Dear Hanna - Zoje Stage

I was late to the party with Baby Teeth, I’ve only just read it in anticipation of this the follow-up. I loved Baby Teeth, one of the very best ‘disturbing child’ books I’ve read.

I couldn’t wait to read Dear Hanna and read it immediately after Baby Teeth.

Hanna, the troubled child in Baby Teeth in is her twenties. She’s living a reasonably normal adult with a job, a successful husband and a teenage stepdaughter, Joelle.
Changes in Joelle threaten to derail Hanna’s normality and send her back to her old, manipulative, destructive ways.

I’m sorry to say I was rather disappointed. It’s fairly slow, and sort of anxious rather than offering the disturbing, shocking delights of Baby Teeth. I would have liked more pace, threat and shocks. Perhaps it’s just the reality that a disturbed manipulative child trying to harm a parent is a lot more fun to read about than an anxious twenty-something wife and stepmom.

Hanna’s character is well setup and her life story is interesting but I wanted a bit more plot and more disturbing shocking moments.

I’m sorry to say it as I like this author’s writing.

3.5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer

She’s back! Hanna is back in all her evil sociopathic glory. Fast forward years past “Baby Teeth,” we find Hanna married with a teenage stepdaughter and a successful career in phlebotomy. Hanna and her stepdaughter are only 8 years apart in age and are very close. Hanna also maintains a close relationship with her brother, writing to each other often. Hanna has learned to exist in society and have a successful family life because she knows how to behave in a way that doesn’t cause trouble, no matter what she is thinking or feeling. When Hanna’s stepdaughter starts causing changes in the family dynamic and getting more attention because of her action's, Hanna is forced to act. Dark, fast paced thriller that is impossible to put down. Fingers crossed that we get another book about Hanna.

Dear Hanna, I just don’t know…

I loved most of this book. At first, I wasn’t sure about Hanna. She wasn’t what I expected from the first book. She’s definitely…softer. But as I read on, she had shades of Joe Goldberg. I mean, yes, she’s so very wrong, but you just keep hoping she’ll find her happy. (And you absolutely HATE her enemies.) Sometimes I felt like Hanna needed a big hug.

But there’s a conceit in the book that didn’t work for me. It was supposed to be a big reveal. The only problem is that it seemed very obvious in the first 10% of the book. And since that didn’t work for me, any twist and revealed was rendered completely null.

Overall, I really did enjoy the book. Part of me, however, wishes that we’d just kept Hanna the way she was.

• ARC via Publisher

I loved reading Baby Teeth so I was excited to read this one from adult Hanna. It was interesting to read things from Hannas perspective as a grown adult, married with a step daughter. Her mentality hasn't really changed from being a child - she still wants to be the center of attention and she will stoop to any level to get there.

While it was interesting reading things from Hannas perspective, nothing really happened. She was very much all talk and no action. I think what drew me to Baby Teeth so much is how creepy a child acting this way is but it just doesn't have the same impact when an adult is acting this way.

I think this is a fantastic follow up to Baby Teeth. Sure, Hanna Jenson is a sociopath but she has layers. The world she lives in isn’t necessarily the same world we live in and that can make life complicated. Five stars.

I throughly enjoyed this book especially not knowing it was a sequel until I remembered information from the first novel. Hanna is all grown up and has a family of her own now but will it work out…

Book: Dear Hannah
Author: Zoje Stage
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Estimated Publication Date: Aug 14, 2024
Capone’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ of 5⭐

Summary (beware, some potential spoilers, but nothing explicitly spoily): We meet Hannah in her mid-20s. She’s crafted a life for herself based on what she perceives to be the best possible circumstances for living the life she wants. Most importantly, that life is totally separate from contact with her parents. She writes to her brother regularly, and they exchange advice about everything from choices in artistic expression to how to murder an enemy. The main conflict here comes from a drastic shift in family roles, upsetting her perfect arrangement. How will she maintain control, given that most of the changes are totally out of her hands?

Riding along with Hannah as she navigates a world full of humans she doesn’t get (relatable), I found myself rooting for her even when she was planning to do precisely the wrong thing because it seemed the best among terrible options… there’s much to be said for an author who can make a character’s insane choices seem perfectly reasonable.

This novel gets five stars because of the reality of its unreality: at no point during my time spent with the characters did I remember that I was reading a book. I was tickled, of course, that the book was set in Pittsburgh (Yay! Giant Eagle! Beacon Street! And the on-ramp toward Monroeville from Squirrel Hill is a no-go zone for me, too—I will add time to my drive and go through Swissvale or Regent Square to avoid it…). A head-spinner, this story makes me feel at home in an uncomfortable psyche. Although this book is probably promoted as a sequel to Stage’s 2018 Baby Teeth (the book that gave me what I’ve always wanted: a story about a little kid trying to kill their mother), I’m certain you can read Dear Hannah without any familiarity with the earlier title. I recommend both books; like Baby Teeth, Dear Hannah is sure to capture and hold its readers.

WOW, I was so thrilled to read this follow up to Baby Teeth. Zoje Stage is brilliant. This book, like the first, just drew me in immediately. I could not put it down. I highly recommend to thriller lovers!

Stage’s best novel so far, without a doubt. While I loved baby teeth, Dear Hanna was everything and so much more. I loved adult Hanna. I found the way her mind worked so interesting. I want to keep following her around! A trilogy??? Pretty please 🙏🏼

WOAH….it has been a while since I’ve had a book snag me in from the beginning and hold tight until the end!! Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review!! #NetGalley #DearHanna

If you're ready to dive into the twisted mind of a grown-up sociopath, buckle up because Zoje Stage's "Dear Hanna" is one heck of a ride.

Hanna is no stranger to dark thoughts – she once tried to off her own mother as a kid. But hey, that was ages ago, right? Now, at twenty-four, she's seemingly got her life together. Married to Jacob, a real estate agent, and playing stepmom to his daughter Joelle, Hanna's living the domestic dream. Oh, and she's also a phlebotomist, which, let's be honest, is a tad terrifying given her occasional need to hurt people.

But when Joelle starts acting up, Hanna's carefully constructed facade begins to crumble. And let me tell you, there's nothing scarier than a sociopath losing control. With old habits resurfacing and manipulation tactics in full swing, Hanna's descent into darkness is both chilling and utterly captivating.

What makes "Dear Hanna" so compelling is its dark humor and irresistibly seductive protagonist. Despite her twisted ways, there's something oddly endearing about Hanna. Maybe it's her self-awareness or her troubled past, but you can't help but root for her – even when she's up to no good.

Stage's storytelling is razor-sharp, keeping you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. And while the pacing may lag in places, the meticulous development of Hanna's character more than makes up for it. Plus, Stage's author's note at the end provides some fascinating insight into the relationship between "Dear Hanna" and its predecessor, "Baby Teeth."

So, if you're a fan of psychological thrillers with a side of dark humor, "Dear Hanna" is a must-read. Just be prepared to be completely sucked into Zoje Stage's twisted world – once you start, you won't be able to put it down.

I liked Baby Teeth and was interested to see the direction Dear Hanna was going to go in. Sadly this book fell flat for me. Dear Hanna lacked the creep factor that Baby teeth had, and was paced much slower. Every time something devious was going to happen it just fell apart and I was left disappointed. There was no twist and the ending was very anticlimactic.

Dear Hanna,

How could you? How could you just end and leave me wanting MORE? Rude…..

What can I say about Dear Hanna other than the fact that Zoje Stage has outdone herself this time. Baby Hanna was a force to be reckoned with and now adult Hanna? YIKES!

Dear Hanna was an amazing look into the mind of someone that isn’t as well put together as people would think she is. This novel gave me some You (Carolyn Keynes) vibes and I also could totally see Hanna and Maeve (from CJ Leede’s Maeve Fly), as best friends just tearing up the town.

Stage has not only crafted an amazing stand alone(ish) story, and I challenge you to not wanna read Baby Teeth if you haven’t already), but she also has done something that is unheard of….creating a sequel as if not better than the original.

This story will resonate with me for quite awhile and I know I won’t stop wondering what Is next in the life of our sweet Hanna….

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to dive into the kind of Hanna one life time.

Zoje Stage knocked another one out of the park with, “Dear Hanna”. I read “Baby Teeth” when it first came out and it was so deliciously dark and unsettling. Hanna was a very disturbed and dangerous child, attempting several attempts to kill her mother while also manipulating her father into believing she wouldn’t do what she was accused of. Now Hanna is an adult with a career as a phlebotomist and looking to have a family of her own. She meets the type of man she is looking for at her job while drawing his daughter’s blood. As Hanna tries to navigate life as a wife and stepmother, changes within her new family are stressful for her and she takes to writing and sending letters to her younger brother.
Hanna’s past is catching up with her and going along for the ride was exhilarating and wild.
I read a lot of thriller books that tend to not leave an impression for long after. This is not the case with anything written by Zoje Stage.

" Baby Teeth" was a five star review for me but Hannah as an adult is not quite as interesting as Hannah as an evil child. Hannah is now 20 at the beginning of the book and 24 for most of the story. She is married to Jacob who is 40 years old and is a widower with a 12 year old girl. We are never quite sure why Hannah is married to him except for her desire to have a comfortable life. I would say that most of the book is about the everyday problems people have with being a stepmother and trying to navigate being the parent of a teenager. This isn't particularly interesting and repetitive. Hannah works as a phlebotomist, a job she enjoys because it allows her to sometimes hurt people by twisting the needle around and around until they scream. The fact that it takes years of her doing this (not to all patients) for some people to complain makes no sense. In addition to her blood duties, she spends time writing letters to her fifteen year old brother Goose. I think it is pretty obvious what is going on there. She also frequently talks to or mentions her stuffed animal friend that she keeps in a box.

Despite the above things we are supposed to think she and sensible Jacob have a great marriage and the calming tricks she learned from therapy are enough for him not to notice she is not well. Then something happens within the family which cause Hannah to lose her mental health to a larger degree and she starts to spiral into destruction. I like the author's writing style but thought the set-up of this was just not interesting enough compared to the previous novel. The author leaves an afterword calling Hannah a sociopath but Hannah is clearly a psychopath who is very invested in hurting or killing people. I will continue to read Stage's novels because she is very good at storytelling but I wasn't crazy about this one. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

I love Baby Teeth so much! So when Dear Hanna was announced to be coming out, I was excited to step back into Hanna world.
Zoje Stage did not disappoint. An adult version of Hanna is a thing to be reckon with. Hanna mind and control are in constant state of chaos and chess.
Dare I say or hope for 3rd book to tie up the next stage in Hanna life.

Oh, how I have been looking forward to this! I LOVED Baby Teeth and was so excited for a sequel. Hanna, now an adult, is somehow a stable and functioning member of society. At least until her step-daughter is expecting a child and Hanna is re-triggered of childhood memories.

Is Hanna just misunderstood and traumatized, or is she actually a sociopath?

This was such a quick read! I think Baby Teeth was better, but this was definitely the sequel I was looking for.

Dear Hanna follows adult, Hanna, whom we first met in Baby Teeth. This time, we get the POV straight from the unwell mind of Hanna. I wasn’t a huge fan of Baby Teeth but wanted to see what Hanna was like as an adult. It was lackluster and I was mostly bored.

It took me half the book to realize this was a standalone sequel to baby teeth. The story was okay, the ending just fell flat to me.

I was so excited to get my (digital) hands on an early copy of this new book by @zoje.stage_author. The sequel to “Baby Teeth,” this picked up the story of Hanna, a now 24 year old with lingering psychopathic tendencies. Jumping from 7 to 24 is a tough move, but her voice rang true and I think the story was fresh and well told. There were some ✨truly unsettling✨ moments and the twist at the end slapped me in the face, in a way that never happens for me. It maybe isn’t quiet as scary as its predecessor, but still an absolute must read.