown into Silas’s confusing world full of expectations and horrors. We follow along as he attempts to carve his own path in the world only to butt up against societal expectations. The story really gets going when we transition to the Braxton school. From there, the mystery starts to unravel. The plot was fast moving and truly horrifying. I was very involved in the story and figuring out what happened to the girls at the school. My favorite parts with the scenes with Daphne. I loved see Silas and Daphne slowly find their partnership. Apparently, I’ve really been on an identity finding books kick lately.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Title: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 446

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - More Than 40 Chapters

The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible. 

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style. 

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game - with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.

J has been trying to get me to start reading this series for a few months now. I just wasn’t really in the mood for an RPG style narration until now. Once I started, I really couldn’t put this one down. Carl and Princess Doughnut are great protagonists that you can’t help but root for. As they stumble their way through Levels 1 and 2 of the dungeon causing chaos in their wake, I was on pins and needles desperate to see what was around the next corner. I really felt like we were in a video game encountering obstacles and bosses, figuring out puzzles, and attempting to survive just one more hour. Meeting other crawlers added the human element in a decidedly non-human environment. I can’t wait to read (or listen, the audio performance is great) the next book in the series.

Dungeon Crawler Carl

• #1 Dungeon Crawler Carl

• #2 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario

• #3 The Dungeon' Anarchist’s Cookbooks

• #4 The Gate of the Feral Gods

• #5 The Butcher’s Masquerade

• #6 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Next up on the TBR pile:

Stuck with You by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Stuck with You (The STEMinist Novellas #2)

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Penguin Audio 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 112

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn…

Logically, Sadie knows that civil engineers are supposed to build bridges. However, as a woman of STEM she also understands that variables can change, and when you are stuck for hours in a tiny New York elevator with the man who broke your heart, you earn the right to burn that brawny, blond bridge to the ground. Erik can apologize all he wants, but to quote her rebel leader—she’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee.

Not even the most sophisticated of Sadie’s superstitious rituals could have predicted such a disastrous reunion. But while she refuses to acknowledge the siren call of Erik’s steely forearms or the way his voice softens when he offers her his sweater, Sadie can’t help but wonder if there might be more layers to her cold-hearted nemesis than meet the eye. Maybe, possibly, even burned bridges can still be crossed….

A decent contemporary romance novella. I loved the whole trope of being stuck in an elevator. Seriously a sucker for shared spaces forcing people to communicate. I really enjoyed slowly unspooling their past and the miscommunication that kept them apart. The steamy scenes were good, but not absolutely great. I would have liked more, but as this is a novella, I wasn’t going to get it. Still a good couple of hours listening while doing housework.

The STEMinist Novellas

• #1 Under One Roof

• #2 Stuck with You

• #3 Below Zero

Next up on the TBR pile:

Spell or High Water by Scott Meyer

Title: Spell or High Water (Magic 2.0 #2)

Author: Scott Meyer

Publisher: 47North 2014

Genre: Sci-Fantasy

Pages: 442

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

The adventures of an American hacker in Medieval England continue as Martin Banks takes his next step on the journey toward mastering his reality-altering powers and fulfilling his destiny. 

A month has passed since Martin helped to defeat the evil programmer Jimmy, and things couldn’t be going better. Except for his love life, that is. Feeling distant and lost, Gwen has journeyed to Atlantis, a tolerant and benevolent kingdom governed by the Sorceresses, and a place known to be a safe haven to all female time-travelers. 

Thankfully, Martin and Philip are invited to a summit in Atlantis for all of the leaders of the time-traveler colonies, and now Martin thinks this will be a chance to try again with Gwen. Of course, this is Martin Banks we’re talking about, so murder, mystery, and high intrigue all get in the way of a guy who just wants one more shot to get the girl.

Another pretty fun scifi fantasy romp through time and space. After the big reveals at the end of the first book, I was hoping that we would get to see Atlantis and more of Gwen. Thankfully that has happened in this book. I loved seeing Gwen and Martin’s relationship developed as well as different sides of Philip. I was less excited about the Jimmy storyline. I did enjoy seeing the trials and tribulations that Miller and Murphy went through, Jimmy was still very annoying. He became even more annoying once he arrived in the past. That storyline was really lacking. Thankfully the murder mystery in Atlantis more than made up for that lack.

Magic 2.0

• #1 Off to Be the Wizard

• #2 Spell or High Water

• #3 An Unwelcome Quest

• #4 Fight or Flight

• #5 Out of Spite, Out of Mind

• #6 The Vexed Generation

Next up on the TBR pile:

Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer

Title: Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 #1)

Author: Scott Meyer

Publisher: 47North 2014

Genre: Sci-Fantasy

Pages: 277

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Martin Banks is just a normal guy who has made an abnormal discovery: he can manipulate reality, thanks to reality being nothing more than a computer program. With every use of this ability, though, Martin finds his little “tweaks” have not escaped notice. Rather than face prosecution, he decides instead to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and pose as a wizard.

What could possibly go wrong?

An American hacker in King Arthur's court, Martin must now train to become a full-fledged master of his powers, discover the truth behind the ancient wizard Merlin…and not, y'know, die or anything.

J downloaded this audio book for our road trip enjoyment. He has read the entire series and has been wanting me to read them too. This is a fun and delightful medieval magical romp featuring a very silly, but likable main character. I loved the scenes of typical life in medieval England and the random side characters. The “exorcism” scene was my absolute favorite! I was laughing so hard. The ending battle with Merlin was a bit overwrought in places, but I do love the reveals of Jimmy’s plan. This was a quick listen and perfect for our road trip mindset.

Magic 2.0

• #1 Off to Be the Wizard

• #2 Spell or High Water

• #3 An Unwelcome Quest

• #4 Fight or Flight

• #5 Out of Spite, Out of Mind

• #6 The Vexed Generation

Next up on the TBR pile: