What to say about Baby Teeth....This is a solid 4, maybe 4.5 star book. The premise is something we've all heard before, a "bad seed" child (in this case, Hanna) that no matter how well the child is raised, no matter how wealthy or poor the family, nothing makes a difference. It's well done.

The first 20% or so of this book dragged for me, but once it took off, it really took off and I just wanted to keep reading, mostly to find out if Suzette (Hanna's mom) managed to change Hanna's ways or if Hanna would succeed in her mission in life. It's truly a study in how some parents just don't see or don't believe anything but sweetness and light radiates from their child even while having evidence of the opposite being true.

I've never read a book by this author before, but I'll be checking into what she writes in the future.

Thanks very much to the publisher for offering me an early copy as well as Netgalley and the author.

Fully formatted review available on Goodreads (Spoilery content removed from Netgalley version): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2229615887?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

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.)

Yet another book for the "What the heck is wrong with me?" pile! I want to emphasize that I say that in jest! I don't actually think there is anything wrong with anyone who reads this book, whether they like it or not. I don't even think it's the most scandalous book to sweep through the Goodreads community (or middle school hallways lol)! However, it's horrific, creepy, and disturbing. I have always found value in disturbing stories. Sometimes it can make us more empathetic. Reading uncomfortable material has helped me avoid danger by exposing me to a wide range of situations and people I couldn't have possibly experienced myself. Sometimes it's more effective or "safer" to explore difficult concepts from a distance or through the filter of absurdity. I think disturbing books have less value to those who have close experience with the topics being addressed. There are certain topics I avoid completely or can only handle in certain formats (fiction over nonfiction, written over visual). This book will not be for everyone. Know your limits!

Baby Teeth is exactly what I expected from reading the description. I'm totally fascinated by terrifying kids: The Bad Seed, The Good Son, even Stewie Griffin from Family Guy! Hanna is a true terror. I live for the "Whaaaaaaat?" moments in horror and she certainly provided plenty of those. I questioned some of Hanna's actions due to her age, but the whole story is so over-the-top that I just accepted it within the context of the story. The controversy comes from Hanna's murderous antics and Suzette treating Hanna like an enemy combatant. I'll leave Hanna's shocking actions for you to discover, but there's actually a ton to analyze beyond her constantly escalating behavior!

THE CHARACTERS 
• Suzette/Mommy - "Too many things in her life were tinged with horror." Suzette has suffered from unpredictable Crohn's Disease since she was a teenager. Not only is Suzette’s own body attacking her, but she’s being attacked by her own child. Motherhood is not measuring up to her expectations. She told herself she would never be like her own inattentive mother, but she's completely blindsided when she's dealt a different version of the same hand.
• Hanna's parents can tick all the boxes on a “Signs that Your Kid Might Be a Sociopath” list. As creepy and devious as Hanna is, I actually developed a soft spot for her! She senses that her mom resents her and has a deep fear of abandonment. Even though many of her perceptions are unfounded, it's all very real to her. She's always reading the behavior of the adults around her, but it's through the distorted lens of her own limited experience. To be fair, the adults aren't so good at reading things either!
• Alex/Daddy is in deep denial. He refuses to listen to his wife or any professional who dares to insinuate that Hanna is anything less than perfect. There's never direct evidence of her worst offenses and he dismisses the minor behavioral problems as the boredom of an extremely intelligent child. His peacekeeping attempts fuel the conflict between mother and daughter.

THE THEMES: 

>>Body Horror
• Suzette's body has betrayed her repeatedly. She is under a doctor's care, but she's constantly worried about the next flare-up. When Suzette becomes pregnant she felt a loss of self. It's like an alien overtook her body! Pregnancy caused her to lose control of her body because she wasn't able to take her medications.
• Hanna expresses discomfort at the idea of her baby teeth falling out. I think aging—and the separation that comes with it—causes distress for her. She also notices Suzette's preoccupation with appearances and it colors the way she sees the world. She frequently attacks Suzette in ways that will disfigure her, in hopes that Daddy will see Suzette the way she does. She thinks if Suzette is unattractive, Daddy will finally see the light and leave. 

>>Masks/Facades/Costumes 
• Hanna frequently describes seeing her Mommy's masks: Good Mommy and Bad Mommy. Everything is black-and-white in her seven-year-old mind and there's no room for complexity. In her mind, Bad Mommy is the real one. Daddy is the consistent parent who loves her unconditionally. Hanna panics when adults put on unexpected masks or act weird because it makes her feel a loss of control.
• Alex's denial of Hanna's behavioral issues is a costume of sorts.
• Born bad? Interestingly enough, Hanna has to conjure up a demonic pal to help her with her worst acts. Hanna feels more comfortable putting herself out there when her friend around. (Hanna's imaginary pal was a victim of self-preservation and other peoples' misinterpretations of the world around them.)

>>Perfection/Desire for Control 
• Suzette's life and body are in constant turmoil, so it's important that she takes care of the things she does have control over. She's obsessed with keeping a sterile house and making sure her family appears well taken care of. She finds comfort in completing mindless tasks. Suzette is tormented by her physical scars and she's terrified that she'll have to get an ileostomy bag.  She thinks that if she lets herself go, Alex might leave her.
• Because of Hanna's need for control, she finds comfort in solitude and math. Hanna knows she's different and not in a good way: "She knew what adults liked and didn’t like: rabbit-like girls who kept still and never raised their voice were good; dragon-like girls who roared and stomped and flew and generated their own fire were bad."  Mommy notices Hanna's failings the most, so she faces the full brunt of Hanna's wrath. The pressure to be something she's not is too much for Hanna. A fear of failure stunts her growth (refusal to talk, refusal to draw). She's terrified of going to school and freaks out at the mention of it. She's drawn to ugly stuffed creatures, relieved to have a friend that is "ugly, broken."

>>Communication/Inability to Communicate:
• Suzette's mother's inattention to Suzette's pain had disastrous consequences for Suzette. When Suzette met Alex, she finally found someone who would listen to her. But when it comes to Hanna, he's completely blind. He gets to be the fun parent, while Suzette has to deal with a defiant child and day-to-day child rearing. Now, it's Alex who's not listening to her. She's ashamed that her own child is rejecting her and is beginning to question her own perceptions. Throughout the story, she’s drawn to authoritative adults who take the time to listen to her and offer to help her take control of the situation.
• Hanna doesn't talk, but she has a vivid imagination. She's frustrated that words don't come out the way she intends. She hears her parents in the bedroom and is upset at this "language" that excludes her. She tried to communicate with them by grunting, but they STILL don't understand her. Hanna experiences overwhelming relief when she meets a person who finally finds a way to communicate with her effectively and takes the time to understand her.

>>THE BIG ONE: How perceptive young children are and how they process the world around them. 
• There's a constant battle of wills between Suzette and Hanna, but they actually have a lot in common. In some ways, Suzette and Hanna's relationship seems like a continuation of Suzette's fraught relationship with her own mother. Suzette's mother was completely unmindful of the psychological and physical damage she was inflicting on Suzette. Like Hanna, Suzette was constantly disappointed by her mother and she wanted her mother to prove herself worthy of her love. Even when she was pushing her mother away, it was important to her that her mother make an effort to reach out: "It was a child’s selfish desire, but mothers were meant to be selfless."
• 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.

CONCLUSION 

This is the story of mothers, daughters and the unmet expectations between them. Both Hanna and Suzette struggle with feelings of exclusion and fears of abandonment. Their similarities widen the gap between them. Was Hanna born sick or did her parents exacerbate the situation? Could this be the explosive reaction of nature and nurture? I didn't see any answers, but I couldn't help but wonder if Hanna would've turned out a tad different if her parents were better equipped to handle her.

Making me soften towards Hanna and harden towards Suzette was quite the authorial feat! I really liked this book because there was a lot to analyze and the characters are memorable. It reminded me to be careful when I talk in front of children because they are listening to every word! This book isn't for everyone and it's NOT uplifting! Recommended if you're in the mood to read about a fictional family's train wreck of a life! :)

When I started reading this, I thought it would actually be a three star read. Hanna was more brat than bad seed.

I was wrong. It takes a little reading to appreciate what the author has done here. Not for everyone (it's unrelenting), the author gives us a book where there are no heroes.

Hanna is a mix of unbearably precocious (sometimes unbelievably so) and the immaturity of a six year old - complete with a six year old's perspective on adults. (Okay, maybe a six year old amoral sociopath's perspective.)

Hanna's father is Fun Daddy. He doesn't handle the discipline. He's hugs and kisses and presents and doesn't believe that his angel of a daughter could be so terrible.

And Hanna's mother is...complex. She has severe health problems and, honestly, she's a rather selfish human being. While Hanna is definitely not the child you wish you had, her mother wishes for the days that it was just her and her husband - and sometimes feels that she would do anything to get those days back.

Expect some uncomfortable moments (six year old behavior reminiscent of some incredibly uncomfortable scenes in the book The Exorcist). And expect to be even more disturbed as the author gives the readers a glimpse here and there of what life might have been like if Hanna's parents were less selfish and, in the case of her father, more involved.

All in all, a good book, but a disturbing one.

This is a book I will recommend over and over. Hannah is an incredibly brilliant psychopath child whose goal is to kill her mother. Yet at times you sympathize with her.

An incredible story by an incredible writer. Parenthood is not for the weak and this book explains that quite well. Hannah is such a scary child but there are moments you can see where communication is just misread since Hannah refuses to speak. The writer draws what the child perceives extremely well. I can't imagine being scared of your own child. I liked the realism of a mother who longs for her old life with her husband before children and the realism of a father who only gets the good part of a child. And what mother hasn't felt like she was a bad mom. I can't say I liked the parents at the end though I understood their behaviour. All in all, It's just a fabulous book.

<b>3.5 controversial stars🌟🌟🌟.5</b>

I believe I’m going to bust out my complement sandwich for this review... as a refresher a complement sandwich is good/bad/good.... so in short the bad is sandwiched in between the good..... I also want to make it very clear that I read this with a group and I was in the true minority on this.... so the opinions in this review are absolutely my own and my review should be read with the understanding that this book is unquestionably not for everybody....

This book is about Hannah a seven-year-old who has some pretty major issues.... one of them being the fact that she wants to get rid of her mother.... for good....Suzette is an exhausted mother at the end of her rope, what has she done to deserve this child? As a mother I would love to believe that I would do all the right things in this situation, but next to Hana my children are absolute perfection (just don’t tell them that)..... I felt the author did a good job in the portrayal of the parents the overly stressed out mother and the oblivious father.... and the tension this would put on a relationship when Dad chooses to pretend that daughter is perfectly normal and mom wants to pull her hair out....

Now to the meat of the sandwich, the problems I had with this book.... hannah’s age was probably my biggest problem, I just found it very unbelievable that a child of her age was able to have the thought process and knowledge that she did no matter how gifted she was..... this I believe leads to the real problem if Hannah were 12(The age I believe A character who acted as she did was more apt to be) then she probably would have already been diagnosed and been in some major therapy.... however this also begs the question why was she not in major therapy at seven? Perhaps Alex and Suzette were not parents of the year, but they did take her to see several doctors and I’m not quite sure why more wasn’t done at a younger age? Although if something were done at a younger age we would not have had this book.... so perhaps that is the reason....

This was a quick page turning red that probably would be better classified as horror..... and if this is a genre you stay away from I’d definitely recommend staying away from this book.... this is a book that you can’t say you liked it, but I will say I appreciated it.... it definitely made me think, what would I do if I were this mother? And I believe sometimes it is hard not to judge in this situation, but I am a firm believer that unless you have walked in somebody’s shoes you really have no idea what is going on in their life and that’s kind of how I looked at this book....

So I’m going to take the easy way out and neither recommend this book or not recommend this book.... I’m going to leave it up to you, because this book evoked some pretty seriously strong reactions in people.... so if you choose to read it, read it knowing there is some disturbing content and it is 100% not for everybody....

*** thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this book ***

Hanna LOVES her Daddy. Her Mommy?

Not so much….

This first thing I’m going to say about “Baby Teeth” is that it won’t be for everybody. And that’s OKAY! I’m not going to judge anyone for liking it OR not liking it. It’s a fiction book!

It does clearly say in the description:

“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.”

A book about a child wanting to kill their mother is not going to be light suspense…it’s likely going to be an uncomfortable read. So I knew what I was getting into…. for the most part.

The book opens with Hanna at the hospital having a CT scan. It’s not her first. There have been many tests.

You see….Hanna doesn’t speak.

“Words, ever unreliable, were no one’s friend”

Hanna knows how much Mommy wants her to talk.

“Mommy was failing her tests to prove her motherly love.”

Is Hanna choosing not to talk?

“if it’s a matter of her refusing…WON’T requires a different type of doctor than CAN’T.”

Hanna’s favorite game is “Scare Mommy” and she likes to make special projects for Mommy too. VERY special.

WOW! I have such conflicting emotions about this one!

Imagine having someone who you expect will love you, not love you. And not only do they not love you? They LOATHE you.

They wish you didn’t exist….

The story is told from Hanna and Suzette’s alternating perspectives. There are some terrifying and dysfunctional scenes in this book. I haven’t read “The Dinner” or “We Need to Talk About Kevin” (books that this has been compared to) so I wouldn’t know how it stacks up against them.

“Baby Teeth” seems to be in its own league. However, there are a couple of movies that came to mind for me…“The Omen” and “The Good Son”. All rolled up into a ball of darkness and wickedness that will make you squirm. I couldn’t put this sucker down. I read it in two sittings and honestly, when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it.

I wondered if a seven-year-old was capable of some of the acts committed. Could a child be that diabolical and manipulative? I think this is one of those books that if you look at it closely, yes you will probably see a lot of things that push the believability envelope…right off the table. However, it ended up not mattering if things were all possible or believable…. I was pulled right into the story.

As I said earlier, this book won’t be for everyone. I do wonder if it would fit more into the horror genre. I found it diabolical and creepy and I’m really glad I read it. “Baby Teeth” is definitely a book I won’t soon forget. I’m very curious to see what Zoje Stage is going to come up with next.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage is a mystery/thriller about a disturbed seven year, Hanna, and her mother, Suzette. Hanna refuses to speak, is abusive, behaves appallingly, and hates her mother. Alex, Hanna's father, is oblivious of Hanna's disturbing behaviour, much of which Suzette has stopped mentioning as it's causing strife in their marriage. Hanna just wants her mother gone... at any cost.

I was enraptured from the first page and could not put it down. It was spooky to see how manipulative, calculating, and shrewd Hanna was in masterminding her plans. Very scary indeed! For a debut novel, I'd say Zoje Stage nailed it and will now be on my radar. I rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. Recommended for anyone who loves creepy page-turners.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review. https://moesbookblog.wordpress.com

Reviewed: February 4, 2018. Novel Publish Date: July 17, 2018

This was a quick read for me and though it was a fun novel (I do love creepy kids) it was exasperating too. You know when your watching a horror movie and you keep yelling at the protagonist for their stupid mistakes. Yes. You will be doing the same with this novel.

This book was a disturbing look at a 7 year old girl named Hanna and her relationship with her mother and father. Hanna is mute and homeschooled by her mom. Due to strange and complex reasons, Hanna adores her father and is disgusted by her mom. So she decides her mom needs to die. With her out of the way, Hanna will have her dad all to herself. Hanna is extremely manipulative. She is sweet to her dad and loving. However, when she is alone with her mom, she either ignores her or snarles like an animal. She eventually becomes dangerous. This was a book that kept me up reading late into the night. I received a complimentary ebook from the publisher in exchange for a review.

This was an interesting book that I really enjoyed. A good change from a typical mystery. I gave it a four instead of a five because the flow of time frames was choppy as well as my finding the ending rather flat. From the last page I turned for the next chapter.....but the book was finished.. A book,however, I would recommend.

I read a free digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow...Creative, fresh, and unique! I have no clue how this idea came to fruition, but it was worth every second! I zipped through in just two days’ time—which was amazing, considering I did not have the luxury to read it from cover to cover in one sitting. This unique novel is unlike anything I have previously read. Vividly described discord in parenting styles set the stage for a perfect storm. I was mesmerized by the development of the climax...I could truly FEEL the mother’s anxiety. Simultaneously, the daughter’s nonchalant attitude and absence of emotion materialized as very plausible and frightening. This book was amazingly realistic. I would like to thank both St. Martin’s Press and Zoje Stage for a fabulous thriller!!

Hanna is seven years old and has yet to speak. She does manage to communicate, though, through malice toward her mother, Suzette. How can Suzette deal with her daughter's psychopathic tendencies when no one believes her?

I got this from Netgalley and the promise of a creepy homicidal kid lured me in. I was a little disappointed.

Like I said in the teaser, Hanna is seven years old, mute, and wishes violence death upon her mother. Suzette is a stay at home mom with Crohn's Disease. Hanna definitely wants mommy out of the way so she can have daddy all to herself. It sounds interesting but I was ultimately bored by most of it.

Alex, the dad, is unbelievably oblivious and I thought Suzette was kind of a doormat. How much shit does one person have to eat before they finally do something? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Hanna was interesting but everything she was planning was told from her point of view before it happened so there were very few surprises. I think it would have worked a lot better if we'd never got a glimpse inside Hanna's head.

It was engaging enough to finish and Zoje Stage's writing was good in a technical sense. The book made me feel very uneasy at times but that was its biggest accomplishment. I didn't find it suspenseful and by the end I was hoping Hanna would somehow kill both of her parents. Two out of five stars.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, the author and NetGalley for a free electronic ARC of this novel, received in exchange for an honest review.
“Baby Teeth” by Zoje Stage is addicting, creepy and twisted as Hell. A five-star psychological thrill ride that will have you looking twice at every child you meet (possibly even your own), and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
Hanna is a seven year old girl who loves her Daddy. In her silent world of her own choosing, Hanna dreams daily of ways to get rid of her mother. Forever. Suzette is a young mother doing her best to home school her troubled daughter, while battling her own medical issues and (occasionally) her sanity. She continues to try and convince her husband, Alex, that there is something deeply wrong with Hanna, while tampering down the guilt and self-blame she herself feels at the parenting that has obviously gone so very wrong. Hanna and Suzette soon become engaged in a battle of wills- Hanna is fighting for the exclusive love of her father, while Suzette is simply fighting for her life.
“Baby Teeth” was completely creepy and outright terrifying. Hanna is a morally defunct character who will crawl into your subconscious and stay there, needling into your head like a worm. Suzette is a flawed but honest mother who received my respect and empathy right from the get-go. (Her medical condition is one I am all too familiar with, so she was more relatable to me than most) and Alex, although slightly clueless, is also lovable and charming.
The story alternated viewpoints, with Hanna and Suzette as narrators, and this contributed to the chilling storytelling. The creepy plot was unique and so engrossing, if only for the pure fact that all a reader wants to do is deny the plausibility of the truth in this story. That fact alone will keep you up at night (Thank GOD I do not have children. After reading this novel, I would be sleeping with one eye open.)
I do not know Ms. Stage or her writing, and “Baby Teeth” was my first introduction. I can honestly say that this is how first impressions need to be done. I was completely wowed and sucker punched by the pure psychological twists and turns in this novel.
I can see this novel not appealing to everyone, but fans of psychological fiction (and psychopaths in general really, especially tiny wee ones) will be blown away by this powerhouse debut novel. Please, Ms. Stage, continue to produce novels like this one. Your talent is unparalleled.

I cannot begin to describe how much I LOVED this book. It spoke to the dark part of my soul, and being a mom of some challenging kids, I empathized with Suzette!! At first, I thought maybe Hanna was autistic or on the spectrum, but then I realized, she's a f*ing psychopath. I cannot imagine what poor Suzette was going through raising this child, day after day, with no real support nee belief from Alex. It took Hanna attacking her mom and trying to burn her to death for the dad to realize, um, HELLO...THERE"S SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH YOUR KID!!! I was so happy to read that Hanna was institutionalized.

I will be recommending this to my book club and pray they don't give me the boot LOL.

Thank you to the NetGalley team at St. Martin’s Press for allowing me the privilege to read an egalley of Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage. The following review contains thoughts and opinions that are entirely my own, and my rating is not influenced by being given this for free.

Baby Teeth tells us the story of Hanna, who loves her Daddy more than anything else, and her Mommy, Suzette, who struggles with the guilt of wondering why it seems that Hanna is trying to hurt her. At first are moments where Suzette thinks she’s losing her mind, then she has a fright at something Hanna does but dismisses it. But then, it’s becoming evident to Suzette something’s really wrong, but it sounds crazy when she tries to talk about it.

Zoje Stage has written a nice thriller that will keep you turning the pages late into the night. I do wish Hanna’s age was older because at times it’s difficult to believe a 5 year old could think or do what’s going on. However, this aside, the story offers good entertainment in how a family can look perfectly normal from the outside and have a very different dynamic going on inside. A sweet little girl couldn’t really be that bad now could she?

Something is amiss in this family of three. Only Suzette and her daughter Hanna are aware of it. Suzette’s husband just doesn’t see it. The reason? His daughter Hanna acts like an angel when she is with him. Yet when she is with her mother Suzette, she is a very different little girl and her behavior, for a seven year-old is downright disturbing and well at times, terrifying. Suzette is scared and well, she should be.

“Baby Teeth” is a suspense novel by Zoje Stage. For me, there were things about this novel that just didn’t quite add up and on the whole it just wasn’t for me. That said, it was an extremely quick, easy read and I got through it in a day.

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

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 2.3.18.

If you want to read about “possessed” children, try A Head Full of Ghosts. If you are interested in precocious, barking children, watch Six Feet Under. If you are looking for a frustratingly implausible book, read Baby Teeth.

The premise of a child so obsessed with her father that she hatches a plan to get rid of her mother is a strong hook, and I would have bought into it if the execution wasn’t flawed from as far back as the concept. Hanna’s early pranks—going to the bathroom on the floor to make the baby sitter clean it up out of spite, flushing her mother’s diamond earrings down the toilet—seemed feasible, like something a seven-year-old might do, but as the book continued, I quickly decided two things: no matter how brilliant Hanna might be, her actions are far too complex for even the brightest child, and I can’t take any more lengthy exposition about Suzette’s, her mother’s, bathroom habits.

This book has been compared to We Need to Talk About Kevin, which is a far different offering, similar only in that it’s about two parents who have a problem child and only one is willing to admit it. Hanna’s father behaves inappropriately throughout, but where he started to really feel like another in a long line of plot problems is when Hanna, after eavesdropping on her parents having sex (and commenting about how she can’t see her father’s full penis when she creeps into their bedroom post-coitous), takes a naked photograph of her mother, which her father later prints for her with little more than an offhanded comment, something to the effect of, “I’m glad you want to make mommy a present, but does she need to be naked in the photo?” This child, who we’re reminded every time she is in a car is in a car seat, somehow is smart enough to look up death photos and make a collage with her naked, sleeping (aka “dead looking”) mother at its center. I mean, really?!?

I can’t. I just can’t. Then this kid who hasn’t said a word her entire life (let’s think about that for a minute, because what the author is proposing is that this child who doesn’t speak solely to frustrate her mother has harbored such ill will as to have never spoken to her, even when she was a toddler) learns perfect French. You read that right. She assumes the identity of a girl formerly burned at the stake for witchcraft. Did I mention she’s SEVEN? So on this charade goes, this child acting out, and her mother focusing on her own childhood, which is terrible, but serves little purpose. On the one hand, Suzette’s feeling guilty about not being the mother Hanna deserves, better, in fact, than her mother had been to her, and on the other, there’s this woman constantly cussing this seven-year-old out.

Suzette’s character is wholly unlikable, not only because she’s clearly uninterested in parenting and would do whatever she could to get this homeschooled problem child out of her hair so she can focus on reducing her carbon footprint, but because she’s self-centered, and completely preoccupied with her malfunctioning intestines and the possibility of a colostomy bag. I don’t believe for one moment this post-surgical, long-ailing woman would be nearly as sexual with her husband as this book pretends.

There’s a scene where young Suzette is bleeding through her bandages (she’s had intestinal surgery for Crohn’s disease which has caused a fistula, or opening to the skin’s surface, that needs packing) and her mother is disgusted by having to do the dressing for her, but Suzette delights in her mother’s displeasure at having to complete this chore more than she cares about her gut being packed like a stuffed animal. How very Hanna-esque. If I never read another book about poop it’ll be too soon.

I’m in the minority hating this book, but the voices, both Hanna’s and Suzettes, and the characters, including the clueless Swedish eco-friendly husband whose pet names for his family drive me nuts, seem conveniently crafted to support an impossible narrative. I can’t believe people would behave this way, not even for the sake of attempting to enjoy this book, which I didn’t. There’s shock value, for sure, but if you analyze the concept, the age of this child and her actions, the entire plot unravels.

As a postscript, I’m not sure which marketing person decided this novel bears any similarity to The Dinner, which is a Dutch translation and a commentary on privilege, social class, and culpability. That slow burn at least culminated into something resembling a cohesive plot. Baby Teeth never does and feels like a gratuitous train wreck with scene after scene struggling to uphold the idea that this child is evil with none of the introspection of why as is explored in We Need to talk About Kevin.

I received this as a free advance copy from Netgalley. (Thanks!!)

I am giving this a 3 out of 5. I really enjoyed the premise this book was built on as evil children are such a fascinating topic, especially when as this book mentions, the child comes from a <i>"good"</i> wonderful home. But there were a few things that for me, personally, just didn't work.

1.The blurb doesn't make it clear how <b>SMART</b> Hanna is. In the book we get to see how while Hanna is still a child she is also smart and dangerous as hell. For me the level of intelligence in Hanna made a difference because it's made very clear very early that <b>NOTHING</b> she does is an accident or just mischief being managed but is in fact a well thought out usually malicious attack against her mother, all in an attempt to be alone with her father.

2. The father spends like half the book being almost deliberately obtuse. Every time Suzette mentions anything wrong he basically plugged his ears and walked away until it finally got to a point he had to admit defeat. It was so very frustrating.

3.Suzette spent soooo much time wondering and worrying about her husband no longer finding her attractive when really she should've been putting Hanna far far away from her.

4.Maybe it's because I got an advanced copy but I feel like the book could have use a few more chapters. So much happened in like a two week period and I felt like we needed more. I needed a chapter from Dad's POV and the ending seemed so abrupt to me.

But as a Pittburgh-native I really enjoyed the setting of the story because it was so familiar that I could see parts of it in my head. I also enjoyed every time Suzette struck back. Every time she thwarted an attempt to kill her or actually yelled back it showed that underneath it all was woman who was willing to fight even if it was against her own daughter.

In all honesty while it wasn't my favorite book so far of this year it wasn't the worst. I feel like it's definitely not on the same level as <i>We Need to Talk About Kevin</i> but it's not overly horrible.

This is a scary book, not the ending i expected but more scary. Your child is trying to kill you so Daddy can be all hers. And no one believes you. She is only 7 years old after all.
It is screaming sequel, and I don’t know if i can handle a sequel. Did I mention this is scary.
Thank you netgalley for the early copy, I think.

I almost didn't respond to the offer to get an ARC of Baby Teeth. I just have so many other books on my shelves that really need to be read. But, I read the synopsis anyway and decided that YES I WANT TO READ A STORY ABOUT A WILLFULLY MUTE, POSSIBLY PSYCHOTIC CHILD!! And I'm so glad I did.

Baby Teeth kept me on the edge of my seat. It's written from two perspectives - that of Suzette, and her mute, manipulative, highly intelligent seven year old daughter, Hanna. (As if being a parent wasn't hard enough on it's own, haha). Sometimes I think books that are written with multiple perspectives are jumpy and weird, but Zoje Stage nailed it in my opinion. I really looked forward to Hanna's parts of the story. It was interesting to see how she ticked, what her motivations were.

The character development in Baby Teeth was seriously awesome. I feel like I personally know the Jenson's now, like I went on this journey along side them - and that is the best thing ever coming out of a book!

I don't want to give the plot away, because I personally hate when I get too much info going into a Thriller, but if you like creepy kids and some moral-greyness, this will be your jam.