WOW! Love seeing this tale and the dark corners of storytelling used. I won't ever forget this book and felt it delivered as advertised by the blurb. Tremendous!

Unfortunately this novel left a lot to be desired. From the poor quality of the writing to the improbable brilliance of the child involved, it had the reader wondering how these particular instances could have occurred

The parenting skills or lack thereof opened up a wide chasm to reality. There is not a chance that a pediatrician, a teacher, a principal would not have waved a red flag on the various behaviors of Hanna. . A child does not get to the age of seven without some professional alerting the parents and the school about what a danger a child presents not only to themselves but to others.

So in essence, this book presented quite an unrealistic view of what in reality would occur.

The writing itself was poor, there was no polish to its words and it definitely lacked any of the fine tuning elements authors and their editors employ. Unfortunately, this became a major drawback to this book.

While I applaud the author for bringing forth the problems of Chrohn's Disease, it seemed to be used as an excuse for the poor parenting skills of the mother. It is always important that we are focused on the mental issues of all people,including children most especially, but this novel did nothing to forward the thinking that children need to be diagnosed early, treated by professionals, and allowed to receive treatment that possibly will make a difference. In that, this book was a disservice to those who treat, care for, and help those with mental problems.

Ultimately and unfortunately, this book seemed to pander to the shock value and not to the fact that there are people out there who need help, guidance, and counseling to tackle the problems they face.

It looks like I'm in the minority on this one, but that's O.K.

For the few others who weren't loving this book the turn offs seemed to be how graphic it was, how evil the child was, the sexual elements. None of those were the case for me. I'm used to reading some pretty dark stuff. I guess, for me, I had issues with the psychology. For much of the book, I wasn't buying what the Hanna character was selling, so that made it hard to stay interested.

But first the pluses...I rather liked the mom character (other than her screaming things like "for fuck's sake, Hanna!" at her kid. That seemed ridiculous). I actually think Suzette was pretty well written. Her issues with her own mother and her Crohn's disease seemed well thought out and added some nice depth to the character. As a mom, I thought her vacillating between worrying that her child was evil/being afraid of her, and loving her and imagining that this evilness was all her own fault rang really true.

Hanna on the other hand was hard for me to take. I think it is really hard to do POV for a psychopath. I get that many are effectively "born bad," but there was not much in Hannah's inner dialogue to suggest why she was this way (so, for me, having the book toggle between the two characters POV was a drawback). Only once did Hanna seem a little freaked out by the darkness in her own brain. I would have liked to see more of that sort of thing.

If Hanna is indeed, brilliant she would understand that most normal kids don't want to kill their mothers, and think about why she's not like them (even if it's just to contemplate why those other kids are so lame.) Basically, I felt like a 6-7 year old would have more self awareness. Did she even really believe she was possessed? Did she actually believe in witches? We never really know if any of these things are actual beliefs, simply strategies she's employing for freaking out her mother, delusions, or just plot devices. Basically if we're going to spend half the book inside this kid's head, I want to see more of what's inside there.

I also wasn't buying *spoiler alert* Hanna's intricate web searches, careful murder plots, skill in rolling her eyeballs back inside her head, framing others for her own self-harm, etc. Again, I understand that I personally do not know any psychopathic children, so maybe they are all this brilliant. However, to me, those things felt more like the actions of a psychopathic adult (while the witch stuff, etc. felt more like childlike reasoning.)

Ironically, after flat out hating this book for the first half, I stuck it out and found the back half (in particular the back third) to be really solid. The book did away with flirting with supernatural elements and focused more on one supremely messed up kid and two parents' genuine struggles to stay healthy, alive and sane in parenting her. I would have really dug a full book that had that flavor.

However, again I'm seemingly in the minority. I don't think most readers who like the dark stuff really care that deeply about why the darkness happens, it if rings true, what psychological underpinnings may account for it, etc. In the end, I'm maybe not the best match for the material.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

Baby Teeth
By
Zoge Stage


What it's all about...

So...I didn’t quite know what to expect when I began this book. I was off put from the start by the way Hanna the daughter dealt with people and situations that she did not want to be a part of. Suzette the mother has her own issues...longtime sufferer of IBS...her own mother issues...her periods of isolation. In other words this book started out rocky for me and stayed that way. I actually put it down and decided not to read it but then I later started reading it again. I am not sure why. And I am not really that glad that I read it. It was creepy, weird, and Suzette and Alex and Hanna were a strange and sometimes terrifying...Hanna...family. Hanna at the age of 6 does not speak a word and when she does? OMG!

Why I wanted to read it...

I have to say that the idea of this book drew me in. I just didn’t think it would be so graphic. Hanna was literally a monster...a 6 year old constantly planning the demise of her mother...never her father...Hanna was...after all...Daddy’s little girl.

What made me truly enjoy this book...

I didn’t enjoy this book...at all...but I could not stop reading it. It was more like not being able to turn my eyes away from a train wreck. I could actually breathe again when I finished it.

Why you should read it, too...

Readers who love chilling graphic thrillers should enjoy this book. It was too graphic for me. Alex and Suzette were strange parents...Suzette seemed to just want to be rid of Hanna...was this the source of Hanna’s bewitching behavior? I don’t think I ever want to get inside this author’s head.

I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher...St. Martin’s Press...through NetGalley and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it.

WOW! What a captivating story! BABY TEETH is Zoje Stage's debut novel, and what a novel is it. It is a psychological thriller that tells the story of a family that tries their best to appear normal, but is really ripping apart at the seams. I couldn't put the book down because I needed to know what was going to happen next.

Seven-year-old Hanna is the apple of her daddy's eyes, and they both adore each other. The only problem is that Mommy keeps getting in the way and stealing away some of Daddy's affection that Hanna feels should only be for her. Things would be so much better if Mommy would just go away so that Hanna could have Daddy all to herself. And the incredibly smart and manipulative Hanna is determined to make that happen.

Suzette knows that something is wrong with her daughter. Even though she is seven-years-old, Hanna has never spoken a word to anyone other than a few recent utterances that she's made to Suzette while claiming to be a witch from 1600s France. The doctors can't find anything physically wrong with Hanna that might be preventing her from talking. And since Hanna can make sounds and be vocal otherwise, it's becoming clear that Hanna just won't talk. Suzette tries to be the best mother that she can be - making up for the lack of love and care that she received from her own mother. But Hanna rejects her mother's love and instead torments her. Suzette can't get away from her daughter because she is stuck with her all day, every day. Hanna has been kicked out of every school she has been admitted to and no babysitter will come back. Suzette, who has her own medical conditions, is becoming more and more stressed out over dealing with her difficult daughter. Suzette sees a side of Hanna - an evil side - that her husband refuses to believe is possible in his sweet, affectionate daughter. It isn't until Hanna becomes violent towards Suzette that Alex finally accepts that something is seriously wrong with his daughter. Alex is forced to take action to protect his wife and "cure" his daughter, and the only action he can take is to send Hanna away to a special school that can help troubled children like her. But that's not okay with Hanna. It's not okay at all. And Hanna knows the only way to get back to Daddy is to play along and pretend she is getting better. Only then can she go home and finally get rid of Mommy for good.

Now just because Hanna is pure evil, that doesn't mean Suzette is all goodness. In fact, she's not always very likeable. The way she speaks to her daughter can be horrendous - but I can't really blame her considering Hanna is trying to kill her. But the fact that Suzette isn't the most likeable of characters left me cheering for Hanna on occasion. I didn't exactly support Hanna's psychotic, matricidal thoughts/actions, but I could understand (at least on some level) why she might want to get rid of Mommy. Like Suzette, I wondered if Hanna was born this way or if Suzette did something to make her daughter into this evil little person.

Despite being a creepy, thrilling novel, BABY TEETH was also a fun read. Seeing it from both the mother's and the daughter's perspectives gave a well-rounded picture of the dysfunctional family. The father's prolonged oblivion and denial that anything is wrong with his little princess shows how and why it has taken this long for the little girl to get the help that she needs. It also shows how the family has gotten into the dysfunctional mess that it is in. If you're into chilling, psychological thrillers about evil/creepy children, BABY TEETH is the novel for you.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I need to start off by saying that I was pleasantly surprised by this book as I've read a number of other "bad seed" novels in the past and generally, they tend to be hit and miss.

This particular disturbed child story centers around seven year Hanna and her mother, Suzette. Hanna is a mute and refuses to speak to anyone; she behaves appallingly and has been expelled from multiple schools; she lives to torment her mother. Her father, Alex, turns a blind eye to her volatile and disturbing behavior and dismisses a majority of Suzette's concerns. As the novel progresses, Hanna's relationship with Suzette becomes increasingly hostile as she becomes more and more jealous of Suzette's relationship with Alex, whom she wants all to herself, and this results in a series of escalating malicious acts towards Suzette.

I really enjoyed Baby Teeth on the whole. I enjoyed the writing style and found the characters to be equally engaging and frustrating. As a psychology graduate I tend to enjoy psychological thrillers such as this and have a particular interest in the pathology of children so this was a real treat for me.

At times certain elements of the plot did seem a bit far fetched particularly with regards to Hanna's thought process. Whilst I accept that she is meant to be an incredibly intelligent and manipulative child, her mind was far too advanced to be believable as a seven year olds narrative. That being said, the psychological elements of the book seemed pretty well researched and I really enjoyed how we got to really understand Suzette's backstory and how this influenced her (arguably questionable) parenting style.

For me one of my only big issues with this book (and the reason that I gave it 4 stars rather than 5) was Suzette's selfishness and how she is never really picked up on it. Perhaps this is deliberate on the authors part but as I can't be sure, it did frustrate me beyond belief. Throughout the novel she is resentful towards Hanna (even before all the behavioral problems started) and is utterly obsessed with her husband and having him all to herself so it's no wonder that her child became as jealous and competitive towards her as she did. Again, I feel that this may have been deliberate on the authors part and if so it's extremely clever as it sheds a lot of light on the root of Hanna's problems but I haven't seen many reviews that really pick Suzette up on her behavior and I can't really understand why. I definitely felt sorry for her throughout the book (who wouldn't) but at the end of the day she had always been nothing but resentful towards her own child and wanted nothing more than to have her husband exclusively to herself. At the end of the day, I feel that Suzette was way too selfish to be a good mother.

Overall, I really loved Baby Teeth and I think that it's currently my favorite read of 2018. It's gripping, intriguing, thought-provoking and disturbing. I wouldn't exactly compare it to We Need to Talk About Kevin (as I've seen many people compare it to) as the writing style is much more straightforward and the whole thing is generally easier to understand (which is great in my mind). We also get multiple perspectives as the chapters alternate between Hanna's and Suzette's perspectives. This was a touch that I loved and it was great to read a "bad seed" book from the child's perspective.

I highly recommend this book to any fans of psychologically heavy topics that don't mind a bit of darkness in their reading.

4 Stars ****

As soon as I saw the cover of this book without even reading the synopsis, I knew I wanted to read it and boy oh boy, what a wild ride! This book will completely stun you from beginning to end, I couldn't put it down, as the mother of a toddler daughter, I don't know what I would do if I was in Suzette and Alex's situation. A fabulous read, would recommend.

Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review.

I am officially crazy about stories with evil children, demonic tots, bad seeds, and devil's spawn.  In this story, the child in question is seven year old Hanna.  When with her mommy, she whines and keens and snarls, but does not speak.  Hanna only has smiles and sweetness for her daddy, but remains mute.  Things would be just about perfect if Mommy was out of the picture.

There was a little too much going on here.  I agree with the reviewer who takes issue with the synopsis' comparison to <i>The Dinner</i> and <i>We Need To Talk About Kevin</i>.  There isn't much subtlety or nuance going on with this one.  I would liken it more to <i>The Bad Seed</i> than anything else.  That being said, I liked <i>The Bad Seed</i>.  And I liked this one okay, too.

Wow, this book was so good. The writing was excellent and the characters were wonderful. I found the book to be very suspenseful. I did not want to stop reading. I am hoping there will be a sequel, I would love to know what happens with these characters. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the way it would jump to the next day without warning. I had to backtrack a few times. I loved this book and would recommend!

Creepy, spooky and at times terrifying that a child so young can be so evil. Reminiscent of Patty McCormick in the Bad Seed.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

3.5 Stars.

Oh dear.....talk about a BAD seed.

BABY TEETH is quite a horrific story and debut offering....definitely NOT for everyone. I thought I knew what direction the story was headed...twice...from little hints here and there, but NOPE, the author takes the reader to yet another place....the mind of a disturbed and violent child.

Seven year old (going on seventeen) Hanna is very astute and conniving, but shows only angelic sweetness to daddy....she REALLY loves her daddy. As a matter-of-fact, she wants to marry him....and in his eyes, well, she's his little silent "squirrelly" girl......most of the time. As for "moody" mommy dearest (who has a truckload of her own issues), Hanna has BIG plans for her....as you will see.

Told in alternating voices and perspectives of mother Suzette and daughter Hanna, BABY TEETH is a bit long, and there were times I thought lack of parental actions a bit bizarre; but hey, this IS a dysfunctional family and a wild, crazy, creepy journey into the mind of possessiveness and evil....as well as a bold debut.

Like the horror classic The Bad Seed (that I happened to like), BABY TEETH (for me) fit right into that same category of HORROR.

It is DARK! It is Disturbing! Read at your own risk! Really can't wait to see the varied reviews and comments on this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the complimentary ARC COMING JULY, 2018 in exchange for an honest review.

So, so delightfully creepy. I raced through this, dreading each subsequent chapter and character missteps with glee.

This story excels where other 'bad seed' stories fail by balancing Hanna's childish perspective and language with a more sophisticated narration. This helps to ground us in Hanna's POV while also keeping the overall tone consistent - thankfully, there's no jarring transition into kiddie-speak.

The consistency in tone is key as it keeps the tension taut and palpable; any reprieve is short lived as Suzette's POV chapters increasingly reflect her desperation as it expands, pressing out all the air in her life. Which is why it's impressive that she's able to make logic-based decisions instead of purely emotional ones, while clearly struggling with the love she still feels for her daughter. I was rooting for her hard, even through some of her less than stellar moments.

I could NOT put this book down. I was immersed in the story, scared for the characters in the story, and had no choice but to devour it in one day. This book is going to make so many people cringe.. But in such a good way. I can't wait until it's published so I can share it with others.

Recommended.

Let's meet sweet little mute Hanna, the apple of her Dad's eye, her mother's worst nemesis. She really, really loves her Daddy but mean old Mom is constantly getting in their way. Hanna needs to execute a plan. A plan to get rid of mean old Mom for good and she has so many clever ideas on just how to do it.

Poor Suzette is at her wit's end. She's relegated to homeschooling her daughter because her daughter get's kicked out of every school she goes to. Hanna has never uttered a word. They have had every sort of test possible to figure out why to no avail. Until one day when Hanna does speak to her and this is when things start to get pretty freaking creepy.

Dad isn't much help here. He works long hours and he is never witness to his daughters disturbing behavior. Little Hanna makes sure he NEVER see's her naughty side. When Suzette starts explaining to him what Hanna is like during the day he usually just brushes it off as her over reacting. His little angel is not some psychopath....or is she?

Whoa! This is a freaky little story about a seriously creepy little girl and I enjoyed it tremendously. I think this is going to be a very popular book in 2018!

Thank you to Katie Bassel & Jordan Hanley @ St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to get my greedy little hands on this ARC early!

Will post review to Amazon 7/17/18

To say this was a very interesting and creepy read is putting it mildly... shocking at times and yet very intriguing! There ARE evil children out there in this world and so reading about Hanna was very eye opening! Just what would you do if it happened to you?!

Hanna does not like her mommy and doesn't want her interfering in her relationship with her daddy and therefore tries to do things to torture her mommy and get her to go away. Of course she only does this when her daddy isn't around, can't have daddy seeing that evil manipulative side of her. Daddy has a hard time seeing the evil in Hanna because she is always sweet and loving to him, and he finds his wife's stories a bit exaggerated. I wanted to shake him at times! I must say I love how the author didn't sugar coat the mom in her reaction to the evil brat. She told it like it was, exactly as I would have reacted! Does that make us bad parents? Not sure. Some may not agree with it, I did.

The only thing that bothered me is Suzette seemed a bit sex craved.. If they had sex one more time, I might have had to put the book down for a little. They did actually but thankfully it was at the very end of the book. The whole thing about Suzette not getting enough of her husband's "cock" was a bit much for me and I definitely could have done without it. For that alone, I made it a 4 star rating opposed to a 5. I enjoyed this book and the subject of medical illness. Can an evil child get better with treatment? hmmm.. 🤔 I look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next! This was a very impressive debut!

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press, the author and NetGalley for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

I have such mixed feelings on this book. It had some really strong tense moments, but overall it seemed a bit anticlimactic. At times this was a bit redundant and turned in to a chore. It was still a solid read and I would recommend it for any fan of the evil children category.

"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."

I LOVED this book. So much so that I was up until 2:00 a.m. one night so I could finish it in one sitting.

Book Description
Meet Hanna.
She’s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He’s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good.
Meet Suzette.
She loves her daughter, really, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna’s tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette's husband remains blind to the failing family dynamics, Suzette starts to fear that there’s something seriously wrong, and that maybe home isn’t the best place for their baby girl after all.
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.

My Thoughts
I don't know about other book lovers, but when I finish a really great book in a particular genre, I find myself choosing something to read next in a different genre. Call me superstitious or just someone who has been disappointed by that follow-up book. It might not have been bad, in fact, it might have been quite good, but it just couldn't compare to the prior book. In all honesty, if things like Buzz Books and other recommendations didn't guarantee that my TBR pile wouldn't grow on a daily basis, I might go back and re-read the “follow up” book and be pleasantly surprised by my reaction.
So I am not quite sure what happened, but a finished a terrific suspenseful thriller and then received Baby Teeth. I had my next non-thriller picked out and purchased and then I read the Baby Teeth description. It sounded so good that I threw my book rules out the window and dove right in. Why would I spend a cold Saturday night curled up under the covers, when the couch, a warm fire, and Baby Teeth were right there waiting for me?
When it comes to Hanna, to me it was a nature versus nurture type dilemma. We see mentally ill or just plain bad and evil characters often in books, but we rarely get to view them as children. Honestly, I think I see most children as works in progress and barring an unhealthy environment or abusive parents, I've never really thought about mental illness in the very young. So what about Hanna? Is there something going on in her home life causing her to act out? Is she mentally ill or just plain evil? I think I have gone as far as I can down this specific path since I don't want to spoil any details not already mentioned in the book blurb. I can tell you Hanna is a character that you won't soon forget and the family's story is dark, disturbing, twisted and scary good believable.
Several things really made this a compelling read. It grabbed my full attention from the first page( actually, from the description), the author's words made me feel like I was right there in the house with the family and I couldn't stop flipping my virtual Kindle pages. This was a 5-star book to me and I am hoping the author participates in Q&A interviews so I might discover where her idea for this book came from.
Thank you Zoje Stage, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the digital ARC to read and review. Highly recommended.

This is a novel about a 7 year old girl who refuses to speak and her Mother, who is suffering from Crohn’s disease. Each chapter is written from the viewpoint of one of them. Each is working very hard to be the sole object of the husband’s interest and affection. Hanna, the child, is also exceptionally bright and wants to rid herself of her Mother and the competition. Suzanne, the Mother, is homeschooling Hanna and spends all her time with her. She has also tried to get her in various schools but Hanna was, after starting, expelled from each, once for setting a fire. The novel deals with Hanna’s attempts to eliminate her Mother and the terror and guilt with which the Mother reacts. A psychological thriller that will leave you wondering. Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC for an honest review.

I do not know what to say about this book. I was sick with the flu so I decided to do some reading. I am so glad I chose this book. This book is outstanding!!! The story is about a little girl who will not speak. She has been tested and there is nothing on why she does not speak. When her father is around, Hanna is a perfect angel, but when arund her stay at home mom who also home schools her, she is anything but an angel. The story of what this little girl puts her mom through is crazy. When she does decide to speak, she speaks a name to her mother. Who is this person whom name she speaks? What happens to this family as it starts to splinter due to the behavior of Hannah? Who will the husband believe,his wife or daughter? Will they every find out what is wrong with Hannah? You must read this book to find out. Do not sleep on this book. It will stay with you once you finish the last page. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.