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A review by katykelly
Bad Apple by Zoje Stage
5.0
Devil child? Misunderstood child? Two-sided tale of parenting and childhood gone wrong. Parents beware!! You’ll look at your own darlings a little differently after this.
{Alternative titles: Bad Apple / Baby Teeth}
Riveted. That’s what I was. It wasn’t because this was a thriller. It was the psychological story of the mother and daughter that made me desperate to see just what each side was really thinking and feeling.
You can’t help but feel for Suzette - mother of a six year old who hasn’t ever spoken. Who has voluntarily become a stay-at-home mum, home-schooler and housewife leaving a very creative profession and fulfilling career to spend her time with a daughter who appears to hate her.
She has clearly tried hard:
“It was hard to pour endless love into someone who wouldn’t love you back. No one could do it forever.
You also feel for Hanna. She adores her father but seems to feel her mother doesn’t love her:
“It as all Mommy wanted all day. To stop thinking about her. To leave her behind.”
Hanna has never spoken. She can write, read, is clearly highly intelligent and no tests have shown any problems. It is a truly strange scenario, and one we are able to see from both perspectives, with both characters speaking to us. Do we believe that Hanna is a monster? Or that Suzette is jealous of her husband’s love for her daughter and has pushed her out?
It’s very difficult to put a finger on just how things have gone wrong for Suzette’s family, and her husband sees only a little angel and a frazzled wife who tells stories he can’t see truth in - notes Hanna write containing swear words are ripped up, bad behaviour is only ever reported but not witnessed - so it really is an Electra complex and battle between mother and daughter.
The story will shock. It ramps up quickly to a thriller of sorts, with rather terrifying scenes played out in two perspectives. I got a feel for ‘why’ things had progressed as they had, though felt more detail of Hanna’s early years would have been helpful in pinpointing this.
There are some key moments between husband and wife that struck home, as their old relationship before becoming parents is allowed breathing space. As a parent, it reminded me of the feeling of confinement that comes with the more joyful aspects of children.
I loved the slow-burn of the situation that suddenly comes to a head, the evidence that mounts as to the likely dangers, the inside look into both child and parent, the overly-exaggerated relationship problems that here result in a horror show of a climax.
Violence and hate, injuries and pain... it won’t be for everyone but is a fascinating psychological trip into a twisted and scarred family.
With thanks to Netgalley for the advance reading copy.
{Alternative titles: Bad Apple / Baby Teeth}
Riveted. That’s what I was. It wasn’t because this was a thriller. It was the psychological story of the mother and daughter that made me desperate to see just what each side was really thinking and feeling.
You can’t help but feel for Suzette - mother of a six year old who hasn’t ever spoken. Who has voluntarily become a stay-at-home mum, home-schooler and housewife leaving a very creative profession and fulfilling career to spend her time with a daughter who appears to hate her.
She has clearly tried hard:
“It was hard to pour endless love into someone who wouldn’t love you back. No one could do it forever.
You also feel for Hanna. She adores her father but seems to feel her mother doesn’t love her:
“It as all Mommy wanted all day. To stop thinking about her. To leave her behind.”
Hanna has never spoken. She can write, read, is clearly highly intelligent and no tests have shown any problems. It is a truly strange scenario, and one we are able to see from both perspectives, with both characters speaking to us. Do we believe that Hanna is a monster? Or that Suzette is jealous of her husband’s love for her daughter and has pushed her out?
It’s very difficult to put a finger on just how things have gone wrong for Suzette’s family, and her husband sees only a little angel and a frazzled wife who tells stories he can’t see truth in - notes Hanna write containing swear words are ripped up, bad behaviour is only ever reported but not witnessed - so it really is an Electra complex and battle between mother and daughter.
The story will shock. It ramps up quickly to a thriller of sorts, with rather terrifying scenes played out in two perspectives. I got a feel for ‘why’ things had progressed as they had, though felt more detail of Hanna’s early years would have been helpful in pinpointing this.
There are some key moments between husband and wife that struck home, as their old relationship before becoming parents is allowed breathing space. As a parent, it reminded me of the feeling of confinement that comes with the more joyful aspects of children.
I loved the slow-burn of the situation that suddenly comes to a head, the evidence that mounts as to the likely dangers, the inside look into both child and parent, the overly-exaggerated relationship problems that here result in a horror show of a climax.
Violence and hate, injuries and pain... it won’t be for everyone but is a fascinating psychological trip into a twisted and scarred family.
With thanks to Netgalley for the advance reading copy.