Debut Review: Baby Teeth

Author: Zoje Stage

Publication Date: July 17, 2018

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

A battle of wills between mother and daughter reveals the frailty and falsehood of familial bonds in award-winning playwright and filmmaker Zoje Stage’s tense novel of psychological suspense, Baby Teeth.

Afflicted with a chronic debilitating condition, Suzette Jensen knew having children would wreak havoc on her already fragile body. Nevertheless, she brought Hanna into the world, pleased and proud to start a family with her husband Alex. Estranged from her own mother, Suzette is determined to raise her beautiful daughter with the love, care, and support she was denied.

But Hanna proves to be a difficult child. Now seven-years-old, she has yet to utter a word, despite being able to read and write. Defiant and anti-social, she refuses to behave in kindergarten classes, forcing Suzette to homeschool her. Resentful of her mother’s rules and attentions, Hanna lashes out in anger, becoming more aggressive every day. The only time Hanna is truly happy is when she’s with her father. To Alex, she’s willful and precocious but otherwise the perfect little girl, doing what she’s told.

Suzette knows her clever and manipulative daughter doesn’t love her. She can see the hatred and jealousy in her eyes. And as Hanna’s subtle acts of cruelty threaten to tear her and Alex apart, Suzette fears her very life may be in grave danger…

This is one of the creepiest books I have read in a long time. The story follows Suzette, who loves her daughter but is dealing with a lot of health problems herself and her daughter’s tricks are becoming more and more sophisticated. Hanna is a sweet, innocent child in the eyes of her father, but he doesn’t realize just how much Hanna wants her mother out of the picture so she can be raised by him alone. Hanna, right from the start, tries to plot against her mother – she plans to fatally harm her. This was difficult to read and Hanna was a hard character to read about because no part of me wanted to imagine or believe that a small child can be this devilish. I wasn’t a huge fan of Suzette either. She came off as selfish and self-centered, but then would feel bad about Hanna’s character or unhappiness. She was a confusing and hard character to follow.

Baby Teethis going to be one of the most talked about books of the year. I feel like its sole purpose was to terrify and shock the reader – and it did just that! Sometimes I felt like I was reading a Stephen King novel – Stage was brave and bold with her writing – she did things that were uncharacteristic of a debut author. I was intrigued by her writing and the thought processes she must have had while writing this book. I cringed at times, I was frustrated at times, but ultimately, I was creeped out. I loved that I got to see Hanna's perspective as well as Suzette's. If Stage set out to write the eeriest book of the year, she did just that!

“It was hard to pour endless love into someone who wouldn't love you back. No one could do it forever.”

“Now that she knew the name of the game - Scare Mommy - she should be able to defend herself. But goosebumps rose on her skin, even under the heat of the water, when she thought about her creepy daughter. The whites of her eyes. Her ability to sneak up on her as she slept.”

“We had an accident--'

Suzette cut Alex off. 'Hanna's trying to kill me.”

***A free copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest review***