Everyone has been raving about this book and I can see why. I couldn't put it down! This thriller about a dysfunctional family was so well written it had me turning the pages SO fast. I am looking forward to more books from this author.

Baby Teeth is a psychological thriller. The story alternates between the POVs of a mother and daughter (Suzette and 7 year old Hanna).

This story is told in 3rd person POVs. Hanna is a devil child. And Suzette is her mom who is trying to figure out what to do. Hanna can talk, but she doesn't. She is an angel to her father. But different around her mother.

I really wanted to love this book. But honestly Hanna was just so creepy. It's hard to explain disliking a child so much. But I really did not like her at all. And the chapters from her point of view often seemed way more grown up than what a seven year old would be able to articulate.

The beginning was just okay for me. The story did get more interesting for me as it progressed. But overall it was just such a creepy and disturbing premise. How would a child that young be a psychopath? The end was too open-ended for me.

Hoooooooooooooooooooooooo boy.

This book is incredibly reminiscent of We Need to talk About Kevin, but what makes this even more intense and incredibly disturbing is that we get not only the mother's POV, but also the child's.

Suzette and Alex are a very happy couple, very much in love. He's a successful architect (pretty sure that's his profession), she was an interior designer before stopping to become a stay-at-home mother. With a rough childhood and a very painful chronic illness, she's a bit of a nervous wreck, but she wants nothing more than a happy family. Alex is loving, to her and especially to their child, but he works long hours and is sometimes not the most observant person.

Hanna is their daughter. Hanna is beautiful, and incredibly smart. Seemingly, her only fault is her inability to speak, either she can't or she won't. Nothing is medically wrong with her, medical scans show she's fine. She just doesn't speak. Otherwise, she's absolutely perfect.

I mean, she's also a homicidal little demon spawn, but other than that...



This book is seriously intense. Much like WNTTAK, the question becomes, what makes a child bad? Is it nature, or nurture? Is a child "born bad", with wonky wiring? Or is there something lacking in the parenting, in the environment, that leads to those sphincter-tightening stories you read about on the internet when people are asked, "What's the creepiest thing your child has ever said to you?"

Unlike with Kevin, I think I know what made Hanna a bad child. But I'll keep that to myself.

I am really glad I never had children.

Reading the plot of this book, I thought it would very similar to the character of Rhoda from The Demon Seed. I was so wrong. The child character of Hanna in this book is evil and manipulative and very bright for 7 years old. She adores her father but truly hates her mother for what she somehow feels is taking her father's attention away from her. So, she decides to remove her mother from their lives. I felt this book very interesting. The ending of the book was what I thought left open to possibly a continuation of this story. I look forward to knowing what happen where the book left off if the author decides to do a sequel. All in all, I enjoyed it and hope to see more from this author. Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy of this book.

This novel was a five-star read for me! The intensity in this book was incredibly portrayed through its entirety. I am a huge fan of "domestic family psychological thrillers" myself and this book definitely lived up to my expectations. As a mother myself, it was a little creepy at times to read, but not enough to make me not want to continue reading to see what happened next. I will be recommending this book to all my friends and family members who love to read!

I absolutely loved this book, it was refreshingly intriguing intense!
Hanna LOVES her Daddy. Her Mommy?

Not so much….
It's a book you'll love it hate... Not a book everyone is going to love.
It give Daddy's little girl a whole new meaning. The narration was perfect for this book , it was if I was in the mind of the child I could see it so clearly it was like watching a movie (which I hope gets turned into one)
You see….Hanna doesn’t speak.

“Words, ever unreliable, were no one’s friend”

Hanna knows how much Mommy wants her to talk.

“Mommy was failing her tests to prove her motherly love.”

Is Hanna choosing not to talk?

“if it’s a matter of her refusing…WON’T requires a different type of doctor than CAN’T.”

Hanna’s favorite game is “Scare Mommy” and she likes to make special projects for Mommy too. VERY special.

WOW! I have such conflicting emotions about this one!

Imagine having someone who you expect will love you, not love you. And not only do they not love you? They LOATHE you.

They wish you didn’t exist….

The story is told from Hanna and Suzette’s alternating perspectives. There are some terrifying and dysfunctional scenes in this book. I haven’t read “The Dinner” or “We Need to Talk About Kevin” (books that this has been compared to) so I wouldn’t know how it stacks up against them.

“Baby Teeth” seems to be in its own league. A ball of darkness and wickedness that will make you squirm. I couldn’t put this sucker down. I read it in two sittings and honestly, when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it.

I wondered if a seven-year-old was capable of some of the acts committed. Could a child be that diabolical and manipulative? I think this is one of those books that if you look at it closely, yes you will probably see a lot of things that push the believability envelope…right off the table. However, it ended up not mattering if things were all possible or believable…. I was pulled right into the story.

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.
I can't wait for more from this author, I'd love to be approved for upcoming titles.

Dark. So dark. This novel was so well written and psychologically disconcerting that I stretched reading it out. Hanna and Suzette’s story will stay with you long after you have finished this book. Nothing is stronger than the bond between a parent and child and nothing is more horrifying when there isn’t one...

Wow - this was an interesting book. Although some reviews state it's for pure entertainment I think readers could really discuss the positioning of the mom Suzette and the daughter Hanna. Without giving anything away I could see both sides of the story and I found myself more team Hanna even if she was manipulative and possibly dangerous. Okay well possibly is probably an understatement! The overall story flowed well and I felt it was an easy read. I found it hard to put down and it had good pacing. Thank you to St. Marin's Press for this ARC. I would definitely recommend!

Suzette is having a hard time parenting her child. Little Hanna loves her Father but thinks her Mother is keeping him away from her. Alex just wants everyone to love one another. He loves his wife and cannot believe that his darling little girl can be evil. Finally, after some terrible “accidents” Alex cannot ignor his wife’s concerns.
This was a very interesting read. I liked the back and forth between Suzette and Hanna. It also brings up the question of nature versus nurture.
I would definitely recommend it.

This novel can be summed up with a few words … creepy, disturbing and disgusting.

Suzette is a stay-at-home mother of seven-year-old Hanna, who cannot―or will not―speak and is scared to death of her daughter. Alex, Hanna’s father, wants to believe his wife’s accounts of Hanna’s cruel and unusual behavior, but Alex never sees this side of Hanna. She shows her daddy only the best.

Hanna made my skin crawl and stomach to churn. Simply put she freaked me out! I thought the author did a nice job making Hanna’s character scary. While I found the actions of this seven-year-old unbelievable at times, I often forget her age because I was too busy cringing and hiding my face because of her actions.

As I mentioned, I found Baby Teeth creepy, disturbing and downright disgusting, but I kept turning the pages. What was really happening? Disappoint crept in because I don’t feel I got the full answer to that question. And I needed an answer to that. I needed that firm solution, but maybe in situations like these there are no firm solutions.

If you find horror and talk of witches unlikable, don’t pick up this book, it’s not for you. While these are not among my favorite subjects, there was something compelling about this book and I’m glad I read it.

Tonight, I won’t let an inch of my body hang over the bed. Something could be under there to get me you know!

I could NOT put this book down!!!! From looking at other reviews it seems that not everyone was as fascinated or impressed by it as I was, but honestly it was so intriguing! I just had to find out what Hanna was going to do next, and what was going to happen (or not happen) to Suzette. I have never really read a book that discussed such a dark and twisted relationship between mother and child. I hope to read more books by Zoje Stage, excellent read, would recommend to anyone who loves mystery and dark stories about the hidden dynamics of family relationships.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage is on the edge of being a thriller or a horror novel. It’s not one that is going to give a reader whiplash with too many twists or turns but a more straightforward on the edge of your seat wait to see just how far will the characters go type of read.

This is the story of a seven year old little girl named Hannah who really loves her Daddy, perhaps even a bit too much. Hannah’s feelings about her Mommy on the other hand are not too nice at all. Mommy is the barrier between Hannah having all of her Daddy’s love to herself so Mommy needs to go.

The story changes the point of view between Hannah and her mother, Suzette, with each chapter that goes by as readers get to know them both better and just what goes on between them and their thoughts. Up until this point Hannah has been non-verbal so her parents have tried and tried to do what is right for her but Suzette is at her wits end at the point we join their tale.

I have to say I’ve seen a lot of reviews on this title already when it’s not even out yet and it seems to be one that is a bit hit or miss with readers. For me I actually became quite engrossed with the book and waiting to see what would happen with a part of me thinking that there are probably parents/children out there that may mirror this family in real life. Not that I expect a specific child to go to Hannah’s extremes but I know there are children that act up for one parent and not the other and in the day and age of kids picking up guns to solve their issues it’s obvious there are problems that exist in the world so Hannah took on a whole new light while reading for me. I always enjoy a book that gets me to thinking and this one did that as I asked myself various questions on what would/could be done, what if I were in that situation and many others. When finished I would definitely recommend checking it out.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

This is probably the most disturbing book I have ever read. I peeked at my friend Elyse's review and felt validated that it wasn't just me. After just reading Diane Chamberlain's beautiful book about how profound a mother's love for her daughter and reading a book written about an evil child who plots to destroy her mother; I have to say this book was creepy. I only wish I had checked Elyse's review before making myself suffer through reading it to the very end. This has never happened before with a Net Galley book.

The novel is about a little girl named Hanna who is seven years old and she doesn't speak to anybody, but we can read her thoughts and her thoughts are violent. Hanna gets expelled from pre school, kindergarten and a school for problem children. There is an incident where Hanna starts a fire in school. At another school Hanna and another young boy are left alone in a time out room. Hanna starts growling like a dog and baring her teeth at the other boy. He was wearing a motorcycle helmet and banging his head against a concrete wall. Hanna removes the helmet with the intent for the boy to smash in his head so he is dripping with blood, needs stitches and gets sent to the hospital with a concussion.

Hanna is trying to harm her mother mortally throughout the book. I could go on and on about what Hanna does to her mother, but I think you get the picture. This book was too long and I have to wonder who would want to read about Hanna making voodoo dolls. Or having conjured a witch or the devil. My only mistake was not putting this book down, but ruining a beautiful day feeling depressed reading it.

Thank you to Net Galley, Zoje Stage and St Martins Press for providing me with my digital copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I do not recommend reading "Baby Teeth" by Zoje Stage. If I could give it zero stars, I would.

Everything about this book is wrong. I found the treatment of the child with disabilities inappropriate and offensive. After the first few chapters, I checked some online reviews and read some later chapters to see if I had misinterpreted the content or if the characterization of the child changed. Alas, I had not.

A parent of a child with a disability will be deeply offended by this book. In fact, every parent should be deeply offended by this book. The content is completely inappropriate. I cannot read a book with such incorrect and improper depictions of children with disabilities.

It was hyped as similar to “We Need to Talk About Kevin;” now “Kevin” is a book everyone should read. “Baby Teeth” is not.

I stayed up far past my bedtime so that I could see how Baby Teeth would end. Zoje Stage has written a mother-daughter story that is completely creepy and compulsively readable! The story alternates between Suzette's (the mother) and Hanna's (the daughter) points of view. The alternating points of view really added to the twisty, creepy tension of the story.
As the story progresses and the reader gets deeper into the lives of the Jensen family, it becomes harder to see who is right and who is wrong. Baby Teeth left me unsettled and glad that Hanna was only a character in a book.

I loved this book! I have been waiting MONTHS to get my hands on this book! It was so good! Twisty, creepy and so mind blowing. I couldn’t guess anything that was going to happen or even think what would come next! At the end I can’t pick a team. But I really loved this book. I’m sad this is the author’s first book, I want more!!! I hope there is more to come soon! I give this book 4 stars and I recommend it to everyone when it comes out! Everyone needs to read it!!! Excellent read! Thank you!

If you're looking for a strange, Criminal Minds-esque meets horror movie about a child who doesn't speak, yet seems possessed by a witch's spirit from the 1600's, Baby Teeth is the novel for you. Perhaps it's called Baby Teeth because parents and adults without children generally assume that kids are harmless; they're not all that strong yet, mentally or physically, so what kind of real damage could they do with innocent little baby teeth. If we're referring to Hanna, the daughter of Suzette and Alex, she's got a plan and a malicious one at that. She lovingly dotes on her father, but is literally out to kill her mother. Stage does a great job of displaying the parents' struggle with raising a daughter who doesn't communicate by words, seems quite intelligent and intuitive for her age, but has a streak of unexplainable violence running through her veins. They want to help their daughter excel academically and socially, but roadblocks keep coming. Definitely paints a unique picture of a family dynamic straight out of a horror movie.

Amazing! What makes this novel so terrifying is the simplicity and inevitability with which the events unfold. What would truly happen if you found yourself in a situation where you can’t escape the threat? This was a creepy, suspenseful page turner of the best kind!

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage is being touted as a mystery/thriller.   I would classify this as a psychological thriller/horror novel.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher St. Martin’s Press, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis:
Although Suzette’s childhood may not have been perfect, when she met Alex, things changed. They were perfect together, and built a perfect life. Into their perfect life, came their daughter Hanna.

Hanna is loved by her parents, and they have tried their best to make sure she has a healthy and safe home. Unfortunately, as she went from baby, to toddler, and now to school-age, Hanna has never spoken. She was seen by many doctors, all finding that there was nothing physically wrong with the little girl. For a number of reasons, school has never worked, so Suzette has been home-schooling their very bright daughter. Unfortunately, the last couple of years have been rough. Hanna seems to have taken a dislike to her mother, and behind her father’s back, she has made Suzette’s life a living hell, and Suzette knows she has to get Hanna into a school and to see a psychologist asap. Alex, who is being manipulated by his little girl, doesn’t quite see the rush….but then he doesn’t have to live in fear. Hanna likes her Daddy.

Things are escalating in this household.  Hanna has started talking, but only to Suzette, and what she has to say is not the chatter of a 7-year old. A wedge is being driven between Suzette and Alex, and Hanna is wielding the hammer (quite literally). She has no intention of letting her mother survive. Her Daddy will be hers alone.

My Opinions:
Personally, I’m not sure why they are saying this is a mystery/thriller. In my opinion this is a horror novel….and it was good. The story is told from both Suzette’s and Hanna’s perspectives, which takes the reader deep into their thoughts, and those thoughts are scary! The struggles between the mother and daughter, and even the mother and father, seemed right for the story line (although God Help Us, hopefully nowhere in reality). This little girl would be any mother’s worst nightmare. Can we say Child Psychopath?

It was a really fast read, because I didn’t really want to put it down! This one may not be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This is the author’s debut novel, which I am having a hard time believing. The writing is crisp, the plot, though disturbing, is great, and the characters believable, and the suspense doesn’t really stop. I think Zoje Stage will go far!

This was creepy and realistic in all the right ways. I loved the multiculturalism in the book and the sadness, scariness, and disappointment in the mother daughter relationship. The distrust from the husband because he couldn’t see the relationship fully was realistic and creepy. I loved it!