“Unnerving and unputdownable, BABY TEETH will get under your skin and keep you trapped in its chilling grip until the shocking conclusion.” –New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline 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 … 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.
Read the first ten chapters of BABY TEETH, a story about a perfect-looking family, and a mute little girl who wants nothing more than to kill her mother.
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I know there are lots of people out there that enjoyed (and loved) Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage but man, this one just did not work for me. I listened to the audio and Gabra Zackman was AMAZING for setting the vibe and doing Hanna’s voice, but unfortunately she was the only thing I really liked about this book. It felt very repetitive and monotonous to me, and while Hanna is a little devil child, I didn’t particularly care for her viewpoint or hearing about what she was doing. And I know I always say its fiction so it doesn’t have to be realistic, but there is just no way this would ever happen, and it was really frustrating to see how both Suzette and her husband acted. I definitely recommend people trying out Baby Teeth for themselves since I am in the minority, but I highly suggest doing the audiobook and I will still be checking out Stage’s next book hoping for better luck! DNF at 39%.
Thank you to the publisher for my advance review copy via NetGalley. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
“Baby Teeth” by Zoje Stage tells the story of an at-risk family. Seven-year-old Hanna doesn’t speak, but she makes herself known in other ways. She barks like a ferocious dog when she wants to frighten someone. She flutters her eye lashes when she wants to charm. She reads and writes, surfs the internet, and connives. Half of the story is told from her Point of View. The other half is told by her distraught mother, Suzette, who is the target of Hanna’s displeasure. Completing the family is the father who spends most of his time at work and in denial.
This book looks at mental illness in unique way. It is chilling. It shows the guilt inherent in even the most devoted of parents. “Am I doing this right? Did I react wrong? Am I fit to be a parent?” These two try their best to love and support for their troubled child through it all, even when things get really creepy.
The ending leaves the story line open, so it will be interesting to see if Zoje Stage writes a sequel with a more mature Hanna.
(By the way, My little steel heart beat happy when I recognized the setting of this disturbing book. I was pleased to visit some of the places I love in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, like the Phipps’ Conservatory, Shadyside, Pitt, or the Carnegie Museum.)
Ending was stupid. Plot was ridiculous. Don’t waste your time
I read this book a while ago, so I don’t remember all the details, but what I do remember is that this book was a bit unsettling. Which I absolutely loved! I love when a book has the ability to make me feel something, to make me feel a little creeped out.
When’s the sequel? I still can’t look at my own kids the same.
This is one of those books where I found myself yelling at the characters. Not really all of them just one: Alex, the husband. I suppose that is good since I was emotionally involved; at the same time, I was yelling because he was being so stupid. Before I get too far into my thoughts, let me provide the basics on the story.
Alex and Suzette are happily married with one daughter: 7-year-old Hanna. Hanna doesn’t speak. Nothing is wrong biologically; she just doesn’t talk. Hanna also loves and adores her father, so much so that she views her mom as being in the way and wants her gone permanently. Since I always try to keep my reviews spoiler-free, I’m going to stop there.
A lot of the scares and creepiness in the story comes from Hanna being seven years old. How can someone so young be so vicious and calculating? And a good chunk of that is from a parent’s view: what did I do wrong while raising her? Is that really my sweet little girl? As a parent (coincidentally of a 7-year-old daughter), I understand those same thoughts from more of a What If perspective. What if I don’t like who she grows into? How much is it my fault? From that perspective, the story really hit home. Then there’s the other side where the characters (Alex) are being stupid and deserve to be slapped. How can he be in so much denial? At one point, Alex blames Suzette for not telling him everything and yet literally five minutes later, Hanna experiences a “disaster” that is 100% due to Alex not telling Suzette everything. It can be blamed on Alex being blind to the situation but it’s only in the last third of the book that he kind of wakes up to what is happening. I will admit that the end of the book surprised me. I was expecting a much more explosive climax. Instead it was a quieter ending. I suppose it should have been a chilling ending but to me it was too sedate. Another reviewer compared the book to “empty calories”. That sums it up perfectly. The book was a good read and enjoyable but looking back after finishing it, I realize that I wasn’t filled up as much as I thought.
Couldn’t put down. Really liked it. Creepy in a realistic way. Looking forward to reading more from this author!
It is one of the creepiest books. Didn’t care for some of the writing, somewhat sophomoric, yet, the writing made you want/need to know where the story was going. The daughter seemed to be a genius psycho with an adult level thinking pattern and the mother, the opposite. Dad was aloof and didn’t really care for his wife’s needs/fears, I guess he just wanted to stay there, until nearing the end. One thing I enjoyed the hell out of was the ending. Great ending! All in all, it is a pretty damn good story to read and entertain your thriller needs. I would read another Zoje Stage novel, thumbs up! ~
What? I mean…WHAT?
7 yr. old Hanna hates her mom and wants to kill her so she can have her daddy’s undivided attention.
Now you know everything it took me 304 repetitive pages to learn…
To me it was not scary at all. More like WTF, get this kid some mental help or something. if you like that kind of story, this is a book for you. Didn’t care for the mothers attitude toward her own child or the way they handled the problems with Hanna.
They say that when a #narcissist has a conversation they always have the upper hand. Unlike the person they’re speaking to, a narcissist isn’t concerned about saying the right things, being considerate, or if some of that kale salad they had for lunch might be stuck in their teeth. Narcissists are free from such worries and instead study their conversation partner closely, picking up on their insecurities and how they might be used and manipulated to the narcissist’s benefit. Scary, right? Oh, but it can be so much worse.
Suzette Jensen has a highly intelligent young daughter. Hannah is exponentially more dangerous than a mere narcissist. Hannah sees her mother as an obstacle, an enemy, a plaything to eventually be destroyed. Hannah spends her time devising (and then executing!) plans to get rid of Suzette. Unsurprisingly, Suzette has started to despise her daughter, her torturer, too, although loving her at the same time.
Creepy, sad and smart, I couldn’t put this book down. Suzette is also dealing with Crohn’s Disease, the trauma of which has shaped her into a woman who feels unworthy of her beautiful home and passionate (but in denial) Swedish husband. Suzette’s long term illness and fraught relationship with her own mother add to her insecurities about her parenting and marriage.
The often vicious but always fascinating Hannah is also finely drawn as complex and heart wrenching even as she scares the hell out of you. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage is a remarkable book by an exceptional writer. Highly recommended.
A nice creepy read! One of every parent’s worst nightmares!
I found the relationships between the characters to be very realistic. You are able to care for each character including the little girl.
Definitely a page turner. A good thriller I’d suggest to anyone who enjoys this genre!
#zojestage #babyteeth #bookstagram #bookreview #4star #lallahbookreview #readinginlallahland
I was expecting more from this book than a psychotic child with no reason for being psychotic It was weird
Disturbing. I’m a mom and this book gave me nightmares for a week. Nothing wrong with the book, but I wish I had never read it. The nightmares I had still stick with me.
I wavered here between a three star and a four star, only because of the frustrating, maddening end of this book. It was a great read until the last three pages, which is really no conclusion at all. We follow Suzette in her frustration at her increasingly aggressive daughter’s behavior. Hanna is daddy’s girl, and it takes half the book for Alex to “see” what their seven-year old Hanna is actually doing. The read is disturbing, and the reader never really figures out what is wrong with Hanna. Zoje Stage does a fine job telling this story from both Suzette’s perspective and from little Hanna’s viewpoint. Truly creepy, and Suzette is pretty lucky Hanna is only seven years old.
Like a lot of people who have reviewed this book, I found it impossible to put down. Occasionally I would have to stop and text my sister and my niece, both avid readers, just to share some of the creepiness with someone!
I’m a retired special education assistant, and once worked with a teenager who reminded me very much of Hanna, so I do have to take issue with the teacher’s aid who left Hanna and another student alone, “just for one minute.” It’s something you never, ever do; in fact, students are rarely even in a room alone with just one staff member, especially special needs children. In reality that aid would have been fired and the school would have been sued, and justly so. But, as other reviewers have said, sometimes you just have to suspend belief.
If you have a weak stomach, some of the descriptive information of Suzette’s Crohn’s Disease might be hard to take. I like to read while I’m eating, and had to skip over a few pages!
But with that being said, this book is definitely a must-read. I highly recommend it, and If there is a sequel as the ending seemed to suggest, I’m on it as soon as it comes out.
Zoje Stage truly horrifies in her thriller, ‘Baby Teeth.’ I promise if you pick up this book, you’ll not only fly through it, but you’ll be left pondering it long after the book closes.
The book is unique in the fact that the villain is a young child, Hanna. It becomes clear to the reader from the beginning that there is something severely wrong with seven-year-old Hanna–and her mother, Suzette, is aware of this fact, too. The book is told from both Suzette and Hanna’s voices and highlights a very tenuous mother-daughter relationship that surges into something terrifying.
I like that this book focused on a child as the main antagonist because it really added to the eerie feeling. Suzette and the reader both struggle with the fact that Hanna is truly plotting and evil because she is a child. We like to think of children as innocent, and we like to think that with the proper nurturing environment, children learn right from wrong. This book flips those notions on their head and makes us reconsider the nature vs. nurture argument in a thrilling way.
I could not put this book down because I needed to see how the author would resolve this horrifying situation. I could feel Suzette’s guilt, anger, and pain building as my own did. There were times I was seriously angry at the characters, which in my opinion is a sign of quality writing.
This book was tense and horrifying in a way few other books in this genre are. I admired the author’s ability to write about touchy subjects in a deep and meaningful way while also focusing on the horror of the situation.
This book will give you chills and make you reconsider everything you thought you knew about parenting, children, and the evil that lurks within.
Zoje Stage 5/5 stars
This book was absolutely one of the best I’ve read. It was a page turner and never would have guessed how it ended
I received an ARC copy from the publisher – St. Martin’s Press before this was released.
The story is told (in third person) from two points of view:
** Suzette (mom)
** Hanna (daughter)
The only other “major” character in this book is the husband/father Alex.
As Alex (dad) and mom (Suzette) sometimes speak Swedish, I would have preferred the author had placed a Swedish/English dictionary in either the beginning or the end of the book.
At the center is (7) year old Hanna, a smart (near brilliant) non-verbal child. She also has a “mean side” to her – to everyone, but her father. She despises school, and not only harbors evil thoughts against her mother, but other children as well.
Alex ADORES Hanna and doesn’t see her in the same light as Suzette. He sees Suzette’s concerns as complaining rather than actual warning signs there is something wrong. Even after Hanna’s misdeeds towards her mother, he cannot bring himself to accept what Suzette is telling him. Despite seeing a lack of affection between Hanna and her mom, he tends to blame Suzette. I found Alex a bit condescending to Suzette with regard to Hanna’s behavior and half expected him to say that Suzette was making it up. His side of the story would be interesting to explore. Did he know from the beginning that Hanna was bad but was hoping for the best? Or, was he truly that ignorant?
Because of a story his daughter likes, Alex brings her a “potato” to make one of the characters, but doesn’t tell Suzette about it. This potato toy plays a crucial role later on in the story, acting as a catalyst for Hanna to act on a fantasy, a near deadly one, towards her mother after a small accident.
A decision is made for the family – one that isn’t easy for them. Alex’s guilt comes out. It is in the closing chapters when Suzette and Alex are treated to an interesting surprise, but one that is suspicious. Alex’s tone changes at the end from complete ignorance to almost defeat, failure as a parent.
The story lacked an actual explanation for why Hanna was the way she was even at the end. What the writer established fails to provide the necessary justification in why Hanna is so cruel to her mother.
Why didn’t someone call the police when Hanna acted out? There were a few incidents, that in my opinion, the police should’ve been called – yet nothing. Didn’t the staff at the Urgent Care think to call the police to “check out the stories” – even if it would be misdirected at Alex? These are areas where the writer could’ve built on, but didn’t.
The only parental relationship explored was Suzette and her mother (after her father died). The reader has no way of knowing what Alex’s relationship with his parents was like.
The writer, while this is her first outing, missed a few spots in hitting the mark.
Ok I don’t see why so many liked this book , so many times I wanted to throw it. So long dragged out , swearing when not needed , sex in detail not needed, nothing creepy .Seen it in bad seed ,just boring different take on it. On to findingafinding a better read to try and erase this mistake out of my head.