Thank you Netgalley & Thomas & Mercer for an eARC of Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage! As soon as I got approved for this, I knew I needed to finally read Baby Teeth. Having just had a baby, the book was absolutely terrifying - So I immediately binged Dear Hanna.

This book is different from Baby Teeth in that it's less of a "thriller" in my eyes - but no less chilling. The book follows Hanna, now all grown up. As a young child she tried to murder her own mother - And now 16 years later, she's writing letters to her younger brother and finds herself living a seemingly normal life, married and a step-mother. That is, until her step-daughter Joelle starts changing in ways that Hanna never anticipated. Can she control her dark urges?

I love Hanna's dark humor now as an adult, and this is the perfect follow up to Baby Teeth. It can definitely be read standalone, but the two together truly bring Hanna's story to an ending that feels complete. This is a great read if you're into psychology. Suspenseful with dark humor, you'll never know what's going to happen next. At times, I found this book really thought provoking but also sad. Although I know this is likely the end of Hanna's journey, I really look forward to seeing what Stage comes up with next!

I've never read Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage but I loved this standalone sequel. I will definitely be reading Baby Teeth in the near future as I've fallen in love with Hanna.
Hanna tried to murder her mom as a child and had to go to school for disturbed children. She is grown now and trying to be a good wife and stepmom. Her stepdaughter becomes pregnant which sends Hanna into a downward spiral....
I really like this kind of horror.

Good enough thriller type. I kept waiting for something bigger to happen but unfortunately it didn't really come. Our main character grew more and more unhinged and I was hoping the author would have taken it even further than she ended up going. Could have used a little more drama and tension.

I was skeptical of how well Hanna’s kid thoughts would translate to adulthood, but I really enjoyed this! It took me a bit to get into it (~10%), but then I couldn’t look away. Even for predictable moments, I was invested in the story, and there were surprising reveals.

Energy: Calamitous. Possessive. Diabolical.
Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in an upper-middle-class neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Perspective: We’re following a 24-year-old phlebotomist who has been struggling with homicidal traits and a lack of empathy since childhood. They aim to do better as they find a new family in their husband and his 16-year-old daughter. We also read mailed letters between the 24-year-old and their younger brother.

🐩 Tail Wags: The horrific moments and how Hanna handles or creates them. Hanna’s inner monologue. The plotting and scheming. All the characters and how wacky but real they feel. Nuanced commentary (almost points out how we all are a little unhinged sometimes). Show-not-tell style for Hanna’s true character and the consequences/complexity of treating her condition.

🤔 Random Thoughts:
We aren’t told if Hanna has been diagnosed with anything specific, but we know that since childhood, she’s had these traits. Like many, she finds it difficult to set boundaries in relationships. So, there are relatable or sympathetic moments she just handles them…differently. Some of her actions are horrifying, and others are kinda cathartic in the darkest way.

This book can be read as a standalone or companion to Baby Teeth. If you choose to read Baby Teeth after this, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the childhood and parents Hanna alludes to. If you read it before, your feelings toward child Hanna could influence how much you like or dislike her now.

Whether you root for or against Hanna (or both), this could still be a fun read. We aren’t required to like her, but she felt human, not over-the-top villainous. It is a character study, though, so it could feel like not much happens if you aren’t a fan of those.

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🎬 Tale-Telling: Straightforward and unflinchingly honest with reflective, intimate and ironic moments.
👥 Characters: Unhinged but forthright. Peripheral characters range from idealistic and sweet to unlikeable and infuriating.
🤓 Reader Role: Sitting on Hanna’s shoulder, overseeing her schemes, motives, hopes, fears, and justifications.
🗺️ World-Building: Eerie and foreboding through subtle, unsettling details and the characters' psychological states.
🔥 Fuel: A mix of character evolution, emotional investment, and moral quandaries. What will Hanna do? Will she go through with her plan? What will happen next?
📖 Cred: I almost want to say hyper-realistic in that our main character’s way of thinking mirror that of some perpetrators in true crime stories.
🚙 Journey: Mess of a disaster in the best way. Most of it was me thinking, ‘Hanna, you aren’t wrong, you should say/do something about this. Wait, what? THAT’S your plan? What’s wrong with you?!” with escalating tension and stakes as the story unfolds.

Mood Reading Match-Up:
-TV in the background. Coffee in the morning. Pencil on paper. Carlock chirps. Gently closed doors. Keys tossed. Glasses clinking. Distant vacuum. Disinfectant.
-Character study of a young adult who thinks she’s found her perfect system for fitting in
-Blended family drama and feels

Content Heads-Up: Personality disorder/psychopathy. Abortion (attempted; discussion). Attempted murder. Drugging. Pregnancy. Miscarriage (topic/discussed). Loss of a parent. Alcohol use.

Rep: Cisgender. Heterosexual. White and ambiguous Americans.

📚 Format: Advance Reader's Copy from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

This is the sequel Baby Teeth deserves. A deep psychological examination of a broken woman doing her best to function. However, it's Hanna, and her best means someone may die. This was an unexpected take on the character, and I applaud Stage's guts for taking this on an unexpected direction. This is not a simple rehash of Baby Teeth. This is an evolution.

Stage exhibits some of her best writing here. She manages to make thus seriously disturbed young woman likable. Dare I say, she gets us to root for Hanna. And although we don't want Hanna to kill someone, we do want her to conquer her demons. The ending was very satisfying. And, yes, I want a third book.

I would highly recommend.

I actually enjoyed this more than Baby Teeth and loved experiencing life through Hanna's perspective as an adult. Though I wasn't surprised by the twist, I was engrossed in this book from start to finish. Would definitely recommend this and excited to read more from this author.

I enjoyed this follow up to baby teeth, it was a quick read told from Hanna's point of view.

I'd like to thank netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book

I'm a huge fan of Zoje Stage. This is a sequel to BABY TEETH, which I never thought would happen. I couldn't picture Hanna as a functioning adult after the events of that book. But at the start, Hanna is doing great. She is a phlebotomist and derives sadistic pleasure from sticking needles into veins. Her calculating plan to snag an older man works; now he will take care of her. Hanna's life becomes comfortable and routine. She writes letters to her baby brother, goes on long runs, and holds down her job. Occasionally she throws some manipulation into the family to get attention. But when her husband's daughter, Joelle, gets pregnant, the spotlight turns on her. Hanna struggles to accept the change--and her Other self may just emerge again.

I liked how the book started quietly with only a few references to Hanna's past. Then the tension ramped up considerably through the second half as I wondered what she would do. I guessed the twist, but the way there was superb and satisfying. Now I have to wait patiently for whatever comes next from Stage.

This was my first book by this author and it has definitely inspired me to read more. This was an amazing story, great characters and a fantastic twist that i never saw coming. The main character Hanna was very strange with bizarre imagination indeed!! You just never knew what she was going to do next and then her story unfolds. Absolutely loved this book.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me an advanced copy to read in exchange for my open and honest review. As always, my reviews will also be posted on Amazon, Goodreads and Waterstones and interaction on Facebook and instagram where possible.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Dear Hanna follows Hanna, of course, years later from the first book, Baby Teeth, as a married adult. She tells us all about her continued struggles containing her dark side, especially when she learns something about her step-daughter. We also get to read her communications back and forth with her brother Goose. I did enjoy the twist at the very end, but wish it had come sooner. It felt like it was given to the reader at the last second and the rest of the book was just anticlimactic. I was bored most of the time reading this unfortunately. There just wasn’t much going on and the same thing was drug out. I would not recommend.

I was prepared for disappointment, unsure of how Zoje Stage would possibly follow up Baby Teeth without veering into the unbelievable or cliched villain. In my limited imagination, I could only come up with some schlocky, fake-reddit-post-level twists. But I shouldn't have worried--this was every bit as good as at the first. I won't say more for fear of spoiling the plot, but it's well worth a read.

Okay I LOVED hanging out with Hanna again!

This book was a bit slower for me than Baby Teeth, but we did have a lot of catching up to do with Hanna since she’s now an adult. It was so interesting to see her with a career and her own family, but also catch up with her parents along the way as well.

I’ll forever be wondering what that girl is up to.

I was stoked to receive an ARC from NetGalley to the sequel of Baby Teeth!! I thought Baby Teeth was creepy, enthralling, and dark! Dear Hanna lacked all of that. It was mid. I saw the twist coming from the start. The story lacked an overall plot. I loved seeing Hanna as an adult and the life she decided to build for herself. It was an easy to read novel. It just was boring and lacked the edge that the first book had.

Dear Hanna was so much more than I could ever ask for. Baby teeth was one of my top favorite reads when it was released and I’m so glad we were able to continue Hanna’s story. The twist towards the end totally blew me away. I was NOT EXPECTING THAT. Honestly I wish I could give Hanna a hug because I feel like she deserves it. I can’t recommend Dear Hanna enough. 5/5 stars!

I was so excited to receive an advanced copy of the audio book. I’ve waited for Dear Hanna to be released for a quite some time and it did not disappoint. This story follows Hanna, who is now all grown up. She’s having to deal with adult responsibilities in her new life. It is difficult to relate to a sociopath, but Zoje Stage made it much easier in this Baby Teeth follow-up. This is a must read if you enjoyed Baby Teeth! The audiobook was great, the narrator did an awesome job.

This book was so dang good.

Things I liked:
- Hanna and her creepiness
- The storyline and plot overall was easy to follow, enjoyable and thrilling.

The one and only thing I don’t like. Was the fact that it jumped from the last timeline of the book to her being an adult…and only alittle about what was I between it all. I’m talking like a decade and a half of nothing

Overall really loved this book!

I really enjoyed Baby Teeth, so I was very excited to be able to read an early copy of the follow up novel Dear Hanna. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity.
This book was so different from Baby Teeth, as it’s told from Hanna’s perspective as an adult, married with a teen aged step-daughter. It also incorporates letters written between Hanna and her younger brother Goose.
The twists blew me away! I’m excited to recommend this book.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage.

There is definitely a whole vibe that Stage is going for in her novels, this is the third I've read of her's.

I love a dark and twisty suspense, but this wasn't really dark, or twisty enough for me. Worse than that, it was reeeeally slow. Way too much build up, not near enough pay off. There was absolutely nothing about the end of the book that surprised me, at all. And it took forever to get there.

It's not a bad book, I wouldn't say it's boring, or dry, I just don't know if it's worth the time.

I love that Hanna is a little bit of a menace. We don't have enough books with likable women who are also menaces and weirdos.
She is hilarious and low key evil and I love her. She is a whole problem.
I love that this is a domestic drama with normal stuff but Hanna is absolutely not normal. It was lovely.

I'm so glad we got to spend more time with Hanna! Baby Teeth was the book that got me back into reading as an adult, so it's only fitting that I read this in one night, haha.

DH picks back up with Hanna years after she gets out of the special school, while she's still living with her parents but looking for a way out. She meets a widowed man with a young daughter and, at first, married life is easy and breezy although Hanna doesn't love the idea that she's become "domestic." Hanna's world turns upside down when her stepdaughter, Jo, gets into trouble and Hanna has to find a way to prevent Jo from the biggest mistake in her life. Of course, she does so in the classic Hanna fashion we saw in Baby Teeth. Part of the story is told throughout Hanna's letters to her brother, Goose, who is always down for any of Hanna's plans. For me, the letters somewhat disrupted the action of Hanna's home life but I can see why this relationship was important for her.

It was so much fun, thank you for this ARC of my most anticipated book of forever!