Hanna doesn't like Mommy very much, because Mommy interferes with Hanna's relationship with Daddy. So begins Baby Teeth, and the descent into madness that a mentally ill child causes within the family. This is truly a creepy book! Told from alternating viewpoints of mother and child, it's a harrowing ride all the way to its disturbing conclusion. My only complaint with the ebook was in several places I found a lack of continuity, perhaps a paragraph was missing evidenced by the scene abruptly changing. Maybe a formatting issue.

READ THIS REVIEW AT YOUR OWN RISK.... SPOILERS +SPOILERS +SPOILERS...
HOWEVER... I QUIT! I’m throwing in the towel. I’ve read enough...stopping at 41% on my Kindle copy.
I appreciate the widget-offering from the publisher — but for me— I CAN’T compare this book to “The Dinner” ....or “We Need To Talk About Kevin”....Both of those two other books had a different quality and purpose IMO....
THIS BOOK seems to me - to be an intentionally disturbing novel - for the pure pleasure of the thrill. It’s ugly and non-inspiring. It ‘is’........absorbing.....but I’m not proud of myself reading it.
I choose to stop this nonsense- I don’t want to be a stand for books where children are evil — for the sake of psychological pleasure reading.
Even without finishing this book - I can already see the author isn’t accomplishing any attempts to portray what might lead a child to kill —- such as Lionel Shriver did in “We Need To Talk About Kevin”. It’s bumblegum chewing for the sake of chewing mindlessly. I’m not a fan— but many readers probably will be:

HERE’S MY REVIEW.... all little Excepts..... NOTE: I DO NOT KNOW HOW THIS BOOK ENDS - perhaps a girlfriend will tell me later - save me the reading time - so that I can move on to a book that is a better fit for me.....

Lots of SAMPLES to get a TASTE of what you’re in for if you choose to read this novel:
Mom says:
“She never liked me. No, that’s not true. When she was a baby…Suzette knew she was oversharing, but the words spelled out. But at some point the war began. And I’m losing. I’m losing it. And I can’t tell my husband, I try but…He doesn’t see it. And where would I be? I’m supposed to be a good mom, the mom I never had, that’s what I wanted. That’s what I promised him, what I promised myself”.

Mom says:
“ I thought everything would get better. Kindergarten. But she didn’t talk. That’s how it all started. We tried doctors, there’s nothing physically wrong. But every place I’ve tried to enroll her, and every babysitter, it’s like she wants to torture— just me”.

Dad says:
“How’s my squirrely girl?” ...... Providing optimistic perky happiness of possibilities? —- sure ..... deny deny deny.... no problems with his little angle —- HANNA LOVES DADDY! I’m guessing ‘Daddy’ will face up to the problems pretty soon....but for now - he prefers to deny them.

Hanna says: .....Thinking to herself
“It remained disappointing that Daddy hadn’t let mommy wither and die when he had a chance”. ( note.. Hanna saw her parents having sex - she was hoping with dad on top mom would kill her). Oh well!
“As Hanna grew stronger she could take it advantage of Mommy’s weakness. Could mommy die if cleaning too much – – could she scrubbed to death? And
Mommy needed a lot of medication. If something bad happened to her medicine, would something bad happen to mommy?”
“Or maybe...Mommy was always fussing about how she looked, and she glowed whenever Daddy said she was beautiful.”
“Maybe If Mommy was uglier”
“Maybe Daddy wouldn’t love her as much”.

CHARMING HANNA...
“She stuffed a grape in her mouth, a strawberry, a cheese cube, another cheese cube, another grape. And made a show at chewing, chewing.”
“When it was a nice mushy consistency, Hanna got up on her knees and spit the whole glob in Mommy’s face. It struck her cheek, then started to dribble down. Hanna giggled”.

CHARMING MOM.....
“Mommy scooped the mash from her face. For a second Hanna thought she might cry. But Mommy got up and came around and forced the glob back into Hanna’s mouth.” She held her hand there, making it so Hanna couldn’t open her lips.
She couldn’t spit anything back out, but she could are so barely breathe.
“CHEW”.

Yuck!!!

1/2 STAR rating.

Thank You Netgalley— St. Martin’s who I always appreciate- ( I’m so sorry - this book just wasn’t healthy for my soul), and Zoje Stage... there is not much I can’t hear - but I’m sorry - I just didn’t want to read any more. The scenes you picked to write for the child - the language from the mom - I just didn’t feel well reading your book.
But - good luck to you - I think many people actually gobble your novel up.

I wanted to love this book sadly I didn't. The author has great writing style and a great plot I just hated the Mother. She was so self centered and ridiculous I wanted to kill her. Truly annoying.

I read this book over two days. It was incredible, nerve wracking, and scary beyond measure. I loved it and couldn't put it down. I'm so glad I got the pleasure of reading it.

I received a copy through Netgalley.

Whoa this is a horror psychological thriller in a book.The authors theater/filmmaker comes through in the story.The amount of detail comes through in a show not tell sort of way while actually being told.

Hanna is a cute little girl who has a dark side.This is one scary child and seeing here perspective makes it even more chilling.

Suzette is a stay-at-home and homeschooling mother who is at her whits end.She has chronic health issues and a dysfunctional childhood in her past.Her daughter goes after her alone so her husband doesn't see any of it.

I highly recommend this one.

I don't think I've ever read a book where I didn't have a favorite character... Who side does one root for when both sides are crazy??... I can't imagine what will happen next but I can't wait to see,....

God it’s books like this that make me never want to have children I just can’t get over how creepy this story was!

I think it’s to the credit of the author to tell this story in two alternating point of views split between Suzette and her daughter Hanna because we get to see how one not only views the other, but we see their reactions, motivations and inner workings both for and against each other. It also showed just how similar the two were in terms of them both commenting on the masks the other wore in public or around Alex the father and husband who took forever to finally come around and see that his wife wasn’t crazy and his perfect daughter was anything but.

I enjoyed reading both sections but it was fascinating to see this sort of push and pull between both narratives where one was heavily influenced by imaginative language and perception while the other was rooted in more of a scientific type way where the solution was the complete opposite of magic with the medical community on her side and the hunt for an actual diagnosis. And learning about Suzette’s upbringing with a medical condition her mother didn’t care about and the neglectful childhood she endured it was easy to see why she would be looking for something to help her daughter and the frustration of not only failing but having a husband who was so used to being the good guy he downplayed her emotions until it was too late to ignore.

Forget clowns and spiders nothing in the world is scarier than a sweet looking kid with a dark twisted mind and anyone looking for a good scare will love this book!

**thank you to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Posted on January 16, 2018 by cayocosta72
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage. Published by St. Martins

Can a child be born damaged? Can they be evil or mentally ill from birth? Suzette wants to love her daughter Hanna. Daddy thinks she’s a perfect little angel, but Suzette has a lot of concerns about her 6 year old. The child has been difficult and violent almost since birth and as she’s gotten older, Hanna has become a master manipulator. Suzette doesn’t understand why her husband can’t see that something is desperately wrong with their daughter. Hanna has been so violent and disruptive, she has to be home schooled, and Suzette begins to be afraid of her own child and what she might be capable of. This book is so creepy and so insidious and so utterly believable. And that’s the scariest part of all. Parents may be locking their bedroom doors after reading this