Hannah and her mom, Suzette, are locked in an epic battle for daddy's heart, only Suzette doesn't know it. Hannah is a smart, sometimes sweet, seven-year-old girl, who doesn't talk at all, but she's pretty sure Daddy can only love one of them and Mommy has cast a spell on him so that he loves her more than Hannah. Written from H and S's alternating points of view, this book will take you on a distrusting roller coaster of terror, basically. You're never sure what Hannah will do next, how Suzette will interpret her actions, or what kind of intervention Daddy will provide. The whole thing is just shudder-inducing. I really enjoyed it, in the only way you can: with a grateful heart that this isn't your life.

I love a suspenseful book but this one lacked any suspense. It was hard picturing any small child being able to just know how to have a French accent, be that manipulative, figure out the history of a Salem witch. It was just so unbelievable that I found myself actually rolling my eyes and taking a break from reading frequently. Not the sign of a good book.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read an E-ARC of this thriller. I really appreciated the character development, and I loved the ending. It was a tough read at times because of the subject matter, but I would definitely read more for this author in the future. It is hard to believe this is a debut novel.

Baby Teeth caught me straight from the first few pages. Read in duel perspectives, from seven year old Hanna and her mother. Hanna, we learn from the start, is nonverbal and has a deep seeded hatred of her mother, Suzette. Suzette, who has an autoimmune disease, was raised by an uncaring mother and strives to have a perfect, or at least normal mother/daughter relationship with Hanna. Hanna goes to great lengths to make this impossible, getting kicked out of schools, and playing tricks that only her mother witnesses. She believes that her father is the only one worthy of her love and that truly loves her.

“Hanna kept her words to herself because they gave her power...She scrutinized Mommy and other adults, studied them. Their words fell like dead bugs from their mouths. A rare person, like Daddy, spoke in butterflies, whispering colors that made her gasp.”

Throughout the book you follow Hanna’s strategic and highly intelligent plots and Suzette’s struggles, as she deals with her mounting grief, mental and physical health and comparisons/parallels between her mothering and her mother’s.

I was given the honor of getting an ARC of this novel and finished it in a day. It’s suspenseful, thought provoking and keeps you turning the page, truly wondering what is going to happen next. The similarities between Suzette and Hanna both seeking Alex’s approval were well woven into the novel and each person had no idea how alike they both were presents well.

Wow!!! I don't even know what to say.. I have never read a book like this ever before. It really makes you see what goes on in the mind of a child psychopath...It actually blew my mind to read this although it was hard to read..It is not an easy book to read especially concerning a child. thank you netgalley for letting me review this book for an honest opinion.

I understand the point of this book, and the thrilling concept it wanted to push forward. I was left missing something... I feel like I pushed through this book and was given absolutely nothing. The family dynamic was terrifying- but nothing really happened. This book was shallow. Relied too heavily on shock factor alone with nothing to back it up.

One star for the gorgeous cover and another star for the perfect title to go along with it. The book itself? Pass.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“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.”

Wow. What a weird, gripping, frightening, suspenseful book. Not everyone is going to like this, but that's okay. A lot of suspense. A lot of "what the heck was this author thinking that she came up with this concept."

Possessed? A psycopath? Just plain evil? What can a stay-at-home, home schooling mom, struggling with chronic illness, do when her 7 year old daughter hates her and no one believes her? Hanna, the daughter, is very intelligent but refuses to talk and gets herself expelled from every expensive school her parents try. Hanna pits her beloved daddy against her hated mommy, convinced daddy is under evil mommy's spell. A compelling read, I kept coming back to it, even though I had other books to read and finally finished it in one setting.

Thank you to the publisher for the preview copy of this book. Scary and unforgettable? Yes.
Sorry, i could not get more than halfway through this book. The family described in this book needed an exorcist, not a child psychologist. The book creeped me out and I had to stop reading...
Readers that like psychological thrillers will love this one. Keep the lights on if you read it at night and do not read before going to bed!

Baby Teeth is a heart racing, mind trip! It's dark and crazy. The characters are incredibly well developed, and the story line is brilliant. I will be buying this book for friends and family who love a good, dark, thriller.

Wow!!!!!!! Baby Teeth really gives you insight into the mind of a psychopath even if it is a fiction story. Little Hannah is a very troubled child who loves her daddy so much but believes that her mommy is taking daddy away from her. So Hannah plots to kill mommy and have daddy all to herself. I will highly recommend this book to everyone. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the oppurtunity to read this amazing novel

A quick shoutout to NetGalley (what’s new) for giving me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review (even though I’m sure I’ll take back that thank you after the nightmares I’ll be having after reading this book). To the author, Zoje Stage, and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, you guys rock. Thanks a milli!!

Every Mommy dreams of having a little girl. A little angel she can play dress up with, color with and sing silly songs with. But what if your little girl hated you so much, she didn’t want to do any of those things with you. Actually, she wanted you dead. For once, I am truly at a loss of words. I don’t even know where to begin with this book. I’ve seen reviews comparing Baby Teeth to Gone Girl and We Need to Talk About Kevin, but I’m going to go ahead and say NOPE – this book stands on its own in the weirdest, creepiest, most stomach churning way possible. Read this book!

Well written, very descriptive book. A very troubled child, a mother who seems to have some issues of her own and a father who is torn between his wife and his daughter, this story keeps you wondering what will happen next.

Book Rating: 5/5

I started reading Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage during a cross country flight and was 80% of the way done when we landed. This novel is gripping - I’m so glad I saved it for the plane because I didn’t want to put it down.

Baby Teeth begins by introducing you to the Jensen (pronounced Yensen) family and their 7 year old daughter, Hanna. All Suzette wanted was the best for her daughter but Hanna’s calamitous and calculating behavior is evident to everyone around her, except her father. She a master at manipulating him, transforming into the perfect daughter when he’s in the room and although she’s already been kicked out of two schools for some seriously disturbing behavior - like hurting other children and setting a fire - he refuses to see it. Hanna’s mental state is frightful; like getting a look inside the mind of a child psychopath. She’s determined to eliminate her mother while keeping Daddy all to herself; wrapped around her little finger.

Its impossible to not become transfixed on the relationships in this story. You’ll follow the struggle of parents trying to come to terms with who their child is - longing to love her but terrified of what she’ll do next. Then you’ll follow Hanna through her own shrewd and calculating thoughts. You’ll be frightened by the strength of her own delusions and her determination to get what she wants. This novel is gripping, dramatic, powerful and twisted; you won’t be able to put it down.

Baby Teeth is set to release in July 2018 - if you’re a fan of thrillers this is one you’re definitely going to want to put on your summer TBR list!

(Review will go live on nikaleighreads.com on 5/29 at 8:00am EST)

Hanna loves her daddy. And she knows her daddy loves her. But everything would be so much better if mommy would just disappear and die. Dead Mommy. Bye bye Dead Mommy.

Move over, Damien. Hanna is here.

This book is so creatively creepy. The seemingly sweet little girl who hides so much. The mother who wants so badly to love her daughter, even if she's afraid of her. And the father who is trying to make sense of what is happening to his family.

The thought of a truly psychotic and dangerous villain wrapped up in the cute visage of a little girl is truly terrifying. At first I was a bit angry at the father for not noticing what was going on.....but then I thought...wait a second....would I believe that my little girl was capable of that sort of vicious behavior when I never saw it myself? I would be just like the father wanting to protect and make the proper decisions for his child, perhaps even blaming the adults in the situation rather than the child. After all, children aren't really capable of malice, deviousness, and murderous intent. Right? *Shiver*

This book gave me the same shivers that I got from The Little Girl That Lives Down the Lane when I read it years ago. A child hiding dark secrets, dark thoughts, and dark deeds. Baby Teeth is even more psychologically terrifying because the girl involved is only 7. At first, I was thinking a 7-year old couldn't possibly cause much damage. But once the story sucked me in and I couldn't put it down, it dawned on me that this little girl is capable of even more harm than an adult. Because nobody expects it.

Baby Teeth is Zoje Stage's debut novel. I'm definitely going to be reading more by her in the future. This first novel creeped me the hell out.

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley. I was warned by a friend about this book and she did not lie. It is intense, thrilling, and addictive. I actually stayed up Thursday night and finished this because I knew I wouldn't be able to read for several days. I had to figure this out. I have to say I am still not sure who was crazier, but all the characters were driving me crazy. I do hope there is a sequel. I really need one. This is a must read!

Hanna is nearly perfect, at least according to her daddy. So what if she still isn’t speaking at age seven? She’s clearly very intelligent, and more than capable of communicating in her own way. Those schools she’s been expelled from? They just didn’t understand her. Suzette, Hanna’s mother suspects something is wrong. Her precocious child is displaying worrying tendencies towards manipulation and violence. While her husband remains blind to Hanna’s problems, Suzette begins to suspect she may be the target of Hanna’s wrath.

Let me say at the start that my interpretation of the book may be a bit different from most. I am emphatically childfree, don’t really care for children in any case, and tend to regard most of them as tiny little psychopaths until they reach their midtwenties. Am I justified in this point of view? Probably not. But that’s the mindset I’m coming from when reading this book.

And it was nightmarish. The book is great, don’t get me wrong. It is tightly written, and the alternating points of view between Suzette and Hanna let us truly get to know the central characters. I had to take a break from the book about 100 pages in because it was keeping me up at night. The utter despair and hopelessness of Suzette’s situation is wrenching. She is trying (though imperfectly) to do right by her daughter, though years of abnormal and worrying behavior from Hanna have made her a bit ambivalent about motherhood. Compound this with her husband’s need to see only the perfect, upper-middle class family he desires, and Suzette is entirely alone to deal with her daughter. This I find terrifying: when dealing with mental and behavioral abnormalities in childhood, it is generally left to the mother to wonder where she went wrong, and what she could have done differently. And in all cases, motherhood is a condition with no escape. Someone may regret bringing a child into the world, but there are few socially acceptable ways to divorce oneself from parenthood, especially when being “a good mother” is considered the epitome of female (and especially middle class) success.

Well, enough ranting. I did, obviously, pick the book back up (and finished the remainder in one sitting). In the interests of keeping this review spoiler-free, I’m going to say little about the latter part of the book, but I will say that I was surprised by the direction the story took.

In sum, this book is a nuanced look at motherhood and psychopathy, at the loneliness of being a stay at home mother, and the frustration of being an atypical child. This book intimately describes the horror of finding out that, rather than the sweet, beautiful child you may have dreamed about, you have given birth to a monster, and are now tethered to its side.

I’d be curious to see what more maternally-minded people thought of his book? We’re their sympathies (like mine) fully with Suzette? Or do they see something redeeming in Hanna? Do they feel the horror as “that could have been me”? Or does the horror lie in “Suzette should have done x,y,z”? I would love to hear your thoughts, feel free to leave me a comment or two!

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Team Suzette!!!!! I enjoyed this fast paced page turner. Every chapter kept me wanting more. This is a perfect book to curl up with on a rainy night in any season, or to crack open on the beach.
This novel shows a very interesting mother daughter relationship, one to be very nervous about. Great read!!!

Seven-year-old Hanna is a beautiful, sweet, and adoring child. To her father. To her mother, she’s something else entirely. She wants Daddy all to herself, and she will stop at nothing to get rid of Mommy...
The rest of the review focuses on analyzing the characters with no plot spoilers.
This book is a compelling and quick read. However, I found the writing style to be lacking. The story is narrated by Suzette and Hanna, the mother and daughter respectively. I wanted to feel more for the characters, but the way that it’s written distances you from the narrators. This approach makes perfect sense for Hanna, the little girl who’s possibly a sociopath, but for the mother, it would have been beneficial for Stage to build that connection between the reader and this character. The stakes are high, and it would have made for a stronger read if I’d been able to care about what happens to Suzette. It isn’t clear if Suzette truly loves her daughter, which adds to the sensationalism of the novel, but also makes it difficult to relate to. I think this issue stems from the fact that the novel begins in the middle of Hanna "acting out". This may have worked if the author had included flashbacks to before Hanna became such an unruly child, to show how Suzette once loved her unconditionally, to demonstrate how her feelings have devolved into fear and almost—dare I say--indifference. She cares about her daughter’s well-being, but seemingly only because she wants her husband to be pleased, and she wants to present the picture of a perfect mother to the outside world.
While the mother’s feelings for her daughter are one of my main criticisms of the book, it also manages to become a strength. This ties into Suzette’s own mother, and how she was treated as a child. Her fears of becoming her mother are becoming actualized. Suzette has overcompensated for her mother’s inability to control her emotions by being a robot—a picture of a perfect mother—to her daughter. Hanna senses this insincerity and interprets it as a lack of love for her. Is she right about this?
While this book is very interesting, I found that Hanna’s Machiavellian machinations were a little contrived and not particularly original. The things that she does earlier in the book are more unique and unsettling, and while they do escalate, they become slightly less “intelligent”, which goes against the theory that a character like this, an apparent child genius, would evolve and grow and learn from her mistakes.
One thing that I did appreciate in the book was that Hanna did sometimes act like a (relatively normal) child. The story she reads with her father (and the way she tries to recreate the monster/best friend under her bed) is a rare glimpse into how she really is quite young and possibly all she wants is something to love. I liked the uncertainty this scene brought. How can she be a sociopath if she cares so deeply about this toy she’s built? The book would have benefited from taking this moment of uncertainty and allowing it to grow and fester in the readers, causing them to doubt themselves and not know what to believe.
I honestly wouldn’t have finished this book if it hadn’t been such an easy and quick read. I felt compelled to find out what Hanna would do, but, as I said, I wasn’t attached to the characters. It would have made for a different reading experience if I’d actually been invested in the mother’s safety. By the end of the story, I was left disappointed that the book didn’t quite reach the heights of twistedness that I was hoping for. That said, I give this 3 stars for its fast pace and relatively unique concept.

I have mixed feelings about Baby Teeth. I could not put it down- so that is good! The concept was just so creepy that I needed to figure out why Hannah behaved like this. But I felt like the story moved too slowly for me. There were parts that I felt were extraneous- the mother’s dreams. And I was not satisfied with the ending. So it would be hard for me to recommend unless I have caveats to the reader