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About the Author
Jenni Howell1 book reviewed
Boys with Sharp Teeth
by Jenni Howell
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Readers aged 14–18 who love atmospheric, twist-driven YA and are drawn to the gothic boarding-school worlds of Mackenzi Lee and Maggie Stiefvater — especially those who enjoyed We Were Liars or The Raven Boys and want a revenge thriller with a literary-riff backbone.
Worth it if
Worth it if you prioritise propulsive plotting, lush prose, and a compulsively readable false-identity mystery over deep philosophical engagement with the Dorian Gray source material.
Skip if
Skip it if you need your dark academia to carry sustained thematic and philosophical weight — critical coverage and multiple readers flag that the novel's style outpaces its substance, and the pacing in the middle can lose momentum.
What readers & critics say
Kirkus Reviews characterises the novel as "an intensely dark debut that's focused on style over substance," a considered critique that acknowledges real artistic ambition while identifying a meaningful imbalance. Reader blogs retrieved offer a split verdict: Pine Reads Review found the writing evocative and the book "a rollercoaster I couldn't put down," while Utopia State of Mind and Me and Ink Blog each noted that pacing issues, underdeveloped themes, and an overly obvious reveal left them disappointed despite high expectations.
“An intensely dark debut that's focused on style over substance.”
— Kirkus ReviewsLook inside the book
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- Is it worth reading?
- For readers drawn to heady, atmosphere-first dark academia — the Mackenzi Lee and Maggie Stiefvater school of gothic, aesthetically charged YA — Boys with Sharp Teeth delivers on its core genre pleasures: lyricism, propulsive plotting, and emotional stakes rooted in grief and obsession. Critical coverage does characterize it as a debut focused on style over substance, so readers who prioritize character depth or thematic complexity on par with Wilde's source material may find the experience uneven. That said, an instant New York Times bestseller status and specific, enthusiastic blurbs from authors like CG Drews and Jesse Q. Sutanto confirm it lands hard for the audience it courts.
- Similar books
- Macmillan's own marketing compares Boys with Sharp Teeth to We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater — the intersection of literary thriller and atmospheric coming-of-age mystery that fans of both will recognize immediately. Readers who loved those books' combination of a privileged, secret-laden setting with emotionally charged prose will find the same DNA here. The Dorian Gray reimagining angle also positions it alongside other literary-riff YA thrillers that use canonical source texts as structural backbones.
- Who should read this?
- Boys with Sharp Teeth is designed for readers aged 14 to 18 who love atmosphere-heavy, twist-driven YA — particularly fans of Mackenzi Lee's and Maggie Stiefvater's gothic, aesthetically charged fiction. Those who found We Were Liars and The Raven Boys irresistible should find the novel's false-identity thriller structure and Dorian Gray literary riff immediately appealing. Readers who need their dark academia to carry philosophical weight comparable to Wilde's source material should calibrate expectations, as the novel prioritizes lyricism and plot momentum over thematic depth.
- What age is it for?
- Best for ages 14 and up. Boys with Sharp Teeth is explicitly targeted at readers aged 14–18, and its themes of murder, revenge, false identity, obsession, grief, and moral corruption are best suited to high-school-age readers with the emotional context to engage with dark, psychologically intense material. Younger teen readers or those sensitive to dark, grief-heavy thriller content may want parental guidance before picking it up.
- Is it a good book club pick?
- Boys with Sharp Teeth offers productive book club discussion material, particularly around its use of The Picture of Dorian Gray as a structural and thematic backbone — groups can meaningfully compare how Howell translates Wilde's preoccupations with beauty, corruption, and desire into a contemporary YA revenge thriller. The style-over-substance critical debate also makes for a lively discussion: whether the atmospheric dazzle and twist-driven plotting compensate for less sustained character or thematic depth is genuinely a matter of reader preference. Groups that skew toward atmosphere-first, plot-driven YA will likely have the most fun with it.
- What do notable authors say about it?
- The blurbs assembled for Boys with Sharp Teeth are notably specific in what they praise. CG Drews, the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Don't Let The Forest In, calls it "a taut and darkly lyrical tale of obsession and grief" in which "each savage twist compelling you to turn the page long after the lights have gone out." Jesse Q. Sutanto, USA Today bestselling author of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, highlights "atmospheric tension and a twisted mystery," while Amy Goldsmith (Those We Drown) praises it as a book that "holds a shadowy mirror up to the lengths we might go to for revenge." Author Rachel Moore called it "dark academia at its finest" and "a chilling dissection of what it means to be alive." Across all endorsements, the consistent notes are lyricism, propulsive plotting, and emotional stakes rooted in loss.
- What's the reading experience like?
- Boys with Sharp Teeth is designed to be a compulsive, atmosphere-drenched read — CG Drews specifically describes each twist as "compelling you to turn the page long after the lights have gone out," and the overall critical picture is of a novel that prizes lyricism and propulsive plotting above all else. Macmillan positions the prose as a space where dark revenge and twisted desire collide, and the title-page illustration by Frances Wren signals that even the book's physical package is crafted for aesthetic impact. Readers should expect a heady, fast-moving experience rather than a slow, contemplative one.
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Ages 12–18
Reading level
Young adult
Content to know about
Best for: Ages 14+ — upper-YA targeting; grief-driven revenge premise, psychological intensity, and dark obsession themes suit high-school-age readers and up.
Skip if you want character-driven literary depth and thematic complexity to match the Dorian Gray framework the novel invokes.
Editorial Review
Boys with Sharp Teeth is an instant New York Times bestseller and debut YA novel from Jenni Howell, published by Roaring Brook Press on April 8, 2025, in which a girl assumes a false identity to infiltrate her murdered cousin's elite boarding school and uncover the truth — a warped reimagining of The Picture of Dorian Gray that blends dark revenge with twisted desire. Critical coverage found it an intensely dark debut focused more on style than substance, while author blurbs from CG Drews, Jesse Q. Sutanto, and others praise its atmospheric tension and shocking twists. Readers drawn to heady, twisty dark academia will find much to savor here, though those seeking depth to match the dazzle may come away wanting more.
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