This book was well written, but a little too disturbing for my taste. Was the child in the book simply mentally ill, or genuinely evil? What about the mother? I’m not sure I would recommend it to others without a disclaimer.

i've pretty much never really wanted children, although i have at times entertained the idea of perhaps doing so at some unforeseeable point in the future. i've occasionally thought about what it would be like to have a kid, and feel all the joy that comes with it.

and then i read this book.

most of the genius of the novel is in the slow escalation of hanna's behaviour - at first you think, oh, she's non-verbal, okay, whatever. then you think, oh, acting up a bit, guess most kids do that.

and then - oh! she's an actual goddamn psychopath!

this was a really suspenseful novel that i read in one sitting on the train and i'd definitely recommend it if you like psychological thriller/horror.

2.5*
Tough call on this one. Enjoyed the author - well written. With that said, the over-the-top subject matter was so shocking to me it was difficult to keep my perspective. For that reason alone, it just wasn’t for me. Thou I’m definitely in the minority here.

Mothers are daughters....

Hanna is 7 years old and Daddy’s little girl. Her world revolves around her love for dear daddy.
Now her mother...well, that’s another matter. If only mommy wasn’t around...if only she didn’t have to share daddy with her.

Suzette loves her husband more than anything in this world. They have a daughter, Hanna, who she desperately wants to love too. But she just can’t get there. No connection or bond whatsoever. No, this isn’t just your typical riff between a parent and a teenager. Hanna is only seven. So who’s to blame for this total disconnect? Sweet little Hanna, or emotionally exhausted Suzette?

As the hurtful acts between mother and daughter escalate, reading this book became more difficult. So hard to imagine a seven year old child plotting and carrying out the despicable acts that she committed. It was really just too dark and depressing for me. (Even though my inner-voice kept trying to remind me…it’s just a book!) Perhaps if the child was portrayed as older, capable of higher level of thought it might have been more palatable for me.

Many other readers and reviewers really enjoyed this book, so I hope if you do pick it up, it works for you too!!

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Zoje Stage for an ARC to review in exchange for an honest review.

This was dark dark and more dark. A thriller about a 7 year old girl, Hanna, who does not speak but manages to find ways to communicate. She loves her Daddy but her and mommy struggle to get along. Mommy knows that there is something very disturbing about her daughter while daddy does not want to believe it.

Many thanks to netgalley and St Martins Press for this advanced readers copy.

Hmm.... Thank you NetGalley for letting me read an early release of this book for an honest review.

This is a book about a 7 year old mute girl named Hanna that wants her mom dead so she can have her father all to herself and marry him. Her mother, Suzette has Crohn's disease which we hear a great deal about. Suzette knows her daughters behavior is getting worse and she knows it isn't going to get any better. Dad, Alex is in denial about pretty much everything, he just goes to works and loves his sweet Hanna. There is also a lot of political correctness in this book which was a huge negative for me, if I wanted to watch the news I wouldn't have picked up a book. There is talk about being gluten-free, special fragrance-free & dye-free soaps, the balmy aroma of chamomile tea, Alex, under his company name makes donations every year to support 91.3 & the local PBS TV station, and way too much information about Crohn's disease.

There is a very serious problem in this family. Hanna is disturbed, she is not mentally stable, she is 7 years old and this behavior has been going on since birth, she doesn't speak, she is trying to kill her mother. The entire family is dysfunctional in regards to the mental health of their only child.

My real issue with this book is I found it unbelievable that a 7 year old and at many times in the book a 3 and a 5 year old would have the ability to think so logically about ways to kill her mother and act on it in the ways that she did. How physically strong is a 7 year old? Strong enough to hit someone in the head but not strong enough to cut up thick slices of a banana. Maybe if Hanna was 12 this story would have been more believable. I do think it is any interesting concept that a child from birth is a sociopath or a psychopath. The old question - are they born that way, nature vs nurture? I wish there had been much more conversation about that subject. This book just didn't ring true to me, but there is much to think about on the subject of mental illness.

Baby Teeth is unlike any book I've read. It's both mesmerizing and horrifying. The story is told in alternating chapters by Hanna, the daughter, and Suzette, the mother. They both love Alex, the father, husband. They spend a lot of time together as Hanna is homeschooled. Hanna is nonverbal most of the time. She started speaking to her mom for the first time and she says, "I am not Hanna." Her eyes are rolled back so far only the whites are visible. Suzette knows there is something seriously wrong with Hanna and wonders what she did wrong in raising Hanna. Suzette struggles to understand her daughter's behavior and becomes afraid for her own safety when Hanna begins to threaten her. Hanna is clever and never shows her father anything but sweetness and light.. This is a brilliant character study of a dysfunctional family. It is difficult to read at times but once I started reading I had to see how it developed. There is some strong language toward the end of the story. I recommend this writer and book.

HOLY F*&#!!!

Yep, that's a big, bad curse word up there, but this was a big, bad curse word of a story. IT GAVE ME NIGHTMARES YOU GUYS!!! Books don't give me nightmares, so suffice it to say that this one left me seriously unbalanced. This is not the type of story I usually read, but when the publisher offered me an advance copy I decided to give it a try. This was an amazing debut, one you're not likely to forget. I'm not entirely sure, but the ending left me with the feeling that there could be a follow up. If you like reading about dysfunctional families with uber-creepy kids, then mark your calendars for summer 2018, because this book is meant for you!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book.

Wow - This book will scare you out of having kids. Hanna is only 7-years old, but has the mind of an adult psychopath. Hanna and her mother Suzette don't have the greatest relationship, and as this book is told from the alternating perspectives of both Hanna and Suzette you can feel empathy for both of them, but also completely dislike them at the same time. I felt like both of them come across as manipulative and cunning, so it really is a case of nature versus nurture in raising Hanna.

Reading this book will definitely give you a different perspective on kids and their parents. It is a very disturbing book, but one I couldn't stop reading. I think anyone would find a book with a creepy child disturbing, so this book is not for everyone.

One of the things I found difficult with this book was the random Swedish words that were used (at least I think they were Swedish). For me, it's similar to seeing a misspelled word in a book and finding it a struggle to move passed it. I didn't know what the words meant and it was often difficult to tell from the context. I prefer when authors at least spell it out for us folks that are ignorant of foreign languages.

Overall, I liked the story and thought the author did a great job for her debut novel.

Hanna is 7 years old and lives with her mom, Suzette, and her dad, Alex. Hanna dreams of getting rid of her mom and being with just her dad. Baby Teeth is a slow burning, creepy, disturbing read. The characters are not likeable, but at the same time I identified with them all at certain points in the book. I read each chapter with a growing sense of dread of what was to come. This book is not for everyone and has some very unsettling subject matter. Baby Teeth is sure to get people talking and will probably be controversial! I was given a free ARC by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Although many people say that becoming a parent is <i>the best thing ever!</i>, here's a worst case scenario for you.

So creepy that I felt uncomfortable reading it, yet unable to stop turning the pages to see what fresh horrors lay in wait.

This book will get you sucked in right at the start and won't let go until you've gone through the ringer of emotions! It is such a compelling story told from two very different points of view, mother and child and I loved how the two opposing views gave so much depth to the story. I read the book in a day, I couldn't put it down! I really hope there's a sequel to this book because I can't wait to hear more about crazy little Hanna!

Alex and Suzette are madly in love, the perfect couple, a match made in heaven. What a blessing a baby could be to this union. How lucky a child would be to have such loving and devoted parents. Suzette is especially determined to be a better parent than she had, to be the mother she wished she had instead of the neglectful and uncaring mother who was too wrapped up in herself to even notice that Suzette needed medical care. Sadly, no amount of love and attention seems to please Hanna unless it comes from her father. Suzette's days are spent taking Hanna to appointment after appointment in search of a reason for her lack of speech. Home schooling Hanna as best she can since she can't fit in at school, and being the object of Hanna's hatred. When Alex is home Hanna is all smiles. the perfect little silent angel. But Alex can't always be there, and when he is he prefers to bury his head in the sand. Meanwhile Hanna's hatred for her mother is escalating into something dangerous. Does Hanna have reason to hate her mother or is she just a born psycho? You be the judge.

Baby Teeth begs the question: what would you do if you had a child like Hanna? Only seven years old, Hanna has already been expelled by several schools, and her mother, Suzette, is resigned to home-schooling her. But Hanna’s bad behavior is escalating, and Suzette is convinced that the young girl wants to hurt her. Her husband, Alex, turns a blind eye to everything that Hanna does. How can she make him see what’s really happening?

This is a Bad Seed novel that showcases the complicated, fractured relationship between mother and daughters. We soon find out that Hanna isn’t entirely to blame. Suzette’s own difficult relationship with her mother, and her battle with Crohn’s disease, has made her feelings toward Hanna strained even during her pregnancy. I wholeheartedly agree that Hanna is a dangerous little kid, but I was also shocked by the way Suzette sometimes treated her.

And that is what makes this novel so interesting to read. There are a lot of variations on the Bad Seed trope, but none that I’ve read so far have been cast in shades of gray, like it is here.

Other things I loved include the vivid setting of Pittsburgh. The Jensen family live in a neighborhood I’m very familiar with, and go to restaurants and even Urgent Cares that actually exist. It was like reading a shout out to a beloved part of a beloved city. That was a lot of fun!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC.

This would have gotten more stars if the language hadn't have been so bad. It really detracted away from the book. I don't need f-bombs that frequently throughout anything I read.
Overall the story pulled you in and I wanted to know what happened to Hanna which is why I continued reading despite some of the material (I could have done without the devil sex part as well honestly).
It definitely is a page turner though!

4.5 stars. I read this book in 2 days - seriously, I could not put it down. I loved the opposing POV of 7 year old Hanna and her mother, both of whom have major mommy issues. Hanna is...what is she? The Bad Seed? Probably a sociopath, possibly a psychopath. Her mother, Suzette, is ill and has been all her life, and she is desperate to please her "perfect" husband, Alex.

Suzette's life can be divided into Before Hanna and After Hanna. Before Hanna, life was idyllic: she had found a soulmate in Alex who accepted the limitations of her Crohn's disease, thought she was beautiful and talented, and encouraged her in every way. Their life together was lovely and they assumed bringing a baby of their own into it would make it even more perfect.

But then came Hanna. She wasn't at all what Suzette expected. She wasn't a small version of Alex: she was a small version of HER and she didn't like that. Hanna didn't do craft projects, didn't want to have fun with Suzette, didn't even talk. At age 7 she still doesn't talk and that frustrates Suzette beyond belief. She...can't...deal.

As things progress and Hanna becomes more and more determined to get rid of her mother, Suzette's illness gets worse. She and Alex try everything they can think of to help Hanna but she refuses it. She only wants her father.

By the end of the book, and thinking about it now, I wonder if Suzette didn't create Hanna, didn't make her into the "bad child". Had she realized Hanna was her own person and not someone to reflect the love of her parents back at them, maybe Hanna would have grown into a decent kid. The ending is pretty heartbreaking.

Thanks to Netgalley for the e-arc to review.

A book in its own league no doubt!! Where to begin with this review .... creepy kid, says it all lol. Is it possible for a child to be a psychopath? This book will definitely you pondering this thought!

Baby Teeth is a “psychological” thriller focusing on one dysfunctional family. These members definitely have a very toxic effect on each other. When you read the description of this book, it’s exactly what you’ll be given. This book will not be for everyone. It will question your morals for sure. I struggled with should I really be liking this book 🤣. It wasn’t a book I guess of do I like it ... it made me question what would I do if I was this mother?!?

In the end, it kept me interested enough to finish it as it is a quick read. But just like any good horror movie where you find yourself yelling at the tv .. you’ll be caught doing the same here.

This book honestly scared me. To think that a child this young could feel such rage against a parent and the parent be at a loss as what to do is terrifying. I definitely enjoyed the book, but it was interesting the emotions that it made me feel.

An incredibly addicting read about a family torn apart by a troubled child. Told in alternating perspectives of mother (the target of the child's wrath) and daughter, the reader is granted access into the minds of each.

While the father's denial of the severity of the situation was a bit drawn out, the suspense and unpredictability made this a quick and entertaining read.

Sadly this book isn't for me. I tried to get through it but I couldn't take anymore of Suzette and Hannah.
I hope others find this book to their liking.


I thank the publisher and Net galley for a early release copy of thus book.

This was not the book for me. Main character mommy Suzette (I hate pretentious names) is in a mental battle with her seemingly evil daughter Hanna. Caught in the middle, daddy Alex is the only redeeming character in this book. I didn't like the way Suzette talked to Hannah at all, even though I understand Suzette had her own childhood trauma to work through.

Suzette was all about herself, all the time. I don't think a single page missed mentioning her Crohn's disease, her horrible childhood, or her desire to have her husband all to herself. I think she was as emotionally wrecked as Hanna.

I'm sure a lot of folks will enjoy this book, but I couldn't enjoy it at all.