Baby Teeth: A Novel

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Imagine having someone who you expect will love you, not love you. And not only do they not love you? They LOATHE you. Zoje Stage Thank you so much, Renee! Maybe not surprisingly, it's a bit of a long story. I'll give you the highlights... These are the questions that Suzette faces day in and day out. Her daughter is not her bouncy, red-cheeked little baby anymore. Her daughter, Hanna, is now a monster, a devil. Stage pits all three in the Jensen family against each other, and it’s intricately detailed with emotion. Although it does seem to take a long time for the father, Alex to come to his senses and see that something is seriously wrong with his daughter, he acts as anchor point for the reader, the center-point in the see-saw of doubt. The supernatural elements are minor, with Stage introducing witches and hints of Walpurgis Night into the mix, but still these are intended to keep the reader wondering what is truly going on with Hanna.

Maher, Kevin. "Babyteeth review — an emotionally shattering feature debut from Shannon Murphy". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460 . Retrieved 14 August 2020. From blazing new talent Zoje Stage, Baby Teeth is a story about a perfect-looking family, and a darling little girl who wants nothing more than to kill her mother.” I believe I’m going to bust out my complement sandwich for this review... as a refresher a complement sandwich is good/bad/good.... so in short the bad is sandwiched in between the good..... I also want to make it very clear that I read this with a group and I was in the true minority on this.... so the opinions in this review are absolutely my own and my review should be read with the understanding that this book is unquestionably not for everybody....

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Between this and Alex, Hannah’s father, I just started to get even more frustrated. He was completely useless in this story due to denial and constantly saying “älskling” and “lilla gumman” 39,827 times in this novel was overkill. It completely took me out of the reading experience since his character irritated me and not in a cool or evil way. Now her mother...well, that’s another matter. If only mommy wasn’t around...if only she didn’t have to share daddy with her. Adelai, Amina; Farran-Lee, Lydia (25 January 2021). "Charter och Spring Uje spring tog hem de tunga priserna". SVT (in Swedish) . Retrieved 25 January 2021. There’s a definite creep-factor to Hanna; the girl’s malevolent mind-games becoming increasingly more sophisticated. As a reader you are constantly second-guessing yourself. Is she acting out, or is she truly evil? There are many parallels in the tale to other novels like The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, and occasionally it feels like familiar territory, but what sets Baby Teeth apart is that it goes much deeper into the trials of being a parent and childhood mental illness. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Stage, Zoje. Baby Teeth. St. Martin's Press, 2018.

As the hurtful acts between mother and daughter escalate, reading this book became more difficult. So hard to imagine a seven year old child plotting and carrying out the despicable acts that she committed. It was really just too dark and depressing for me. (Even though my inner-voice kept trying to remind me…it’s just a book!) Perhaps if the child was portrayed as older, capable of higher level of thought it might have been more palatable for me. Several years ago, while I was still pursuing a career as a filmmaker, I wrote a script that I wanted to direct called "Hands and Knees." It involved a family similar to BABY TEETH's, but the theme was quite different: it was about a woman who was becoming overwhelmed by what she perceived to be the horrors of domesticity. As an intended film, it was geared more toward mood (cool, detached) and a cinematic look.

So, maybe I should get to the review. Sweet little Hanna is 7 years old and is silent. She loves her daddy, Alex, so much. Mommy, Suzette, is awful and she needs to go. Hanna wants daddy’s attention all to herself. This is told in alternating POV between Hanna and Suzette. 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.

Booksource: I received a copy of this book from the Publisher. Because I have someone who doesn't hate me and begged for it! Pure win! (I loved it all on my own) I received a copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 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. Or maybe...Mommy was always fussing about how she looked, and she glowed whenever Daddy said she was beautiful.” As I said earlier, this book won’t be for everyone. I do wonder if it would fit more into the horror genre. I found it diabolical and creepy and I’m really glad I read it. “Baby Teeth” is definitely a book I won’t soon forget. I’m very curious to see what Zoje Stage is going to come up with next.

Zoje Stage’s debut novel Baby Teeth is a deliciously creepy tale that pushes the boundaries of the dysfunctional family into very dark territory. For Milla, it’s a headlong rush into first love. Like her character, Scanlen makes every moment count – a single loaded look, which sweeps between her parents and Moses, contains a symphony of emotions, starting with adolescent defiance and ending with an ache of uncertainty and longing. I have a problem with the pacing. I was bored sometimes and to my mind, the book was overwritten. It has some unnecessary scenes. If I cut it off nobody would notice. I don't like that Suzette has Crohn's disease. It was useless. I also don't like when the author collects the problem. Less is sometimes more. Hannah was just enough.