Idgie Says:

You know right away that there is something seriously off with Hanna. She may be mute, but appears to be by choice. You soon see that while she and her mother fail to communicate on many levels, so while Hanna might have given her mother the opportunity to love, this lack of communication has now made her decide she's a detriment instead.


Mommy and Daddy also have a hidden but strained relationship which doesn't help the situation and Suzette seems mentally fragile to start with.


This book is filled with tension from page 1... and you have no idea who will come out winning in the end.


I will add that the cover is fantastic, it really grabs.
Review will go live on my site on release date, but I've posted it here now. http://dewonthekudzu.com

The horror is just beginning.

This brilliant debut grabbed me from the beginning and kept me flipping pages until I finally closed my kindle with a satisfied sigh. It's been a while since I've read such a well written, original, keep-me-going thriller/horror novel.

The Jensen family has it all. Or so it seems. Yes, they have money and looks. They are all talented and smart. But, mom has Crohn's and 7 year old Hanna doesn't talk. And Hanna wants to kill mom and marry her dad.

Did I mention that Hanna wants to kill mom? Yeah.

This is one hell of a not to be missed story. St Martin's Press will be publishing it in July 2018. I can't thank them enough for offering me an advance copy.

This novel is a compelling tale about the tug of war between a mother and daughter. Told from each of their perspectives, it’s hard to believe if either one is a reliable narrator. The mother, Suzette, had her own problems growing up with an inattentive mother. She suffers from Crohn’s Disease, and has had a difficult journey controlling her health. Suzette clearly tries to love her daughter, Hanna, but we learn early on that they are both dealing with troubling emotional mother-daughter issues. The daughter, Hanna, is a 7-year old Daddy’s girl, who hates her mother in such a hostile manner that it’s hard to comprehend why she never established any kind of bond with her mother.

I also had a problem with Hanna’s voice during her chapters. Her perspective is far too mature for a 7-year-old - her plotting and reasoning, expert knowledge of Internet research, sexual awareness - are just a few issues that made me believe this child was indeed possessed by an older entity.

I understand this was an uncorrected ARC, but there were a few instances where the scenes stopped and changed abruptly with no sense of a segue. It was like sentences or paragraphs were missing. I hope the editors have these areas corrected before publication.

I would like to ask the author why she chose Crohn’s Disease as Suzette’s health nemesis. Does someone near and dear to her have the disease and is she trying to bring awareness to the affliction? I am just curious because I read a lot of books and as an IBS sufferer myself, such bodily dysfunction is rarely addressed in fiction.

As for the ending, without revealing any spoilers, I sense a sequel. Hanna’s story does not end and I am interested to see Hanna at later stages of growth, how her troubling behavior evolves and what the future holds for the family. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for sending me the widget to read this book.

I found this book really hard to read. All of the characters were pretty monstrous in their own ways. It was very obvious that Suzette and Alex never should've had a child - neither was prepared to be a decent parent. I finished the book, but didn't get any joy from reading it.

Sitting here eating my breakfast and thinking, “There is nothing better than reading about a diabolical demon-Child on a Monday morning”. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was both creepy and funny at the same time, as you get to listen to the internal dialogue of the Mom and child. Al I can say is that Hannah better be glad that I am not her mama...lol

I was really interested in this one by the description but I really struggled to finish. The plot just seemed so outrageous, and all the characters were loathsome. There was no one I felt I could root for.

Baby Teeth by Soje Stage is a shocking look into the life and mental health of a 7 year old determined to harm her mother.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage follows a family whose seven year old daughter wants her mother dead in order to have her father's love all to herself.
Okay, so this book was a ride I'll say that. I'm a sucker for 'evil children' type books, and there isn't very many unfortunately. If you've ever seen the film Orphan, I got some serious Orphan vibes from this novel.

Anyways, let's start with the plot. So the plot is pretty straightforward, nothing very complex, but I feel they succeeded in presenting a well driven plot. I feel the main plot was to help Hanna or rather find out what is wrong with her to begin with. However, the progression with Hanna's behavior sort of sky rocketed too quickly for my tastes, which is one reason why it was knocked down to 4 stars.

Now my favorite, characters and their development. This book is pretty character heavy, it relies on two perspectives: Hanna and Suzette. Then the father, Alex, being also a main character but with no POV.
The mother Suzette, suffered a pretty rough childhood with an emotional absent mother and her long undiagnosed Crohn's disease. She vowed to be a better mother than she had. Suzette really tried to be a "perfect" mother, in my opinion, but in doing so she burned herself out once she realized Hanna could not or would not speak and began acting out in worse and worse ways. Once she was burned out, we saw a harsher side to her and one that was much more callous. Her character development was pretty decent but nothing to really write home about. It was more like her character remained stagnant but her true nature was slowly revealed as the plot drove on.
The daughter Hanna, her POV was interesting as not only a seven year old but as a mentally disturbed seven year old. She's very smart and she knows she is, the way she calculates her plans and even other things she does to keep things secret is incredible. Hanna hates her mother because she believes her mother is stealing her father away from her, so she in turn wants her mother to die. Hanna's character development is pretty strange due to the fact that she's a very unreliable narrator, but interesting nonetheless. Her outbursts and "plans" go from mischievous to murderous very quickly, as does her train of thought.
The father Alex, is completely blind to his daughter's state of mind and believe Suzette to be exaggerating Hanna's behaviors to be worse than they are. His character development is more growth and realization than anything and it's a pretty dramatic shift for him. He is a successful Swedish architect and believes his family to be perfect despite Hanna's inability or unwillingness to speak. Alex is very rarely around during the beginning of the novel due to work and his non-belief of Suzette. But as the plot goes on, his character is around more often and is an important part of the narrative towards the end.
The other characters remained stagnant with no development or any kind of progression towards anything. Which was due to the fact that the plot is driven around the family of three.

The writing style did not stand out as anything too special, it was nicely written and flowed together fantastically. I enjoyed the Swedish words, terms and phrases that the author placed in there; as well as the holiday of Walpurgisnacht/Walpurgis Night (Witches' Night), a Swedish ceremony to bring in the Spring season. It was a nice dash of culture in a thriller, which I cannot say I see very often.

Baby Teeth is a creepy and disturbing novel surrounding a child that may be a sociopath or a psychopath. It's about a family's drive to survive and try to stay strong with bad things are happening inside the home and nothing seems to stop or help the things happening. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and find myself wanting more from this author. I absolutely am going to pick up a physical copy on July 17th!

I love a good creepy child story, so there was a lot I liked about this book--the fascinating horror of seeing inside Hanna's mind, and her mother's desperation at being left alone with her daily, unable to make her husband see what Hanna is really like. But in a lot of ways, the reading experience was not really very pleasant for me--it just made me feel so damn anxious, to the point where I had to peek at the end to see whether it would get as bad as I feared. I do like books that evoke feelings of anxiety, fear, etc in me, but this one crossed a line into an unpleasant experience at certain points. I did enjoy it enough to give it 3 stars, despite the things I didn't like. I would recommend it to anyone who is fascinated by reading about creepy/evil children.

First, I want to thank Zoje Stage, St. Martin’s New York and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage had me very interested in this for many different reasons. First off the author mentioned she worked part time at the Monroe County Library in Rochester, NY where she started writing novels. I used to live in Rochester, NY and frequented that library. Learning this about the author made me more intrigued to read the book.
Hannah was a very unique character one which I had never experienced before in any other book. At first you feel sorry for the sweet girl because she mute. But as the story goes on she is not that sweet and innocent girl you think she is.
Suzette the Mom pulled on my heart strings a little bit. Hannah did not give her Mom the easiest time when she would homeschool her. Plus, the stress was not good on Suzette’s Chrohns disorder.
Alex the father was caught in the middle of both his wife and his daughter whom he loved dearly.
If you like mystery, thrillers, twists and turns this is the book for you!!

Woooooow. That was so freaking disturbing but in all the right ways. There were times that I almost felt like I needed to put the book down because it was messing with my head so badly but at the same time I couldn’t stop reading.

Brilliant plot. I dragged it out on purpose to keep the drama unfolding. I hated to finish. It didn't seem things could get worse with this girl, but inevitably they did. You will love the characters. I can't give this book enough stars. If you want a nail biting thrill ride with a creepy as hell ending, you will adore it.

This book is terrifying.

its not terrifying in its scary kind of way, its terrifying because Hanna has no remorse no empathy for what she does to her mom or other people she actually finds joy in making people suffer thats what truly terrifying

Zoje Stage you did a wonderful job on writing this amazing terrifying story

Loved it ,great story of a complex and frightening dynamic between mother and daughter ,can see how they got there as the mother has had a difficult childhood herself and is beset with the burden of her condition
The daughter is frightening ,her throught process very much of a sociopathic Nature
They are both competitive though and the mum shd know better but u do feel for her and being home all day with thise tantrums an u cd do nothing but take it personally ,the daughter is a one for divide and conqour ,the father didn’t do enough in my humble and was weak though does try just us t enough and he spends a lot of time in denial ,he does though support his wife just not as soon as cd have
I suspect it may be aloooong time if ever that they give up their new found freedom and the daughter may well be left to fend for herself and about time too in some ways ,she is dangerous. though none of the characters terms are very likeable I did have more understanding for the mother than I thought I wd as can’t imajine how hellish life at their house wd be
Creepy scary and a great enjoyable read
Thanks netgalley and publishers for letting me read this novel

I was fascinated by the premise of this book and couldn't wait to sink my teeth into it. :D Unfortunately I couldn't sympathize with the mother or really any of the characters. I suppose it works well on the level that the reader gets no easy answers. Suzette is clearly not a good mother, but does she deserve the level of wrath Hanna exhibits over and over again? Creepy and engrossing. A must-read for horror/psych thriller fans.

Baby Teeth is a "psychological" thriller focusing on a dysfunctional family and their child with disturbing behavior. Alex, the father, does not want to see or believe that his daughter has behavioral problems. His daughter behaves around him, she is loving and, although she does not speak, she has her own way of communicating with him. Suzette, the Mother, is homeschooling her daughter while dealing with the symptoms of her Crohn's disease. Suzette is the target or her daughter, Hanna’s, "bad" behaviors. Hanna begins to speak to her Mother and really wants her father all to herself. She is clever, manipulative, and unwilling to speak. She does not like going to traditional schools and engages in behaviors which result in her leaving the traditional school environment.

This book is told through POV chapters titled "Suzette" or "Hanna” The reader gets a glimpse into the mind of each. Hanna is the proverbial "bad" seed who acts out and has behaviors which get her into all kinds of trouble. Although she is seven years old, she had thoughts and actions, I would associate with a much older child. While reading the book, I kept waiting for the light bulb to go off over Alex's head and for him to finally "see the light". Suzette, being the target of most of her daughter's bad behaviors, struggles with feelings ranging from wanting to help her daughter, fearing her child, and wanting to not have to deal with her child anymore.

For me this book was good not great. I thought of the movie, "The Good Son" while reading this book. Hanna has "evil" thoughts and is perhaps mentally ill. I won’t say more about the family or their family dynamic. Hanna is creepy, and this book is a fast read but most of the actions felt "gratuitous" and there for shock value to move the story along. There are a lot of negative behaviors, actions and thoughts in this book that it almost became too much. As characters spiraled out of control, the pace picked up but again things just felt gratuitous. Some may also be turned off by the way the Suzette speaks to her child. I would describe this book as good not great. For me there was something missing. Initially I really enjoyed the book but as I read more, I felt a disconnect but still wanted to know how the book was going to end. There was a battle going on and I wanted to see who won - even though no one really wins in these situations.

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's been a long time since I've really struggled with how to review a book, but that's where I am at with Zoje Stage's Baby Teeth. I often debate how much weight good writing should get over the story and plot. Sometimes books sell because they have an explosive ending or outrageous plot with sub par writing. This book was quite the opposite. Stage's writing is quite polished, but the story line was so troubling that I felt torn between giving it 4 stars for writing and 1 star for plot. All that being said, you'll probably be turning the pages on this book because you want to know what happens at the end (because the story is so outrageous).

So what to make of this book? The plot involves Hanna, who is a 7 year old girl and daughter to mother Suzette and Swedish father Alex. Suzette is a full-time stay at home mother, partially due to having painful complications and a weakened immune system related to Crohn's disease. Alex is Swedish and works full-time as a successful developer and architect. On the outside, everything about their life seems perfect: that is, until we meet Hanna.

The novel is told from the perspectives of Suzette and Hanna. Suzette is tired from homeschooling Hanna, who, the reader is told, is mute by choice. Hanna has been kicked out of every school in which her parents have enrolled her, so Suzette homeschools her. Hanna is defiant, jealous, and manipulative. She despises her mother, and adores her father. There is a very unsettling Electra Complex taking place here, with Alex tending to Hanna's every whim and desire as soon as he gets home from work at night. Is there something inappropriate going on with Alex and Hanna? What is causing Hanna to have outbursts, to treat her mother as a competitor rather than the daunting mother she is? 

I have two kids who are 6 and 8, and I highly doubted Hanna's terrifying behavior. Could a 7 year old cut up someone's pills in the middle of the night and fill them with flour to poison them? I don't think 7 year olds even harness that kind of dexterity. Could a 7 year old plot to kill their mother? Would a 7 year old set fire to a school trash can by bringing matches from their family home? Maybe there are 7 year olds out there like this, but I highly doubt it. Even the most gifted kid would not have some of the language that was going on inside the head of "Hanna." 

There are also moments in the book that are just plain bizarre. I won't spoil them here, but there are things her father allows Hanna to get away with that border on seriously abusive and inappropriate parenting. I also find it hard to believe that two well educated parents would wait until a child is 7 years old to invest significant time and money in therapy, especially a child who has been so behaviorally off. 

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, the author, Zoje Stage, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced reader copy of this book.

Received as an ARC from Netgalley. I was actually really interested in this one, but it was a fair bit of work to finish. I really (really!) did not like the mother. At all. There is history here with her mother, supposedly affecting how she mothers, but beyond the Crohn's disease and related complications, it was maybe too subtle for me to understand how it motivated her choices in raising her little girl. I get the frustrations of an oppositionally defiant child, I get dealing with a child who seems to loathe you, and how that could harden you a bit, make you give up, but... there just didn't seem to be an ounce of love there. Hanna seemed stronger, mentally and physically, than a child her age, so that didn't mesh for me either. Ultimately unsatisfying.

THIS BOOK. Oh my goodness. If I didn't already have kids, this book might scare me off having any! Zoje sets the stage perfectly in this thriller about Alex, e Swedish husband and doting father; Suzette, homeschooling mom who suffers with Crohn's disease; and Hanna, hands down the most disturbing 7 year old you will ever meet.

This book was so atmospheric and creepy that it gave me the chills! I couldn't stop reading, wondering what diabolical plot Hanna would come up with next. As the family unravels more and more, I was left turning the pages, breathless to the end and wondering how it would end. Definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a good psychological thriller!

The book was fast paced and intriguing and I raced to the end, but after I was done it left me feeling yucky. This was billed as a book for those who like We Need To Talk About Kevin, which I really enjoyed but this felt much different - more gratuitous. Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for allowing me to read this book early. I know many will like it, however it wasn't for me.