Baby Teeth: A Novel

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Stage pits all three in the Jensen family against each other, and it’s intricately detailed with emotion. Although it does seem to take a long time for the father, Alex to come to his senses and see that something is seriously wrong with his daughter, he acts as anchor point for the reader, the center-point in the see-saw of doubt. i will say that the poetic style is quite repetitious. some phrases are sometimes repeated like a chant, like a prayer. i could appreciate this because i think it matches the narrator's emotionally-loaded state of mind, but the repetition might bother some people. Making matters even worse, Hanna reserves her worst behavior for Suzette, who she feels a particular anger towards. This puts Suzette at odds with her husband, Alex, as he rarely witnesses Hanna’s bad behavior first hand and, as such, has difficulty believing Suzette’s accounts of the things Hanna does. I was so excited I didn’t even remember to update my status that I was reading it. Since I never put it down until I was finished, there wasn’t much point. *shrug* Jefferson, Dee (30 November 2020). " 'That we made it at all seems like a miracle': Cate Blanchett's refugee drama sweeps AACTA awards". Australia: ABC . Retrieved 23 February 2021.

After reading the final chapter I was smiling. I was like, yassss, Suzette get it! To be honest, if I were Suzette I have no idea what I would do! Your child after you? Creepy AF. I would have set up a camera though and have her set up, but that’s just me and I’m all about that evidence! Suzanne tries her hardest to be the mom that she never had herself. Her health problems have made her doubt herself but now she has that perfect marriage with a dream child. Except that dream child is starting to really freak her out.I’ve seen Baby Teeth listed as a thriller; it wasn’t that at all, but it COULD have been. It probably would have been a much more enjoyable read—cringe-worthy moments in the plot and all—if it had been written from Suzette’s POV only. Then we could have seen her mounting terror and desperation and feel it in a more pure form—the way that she did. But Stage decided to try her hand at writing in a child’s voice via Hanna's chapters and it Did. Not. Work. Honestly, a terrible idea given the level of skill she displayed in this novel. Not only did it take away from the suspense to know exactly what Hanna was going to do next from her POV, but the clunky and inauthentic way in which Stage wrote Hanna made reading her chapters a real chore. Of course, I understand that Stage was attempting to speak simplistically, as a child might, but it didn’t sound anything like a seven-year-old’s way of speech and mannerisms in the slightest. Her editor would have done better to tell her to hold off on that. This book is told through POV chapters titled "Suzette" or "Hanna” The reader gets a glimpse into the mind of each. Hanna is the proverbial "bad" seed who acts out and has behaviors which get her into all kinds of trouble. Although she is seven years old, she had thoughts and actions, I would associate with a much older child. While reading the book, I kept waiting for the light bulb to go off over Alex's head and for him to finally "see the light". Suzette, being the target of most of her daughter's bad behaviors, struggles with feelings ranging from wanting to help her daughter, fearing her child, and wanting to not have to deal with her child anymore. Maher, Kevin. "Babyteeth review — an emotionally shattering feature debut from Shannon Murphy". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460 . Retrieved 14 August 2020. From blazing new talent Zoje Stage, Baby Teeth is a story about a perfect-looking family, and a darling little girl who wants nothing more than to kill her mother.”

What a book! This one has been on my TBR list for a very long time and I can't believe it's taken me this long to read it. Despite all of the well-meaning efforts of these adults, however, Hanna hasn’t developed as expected. Aside from never starting to speak, Hanna has also repeatedly demonstrated a tendency towards violent behavior and a resistance towards connecting with her mother in any meaningful way. Imagine having someone who you expect will love you, not love you. And not only do they not love you? They LOATHE you. Upon first glance, this book seems angsty, dramatic, and queer-friendly. As I read on, I became more and more disappointed. For those not looking for spoilers, do not read on. Before reading this book, I was intrigued by the idea of a lesbian vampire romance written by a queer author. I am from Washington State in the United States, so I am all for vampire-centered romance because of Stephanie Meyer's books that came out during my teenage years. In addition to this, Meg Grehan may have taken inspiration from the Irish writer, Sheridan Le Fanu who wrote Carmilla, in the early 1800s, which created the first written representation of lesbian vampire romance in Ireland.There's not enough room in the house for both Hanna and her Mommy! Seven-year-old Hanna would be so much happier if Mommy would just disappear so that she and her Daddy could live happily ever after. Through Hanna and Suzette's (Mommy) eyes, we see their daily battles to maintain control in an unpredictable, ever-changing world and what it's like to maneuver through life when no one will hear you. The people in this story are permanently tied together by blood, but have toxic effects on each other. ( Warning: After the ARC disclaimer, I get a little spoilery talking about a part of the book that came up in my comment section, though I don't really consider it a true spoiler. The content may be upsetting for some.) The synopsis here is straightforward. Hanna loves Daddy. Hanna does not love Mommy. In fact, things would be perfect if Mommy wasn’t in the picture at all. A vengeful pit grew inside her and it remained to be seen how it would grow—very possibly into a tree with snaking branches and claws. How fun it would be to be such a tree, looming like a giant on a neighborhood street. People would pass beneath her, and the ones she didn’t like—snap snap crunch! She’d snatch them up and tangle her branches around them, and their bones would break with little crunches that would be mistaken for the snap of a twig. Her bark-self would absorb their yummy blood and the tree would grow and thrive. (Hanna) When Suzette woke in the morning, her daughter had cut off a chunk of her hair. Frustrated, she told Hanna that they would still go to Tisdale that day. They were greeted by the friendly principal, and Hanna even seemed to like the school. When they got home, they both took naps. Suzette woke to the sounds of sexual moaning coming from Hanna’s room. Disturbed, she rushed in. Hanna was naked on the bed, writhing as if she was having sex. She shouted that the devil was visiting her, putting his thing in her to give her power. Horrified, she called a child psychologist named Dr. Beatrix Yamamoto and made an appointment for that Monday after school. Due to Hanna being non-communicative and combative, Suzette is forced to keep her home and provide all of the child's schooling and care.

It is weird, but I like Hanna as a character. She is mad but the author did a fantastic job with her personalities. I wasn't afraid while I was reading, but Hanna's POV gave me a creepy vibe. When she stood in front of her mother with a hammer and her mother Suzette just creeps out, I thought that 'OK Suzette, you are more insane than your daughter. Just call the police PLS.' This story is dark and at times hard to read but I was fully engaged from beginning to end. The writing is easy and flows nicely together throughout all the chapters. Zoje Stage Thank you so much, Renee! Maybe not surprisingly, it's a bit of a long story. I'll give you the highlights... Daddy thinks Hanna is an adorable child. Mommy knows Hanna is a nightmare. Hanna wants daddy and she will be able to do everything for his father even if she has to be a bad girl. She will ruin her mother's life and she doesn't mind it at all. Hanna will enjoy it.She falls for Claudia who works at a local florist and this love story is messy, beautiful, comforting, confusing… there are so many emotions but the writing puts them across in the best way. There’s a definite creep-factor to Hanna; the girl’s malevolent mind-games becoming increasingly more sophisticated. As a reader you are constantly second-guessing yourself. Is she acting out, or is she truly evil? There are many parallels in the tale to other novels like The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, and occasionally it feels like familiar territory, but what sets Baby Teeth apart is that it goes much deeper into the trials of being a parent and childhood mental illness. I was totally immersed in this tale and found it quite the entertaining and enjoyable read but I do understand that this book will not be for everyone so with that I recommend with caution. If you love a good horror or a dark psychological thriller you should really enjoy this one though! I know I do and did! I’m telling you it doesn’t matter. Obviously if you didn’t like any of those stories you should probably save your dollars and refrain from buying this one. Zoje Stage is quite the wordsmith, but I don’t think she has a magic wand that will make you like things you normally hate . . . (But maybe Marie-Anne does????) If you did enjoy those others, Baby Teeth will be a sure winner. And there is a fresh take here because Hanna isn’t a cookie cutter of those other children. Neither is her mother. I’d love to say more, but I’m pretty sure my next communication from St. Martin’s Press would go a little summin like . . . . As a parent this book has left me stunned. It makes you think. Really think. All psychopaths and sociopaths were once children. Can this type of mental illness really be reversed if caught early enough? The writing was so good that I felt every emotion these parents felt. I hear this one will be made into a movie. I really can't wait.

Baby Teeth is a sapphic novel written in verse as an inner-monologue of a vampire who is falling in love with a human in a new way. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, St. Martin's Press, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The pivotal moment in Hannah and Suzette's relationship is when Suzette is inappropriately candid with two-year-old Hanna. She doesn't consider how much Hanna can understand or how a young child with limited experience might process the information. It's a frustrating scene to witness, because of all the miscommunications that ignite the toxic cycle of Hanna and Suzette's relationship: Hannah is stressed out because Mommy is acting weird→Hanna tries to get her Mommy's attention the only way a two-year-old can→ Suzette interprets it as yet another one of her maternal failings, when Hanna is actually just being a normal toddler→The situation spirals out of control. Several years ago, while I was still pursuing a career as a filmmaker, I wrote a script that I wanted to direct called "Hands and Knees." It involved a family similar to BABY TEETH's, but the theme was quite different: it was about a woman who was becoming overwhelmed by what she perceived to be the horrors of domesticity. As an intended film, it was geared more toward mood (cool, detached) and a cinematic look.

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It was such a long, boring, drawn-out ending that didn’t satisfy me in any way, shape, or form. I’m talking zero climax, no excitement, no fun race to the end, nothing. Just more dialogue and more recapping of what I’ve read at least twice already.