Suzette is mom to 7yr. old Hanna. They have run the course of blood tests and scans for years. You see, Hanna does not talk. So far, all medical tests have shown no reason for this. Dad to Hanna, Alex, is enamored with Hanna - the sun and moon rise in her. Mom is battling Crohn's disease and a full-time mom and home schooler for Hanna would like mommy to go away. Suzanne is frankly tired of all of this and gazes back on the days with Alex before Hanna. Hanna is of the mind that she is a witch or has at least the power to make mommy go away for good. One day Suzette has had it with Hanna's antics and says, "Why won't you ever listen to me?" - Hanna DOES answer, "Because I'm not Hanna". Hanna has already been kicked out of 2 schools due to destructive, even violent, antisocial behavior.
One morning on the way to a third school, Hanna says to mom, "I'm Marie-Ann". Here, they suggested a special needs school, That night, Hanna constructs a collage of pictures of dead women and one of Suzanne sleeping among the pictures. Next day, Hanna goes into Suzanne's bedroom and cuts half of her hair short. Hanna is selfish and wants daddy to herself and wants mommy to go away. (We begin to think Suzanne wants Hanna to go away, too). Suzanne gets sick when Hanna replaces her capsules with flour. Hanna is bound and determined to think of "ways to kill mommy... so to save daddy". At the family's Swedish bonfire, Hanna throws flaming pieces at her mom. Alex throws Hanna off mom and Hanna sprains her arm. both Suzanne and Hanna are taken to the clinic by Alex. Beatrix, child psychologist, tells Alex and Suzanne that the only way Hanna will improve is 1-3 years inpatient at Marshes Clinic. Yes, they take Hanna there.............. No spoilers! The conclusion does have a bit of a twist but likely to be a great follow-up novel. We'll see! Many Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to enjoy this book!

Thanks to netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am very torn on this book. I sort of liked it and sort of hated it. I was offered this ARC based on another book from this publisher that I had read and enjoyed and was on the fence about accepting it because it sounded a bit more like a horror novel than a psychological thriller. But, the description said it was psychological suspense, so I went for it. I really think it is more of a horror story because it is about a mute and awful child who hates her mother and adores her father. The child is terrible I couldn't help but hate her but I thought the parents were strange too. With these odd personalities, I was expecting some sort of climax where someone would win the battle or something really shocking would happen, but nothing shocking did happen and that is why I feel let down. There were no big secrets that were uncovered that explained why the child hated her mother so much. I just got to the end and that was it. No wow moment, and that is the reason I sort of hated this book. I felt like I got no return on the time I spent. Anyway, despite my criticisms, the book itself was well written and I felt like I had decent insight into what Hanna and Suzette were thinking since the story was told from both perspectives. I would maybe give this author another shot if her next book was less horror and more psychological thriller.

Wow not even sure where to begin. While I can see how many people will love this book, this type of read isn’t for me. I think this type of book is either a love or hate one. Wish it the best of luck but it just wasn’t for me.

I think I had myself convinced on what type of book this was going to be from the blurb about it... I was certain this would be a Omen-esque book. It definitely started out like that. But quickly turned into something else. A look at mental health? Nature vs. nurture??

Switching between Suzette's (mom) POV and Hanna (creepy daughter) POV, we are introduced to a family where Alex (father) doesn't see the creeptastic kid that he has living in his house.

And I think Alex is maybe the whole entire freaking problem. For some reason, both of these ladies are obsessed with him. His wife, Suzette, sees him as a savior for pulling her out of an awful childhood and allowing her the comforts and surgeries and medicine she needs to deal with her Crohn's disease. Hanna sees him as her savior, because he's her dad and takes her side most of the time in dealings with her mom. Hanna doesn't speak, even though she's like 8, and she's horrible to her mother, but honestly, her mom is horrible to her also.

At first I thought we were going to get an innocent mother who has a demon-possessed child. But, no, Hanna is just that jacked up. She wants to kill her own mother so she can marry her dad and live happily ever after.

Suzette is just as much of the problem... seriously, the end, where she's like "don't bring her back here, I finally have you all to myself" gave me the willies. Ugh, this family was set to implode from the beginning and that's exactly what happened.

MESSED UP! Would have given it 2 stars, but the extra star is because I haven't stopped thinking of it.

Why do you think that we find books about psychopathic children so intriguing? Perhaps because it goes against all our instincts that children are born intrinsically innocent? It also raises the age-old nature vs nurture question that makes for brilliant debates in bookclub meetings. When I saw that Baby Teeth was being compared to We Need to Talk About Kevin – which is on my list of both most brilliant and most disturbing books I have ever read – I absolutely had to get my hands on it. Even more so when I saw all the divided opinions on social media, with people either loving or hating it in equal measure. So, you ask, which camp am I in?

To be honest, in neither. Baby Teeth was one of those books that kept me turning the pages but left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied. There was so much potential for this story to be either totally creepy, or suspenseful, or at least offering some insights into what makes an “evil” child tick. It touched on all of these points, but never really lived up to its full potential for me. I blame this on one thing: Hanna’s POV. I am not usually a fan of reading books that offer the psychopathic perpetrator’s POV, finding that only a few authors can pull this off successfully (perhaps because they are not psychopathic killers – just as well!). Most end up exaggerating the depravity until it crosses the line of credibility, or ends up being too sick for my liking.

With Hanna, a seven year old girl, it was the former. No matter how brilliant Hanna’s mind may have been, I found the idea of a two-, four- or seven-year old being capable of carefully plotting her mother’s death simply too farfetched. The one reason We Need to Talk About Kevin was such a success for me was that we only ever got Eva’s POV, which pre-empted an ever present niggly doubt in the back of my head: was Kevin really as bad as she claimed? Was it her parenting that was defective? Was she misinterpreting his needs and motives? It added suspense and tension, which I found lacking in Baby Teeth. Hanna’s POV never left any doubt about her motives, which at times were bordering on silly. Whilst I found Kevin truly terrifying, I thought Hanna was a brat that could have done with a bit of parental discipline. I may have been able to buy it had Hanna been a bit older and more able of the thought processes described here. The only other way that this could have worked for me would have been to add a creepy supernatural element, some horror, anything to add some suspense or make Hanna appear a threat.

All that said, I kept turning the pages despite my sigh of exasperation about 30% into the book as I flung it from me in frustration and vowed to DNF it. But I picked it up again and kept reading – to the very end, which I guess earns it at least three stars. Why? I’m not sure – on one hand I want my four hours back, on the other the thought of having a child you are frightened of was intriguing and I constantly wondered what I would do if I were in Suzette’s shoes. There was one point at which a therapist came into the picture and added a brief hope of learning something interesting about Hanna’s personality disorder, but unfortunately the thread was not fully explored.

To sum up the experience for me, a We Need to Talk About Kevin it was not. It was, however, strangely compelling and kept me reading. I can see that Baby Teeth will make some waves in the bookish community once it comes out in July with some staunch loved-it or hated-it factions battling it out on the review front, whilst I am still sitting on the fence watching with morbid fascination as it all unfolds. I guess there is only one way to find out whether this one is for you, so by all means, get yourself a copy and read it!

What do you do if you have a child that you should love unconditionally, but that child is disturbed and wants nothing more than to kill you. What do you do when no one believes you and your husband never sees the disturbing behaviour? Your child is constantly in trouble in school but Daddy won’t believe his daughter is disturbed. This story is dark, disturbing and very controversial. Parts of it may be unbelievable but I was thoroughly entertained.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage is a novel that is every much a horror story as one about a mother and daughter. Suzette had a difficult relationship with her own mother and is haunted by the fear her Crohn’s disease will eventually lead to being attached to a colostomy bag permanently. She spent her teen years recovering from surgery and controlled by Crohns’. When Suzette marries Alex a man that loves her and cares about her health, life seems perfect. A child should only add to that happiness, but their daughter Hanna is 7 and has never spoken. She has been kicked out of schools for things like setting fires, and hurting other kids. Alex is Hanna’s champion and seems to refuse to believe anything could be wrong with his daughter. Suzette sees a very different side of Hanna. Baby Teeth’s use of alternating narratives between mother and daughter leaves the reader in a unique position. We are privy to both characters’ inner most thoughts, There were times I was mentally screaming, “run, get out!” This book will draw you in, it will scare you in ways you didn’t think were possible.

A truly chilling horror story set against the backdrop of a perfect suburban life. The different points of view and the slow reveal of the backstories of the main characters really helps build the tension. The ending is both creepy and satisfying.

What a chilling tale! Told in the alternating voices of a mother (Suzette) and her seven year old daughter (Hanna), this book grabs you by the throat and holds on tight until the very last word. This book was not easy to put down once it was started. How could a seven year old be so evil? How could a father not see it? Will Suzette survive with a child like Hanna in the house? Creepily twisted, this book was done very well, and will be one I won’t quickly forget.

I neither loved nor hated this book. I found it to be very sad, and horrific. It’s every parents worst nightmare. There were times when I wanted to smack each one of the main characters. There is something morbidly fascinating about the book though. I really had a very hard time putting it down. I would have given the book more stars if the ending had been more conclusive and final. I’m not aware of a sequel but I’d rate it higher if there was to be one. It’s hard to recommend this book to anyone I know, but I think if you enjoy books/movies like The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby, The Bad Seed, than you would probably like to read this one too.

**Note** Review will be live on 5/30/18 on both my blog and Goodreads.

There are many reasons my husband and I have chosen not to have kids right now--enjoying having money and freedom top the list.  The fear of having creepy, possibly murderous children wasn't really on the radar but after meeting Hanna in Baby Teeth it sure has jumped up the list!

There is so much crazy in this book I don't even know what to say.  All I know is if I ever have a child and that child is actively trying to bump me off?  My husband better well believe me or we're going to have some issues.  Hanna was one creepy kid.  Truth be told, the whole family kind of creeped me out.

Baby Teeth has gotten mixed reviews--people either seem to love it or hate it.  I'm not really in either camp.  I thought it had a great premise and Stage's writing was solid, but something missed the mark for me.

Hannah is a 7 y/o selective mute, precocious little girl. She lives with her parents, Alex (eco-architect designer from Sweden), and her mother Suzette, a woman who has been scarred and traumatized over a life of dealing with Crohn’s disease. They have a wonderful, eco-friendly, perfectly designed and furnished home. Neither of them seems capable of tolerating the slightest imperfection in their lives. They get triggered by Americans pronouncing “Jensen” improperly. For all of us who are not Scandinavian, it’s “Yensen.” Get your shit together, and learn some Svenska, Y'all!

Hanna loves her daddy. He is fun, silly, loving, understanding. He doesn’t think we all need words to communicate. To him, his little spawn is incapable of hurting a fly (the man lives in denial). Hanna doesn’t like much as much as Daddy. Mommy needs to go. NOW.

Suzette has placed her career on hold to take care of the little ray of Sunshine for 7 years. She refuses to speak, and she’s been different and more challenging (how dare she doesn’t like art and creates sketches and eco-friendly homes like her parents, dammit!) . Suzette blames herself. What did she do wrong? Where did she fail as a mother? What will precious, perfect Alex think if she told him the little girl is Satan in a dress?! Poor Suzette, she’s on her own dealing with Wednesday Adams and has zero support elsewhere. She-Devil behaves like an innocent doll when Dad’s around.

Obviously, there’s something wrong with this smart-ass kid (it was hard for me not to like her. She’s quite the clever thing!). Is she possessed by a witch’s spirit?, A demon?, Psychotic? a psychopath?! How far will things go before Mr. “I Can’t Believe it's Not Butter” grows a pair?

Zoje Stage is brilliant at creating a character who has both the imagination and naiveness of her age and the coldness and determination to creep you out. I’m shameless in saying I liked her, all the way to the end.

Read it! Read it! … I mean, only if you’re OK with creepy, murderous, children characters. The book is a delight, and I couldn’t put it down.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press (I love your books, guys!) in exchange for an honest review.

While I did enjoy the book, it was a little darker than I expected...(not a bad thing!). The concept is brilliant.....Hanna doesn’t talk...Hanna wants mommy out of the way. She wants to be with daddy. Daddy is oblivious to the toll everything that Hanna is putting her mother Suzette through. I recommend it, it’s different and I think this book will do very well!

I read this book month's ago. I thought maybe with time I might like something about this story. Nope. Never. That poor child must have been somewhere on the autism spectrum, but dang, I can't see anyone figuring that out. Well, without them figuring that mom was just bonkers.I mean DANG. Her mama was messed up. I get the Crohns disease. I have that. I've lost more than half my body weight from that dreadful thing. Ha, ha, turns out that when you're the weight you were in your teens and twenties, what use to be up is now down.....ooh, ugh!!! Whatever dude!Kiss my saggy buttocks! I'm 54, and I'm saggin' and baggin'! I can run off the neighborhood, just from dropping my trousers! Chuckles! Sorry, dude that cracked me up!
Turns out Papa was too, crazy that is. The whole thing ended really on a cliffhanger, but everyone was so hateful that I didn't care. Some people say that they don't need character driven books. I disagree. That's just me. I need someone to root for. Always. You know, if I'm completely honest, the truth is that I hated how the mom was so caught up in her disease. I hated it, but as someone who also eats too much mashed potatoes, I get it. My Doc., has questioned my hatred for mashed potatoes. If that and mild gravy is one of the few things you can eat......? Then how can you hate it? I do. Taters and gravy. Pudding, and chicken broth? Again, kiss my buttocks. My thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. Quite honestly? Had I paid money for this, then I would have been annoyed as crap!

Wow! A mother's worst nightmare! Hanna is so desperate to have her loving father all to herself that she is willing to do anything! Her ultimate plan is to eliminate her mother, Suzette, from their family! After being frightened by Hanna's alter ego, Suzette must get her husband to understand how manipulative and unsafe Hanna is and find a way to protect herself. Whose' plan will be successful? I could not stop reading this! I had to know how this would all play out! I am definitely hooked and will be awaiting a sequel! Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy for an honest review!

I tend to contemplate on how many stars I'll give all the way through a book. This one went back and forth between 4 & 5. First, let me say that while I had never read Zoje Stage, she is an excellent writer, truly has a way with words and would have aced all of the creative writing classes I had in college. I read the first page and said, "Wow"!

This is a very emotional read and, I'm sure, will garner mixed reviews. Hanna is a truly evil child, and one has to wonder if there will ever be any redemption for her. At one point, her mother has thoughts that she'll end up as a serial killer, and I believe the readers are wondering right along with her. My rating went down at the end; if you've read it, you'll understand why.

Rating: R for language and sex

The mother and daughter dynamic, even under the best of circumstances, is fragile territory. The daddy's girl syndrome is very real. I have a daughter. She will be 40 years old this year. She is still very much Daddy's girl. Our relationship is a good one but has had its ups and downs, as anyone might expect.

BABY TEETH is told, in alternating chapters, by Hanna, the daughter, and by Suzette, the mommy. To say that each of these characters comes with her own, somewhat peculiar, set of issues would be an understatement in the extreme. Each of them is seeking some kind of elusive perfection founded in a reality with which I am unfamiliar.

On the periphery of, yet highly central to, the plot is daddy. Mommy is the stay at home variety and daddy is the go to work, and the gym, and have a life variety.

It is difficult to pin this tale into a single category. It is about the family dynamic alongside the interpersonal relationships of the individuals that comprise said family. It is a psychological study of way nurture plays different roles in different households. It is a horror story of unimaginable ferocity.

I would be lying if I said I enjoyed reading this book. It was in no way an enjoyable experience. However, not all books are written to provide joy and uplift. Some are written to provoke thought and intense reactions. BABY TEETH certainly does that. To enumerate my emotional reactions would be to give away the farm (so to speak), and I just don't do spoilers.

I have a 22-month-old. And, despite the fact that he said his normal first words, mama, dada, bubu, maybe an errant Wiggles lyric or two, he's not really much of a talker. Mainly he likes to share these highly emotive squeaks and chirps that, I'm sure, mean something in some language I don't speak.

But still, I know he needs to be picking up more words for his age.

The knowledge of developmental milestones notwithstanding, I wasn’t really worried about my son’s lack of linguistic dexterity. Kids, after all, develop at their own rates.

I wasn’t worried, that is, until I read this book.

Now, I’m low-key terrified of my toddler.

You see, much to my chagrin, central to this book is a (selectively?) mute 7-year-old who is also, well, for lack of a better word, evil.

Now, I should preface my discussion of this novel and its merits by saying that I, personally, have never underestimated the disruptive power of children. Like zombies — but without the insatiable hunger for brains — children could destroy entire villages if only they had the organizational skills and ability to remain focused on one task for more than five minutes.

I developed and refined this belief while working as a teacher. Though my decision to leave the classroom behind had nothing to do with a fear of children, I do distinctly remember multiple occasions on which I stood in front of a classroom, looking at the 24 – hopefully smiling – faces and thought, “If they get organized and decide to stage a coup, I’m pretty much fucked.”

I also don’t labor under the misapprehension that all children are inherently wonderful – this, also, is a byproduct of my history working with kids.

But never in my education career have I ever encountered a child who was quite as naturally predisposed to behaving badly as the child in this novel, Hanna — and I’ve taught one or two children who, now adults, are in jail, so I’ve got a bit of street cred here. #JustSaying

Hanna, the 7-year-old at the center of this novel should, be all accounts, be a wonderful, well-adjusted child. The daughter of two loving parents, Hanna has been raised since birth by her stay-at-home mother and doted on by her loving father.

Despite all of the well-meaning efforts of these adults, however, Hanna hasn’t developed as expected. Aside from never starting to speak, Hanna has also repeatedly demonstrated a tendency towards violent behavior and a resistance towards connecting with her mother in any meaningful way.

And Hanna’s issues aren’t the only problems Suzette, Hanna’s mother, has to face.

Suzette is also engaged in a decades long battle with Crohn's disease, a condition which is, at times, physically incapacitating and, at others, simply a constant, often disgusting, reminder of her body’s inability to perform a basic function of life.

For perfectionistic Suzette, her battle with Crohn’s and Hanna’s clearly abnormal development are particularly troubling. Unlike the surfaces of her home, which she can scrub and polish until they are shiny and free from even the most minute imperfection, there is nothing she can do about the health issues that plague her and the developmental issues that manifest themselves in her daughter.

Making matters even worse, Hanna reserves her worst behavior for Suzette, who she feels a particular anger towards. This puts Suzette at odds with her husband, Adam, as he rarely witnesses Hanna’s bad behavior first hand and, as such, has difficulty believing Suzette’s accounts of the things Hanna does.

To Adam, Hanna’s behavior — particularly her lack of speech — is worrisome, but not scary.

But Suzette is at the end of her rope.

She feels like something needs done.

Now.

Adding complexity to an already obviously really fucking complex situation is the fact that Suzette’s own mother demonstrated some combative, aberrant behaviors when Suzette was a child.

This leaves Suzette wondering whether she actually knows how to be a good mother.

And leaves readers wondering whether Suzette is actually being a good mother or if she is, instead, simply a tragically unreliable narrator who’s actually, at least in part, responsible for her daughter’s mental dysfunction.

Ultimately *Spoiler Alert* we never get an answer — to the question of Suzette’s culpability, at least.

But I’m glad we don’t.

Because this novel, like the complex task of parenting itself is rich in questions and light on answers.

Honestly, I left this novel feeling neither at-ease with the stability of the conclusion nor confident in the continued happiness of this family.

But that’s okay.

Because that’s real.

With rich characters, high-stakes and a naturally compelling driving conflict, this novel begs to be read — quickly.

Through rapid reading of this novel — and, trust me, there is no way not to read this one rapidly — readers become fully immersed in the world of this family and begin to feel as if not just the fictional characters contained within, but instead the readers themselves, have something serious at stake.

While I generally felt that this novel was well-paced and authentically reflective of what it’s like to work with and/or parent a difficult child, I did have some issues — however nit-picky — with logistical elements within the text.

*Spoiler alert*

One such subtle detail was Adam's unwillingness to take on parental responsibilities — even in times of extreme crisis.

*Full Disclosure - My opinion may be biased because I have a work-from-home husband who does the lion's share of the domestic duties.

But, still.

For example - As Hanna’s behavior continues to escalate, she does something that incapacitates her mother, making Suzette largely defenseless against this proven-to-be-violent-if-not-homicidal child.

Suzette, understandably, hesitates when Adam has to leave to run an errand. When it’s decided that he absolutely must run this errand, a long conversation about how Adam can prepare Suzette to defend herself ensues.

Um… okay.

Here's an option.

Take Hanna with you.

Problem. Solved.

And yet it occurs to neither of them.

I mean, come on Adam…

*End Spoilers*

As I said, the issue described above — and perhaps a handful of similar ones — were small and largely inconsequential, but still worthy of mention.

Overall, though, having finished this book and given it some time to settle, I’ve come to some conclusions.

First — and, I would argue, foremost — I feel confident that my own little toddler of few words isn’t harboring plans to murder me — Even though he can throw his plastic lemon with surprising might, given his size, he’s way too interested in rockabye-ing his bear to be planning a homicide in detail.

That said, after rumination on the plot of this novel, the premise as a whole still gives me pause — as it, honestly, should give any parent pause — because it serves as a reminder that children are not always as malleable as people assume they are.

They aren’t always that raw ball of clay, easily shaped and molded.

Some children, I do believe, come pre-fired.

And deciding what to do with these children — how to handle situations that, despite requiring serious change, appear largely unchangeable — that’s an imposing — if not impossible — task.

While inarguably not the easiest of reads, Baby Teeth was commanding, complex and compelling. In providing a no-punches-pulled commentary on the ages-old debate of nature vs. nurture, it induced serious thought and inspired reflection that continued well past the conclusion of the novel.

I give it 4 out of 5 cocktails.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book, honestly. It was dark, which I love, but a lot of it because of the lack of dialogue (the girl doesn’t speak) made it hard to follow and stay interested in. This is definitely a book that makes you think and terrifies you and I had to find out how it ended. So, overall, it was okay! 3/5 stars...not my favorite, not one I’d necessarily recommend but I didn’t hate it.

gahhh this book is so freaky it's so good! I have to say that the cover is what hooked me first. The cover alone gives you that creepy eerie feeling. It's sweet, innocent, and shattered? Did I just describe the book? lol I love reading stories about messed up families. They really stick with me and when I'm done, they make me question ...other families. The change in POV is why I liked this book so much. It was great to experience this book through different views rather than just one biased view. There were a couple things that were left open ended that i still wonder about, but overall I'm extremely satisfied with this book. I can't wait for everyone to read it.