Reviews

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

thewrittenadventure's review against another edition

4.0

I don't know why I decided to read two creepy stories about children back to back, but here I am!

Hanna is just like any other girl, except that she's non verbal and she's plotting to kill her mother.

Suzette is just like any normal mother, except that sometimes her hatred for her daughter shows.

In Baby Teeth, the dual perspectives of Hanna and Suzette show the inner-most thoughts of these two characters as they move Alex, Hanna's father and Suzette's husband, like a pawn in their deadly stand off.

Hanna is very intelligent and calculating. Because she refuses to speak, she communicates with her parents through knocking, squeals, and other noises. In her eyes, she wants her mother gone so that she and Alex can live happily together. Hanna thinks that her mother is the reason why Alex doesn't love her more. She wants to take her mother's place in his life.

Suzette, frustrated with having to take care of a non verbal child, just wishes that her daughter was more like her. She buys her toys, artistic tools so that she can express herself, and even tries to teach her how to draw, being quite creative herself. But nothing works.

I really wasn't expecting this novel to be the way that it was. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would really love for it to be some sort of thriller movie.

I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me this opportunity!

i_dont_read_blurbs's review against another edition

3.0

How terrified can you be of your own child? Could your child actually hurt you? Little 7-year-old Hanna wants a world where it is only her and her daddy. Is that too much to ask?? This book is a journey of their up and mainly down journey. It is a very interesting book. I did listen to the audio and quite enjoyed it.

hmcreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

stroudle's review against another edition

2.0

I wanted to like this book so so bad. I loved We Need to Talk about Kevin, Gone Girl, and the Omen. I love problem children and weird family dynamics. I was really ready to love this book. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations.

This book was by no means bad. I think Zoje Stage did a great job with her first book, but I found mostly all of the happenings in the book predictable. The ending fell flat. I audibly groaned. It read like a Lifetime movie at parts.

Overall, this was definitely a book I would recommend if you're sick in bed and want a read that keeps the page turning but doesn't make you think too much. If you're looking for something that keeps you wondering what's next, move on.

dopexthrone's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

2.5

emilyturnsthepage's review against another edition

2.0

Hanna is a mute seven-year-old who has a deep affection for her dad, Alex. Hanna is quite the “daddy’s girl” and wants all of his attention all the time. There’s just one problem: her mom Suzette. Suzette suffers fro Chron’s disease and has a hard time dealing with her disease and an even harder time bonding with her daughter. Suzette wants to do everything she can to form a bond with her daughter and help figure out what’s wrong with her. I mean, what seven-year-old is mute and has never spoken? Hanna has other plans. She wants to get rid of her mother and she will stop at nothing until she’s gone. This book was every bit creepy as you think it might be. This book also comes with a MAJOR trigger warning if you have small kids. I don’t have kids and this book was still creepy and hard to read. Hanna is malicious and conniving. Some of the stunts she pulled were absolutely appalling. When I wasn’t reading this book, I was thinking about it. It’s that mind-blowingly creepy. With that said, I didn’t really enjoy it. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and Hanna had a way of freaking me out. It wasn’t an easy read to get through and it certainly wasn’t a feel good book. I wish that there had been a twist or a big OMG factor, but it was definitely an interesting read.

sierrarozen's review against another edition

4.0

I would say that I enjoyed this book a lot more than the previous one I had read by the same author, “Mothered.” I felt like the premise was less confusing, and I was more hooked on finding out what was going to happen at the end. It was a book that left me on the edge of my seat, wondering what Hanna was going to try to do to Suzette next. I will say, similar to “Mothered,” I felt like there were unnecessary plot points that didn’t really move the story along, such as the mom’s Crohn’s disease and the part where Hanna had a witch person that she thought was inside of her. I can understand using the disease as kind of a metaphor, for all of this added anxiety that Suzette has around being a mother and how her body is betraying her. On the other hand, the witch sub plot I felt like was super unnecessary, and the author could have just dove deeper into child psychotic behaviors and left it at that, instead of having the reader wonder if maybe the child really was possessed for a moment in the book. it also very much exasperated, my own fear of the idea of having a child that turns out to be a psychopath and there’s nothing you can do about it. Lol.

jbwrites's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

4.0

forever_fantasy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

nicola78's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0