This book gave me chills while reading, and that’s exactly the feeling I’m looking for when I decide to pick up a thriller. Baby Teeth was a complete page-turner, with a plot unlike any other I’ve read before.

This book was uncomfortable to read at times, and I’m sure it won’t be for everyone, but I loved every second of it. I found myself easily sympathizing with Suzette’s frustration not only in regards to Hanna’s behavior, but also with Alex’s reluctance to believe her. The story is told through both Suzette’s and Hanna’s points of views, and it was executed perfectly. There were times when I could understand Suzette’s short patience and trepidation towards her daughter, and even a few times when I could also understand how Hanna’s feelings and behaviors might have developed.

There were some parts that totally creeped me out. Some of Hanna’s behaviors reminded me of a particular incident I had at work not too long ago when I had to float to the psychiatric unit and sit with a pediatric patient with psychosis. They were most stressful and frightening four hours of my life, and it allowed me to imagine how terrifying Hanna’s chilling words and actions would have been to Suzette since I have witnessed similar words and behaviors.

Baby Teeth is fast-paced, thrilling, and easy to read. The alternating POVs between Suzette and Hanna had me flying through the pages, and I had trouble putting it down. Highly recommend to those who like a disturbing read that’s sure to stick with you through the years!

Honestly, this book just wasn’t for me. I can’t say that it was poorly written or that the characters lacked development. I truly believe there is an audience for this book...it just isn’t me. Too much evil for me to recommend personally to anyone.

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review.

I went into this story knowing it was creepy! I’m usually not s big fan of that genre but into it I went ! This book was written well and it definitely had me turning the pages through the night !

Thanks to Netgalley for a digital ARC of this book.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for sheer readability.

I'll start with the bottom line here: I found this to be compulsively readable and creepy. There were things that worked really well and I suspect this book will stay with me for a long time. There were some things, too, that seemed to distract from an even higher rating, but those are harder to pin down.

First, what works. I was immediately drawn to the Pittsburgh setting (my hometown city) and liked the familiar milieu. I also enjoyed the honest narrative of a mother who is doubting everything about her role as a mother--not just because of how she feels lost in motherhood, but because of the failures she sees in the mothering of her own child and those that she recalls from her mother. I feel like the author allowed the mom-narrator to put voice to really hard thoughts most people are afraid or ashamed to confront.

The most spellbinding narrative strain, though, was that of the child, Hannah. I've seen other reviewers who felt her character was too contrived or implausible. On the contrary, though, I was engaged by this character precisely because I think that--as terrifying as the prospect is--this is all too plausible. Psychopaths don't typically manifest fully formed as adults. Children as young as 3 and 4 can be said to display psychopathic tendencies and, after a little research of my own, I've discovered that treatment facilities and specialists for such conditions (like those referenced in this novel) are very, very real. "Callous and unemotional" traits are real diagnoses for children so while I read this, I kept thinking, what if? What if you had one of these kids? And that's what kept me reading and what will likely stay with me long after reading this book.

What didn't work is more subtle and harder to explain. I think one thing was that the heavy emphasis on Crohn's Disease was a brave and unique choice--certainly most people don't understand this disease. Educating the public on this is a good thing; however, I guess I was a little overwhelmed with the detail and consistent attention to the mom's battle with this medical condition. I get it--this is another obstacle she's had to face and becomes part of her overall personality. But it was a little much. There was also something that just seemed a little off at times with the story telling. Maybe the pacing? I think it's just a case of what sometimes is felt in a first novel.

I wanted to have a little more meat to hold onto, too, with the mother. I wasn't quite ready to stop hearing her story. There are some fascinating and horrifying bits of exposition in this novel--things the mother recounts from the past and that make the reader wonder what, if any, role the mother had in her daughter's development. While the mother constantly questions her role as a mother, I found myself in the uncomfortable position of being on her side while being also shocked by some of her (the mom's) behaviors. I think that was intentional and, frankly, well done. I kept waiting for another shoe to drop--something else the mother had to tell us to cause even further ambiguity on this front.

So all in all, this is not a read for the faint of heart--especially if your don't like to read about kids--but one that I recommend. I think people will be debating this one all summer.

Baby Teeth focuses on Hannah, a seven-year-old, and her parents. The plot focuses on Hannah's lack of communication and her axe to grind with her mother. Very Freudian. I wasn't sure if this book was meant to be a thriller, a horror novel, or something else. I thought seriously about abandoning this book, but I was expecting there to be a big reveal or twist that would explain things. However, that never happened. I know that psychological thrillers are very en vogue now, but this wasn't very psychological or thrilling. Overall, I wouldn't necessary recommend this.

Wow. What a wonderful, yet disturbing read. Are Hanna’s mental problems, nature or nurture? Did her mother love or despise her? I waver between giving it one star and five stars. Hating the story, but loving the suspense. I anticipate a sequel will be in the works.

View my review on goodreads.com.

Wow! What a book! I don’t know if I liked or disliked this story.

So much of what Suzette feels is normal mother feelings, but I think Hannah is way out of sorts.

It feels as if Hannah’s part was forced, although I know there are some children who do behave like this. If there weren’t, we wouldn’t have serial killers.

The end is definitely not an ending I would have written.

I think overall, I’m quite disappointed. This wasn’t the thriller I was expecting. It was more heartbreaking to me than anything.

I’m not sure I understand all of the hype surrounding this book - it has a huge amount of reviews already (given that it hasn’t been published) and has been talked about on so many different book forums.

Essentially, this novel is a horror story, symbolizing a greater theme of the unspoken fears surrounding mental illness. The main character, toddler Hanna, hates her mother, Suzette, and essentially plots to kill her for the entire novel. The kicker here - literally nothing happens, plot or otherwise, until 65% through the book, at which point I had already become disillusioned.

Overall, I can see where this will be polarizing in readers opinions of it (it already is). It had potential and I enjoyed the end half of the book but it fell flat overall.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Probably the oddest book I have ever read. The story follows Hannah and Suzette through their unbearable mother daughter relationship. Hannah has been a mute and will not communicate with her parents aside from grunts and groans. Everything changes one day on a car ride, she finally speaks in the voice of a witch who was burned to death in France. Baby’s teeth follows the Jensen family through terrors and trials as a family to get some resolve. There are a few good twists but mostly this book was just really weird.

This book will definitely be on that readers are talking about, and I feel like it will be a "love it" or "hate it" experience. That may be a good thing for a book like this, because the subject matter is controversial and so it will spark a lot of heated opinions. For me, the book isn't "love it." The premise is intriguing - a daughter who loves her daddy and is totally devoted to him, but hates her mother. In fact, she wants her mother dead so that she can have daddy all to herself. Seems totally creepy and interesting, I'm with you so far. However, the book drags on and feels like it's trying too hard to be edgy and controversial, and at most elicited a few eyerolls instead of the shock it was supposed to elicit. I read a lot of thrillers that turn out to be unmemorable, and I can't say that about this book. It's memorable - but unfortunately I'll be remembering the negative aspects instead of the positive. And there were positive aspects. It was well-written and the premise is original, it just never rose above the gimmick to become something truly unique.

Hanna is a clever seven-year-old girl who doesn’t talk and her parents are trying to find out why. Hanna doesn’t get along with her mother and believes that she should be able to have her daddy all to herself. Hanna uses all her tactic to scare and even harm her mother to get her out of the way. Hanna is good at manipulation and only acts like a sweet little daughter when her father is around. As the home becomes more dangerous for Suzette (mommy), she wonders if she’ll ever feel safe in her own home.

So I’ve read many different reviews on this novel and I was so excited to get it and be able to review it on NetGalley! I have to say that I am in the camp that finished it quickly and absolutely loved it. I was so interested in this type of book and I’ve never read anything quite like this! I enjoyed that this book went back and forth between Hanna’s and her mother (Suzette’s) perspective. I loved the writing and I found myself immersed into their lives and was so curious as to what little Hanna was going to get up to next. I loved that Hanna was so intelligent and that she decided to take on another persona for a while to do the talking.

I loved that this book was totally different from all the other books that have been coming out. It was fast-paced and I loved all the character from the book that Hanna loved and how they made a version for her to take with her. I loved how diabolical she was throughout the whole novel and how her father takes it when he finally realizes what she’s been up too. This book was incredibly creepy and I loved that about it, you really can’t see the ending coming. I enjoyed the last few chapters, although I want more closure! This was definitely a read I recommend everyone at least try! 4.5 stars from me!

Oh wow, I really don't know how to rate this book. The author wrote a story that really brought up so many emotions and really made you have such dislike and maybe even hatred for a child with mental issues. It really made we wonder if this is what goes on in the mind of a child with the mental challenges presented in this book. My heart went out to the parents especially the mother who really loves their child but have to admit that their child needs serious help which they can't provide. This is a great book but be prepared for the emotional journey.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book and provide my honest review.

************ AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ************

Woah! This story messes with your mind, especially if you have kids! Not only do I have a kid but an 8 year old girl! So it’s a bit freaky! The writing was perfect. It was so creative and descriptive that is draws a picture right before you. I felt myself getting so angry with Alex and his blinders on. Zoje Stage is good... I was on all their sides at different times.

I was sble to listen to the audiobook. The narrator really did a great job of putting feelings into each character. She didn’t try so much to give different voices to different people which I was fine with since we hop back-and-forth between Hannah and the mom. However the narration wasn’t really a creative and interesting way to tell the story.

I received an advance copy of this audiobook. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise. All thoughts and feelings on this audiobook are mine and solely mine.

As a mother I found this hard to read, on the same level as We Need to Talk About Kevin, but I did appreciate the originality in the way the story was told.

The hype for Baby Teeth has been building for months. It’s mostly the reason I’ve kept putting off reading this because I was afraid my expectations were too high. And while it didn’t quite live up to the hype, it was still a pretty entertaining read.

It took me a little while to get into the story. The writing style, especially when it came to Hanna’s POV, took some getting used to. But once I really got into the story and could start to appreciate what a little psycho Hanna was I started to enjoy it. I became invested in the characters and really wanted to see how it would all turn out.

While I enjoyed seeing what crazy thing Hanna would do next, I did think it dragged on a little too long. The same type of things just kept happening again and again and there was a lot of needless description. Towards the end of the book the plot really began to advance and the power struggle between mother and daughter was really compelling to me and then it just abruptly ended. The ending felt more like it was leaving things open for a sequel than properly giving any type of closure to a stand-alone story. I found it disappointing that just when I was really getting into it, it was over.

Overall, Baby Teeth was certainly an entertaining read, but fell short of the hype for me. A little steadier pace and a less abrupt ending would have made it a little better, in my opinion. I don’t know if this book would be for everyone, but I think there are a lot of people who would enjoy it. I could definitely see it becoming a fun, creepy movie.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 3 Stars

It is hard to give a solid description of this book without giving away crucial details. This book is fascinatingly creepy with the right amount of plot and the right amount of unease. What if your child was a master manipulator? Full of vengeance and spite behind closed doors with you, but appearing sweet and innocent to everyone else. Is it you? Or is there truly something going on with your child?

This novel gripped me from the beginning. Tapping into my worst fears of being a parent. As an educator, I see sides of students that parents do not and vise versa, but as adults we need to be vigil when it comes to looking at children's behavior and motive for those behaviors, and navigating the world of mental health diagnoses in children can be tricky. I really thought I had it all figured out, but the last few pages left me in awe. This is the type of plot twist that will leave you wondering well beyond the final words.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

When I started this book, I wasn’t sure I would finish it. Seven-year-old Hanna was not only unlikable, she was terrifying. A tiny psychopathic manipulator, her goal was to get rid of her mother so she could have her father all to herself.

The mother, Suzette, started off as a shallow upper class matron whose main concern was keeping face while her daughter exhibited bizarre and sometimes violent behavior in public. The father, a successful businessman who was away a lot, knew Hanna only as a sweet, innocent child who adored him. He refused to believe that she was capable of the nastiness attributed to her by her mother and what he considered to be inept headmasters of private schools that kept expelling Hanna.

Before long, however, the personalities and backstories of Suzette and Hanna blossomed as each narrated the tale in alternating chapters. Hanna became more terrifying, but Suzette was now someone I could care about. I found myself enthralled by Hanna’s resourcefulness as she gleefully tormented her mother in accelerated attacks. Meanwhile, the father began to witness injuries and destruction that he could not ignore.

The author does a great job of fleshing out the characters, including a child therapist who does her best to help the family cope with Hanna’s aberrant behavior. Hanna’s childishness comes through as she gives snide names to adults like “Brown Teeth” and “Mrs. Stinky Breath.” The mother’s navel-gazing regarding how she may have messed up became somewhat redundant, but not terribly. My one complaint is that the ending left everything hanging. Sometimes, you just want to know that the people you care about are going to be safe.

Baby Teeth reminds me of the creepy 1980s movies that my friends and I watched just to make us laugh...and scream -- the kind of vibe you get from Chucky, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Pet Semetary. This book is pure horror, which kind of turned my stomach, but there are probably really people who think like Hanna!

The second half of the book was distinctly better than the first; however, the pacing of the first half was necessary to establish the story. I only kept reading to find out what happened in the end. Hanna's open hatred for her mother seemed unnatural. I also couldn't figure out why Suzette had NO ONE to turn to, aside from her husband. The adult characters' actions seemed incongruous with their obvious intelligence. That's probably what made the book so unrealistic to me!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage. I can only give this one 2 stars. I zipped through it, skimming so that I could say I finished it. This book got a lot of hype in some of the Facebook reading groups I’m part of so I thought I would give it a try. It was just not for me. That being said I do believe there is definitely an audience out there who will love this book about a disturbed child out to kill her mother so that she can live happily ever after with her daddy. If you are a reader who enjoys a horror story give it a try.

Very creepy and twisted. I really liked the suspense I felt reading this. I would definitely recommend this book.