What a crazy effin book this was! I loved it. Kinda like a cross of The Bad
Seed, Damien from The Omen and Veruca Salt from Willie Wonka. You need to read this novel, highly recommended, required horror reading.

This was a hard-to-put-down book. I had to know what would happen next and how it would end. I need a sequel because I still want to know what’s going to happen next.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Suzette is a loving wife and indifferent mother. But is her indifference because of the problems she has with her mute daughter or does she have problems with her daughter because of her indifference? Are Hanna’s problems caused by nature (her own personality or mental illness) or by failings in Suzette’s mothering?

The way it is written in alternating chapters from Suzette’s and Hanna’s point of views really emphasizes the differences between their experiences and beliefs. A mix of thriller and domestic horror, I really recommend.

Suzette and Alex have a daughter named Hanna. For only being seven years old and mute, she's quite the hand full. There has been a war declared between Hanna and her mother, leaving Alex in the cross hairs.

I liked the idea of the story but felt it was missing something.

This book was so creepy! I didn't really know what to expect going into it, but it definitely gave me the creepy vibes! Every time I thought I understood Hanna I was thrown for a loop a few pages later. This was an engaging book that was out of my normal comfort zone but was definitely worth it.

When I read the synopsis for Baby Teeth, I admit I was a bit sceptical. This book is ridiculous, but in all the right ways. This is the book Tess Gerritson tried to write with Playing With Fire and failed. Forget Gone Girl, this is the creepiest book I have ever read. It’s legitimately clever, intensely thrilling and would you believe me if I said, it left me wanting for more? In a can’t-stop-staring-at-a-car-crash kinda way.

To simplify: Baby Teeth is a battle of wits. Hanna, Suzette and Alex’s seven year old daughter doesn’t talk. It’s a case of won’t, rather than can’t. She throws fits whenever she’s enrolled in a school, and comes up with rather demonic ways to get herself expelled (it’s actually terrifying). Her mother has no idea what to do for the best. Hanna is being home-schooled but her relationship with Suzette is fractious. Hanna most definitely prefers her dad, to the point of Suzette wondering if there’s something she’s done to physically make her daughter dislike her. What starts as just tantrums and screeching soon turns into something far more dangerous and potentially deadly.

Baby Teeth is a dual-perspective novel. We hear from Hanna and Suzette, but not Alex although because of Hanna and Alex’s relationship that kind of makes sense because there’s not a lot for Alex to add. It’s a hard balance to get right, though, but Zoja Stage has hit the mark perfectly. From Hanna’s innocence to her demonic actions and Suzette’s wondering if exactly what the hell is going on in her life and how can she fix it? It’s like Exorcist-type stuff and Stage perfectly encapsulates both sides without feeling like you need to pick a side – I have many complicated feelings about these characters, especially Hanna. As a rule from what goes on in the book, I am firmly Team Parents, but then there’s the part of me that’s desperate to know more about why Hanna acts the way she does. What drives her to say the things she says and do the things she does. It’s my innate need to know things.

It took me the better part of a week to finish this book. Partly because I had a busy week – I would have devoured this in one sitting very happily, but also because I feel like to really get this entire novel you need to have bite size manageable pieces. I could so easily see a lot of these scenes playing out in my head – and a film version of this would be out of this world creepy and amazing. It surprises me an author hasn’t written a book like this before – I read about serial killers etc all the time and you wonder what were they like as kids? Where does it start? (I am also not saying Hanna is a serial killer.)

Baby Teeth is an immense, masterful debut novel. The kind of novel I want to beg everyone to read so I can talk about it with them and theorise everything. It’s the kind of novel that stays with you a long time after reading and I just know I will be wondering about Suzette, Hanna and Alex pretty much until I get the next book (because there HAS to be a next book?!). I will absolutely be purchasing myself a finished copy of Baby Teeth. It needs a space on my bookshelf, because it is magnificent. Creepy, but magnificent. You will never look at kids in the same way again and I most certainly was assured of my decision to NOT have kids, ever, thank you very much!

Dark, but in the best possible way! The family dynamics had me on the edge of the seat, and I flew through this book in one sitting! Can't wait to read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, as well as the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

This book is trying so hard to be controversial. Instead, it's an epic fail. I'm not in the HATE it or LOVE it camp. I'm in the incredibly bored and what is the point camp?

There is something missing with this book, there is nothing there to hold your interest. I feel like Hanna should have been written with more of a horror bent, at least it would have spiced up the plot a bit. I spent the first half of the book wishing I could chalk it up as mindless entertainment, but it's missing the entertainment part. I found myself skimming out of boredom. No plot twist. No thriller. I didn’t feel tension or suspense. Dull as dishwater.

This was a pretty scary book because it could actually happen. If you are interested in a novel about a creepy little girl and her parents, this is for you.

While I understand and respect the controversy surrounding this book and I can appreciate the artistry, it was not for me. I really struggled with this one, not because it was not engaging (because it was) or the fact that I was bored (I was not), but due to the content. It was one of those books that gave me the "willies". It got into my bones.
Worth the stars? Absolutely.
Would I read it again? Absolutely not.

So I almost blew this off entirely. Having finished, I'm glad I didn't. The most frustrating character was, for me, Dad, who came pretty close to the stereotypical Daddy to Daddy's girl, seeing no faults, overcompensating, coddling, and spoiling. The little girl's behavior made me seriously wonder how she ever reached the ripe old age of 7. Her whole life is centered around how to murder her mother. She's simultaneously terrifying, dangerous, and ridiculous. Mom has lots of her own problems, physical and emotional, and is just trying to be a good mom, which is impossible under the circumstances. The more we learn about the parents, the more we understand that the fruit didn't fall terribly far.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I recieved an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and will recommend it often to lovers of mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels!

This one didn't do it for me. I am generally ok with unlikeable characters, as long as you still kind of care about them, but this one was painfully drab, I didn't feel like it was as edgy as it was trying to be. I realize I am in the minority for this one, but I can't love them all!

This book was bananas. I’m pretty sure I liked it? I read it pretty quick and it really stressed me out. Would not recommend for parents of young kids I think. If you like evil kids being evil, go for it!

3 stars for the page-turning factor. While I couldn't put this book down, I also didn't particularly love it. Hanna is a terrifying 7 year old who loves her father and wants to kill her mother to live happily alone with him. Hanna does some particularly amazing things for her age. I disliked her mother, Suzette, so much that I had trouble feeling bad for her at times. Just an OK read for me.

I am so sorry it's taken me so long to write this review. Thank you thank you thank you for sending this to me!

I will say in my defense that I ate it up, and recommended it while it was still new last year. :)

This was a really good, really dark thriller; my problem with it was that I thought I was reading a horror novel! It was that dark. So, I expected the ended to be catastrophic and/or completely destructive, not nice and neat as it ended up. That was disconcerting. Otherwise, it was a fun, excellent, dark read.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and recommend this book! I will read look out for more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage. This book was one of the most disturbing books I have ever read, but I could not put it down. The chapters alternate between seven year old Hanna and her mother Suzette. Suzette had a difficult childhood with a lot of medical issues and a mother who did not really care. Hanna does not talk, adores her father, and is trying to figure out how to get rid of her mother. The chapters told from Hanna’s mind are creepy and those from Suzette’s point of view are not much better. A tough read, but entrancing.

This was a good, engaging book. I did not necessarily consider it a thriller, more like a suspense book. I found the character of the mom to be unbelievable and unrelatedable. I didn't understand some of the things she did regarding her daughter. As far as Hannah goes, she was a little monster for sure but I didn't really consider her to be creepy and truly demented like a lot of others have said. Solid book, yes. Thriller of the year, no.

Loved the opportunity to get an advanced copy of this book. What a gripping and obsessive story, I couldn’t stop reading!

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

Wow. This was BEYOND eerie from the beginning!! But completely in a good way. Oftentimes with horror movies and novels, especially with creepy kids, you only usually get the other point of view and not the view from the super creepy psychopath kid; this novel you totally do! I love novels that switch points of view like this and going back and forth from the psychopath daughter to the primary victim mother was insane and wonderful! I have to be honest, this was one intelligent little girl who would only act up towards her primary victim when her favorite person, daddy, wasn't around. I have to say, I REALLY disliked the father almost this entire novel, even when he seemed to redeem himself some, I still felt very blah about his character.

Just from the beginning this was wonderfully eerie and got me in the mindset to read more creepy novels like this! This was absolutely impressive for a debut novel and I will definitely be picking up whatever this author has to offer next. Although I do have one question, is there going to be a sequel to this creep-tastic novel?! Because I would be good either way with the ending as is or continuing with this psychopath.....