This is the first book that I received from Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy. I thought the premise sounded interesting. I love thrillers and psychological books. I had a hard time getting into the book. Once the author talked about the devil possibly being inside the child and having her speak as the devil I almost gave up. I'm like really? But I kept with it because I was given this book to review. I did like the different perspectives in the book. I almost would like a perspective from the father but I think the author did well placing that in the other stories. It was a quick read and I am glad I finished it. I reminded me of a horror movie that I've watched.

A thriller about an evil child. Not for me I'm afraid and I didn't get very far with it.. The early parts that I read did not seem to me to be well-written either. The publisher's blurb comparing it with the amazing Lionel Shiver's 'We Need to Talk About Kevin" (one of my favourite writers, and that book one of the best) a very far stretch... Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance review copy.

Wow. If Hitchcock remade and directed The Bad Seed, the result might be this book! I was both drawn to it and repulsed by this debut novel! As a parent, it's very difficult to read on many levels; how parents can ignore such blatant warning signs in a child, how a seven-year-old can plot so deviously against her mother. But like a gruesome accident, it's hard to turn away as well. Alternating chapters pit Hannah against her mother, Suzette as we witness Hannah's attachment to her dad and her repugnance toward her mother. Suzette is torn as she suffered a traumatic childhood as well and she often blames herself for being a "bad mother." But it's clear from the outset that something is desperately wrong with Hannah and it's frustrating that it takes her parents so long to polarize and admit that something needs to be done sooner rather than later. Clouding the issue is that Hannah doesn't speak--and when she does it's in the voice of a young French girl who was burned as a witch. Interested yet? This was a creepy and weird book but I couldn't not finish it and glad I did! You may want to lock your bedroom door at night though!

The daughter in this book could give “Mommy Dearest“ a run for her money. As a mother, this book frustrated me to no end. The parents were not working together. This deplorable child should have received help as soon as her antics began. No one in this novel was taking charge and acting like an adult. The only reason I kept reading it was to see how far it would go before there was a sufficient resolution. Eventually, the parents did the right thing and the ending was fairly satisfying with a “horror story” kind of feeling.

Okie Dokie, this book was crazy for me. So we go back and forth between Suzette and Hannah on their point of view and let me tell you makes you want to sleep with your bedroom door shut and locked.

Hannah is a pretty normal child though she doesn't speak and she hates her mother Suzette. Wait, scratch that it doesn't make her normal makes her psycho. Suzette seems to be a pretty good mother and it takes a while before she starts losing the niceness of being the mother to Hannah.

We watch as overtime Hannah starts escalating the hatred she has for her mom, and it takes the most severe thing to get Alex her father to realize that his little girl is not all sugar and spice.

The question is why does Hannah hate her mother so much?

I think the author did a great job with the way Hannah came about, she kind of freaked me out as a character and I loved it.

Suzette man she seems to be able to handle a lot thrown her way and I enjoyed how she didn't give up trying to get her daughter the help she needed. Though it kept bothering me that she never once thought to record her daughter doing the evil things.

Alex oh dear father, you need some help on trying to balance love and affection to both of the ladies in your life.

There were plenty of scenes that I enjoyed but I have to say the thumbtack scene for me really got me shuddering.

Can't wait to see what this author has more of.

About: Baby Teeth is a thriller written by Zoje Stage. It will be published on 7/17/18 by St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, 320 pages. The genres are thriller, fiction, and mystery. This book is the author’s debut.

My Experience: I started reading Baby Teeth on 2/24/18 and finished it on 3/10/18. This book is an excellent read, though tough topic to handle. I’m reading this book as a mom and I cringe at what Hanna does. I sympathize with Suzette for losing her patience because I would lose it too for Hanna’s intentional bad behaviors. If I were to read this book before having a kid, it would ultimately make a decision for me to never have kids! Though, Hanna’s acting out is understandable for kids that have the demand for fun and games all day long because no one likes to follow rules and do work. This book has both strong views and it’s interesting to unravel as the story move forward.

This book is told in the third person point of view following Hanna, 7 years old girl. She hasn’t spoken since the day she was born. Another view is Suzette, Hanna’s mom. Suzette brings Hanna to many doctor appointments to test her for physical and mental problems to figure out why her daughter doesn’t speak. Hanna resents her mom for wanting to send her away to school and leaving her home alone with strangers (babysitters). She punishes her mom by doing opposite of what she’s told to do and more. She terrorizes all babysitters sent her way. Suzette wants her family to be perfect because she didn’t grow up with one. She has a disease called Crohn that gives her bowel movement troubles but her mom didn’t take her in for treatment until too late. This disease caused her to have an unpleasant pregnancy experience. There is a battle between mother and daughter’s relationship that readers can either sympathize or cringe. Suzette tries to be a good mom with patience and rewards for good behaviors, but it’s just impossible not to lose it with Hanna. When Hanna finally speaks, she informs Suzette that she’s not Hanna but Marie-Anne Dufosset, a teen accused of being a witch who was burn to death back in history. Suzette questions her parenting while Hanna makes plans and calculates her next move.

A well written thriller, this book can be a mind blowing read. I like the fast paced easy to read writing style. I like the clear picture it paints of a stay-at-home mom with hard work and stress. I like the clear view of a working husband away from the drama at home to be narrow minded and lost in his own beliefs. It’s a frustrating feeling to relate to Suzette when her daughter is only good for her dad and wicked for her. I like following Hanna’s thinking process even though she scares me at times. Suzette’s experience with her disease and parenthood is tough and relatable at times. I would say that this book is disturbing, but I would rather read to know than missing out on it. I would still recommend everyone to read this book, at least once.

Pro: fast paced, page turner, easy to read, mom and daughter relationship, parenting, family,

Con: none

I rate it 5 stars!

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for inviting me to read, review, and host a blog tour for this book. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine

Baby Teeth is a look into the dysfunctional family that includes Suzette, Alex, and Hanna. Suzette is a stay at home mother who is overwhelmed and at her wit's end. She spends every waking moment with her daughter Hanna, who at 6 years old has not said a word and seems to take pleasure in doing the opposite of anything she asks. Schools won't keep Hanna since she is usually kicked out for behavior issues within weeks, so Suzette schools her at home. When her husband Alex comes home, Suzette is expected to have dinner ready on the table and a cheery demeanor. She is determined to be a better mother than her own, who was abusive and neglectful, and is obsessed with appearing to be the perfect mom. Her other main concern is her health as her Crohn's disease was left undiagnosed for years, leading to invasive surgeries, festering wounds, fistulas, and ugly scars. It only fed more and more into her obsession with cleanliness and the appearance of perfection that is leading to the loss of her sense of self.

Even with all of her legitimate issues, it's hard for me to sympathize with Suzette. First, the whole experience of being pregnant was torturous due to her Crohn's disease. It's clear that part of her frustration towards Hanna is resentment for that experience when she had to go without her medication for the sake of her baby. I know she probably through aborting and adopting was giving up and not what a perfect mom would do, but it's a valid question. Second, she gives Hanna anything she wants to placate her, rendering any sort of lecture useless. Hanna only learns that she can get away with anything, especially when she plays her mother and father against each other. Third, Suzette has treated Hanna as an equal rival in a war, competing for Alex's attention and affection as if she were another child. It's a weird dynamic that gives Hanna too much power and makes Suzette a terrible parent. Lastly, no wonder Hanna hates her. As a three year old, Hanna was misbehaving and throwing chewed up food. Suzette's response was to stuff it all in Hanna's mouth and force her to swallow it to the point of choking. This made Suzette more monstrous than her child and so hard to feel sorry for.

Alex, Suzette's husband, is oblivious in all of this and has his own issues. Whenever Suzette or anyone else comes to him with stories of Hanna's awful behavior, he dismisses it as others not being able to handle Hanna's spirited behavior. He sees intelligence and playfulness where Suzette sees conniving and sinister. It gets to the point where Suzette will keep quiet about Hanna's bad behavior to keep the peace, so it's allowed to get much worse. He spends his days working at his office and leaving all of the child rearing to Suzette. Whenever she calls for help, he makes excuse after excuse to not interrupt his day. His job isn't easy, but dumping all of Hanna's care on Suzette is awful and not parenting. Alex loves that Hanna favors him and treats him like she doesn't treat her mother. Father and daughter isolate themselves from Suzette when together and treat her like an outsider and an annoyance. Alex gave Hanna the pieces to make an under the bed friend from one of her books that Suzette threw away as a voodoo doll at best and trash at worst. Hanna was crushed, but how was Suzette supposed to know it had any significance when they literally box her out. Alex is happy to stay oblivious and also feeds into the practice that not acknowledging problems means they don't exist.

This brings us to Hanna herself. The novel alternates between Suzette and Hanna's point of view, so we hear her voice despite her mute nature. Hanna doesn't want to go to school and finds other people in general useless. Her intelligence shows itself in chilling ways as she calculates how to get kicked out of schools or how to make her mother look bad. She hates her mother and wants to expose Suzette's bad behavior to Alex so he will reject her and only spend time with Hanna. This goes as expected in a horror novel as Hanna eventually settles on killing Suzette. On one hand, I feel for Hanna because her parents are obviously not the greatest. They succeeded in trying to one up each other that Hanna adapted to their battle and became better at it. She obviously has sociopathic tendencies where people don't mean much to her outside of Alex. Her curiosity leads to some disturbing scenes and her imagination crosses the line into possible psychosis. She adopts the personality of a teen burned as witch in history to speak threats to her mother and brings her imaginary friends to life who tell her that getting rid of her mom is a great idea.

Baby Teeth captured my attention and held it like a trainwreck. I wanted to see how far Hanna would go to achieve her goal and how horrible her parents could be. This has been compared to Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin. That story worked as a nature veruses nurture study with no definitive answer and because the mother Eva is a sympathetic character despite her mistakes. Suzette is no Eva and makes so many moronic mistakes before the book is over. It also seems pretty clear why Hanna is the way she is. I felt that for a thriller or horror book, it didn't go as far as I would have liked. There are some disturbing scenes, but family drama takes up most of the novel. The ending seems clearly open for a sequel, which I would read out of curiousity, but Stage wants to leave it up to the imagination.

I was really excited for this book. Like REALLY excited. I expected it to be a twisty creepy thriller, and it is a creepy thriller, but it didn't live up to my expectations. The cover drew my attention first with its simplicity and the blurb made me put this one on my must read ASAP list. I know I am definitely in the minority of readers with my opinions of this book. I've seen the MANY 4 and 5 star reviews out there raving about how amazing Baby Teeth is, but sadly this book and I did not connect.

I felt like the story would have been more believable if Hanna were a little older. A lot of her thought processes did seem genuine to the maturity of a seven year old, but a lot of them did not. I also felt like there was something missing to make the actions and feelings of the characters genuine. To me it felt more like the characters were going through the motions of their lives, but without the true emotions to back up their actions.

I voluntarily received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine "Rosemary's Baby" as a seven year old girl (the evil spawn in the cult classic book and movie is a boy) and she's turned into one devilish child. Add an Electra Complex that would make Sigmund Freud's toes curl, and you've got one scary story to sink your teeth into. There's nothing pretty about Baby Teeth-parents dream of having a perfect child, and their worst nightmare is realizing not only is their child not perfect, there's something decidedly wrong with her. At age seven Hanna has yet to speak, and she's been kicked out of several schools for violent and disruptive behavior. But Hanna has dreams of her own-her sole purpose in life is making her father Alex happy and basking in his undivided attention and love. One person stands between Hanna and her goal-Hanna's mother Suzette. Despite a chronic illness that drains her mentally and physically, Suzette is forced to homeschool Hanna even though the child has voiced her hatred for her mother without saying a single word. With no physical explanation for her muteness and watching Hanna's behavior escalate from devious to dangerous, Suzette rides a seesaw of emotions that tilt from dogged determination to find out what is wrong with Hanna to desperately wanting her gone. Baby Teeth will not be published until July, but the novel has garnered plenty of attention on social media from bloggers concerned the story promotes child abuse. Author Zoje Stage bravely defends her debut novel, and this advance "buzz" is making Baby Teeth one of the most highly anticipated reads of the summer. Perhaps Baby Teeth is better suited for the big screen where movies about child demons are often blockbusters-after all nobody really knows what happened to Rosemary's baby...

What would you do if you thought your child was a psychopath?

Hanna is a cute seven-year-old child with more than adoring eyes for a father. She has not spoken since birth. Her mother Suzette is desperate for her child to communicate. But Suzette frailty psychologically and physically makes her an easy target for a young child's manipulation. Alex, her husband is what Hanna covets.

Baby teeth is a display of warped family dynamics where a seven-year-old mute child, Hanna, disturbingly exploits a mother's insecurities to garner a father's love. The story is told in alternative points of view, Hanna, and Suzette. In Hanna's chapters, we get a glimpse into a child sociopathic mind, which is both sophisticated and naive. With Suzette, we see a mother struggling with her unpredictable Crohn’s disease and her tenuous marriage. All she wants is her husband to believe that the child is purposefully devious. But he can only see a little angel and what Hanna hides from him is that she can not only speak, but also three different languages.

The characters in the story are extremely well rounded. The development of Suzette persona as a mother raising a child echos any parent’s concern. As a person living with a debilitating disease we are given a glimpse of the emotional and physical battles. Alex’s concern for his child over supporting his wife is off-putting, but this may be due to Suzette’s unstable energy and in that capacity believable. But it is Hanna that steals the show. Having a child as a sinister character, especially a seven year old could have been the down fall of this story. But it was the star of this novel. Hanna’s alter egos and personas were not only realistic, but creepy. There was however one dilemma: “...she regretted not being able to finish the job.”

The narrative is well-written, well-plotted, and delivered tension at the right time. The novel was fluid, easy to read, and compelling. Brush strokes of Swedish and Jewish heritage, the psychology of chronic illness and family relationship dynamics bring veracity to the narrative.

I highly recommend Baby teeth and look forwards to seeing more from Zoie Stage.

Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Zoje Stage for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3,5 STARS

This is so out of my comfort zone, I still don't know how I managed to read it!A different story with a slow built up in creepy way that will make you want to turn the pages and see what will happen next.Even though I like my stories to have a lot of things I felt like in this one too many things happening that I couldn't keep up to all of them.It was disturbed at times and I felt like I should give up.However, the writing was perfect and the plot brilliant that I didn't want to stop reading until the end to see how it goes!

'Hannah kept the words to herself because they gave her power. Inside her, they retained their purity. She scrutinized mommy and other adults, studied them. Their words fell like dead bugs from their mouths.'

First it has to be said do not go into this lightly thinking you are going to be uplifted or that it’s a champion for those with mental disorders. Go back, turn around, this isn’t that type of novel. Baby Teeth cuts deep, leaves all the adults and other children who come in contact with Hanna wounded, bleeding, in fear for their lives. We Have To Talk About Kevin just tore me apart, it is one of my favorite novels, this is something else entirely. It’s a hard book compare with. With that said, it’s disturbing and dark. There is nothing darling here, and the mother isn’t without fault. I cannot imagine…

Suzette ‘rallies’ behind her girl, hoping to figure out what is wrong while Alex is adamant it’s nothing. I’m supposed to feel for her, but is she the problem? Does she need control, has this messed up her kid? There are small moments when it seems Hanna truly feels cast out by her mother, and we’re never really sure if it’s so. There is a tug of war going on to win Alex over, Hanna wants him all to herself, the only thing right with the world is her magnificent Daddy who sees nothing sinister about her. It’s clear he wants to believe the best about his child, but there is something broken within her. Suzette cannot muster enough love, not when the child she knows is not the same Hanna who appears before her husband. She pretends to be a good girl, she makes her mother into a liar. Or does she? For a while there, I wandered if there was going to be some mind bending twist. Maybe it’s good old mommy imagining things?

If only she could siphon the love her husband feels in buckets for their girl, but it’s so hard when it seems Hanna wants to annhilate her. When she poses an idea to send Hanna to school, all hell breaks loose.

I struggle with these sort of stories. I have a sensitivity to anything written about mental health issues, mind you this is s thriller, it’s fiction and it certainly grabs you by the throat. It is engaging, horrifying and a sprial into a nightmare. I took issue with Suzette, I know she’s the ‘victim’ but she is a little too quick to want to forget her child. I don’t know, maybe it’s a mother thing, maybe I love blindly but I cannot imagine pushing my kid off somewhere and brushing off my hands with a ‘well that’s taken care of, where was I, let’s make love honey.’ But that is why I tend to read more literary fiction. I knew what I was getting into, and for that- this is a hell of a disturbing novel.

This is the story of a born psychopath, what’s scarier than a child harboring such violence, hatred, a twisted mind? It’s terrible, the paths her mind takes, particualrly the fascination with a witch. The reader sees what’s coming, while mommy and daddy are oblivious, thinking maybe things will calm down now that they are both aware. Suzette is terrified of her little girl, for good reason. It’s a novel that will make a lot of people uncomfortable but it is well written. There will be many different reactions, and it depends on your reading ‘fix’. Why do I imagine this as a horror film, that comes out on Christmas, because it would rattle people?

If murderous children are your thing, this is right up your alley!

Publication Date: July 17, 2018

St. Martin’s Press

This was a pretty good book. There was lots of build up and suspense to what Hannah might do next. I was a little disappointed in the ending. Otherwise this would be 4 stars.

Disturbing and pretty dang creepy! This is not a book for everyone!

This story was very interesting, told in 3rd person but still focused on two seperate point of views. I know this seems like it could be confusing but it is very easy to follow and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I’m a huge fan of 1st person point of view as I tend to read it faster and stay more focused on the book. This book being in 3rd person did not change my reading at all. I stayed invested in the story and read it quickly.

Early on in the book, I was not sure about it being a mystery/thriller; maybe a psychological thriller but even that is a stretch in my opinion. A story about a child who wishes to kill their mother is not a light suspense or thriller. It is quite the disturbing read with plenty of shock factor. I wonder why the publishers didn’t classify it as a horror story. It would fit much better in that genre.

While this was a very out of the box story with many shock factor moments, I couldn’t put it down. It was fast paced and kept my attention. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. However, I was let down by the way this story concluded. I wish there had been more closure to the story.

Grateful to have received a complimentary ARC copy to honestly review.

This book follows Hanna, a silent child who loves her daddy, her mother, Suzette, sick with Crohns, trying to homeschool a nonverbal child who continuously harasses her and her father, who is blind to all of Hanna's negative behaviors.

This book is categorized as a psychological thriller and I would 100% agree. This book was AWESOME; totally creepy and kept me turning the pages. I will admit, it took me awhile to get hooked with this book and I was totally not feeling it for awhile... but then it got me. I am all about the creepy, the not knowing, ahhh everything psychological thriller, I just love. There had better be a book number 2 coming, because this one ended in with a cliff-hanger, which killed me. Thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.

Wow. I’m not sure how to express everything this book made me feel. Sadness, fear, anxiety and a hope for more. This can’t be the end. Will Hanna play the part of good girl well enough to come home to Suzette and Alex? Will they survive if she does?

This story is very creepy and definitely edge of your seat reading!! Suzette is Hanna's mom and Alex's wife. She was raised with an abusive mom who neglected to get her needed medical care which resulted in years of surgery & suffering. Alex is as supportive of Suzette as he can be but also is a doting father to Hanna. Hanna is a selective mute child who has a strong, somewhat disturbing attachment to her dad & has made it her mission to get rid of Suzette by any means necessary to have Alex all to herself. Her manipulation & aberrant behavior persist till the end. Probably best not to read before bed, especially if you are a parent. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The characters are all unlikable and the narration is very slow and so I could not feel any actual suspense. I read a lot of mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels, but this was a miss for me.

Wow, this book really kept me riveted from start to finish. What a fantastic story about a very dysfunctional family. Mom Suzette has health problems, father Alex is a workaholic who seems to cater to daughter Hanna's every whim which causes jealousy between Mom and Hanna. This jealousy leads to all sorts of devious acts by Hanna to try to do away with her mother. There are plenty of twists and turns in this very interesting book.

This novel is the heartwarming story of a mother-daughter bond unlike any other...

Just kidding. I originally requested this book because of the blurb in the PW announcement which compared it to THE BAD SEED:



While I'm a bit of wimp when it comes to horror and thriller as a genre, "bad children" stories have always been a bit of an interest. The original BAD SEED showed a young girl who terrorized classmates, killing one with a pair of tap shoes, all the while cuddling up to Daddy during bedtime stories. Only the mother suspected her bad behavior, which eventually drove her mad. BABY TEETH lives up to the comparison, but luckily takes its own path at this kind of story.

Stage's debut follows Suzette, mother to seven year old Hanna, as she struggles with the increasingly more disturbing behavior. Hanna shows one face to her mother and one to her father, and her choice to not speak makes education and home life very difficult-- meaning that Suzette is homeschooling Hanna as the novel opens and experiencing some troubling moments as her daughter not only begins to talk to her, but also talks about being possessed by a 17th century French witch.

I won't spoil anything here, but Stage builds the suspense well in this book, stacking complications on top of each other like Jenga blocks. I stayed up late more than one evening trying to get through a difficult section. You can almost feel the unsteady sanity of the household start to topple. One really interesting aspect of this book is the physical health of Suzette, whose history with Crohn's is a major component of her character (as well as making up some of background with her own mother.) 

The alternating perspectives of Hanna and Suzette can be jarring, but they are necessary. I found myself actually cringing while reading some of Hanna's sections, but Stage doesn't let the reader look away and keeps the voices separate enough to suspend disbelief. 

If you're looking for a creepy read, make sure you add it to your to-read stack.