Boys With Sharp Teeth follows a young girl named Marin who, driven mad with grief for her recently-dead cousin, forges her way into the elite private school where his killers live in an attempt to get a confession and revenge. But upon infiltrating their inner-circle, she realises that not everything is as straightforward as it seems, and she may need to get closer than planned in order to truly understand what happened to her cousin.

This is one of the most intense, and at times frustrating, reading experiences I’ve had in a long time. This book takes morally grey to a whole new level, and I spent the majority of the book wishing that just one character could become better or be trusted, but that was mostly not the case. I wanted to yell at the protagonist often, but her infuriating decision-making and the anger that blinded her to making good decisions ended up being one of the most gripping aspects of this book. Despite the slow pacing at times, I couldn’t put this down, and found myself desperate to learn what she’d do next and what the students around her would do next as well.

I enjoyed the second half of this book far more than the first part, when the author started leaning into the more supernatural elements of the plot, and when the extent of each character’s darkness was really revealed. The first half, whilst still enjoyable, relied far more on philosophical discussions and subtle double-meanings that I often had to read multiple times to fully understand.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book, but only if you’re looking for something a little heavier and more complex than the usual psychological thriller. It was a really unique reading experience with very strong main characters but, without a lot of romance or straightforward explanations, it was certainly one of the more challenging YA books I’ve read this year.

Every few months I read an arc that’s a debut and I get absolutely ecstatic when I’m chosen as a reader to get the first peak. A big thank you to Netgalley for this one, because I absolutely loved it. This book is going to stay with me for quite a while I think.



This book is not a love story. It’s worse.


Have a dose of attraction mixed with repulsion, finger brushing that feels so intimate that it has you squirming, eyes locking from across the room making the hairs stand up on your neck, the glances, bodies touching in the most charged tension inducing ways that you almost just can’t handle it anymore. There is only feeling on edge during these moments, the craving of things left unsaid, the chasing of an inexplainable high. It’s twisted. It’s obsessive. It’s them being wicked, and her being much much worse.



There is nothing sickly sweet about these characters, there is none of ‘the boy gets the girl’ if you’re wondering before you pick this up. It’s only a girl, and everything is hers for the taking. Everything is hers to devour.

 This is one of my most anticipated reads for next year, and I believe it lived up to what I expected. It’s on the more philosophical, Dark Academia side. I personally feel that this book requires the suspension of disbelief, and I’d urge you that when you pick it up you lean into that. It’s disjointed, surreal, and unnerving in so many ways. The entire read had me in a chokehold. 



Howell carefully crafts an atmosphere that is rich in the paranormal side of Dark academia, the unsettling that surrounds the ‘unseen’ and leaves you gasping for air. There are layers between the surreal and the real, and you’ll have yourself asking “where is the lie?” And “What does it truly mean to feel safe?” More often than not. It is rare that a book can provide me very little closure, and still have me feeling like the ending was complete.



I was seesawing between Henry and Adrian the entire time but if you were to ask me for the truth?

I am an Adrian apologist and I’m not sorry.



I think what people often forget is that, some books are meant to be completely surreal and farfetched and to develop as reader and broaden you scope you sometimes have to read things that have quite an outlandish feel to them. This was, of course, completely that and I loved it entirely for that reason. The characters were flawed, beyond flawed now that I think about it and you know what? I'm perfectly fine with that.

3.5 Stars. It felt as if this was trying to be a YA If We Were Villains whilst also shoving in paranormal elements. I would have rated this higher but it felt as tho the ending was rushed and a lot was crammed in.

This book right here!!! Such a gem! Boys With Sharp Teeth is such a beautiful book. So beautifully written. Lovely characters, the plot is immaculate. I totally recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The prose is gorgeous, the plot engaging enough, but something just didn’t click for me.

I finished the book feeling underwhelmed at how it all wrapped up, it wasn’t bad by any means, it was just solidly okay!

A very different book to what I would usually read, thought I was intrigued to try it.
Very atmospheric and I enjoyed the writing style. Though I was confused in some places (that may be a me problem though)
But overall I enjoyed this book

I think this is a book I’ll definitely be rereading in the future. This dark academia style story really reminded me of Atlas Six, but it felt a lot more romantic in parts and full of loss/emptiness in others.

I’m not sure how I feel about the ending, I feel unsatisfied. However, I kind of like the fact the book has made me feel this way as the characters own emotions/journey’s were surrounding satisfaction in a way. This book is a story of grief, the supernatural mixing with mystery and the desire to feel complete.

Rating 3.75 - 4.0 stars.

This one had me captivated from the get-go. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought I would end up rating it 4 stars until there was one specific chapter that really confused me and from there on, the confusion stayed. Apart from that, a really solid book that I wish had kept up with a 4 star pace.

3.5

I have to remind myself that the MC found their deceased cousin just days ago when they constantly accuse the three of murdering him. I can sympathise that she's grasping at straws to get answers. It is frustrating though. She really LEAPS. She is embarrassingly dense, especially because of how arrogant she is about it too.
I definitely disliked the main character, I found her massively unlikable, unreliable and she was just arrogantly stupid the whole way through. The two boys are insta obsessed with her and it doesn't really feel justified. That being said, I'm certainly not rating the book lower for this reason, there are many great books where you can dislike or hate the main character. I just hope this was how the reader was supposed to feel about Jamie.

I think it could have been made a lot shorter, some of her thoughts are a bit redundant about the boys and Sam. A lot of waffling on about dark broody thoughts. It got old before I got half way. I think this book overall is good and would be great if it was consensed. Too much is happening and a lot could be taken out without missing it.

It frustrated me how a small answer is given sometimes regarding the death of her cousin and she just takes that first response and leaves. The chapter ends. No follow up questions, no asking them to elaborate, when this definitely needs elaboration! She knows who she wants to blame and only wants to hear the words she can use to continue that belief.

All the secrets, refusing to answer (or ask) important questions, arguments and beating around the bush started to get really old and I just started to get annoyed.

It's like a gothic horror/romance but the further along you go it tries too hard and it turns more into melodramatic emo kids and once I started feeling that way I couldn't take it as seriously. I feel like this needed to tone it down a little.

I am also confused about how this school functions overall, especially with such a small number of students. You only really know about 4 other students in the school and there are no rules about boys and girls sharing dorms. No one seems to care that there is alcohol and drugs all over the school.

This book did not deliver

I really liked the premise and the beginning of the book, especially any mention of Medea and "They're bad, she's worse," but since like 40% it went down pretty quickly

At first I was hooked there was murder mystery, some paranormal things going on, complicated relationships, rich school full of secrets, but in the middle it just got messy and sloppy and I was so fed up and tired of all the characters and the plot was completely lost that I just wanted it all to end one way or another

It's kind of a weird fiction like a bunny, so maybe if you like this vibe you'll like it more, but my biggest problem is - i actually fully predicted the whole ending by about 20% and I'm not even kidding, i knew everything from what happened to her cousin, who's gonna 💀 too, how it's going to be resolved, what's with weird mirrors and her ending, I'm a prophet!!! i prophecy !!! cus no way it was that easy like bffr

the characters were annoying and their only personality trait was that they're rich and pretentious, can't say more about them,
oh, and the main character was the worst con artist known to humankind

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.