Reviews with content warning for Violence - Baby Teeth

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

50 reviews

flutelover32's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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readabookmofo's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

The real horror in Baby Teeth is not a child terrorizing her mother; the real horror is a woman and her daughter pining and fighting over the love and affection of an incompetent man-child.

There were some very unsettling scenes in Baby Teeth,

namely when Hanna torments the helmet-wearing child. That was pretty rough.

I welcomed free birth control. Aside from that, there wasn't much else I liked in the book.

I'll start with what bothered me the most. Plot holes galore. Suzette, the mother, complains incessantly about how her husband, Alex, doesn't believe her about their evil daughter. This went on for years. She never thought to record anything? Set up hidden cameras?

In the middle of the book, we get a flashback to what started it all, when Suzette stuffed uneaten food into Hanna's mouth. Hanna states that she starts being horrible to Suzzette to "test her love for her", but that is just dropped into a random ether of nothingness and never revisited again. At some random point, it turns into a strange Electra complex, so I'm unsure of the point of the flashback.

Suzette's character is extremely infuriating. She's highly dependent on gaining her self-worth from her husband's love and his approval of her appearance. Not only does she have these character qualities that never develop or grow, but she's also incredibly ignorant.

When the possibility of child abuse at her husband's hand is raised, she actually states his being Swedish as a reason for him not being capable of abusing Hanna. Say that again? And there's a completely unnecessary tidbit where she assumes a teacher at a school they visit is gay because of the way he dresses and carries himself. And don't forget when she wanted to ask the doctor where she was from; no, where she was really from. These scenes were odd and felt out of place.

Alex's character was equally infuriating. Believing his child over his own life partner was appalling. But as soon as Suzette makes a legitimate mistake, she's met with pitchforks. He keeps using the same excuse of, "Well she's not like that with me" as proof positive of Hanna being a good kid. He gets a bit better toward the end, but at that point, the damage had been done.

One of the biggest downfalls of this book was how repetitive it was. This is the bulk of the book: Hanna does something bad, and Suzette tries to tell her husband about it, but he doesn't believe her. Repeat. I got so tired of the "Mommy has to die" line. It got old very quickly. This, combined with so many unnecessary scenes (such as painful detail into how Suzette draws a proportionate human figure), made me almost DNF this book.

Baby Teeth just didn't hit the mark for me. There was so much potential in the story idea. It would have been great if Stage took an angle of focusing the horror aspect on a woman being forced into a life of classic gender roles. Or if the focus was on the parents realizing how much happier they were without Hanna and leaving her at the boarding school for much longer than needed.

The focus was on Hanna terrorizing Suzette and just being an evil child; it was dull and added nothing new to this common trope, which I'm quite tired of. Have we not had enough of women being gaslit (for lack of a better word) and made to appear unhinged, not only in fiction but in real life as well?

There are so many more things I didn't mention that made this book subpar. I haven't completely written off Zoje Stage, but it certainly wasn't the ideal introduction to her work!

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ericaburns1's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Disappointing ending. Almost wish there was a sequel. Too many loose ends. Big drama and complicated feelings from both Suzette and Hanna kept me hooked and shocked. The book goes back and forth from mother’s to daughter’s pov.

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schnanko's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have read books that have made me uncomfortable, grossed out, fascinated...this book was genuinely terrifying. I was on the edge of my seat to an extent I haven't been in forever. It was amazingly written and the plot was absolutely incredible. I just finished it and I want to read it again.

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riley2005's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

gets much better once the dad realizes his daughter is fucking crazy

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cassiek2's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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whimsicalish's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

I picked this up because the premise sounded interestingly dark. A book about a possible demon child? Sign me up.

Sadly, it was not that. I wouldn't consider it horror or mystery since everything is clear. You read from the mother's and Hanna's perspective. Nothing is in secret. You know Hanna's intention right away. It takes away the horror because you're not guessing what's coming next. Hanna tells you herself.

I was most engaged in the first third or quarter. You're learning about the stakes and what Hanna wants. But her perceptive really takes away any surprise. It was nice to get backstory of the mom, Suzette. You learn why it's significant for her to be a good mother. But there are paragraphs, sometimes pages, about Swedish traditions (why?) or her odd dreams. You don't need odd dreams in the story when you have an odd reality of your kid trying to snuff you out! The father is the most useless character. His ONLY purpose is for the conflict.

The mother and daughter fight over his love. The only reason Hanna is able to act out constantly is solely because the father never believes his wife. He really takes the word of his gremlin 7 year old over many adults. Including his wife, who he repeatedly interrupts and ignores. "I never see this bad behavior so that must mean it never happens!" Sir, you are a fully grown man. Act like one.

Hanna's intelligence is brought up many times. I don't doubt she's smart.

But you expect me to believe this child that NEVER spoke in her 7 years has a perfect French accent. The mom constantly brought up how perfect her French accent sounded. HOW? Hanna never speaks! Does she practice somewhere alone on her witchy French accent?

I wanted more from the climax and lukewarm ending. The book does raise the question:

Is Hanna acting out because she was abused? Her core memory at 3-years-old was frightening after her mother nearly choked her. That started Hanna to "test" her mother. She wanted to know if her mother really loved her or only acted as a doting mom. But the book doesn't encourage this line of thought after portraying Hanna as despicable and vindictive.

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