Implausible Premise and Missing Urgency
Sarah finds the protagonist's infiltration and actions unbelievable, explaining that the setup lacked any needed tension or urgency.
Reviewed
Read Time
8 min read
Our age bandAges 14+ · Young adult
Reader rating
3.5 · 206 Amazon ratings
reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks scoreShare This Review
Our review
Boys with Sharp Teeth
Boys with Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell Review: A Dark Academia Debut with Style to Spare
by Jenni Howell
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. Reviewers 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.
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 — critics 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 and underdeveloped themes left them disappointed despite high expectations.
Sources: Kirkus Reviews, Pine Reads Review, Utopia State of Mind, Me and Ink Blog3.5from 206 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
Becky and Sarah from Bickering Book Reviews reviews Boys with Sharp Teeth
Becky and Sarah from Bickering Book Reviews share their critical thoughts on Boys with Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell.
A BookTube review by Bickering Book Reviews, 2025 · 180 views · 765 subscribers · Watch on YouTube ·
Their views, not ours. The points are our AI summary of what they say, each playing from where they say it.
Lyrical Prose Lacking Story Progression
Becky explains that although the book features beautiful language, events feel disconnected and the story lacks a coherent, driving plot.
Thin Characters and Vague Setting
Both reviewers struggle to differentiate the supporting characters and feel the boarding school atmosphere was barely developed.
Tedious Pacing Without Payoff
The reviewers describe the book as a chore to get through because it failed to provide intriguing breadcrumbs or a satisfying conclusion.
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Boys with Sharp Teeth is a debut YA dark academia thriller from Jenni Howell in which a girl assumes a false identity to infiltrate the elite boarding school where her cousin was murdered — structured as a warped reimagining of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, threading beauty, corruption, and the cost of desire through a contemporary boarding-school mystery. An instant New York Times bestseller, the novel arrives with significant momentum and author praise for its atmospheric tension, lyricism, and shocking twists from voices including CG Drews and Jesse Q. Sutanto. Readers who want atmosphere thick enough to taste and a twist-driven plot will find much to savor; those who need their dark academia to carry philosophical weight comparable to Wilde's source material should calibrate expectations, as reviewers characterize the debut as focused on style over substance.
- 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. Reviewers do 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.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
What age is it for?
Is it a good book club pick?
What do notable authors say about it?
What's the reading experience like?
Summarize this book
Boys with Sharp Teeth centers on a girl who, desperate to avenge her murdered cousin, assumes a false identity and infiltrates the elite boarding school he attended to uncover the truth about his death. The novel is framed as a warped reimagining of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, threading that source material's preoccupations — beauty, corruption, and the cost of desire — through a contemporary YA dark academia setting. Published by Roaring Brook Press on April 8, 2025, it debuted as an instant New York Times bestseller, with title-page illustration by Frances Wren lending the package a distinct visual identity.
Follow up
How does the Dorian Gray angle work?
What does the false-identity premise involve?
Who published this and when?
Synthesized from verified book data & published reviews · How we review
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Our Review
We review the evidence: published critics, reader verdicts and BookTube reviews, gathered and weighed with AI assistance and edited by LuvemBooks, rather than one reader's first-hand take.
Boys with Sharp Teeth is a debut YA thriller that arrives as an instant New York Times bestseller — a notable achievement from a first-time novelist.
Boys with Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell front cover
What the Book Is and What It Does
Published by Roaring Brook Press on April 8, 2025, Boys with Sharp Teeth centers on a girl who, desperate to avenge her murdered cousin, assumes a false identity and infiltrates the elite boarding school he attended in order to uncover the truth about his death. The novel is framed explicitly as a warped reimagining of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, threading that source material's preoccupations — beauty, corruption, and the cost of desire — through a contemporary YA dark academia setting.
The book's title-page illustration is credited to Frances Wren, lending the package a visual identity distinct from the prose itself. Macmillan positions it as a book where dark revenge and twisted desire collide with the sinister secrets lurking behind the walls of a privileged institution.
Its Place in the Dark Academia Conversation
Macmillan's own marketing compares the novel to We Were Liars and The Raven Boys, situating it at the intersection of literary thriller and atmospheric coming-of-age mystery — a shelf that is crowded but perennially hungry for new entries. The Dorian Gray reimagining angle sets it apart from straightforward boarding-school mysteries; it promises not just a whodunit but a meditation on obsession and moral decay.
That the book debuted as a New York Times bestseller confirms it landed with an audience, not merely with a marketing campaign. Author Rachel Moore called it "dark academia at its finest," describing it as "a chilling dissection of what it means to be alive."
Strengths the Record Supports
The blurbs assembled around Boys with Sharp Teeth are notably specific in what they praise. Jesse Q. Sutanto, the USA Today bestselling author of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, highlights "atmospheric tension and a twisted mystery," while CG Drews, the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Don't Let The Forest In, describes it as "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."
Amy Goldsmith, author of Those We Drown, echoes the emphasis on grief, calling it a book that "holds a shadowy mirror up to the lengths we might go to for revenge." Across these endorsements, the consistent notes are: lyricism, propulsive plotting, and emotional stakes rooted in loss — not merely genre mechanics.
As one passage from the book reads, "I am playing a character, being this girl, and it's unfortunate for everyone."
Where It Falls Short
Reviewers characterize the novel as "an intensely dark debut that's focused on style over substance." That is a considered critique, not a dismissal — it acknowledges real artistic ambition while identifying a meaningful imbalance.
For readers who come to dark academia for its literary density, the rich atmosphere and twist-driven plotting that fuel the book's commercial appeal may feel like they crowd out sustained engagement with character or theme. Whether that trade-off is acceptable will depend entirely on what a given reader is after.
Who Should Read It
Boys with Sharp Teeth is designed for readers aged 14 to 18 and is particularly well-suited to fans of Mackenzi Lee's and Maggie Stiefvater's brand of gothic, aesthetically charged YA — readers who want atmosphere thick enough to taste and a mystery that refuses to stay still. Those who found We Were Liars and The Raven Boys irresistible should find the novel's combination of false-identity thriller and literary-riff structuring immediately appealing.
Readers who need their dark academia to carry philosophical weight comparable to the Wilde source material may want to calibrate expectations accordingly, but for the audience the book courts, it arrives with significant momentum and a premise that delivers on the genre's core pleasures.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
lindentreebooks.com
- 2
barnesandnoble.com
- 3
kirkusreviews.com
- 4
thelittlefoxlair.com
- Further reading
- 5
utopia-state-of-mind.com
- 6
pinereadsreview.com
- 7
us.macmillan.com
- 8
- 9
Me and Ink Blog
Age & Reading Level
Our age band
Ages 14+
Reading level
Young adult
Amazon listing
Ages 14–18 · Grade 10–12
Our age band groups books for browsing; it isn't an age a review gave.
Tropes
dark academia
From how readers describe it, not our own reading.
3 content notes · who it suits
Content to know about
murder of a supporting character (off-page, prior to events)
revenge and obsession as central drivers
themes of moral corruption and decay
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.
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