Scary Good

Baby Teeth was a truly terrifying novel that goes to show just how deceiving appearances can be. Twisted and creepy, it takes readers into the lives of a little girl named Hanna and her parents. Her parents who give her everything and simply want to be able to understand and freely love their child with abandon. But Hanna wants something very different. Hanna doesn't want her idyllic family of three. No, Hanna loves her daddy very much, and the idea of anything ever coming between them is not an option that Hanna can allow. Even when- no, especially when that "anything" is mommy. It won't be easy and there will be tears, oh how there will be tears. However, Hanna will do anything to save her daddy all for herself, anything at all.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review opportunity.

This was a fast-paced, interesting read, that I found I did not want to put down! Great, multi-faceted characters. Vivid descriptions. Kept me captivated from the first page to the last. An excellent read!

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Matins Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

How do I fully express my feelings for this book? It was scary, disturbing, and downright creepy! The best comparison I can give this book is to the story from The Omen. Evil children exist, but this puts them in a category all of its own. I would definitely recommend this for someone who's into the creepy horror genre that's more on the psychological side of things and not the gory category. Definitely recommending.

Baby Teeth was psychological horror. It dragged in places and was super creepy in others. The dynamics reminded me a little bit of We Need To Talk About Kevin. Kids that kill are both horrifying and fascinating.

Received from NetGalley 5 years ago. Finally read. Not for the faint of heart. The child, Hanna, is not the only off-kilter, unbalanced, creepy, unlikable character in this book. I can't say it was enjoyable. I can't say I irrevocably hated it. But it's more on the not liking side than liking it, thus 2 stars. I see a lot of 1, 3, 5 stars ratings. 2 feels right for me. It just left a bad taste in my mouth.

I loved this book! Thank you for the ARC. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t leaving reviews on netgalley and was solely sharing on Instagram. My apologies. Huge fan of this author! I actually received the tangible copy. Trying to clean up my netgally account.

I'll confess, I was supposed to read Baby Teeth. Then I heard reports that it was psychologically disturbing. So I made my husband, a huge horror buff, read it instead. LOL.
He was enamoured with it from the get-go. Until about the halfway point in which I noticed him slowing down, not as excited to pick Baby Teeth up. So it lags a bit he indicated; and the ending was only okay for him. However he has still lent our physical copy out (that I got for him to read cause he doesn't do ebooks) to a friend and has two more friends who are interested in reading it. So it was good enough to talk about with his buddies and share around.
I think this is probably for the psychological thriller/horror crowd. There is not really anything supernatural here; which is what might make it quite disturbing for some readers. At the very least be prepared that you going into a book where a child is very good at pretending to be something they are not. If you get a big wigged out with stories where the kids are a little too clever; then is one to be avoided. If that just gets you more interested then definitely pick it up.

Baby teeth was such a unique read. It was definitely more horror than thriller and really gets into your head. What DO you do if your child is a psychopath? While the premise had a lot of potential, I think the actual story fell a bit flat for me. It was just okay, honestly.

This book is about Hannah, a 7 year old girl who knows how to talk, but chooses not to. She loves her daddy, but feels that her mother comes between them and she has thoughts of getting rid of her mother, so she can have daddy all to herself. Her mother does not have any real affection towards her. One day, Hannah does say something to her mother, so awful and unexpectedly. Hannah imagines that she is a witch and can use her powers to her advantage.
It was at this part of the book that I lost interest. It almost was like another author took over to finish the book. What started as an innocent story, turned into a sex filled narrative which was totally unbelievable and ruined the book for me..
I do thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Is it possible for a child to be a psychopath? Is aberrant behavior the result of nature or nuture ? These are questions I’ll leave to minds far better than mine. This is a deeply unsettling novel about the proverbial bad seed. It is told from the alternating points of view of the mother and child. Hanna is seven years old and silent which make her thoughts and consuming love for her father all the more chilling. Manipulative and malicious, Hanna has one goal and it isn’t pretty. We are talking about one very twisted sister here. On occasion I felt empathy for Hanna until she acted out in ways that were unimaginable. Child from hell aside, this book is also about the perfect facade of a dysfunctional family and the sinister telling of mangled psyches. Pathological behavior has to come from somewhere, doesn’t it? And the ending? I’m not going to tell you about that.

This book really missed the mark for me. It was a bit boring and lacklustre, and i couldn’t connect with it. I seem to be in the minority though, it feels like many readers loved it. I couldn’t finish it unfortunately.

This book was an interesting ride. Stories about the relationship between mothers and daughters and always interesting, especially when there's darkness regarding the bond. Reading this reminded me of movies such as The Orphan and Case 39- both movies with creepy little girl antagonists. Definitely kept me at the edge of my seat!

As a parent of a 7 year old this book totally creeped me out. Hannah should be a completely normal little girl but she definitely is not. I was waiting for one of the narrators to be revealed as unreliable but it never came. I don’t know how Suzette kept it together for so long. It’s a good thing Dad actually saw Hannah in action so he could support the family getting the help they needed.
I especially enjoyed that the author left the ending open to the reader’s imagination and the pacing of the story was perfect.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read this book.

Man, oh man. If you’re looking for a book to raise the hairs on your WHOLE body....a book that makes you gasp in horror...look no further.
Meet Hanna
Hanna only has eyes and sweetness for Daddy. But, when Daddy isn’t around she’ll do whatever it takes to get rid of Mommy.
Meet Suzette
Suzette is home with Hanna all day everyday. Suzette sees the real Hanna...but will anyone believe her?
This book alternates between Hanna and Suzette. I could not put it down. Hanna is a 7 year old and Suzette is a grown woman. It was really interesting to read from those two perspective. I can honestly say I haven’t read a book like this.

What the actual F?!? That was a mind blown experience of a read. This book is excellent and the author did a phenomenal job of setting out what they intended to do. Highly recommend!!!

Wow this book was so awesome never expected it to be what I read. It kept me in suspense the entire time. Loved it and have added this author to my favs list.

This book left me thinking about it long after I read it! The dynamics between mother/daughter were strong and volatile! I couldn't decide where my empathy should be placed. By the end of the story, I was helpless to the plight of the mother and terrified for the family, in general. I kind of expected a sequel, but as of yet, there is not one available.

I was fortunate enough to attend a Zoom call with the author and she explained some things that I was left questioning at the end of this book. I wish we could have Zoom calls with every author we choose, because I feel like it made the experience so much more personal, obviously, but also better and unique.

Thank you, Netgalley, and the publisher, St Martin's Press, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars out of 5.

Very good story that kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters were creepy and unreliable and I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a thriller.

I'm still not sure whether I enjoyed this book. Certain scenes have stuck with me, even after several months. Some parts were highly disturbing, but mostly enjoyable.

I should warn you. This book will get in your head. Sometimes, when I’m reading a book, I will get completely involved in a story. When I set the book down I have to remind myself that I’m back in real life. Sometimes when I read a book, I have to tell myself, “No, Stephanie, magical witches are not time traveling right now.” This time, I kept having to say “Stephanie, you don’t have a psychopath for a kid.” I know that’s totally weird, but books have a way with me. I love it, and I hate it.

This was one of those where I could just put myself right in the head of that mom thinking I had a crazy psychotic child. I hate admitting that. It makes me feel like I’m crazy.

This is the story about Suzette, a mom who suffers from Crohn’s Disease who is realizing that her daughter, Hanna, might just be a psychopath who wants to hurt or even kill her. Hanna is 7 years old, and it appears she is mute. Her mother senses that something is just off with her. They go to specialist after specialist for tests to see why she doesn’t talk. And then, Hanna only lasts just a few weeks or days in every expensive school her parents try.

Her mother sees her odd and often bad behavior like when Hanna barks viciously at administrators at schools they visit. Or, she hits other children when she’s pretending to be nice, like with a toddler in a grocery store.

However, her father sees none of it and just can’t believe his sweet precious girl is behaving these ways. He doesn’t believe it when Suzette tells him. He doesn’t believe it when the teachers and administrators tell him.

Why would you not trust your own wife? She doesn’t seem to have a history of lying, so why would he so easily discount her stories about their child? She is the one who is home with her every single day. Plus, at one point Hanna does something to her mother’s appearance that is unmistakable, yet the father just laughs it off.

I felt parts were a bit too unreal in this book, like the husband in denial. Also while Hanna is precocious, there are things clearly a 7 year old can’t do well that she does, like dump out mommy’s medicine capsules and replace the medicine with flour. I had to undo some capsules today to hide the medicine in some food for my daughter, and I squished every last one of those capsules.


Hanna acts like the perfect daughter when her dad’s around. But then, her anger towards her mother gets the best of her, and things finally escalate. The father finally believes his wife after she sadly has real injuries to prove it.

I read a lot of reviews about this book before I started reading it. What seems strange to me is that people were all talking about Hanna and how she’s a crazy psychopathic little girl, but I never really saw anyone mention the mother.

Throughout the story, it seems like the author is leaving little hints and clues that Suzette is not that dissimilar to her own daughter. She remembers laying next to her mom and not wanting to be touched or cuddled. There are other tidbits like that, that made me think that maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Most of all, Suzette seems completely annoyed that she’s even a mother. Maybe she feels this way because her daughter is not the sweet little girl she imagined she’d have. I could understand a secret regret you might harbor if your child is not turning out how you expected, especially if they are violent, and you are just at your wit’s end. But, it seems more than that. Suzette constantly whines to herself about her Crohn’s disease and how her own mother didn’t care about her and her disease. And, she’s always thinking about the loss of her relationship with her husband before Hanna came.

There aren’t really any twists or unexpected things to this story. It’s no spoiler that they eventually place Hanna in a mental facility for children like her. But, they both seem so relieved to go back to their relationship from before they became parents — that bothered me a bit. At one point, they go to her bedroom door, look around, and shut it as if to say “we tried this parenting thing. It didn’t work out. Now let’s move on.” I’m not sure I could ever get to that point.

This was a dark read and though there were no unexpected twists, I didn’t want to put it down. The ending seemed to set up a second book, so I’m curious to see if that will happen.