A review by wrench_2710
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

4.0

I actually had to come back and give this a higher rating after I had time to think about it and reflect on it. When I finished reading, my thoughts were just “wtf was that?” but then I started asking myself what the author was trying to accomplish. This story is shocking and horrifying, but isn’t that the goal? It leaves you wildly confused (at least initially); but when you consider why you have more questions than answers, the meaning takes on a whole new sinister tone. In cases of abuse and complex trauma that affects multiple generations, is it possible to objectively know who is being hurt and who is in the wrong? We only get a few hints that there are deeper layers to this story, because the voices of the characters in this novel are valued in different ways at different points of the story. While reading, I wanted to root for either Hanna or Suzette, but I found myself constantly switching sides… only to be frustrated by the plot developments. No matter how I looked at it, everyone was (constantly) losing. After reflecting on it, I feel like the uncertainty is a beautiful, realistic, and defining characteristic of this book. We will never know the truth because both narrators seem unreliable in different ways, but isn’t that how this would play out in real life?