I loved Baby Teeth, and Dear Hanna was just as satisfying.
Hanna’s story left off in Baby Teeth, and she still has a dark side, but is doing ok. But can a person really change? Or do circumstances cause them to go back to their old ways?

I loved Baby Teeth and really enjoyed Mothered, but I could not keep going with Dear Hanna. There was something missing with respect to the Hanna character — she was not reminiscent of Hanna from the past at all other than her writing letters to her younger brother. I made it to 25 percent where the plot took me somewhere that did not interest me at all and sort of turned me off in a way that I didn’t care what happened next.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

PSA: I did not read the first book, Baby Teeth, in which our FMC, Hanna, is sociopathic child. I do not feel you need to read "Baby Teeth" before Dear Hanna, but it may provide some background on Hanna herself. Stage did an excellent job though tying back to Hanna's childhood and how it relates to Hanna today, in the present.

I thought the sociopathic, psychopathic, mentally ill layout and details was done wonderfully, especially as a true crime junkie, I appreciate the details and insight.

The plot had some parts that did drag on, but the ending was exactly what I had hoped for! The twists and surprises were enough to keep me focused and excited to read more.

Thanks Netgalley for an ARC of this novel. This is a stand alone follow up to Baby Teeth. Basically the premise is, what happens when a sociopath grows up & has a husband and stepdaughter. I liked the writing but didn’t think the story was great. I would still definitely read anything this author writes

🚘 B O O K T O U R review 🚘 featuring “Dear Hanna” by Zoje Stage!

Rating: 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today is my stop on the book tour for “Dear Hanna” which releases today!!

Hanna is a sociopath who is grown up and doing her best to navigate a “normal” life of working full time, running a household and being a wife and step mother. On the outside she seems to have her life together and she gives off a happy go lucky vibe … meanwhile the darkness is bubbling just below the surface. Hanna must keep it together before reverting to old habits and manipulating those around her when things don’t go her way.

When Hanna’s stepdaughter drops a huge bomb that threatens their family’s dynamic to fully change, Hanna finds herself slipping and giving away to the sociopath hiding inside her.

OMG!!! THIS BOOK 🤯!!! I literally could not put it down! Hanna’s story is deeply disturbing, troubling and twisted and her actions gave me the chills throughout! If you love a thriller with dark humour peppered throughout then you must read this! I cannot recommend it more!

Thank you kindly to Zoje Stage, OTR PR and Amazon Publishing for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review and a spot on this book tour! I LOVED IT 👏!

I am a big fan of Zoje Stage and I adored Baby Teeth, so when I got the eARC of this sequel, I swear I squealed with excitement!

It follows Hanna in her now 20’s and examines her a bit more in depth than what we get in Baby Teeth. We see her relationship with her little brother and her new-found relationship, her artwork, as well as the career she loves.

I think the mother-daughter dynamic was what made Baby Teeth so intriguing, and this book is missing that (almost completely). The power struggle really just wasn’t there at all. It just wasn’t a great follow up, in my opinion.

Sure, Hanna’s character is interesting and different, but it’s not the same feel as Baby Teeth, and it just didn’t do it for me. I had really high expectations, and maybe that’s why it fell short. It was interesting, but not the follow up I was looking forward to reading.

Zoje Stage has said that while Baby Teeth was written before Dear Hanna, she designed them to be read in any order. If you read Baby Teeth before this, then maybe you will get where I'm coming from. If you haven't read Baby Teeth, READ IT. Because it's worth it whether or not you ever read this book.

Bet let's focus on Dear Hanna, which I was so excited to read because, hello sequel! Hanna as an adult? Hanna with her own family?! I needed deets as if it were a reality show I was hopelessly addicted to. But the deets were slow to come and not very exciting. Hanna thinks she lured herself a man but he asked her out first. Hanna thinks she the glue that holds the family together, but when the drama starts, it's obvious Hanna is playing mostly from the sidelines, so she must devise a way to make herself the center of attention. That she does in spectacular Hanna fashion, but to me it was too little. The big twist at the end? You've already figured it out.

I'm sad this wasn't a great read for me, three stars, but I am glad I read it.

Dear Hanna is everything I could have wanted out of a re-visit to one of my favourite sociopathic characters of all time - drama, crazy twists and more of Hanna's utterly fascinating internal decision making which never fails to entertain.

Give me exceedingly complicated characters ANY DAY - Hanna is just so interesting to read because she is so entirely immersed in a moral grey area. She logically has learned how to navigate the world appearing as a "normal" person, and yet she still has totally human missteps, misreads situations and people, and makes daily decisions that appeal to satisfying her inner bad urges. Which makes her incredibly fun to read, and makes each chapter incredibly intense as you wait on edge to see if and when she will get caught out for her worst impulses.

I absolutely love that Zoje plopped Hanna in the middle of domestic life for this book. The change in pace of Hanna now being an adult and having to navigate a marriage and a stepdaughter was perfect. I kept thinking I was going to guess how the drama was going to play out and I was wrong every single time.

No spoilers - but definitely get this one on your TBR, because it's just really deliciously fun, diabolical, juicy summer reading entertainment that you don't want to miss. It can absolutely be read as a stand alone, but if you read Baby Teeth, you will love the sequel-esq feel to the throwbacks to the first book.

Many thanks to the publisher for my copy!

Hanna seems normal. She's the best stepmother to Joelle and wife to Jacob. But when things take a turn to Hanna's dislike, the sociopath in her is unleashed.

I love dark, twisted tales and Zoje Stage has spun a clever one in this novel. When I thought things couldn't get any worse, the author threw in another jaw dropping twist. And it kept going right until the end! I haven't read Baby Teeth but after reading Dear Hanna, I will definitely be picking it up soon. Thriller fans will devour this one - be sure to get yourself a copy!

Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage was crazy, claustrophobic, atmospheric. I eagerly devoured it in one sitting.
The story is absolutely terrifying.
It was engaging and it draws you in, you just want to settle in and rip through the pages and find out everything you possibly can about these characters. They're fascinating and damaged, slightly unhinged.
I was completely immersed in this clever story which was executed brilliantly with some nerve-jittering suspense and, for me, the ending was great.

Thank You NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Zoje Stage’s sequel to “Baby Teeth,” “Dear Hanna” brings back Hanna & she’s all grown up. Hanna is 24 & married to Jacob, a widower, with a teen daughter, Joelle. All seems normal for Hanna, until Joelle finds herself pregnant & Hanna slowly unravels.

I liked this book. It was a quick & easy read & Hanna is still diabolical. The first book was more messed up, but Hanna still has some of her old deviousness.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book.

This sequel was incredible! I couldn’t stop reading and I needed to know what would happen next! It was suspenseful and dark, and seeing Hanna deal with “her other self” was interesting!

[3.5 stars]

I have to start by saying that I really did not enjoy Baby Teeth. However, Dear Hanna is everything I hoped Baby Teeth would be. The story picks up with Hanna as a young adult with a career as a phlebotomist. She’s searching for the perfect husband, with the perfect life, and finds her match in Jacob - who has brought his daughter in to get her blood drawn. Fast forward a few more years and Hanna is happily married to Jacob and the step-mother (more like big sister) to Joelle. Hanna’s life is everything she had hoped it would be - until Joelle announces she’s pregnant. Hanna cannot have a young child in her house and will do anything to avoid this happening. As Joelle nears her due date, Hanna becomes more desperate and begins to involuntarily push her husband away. The baby is coming; can Hanna reconcile with her past and open up to Jacob? Or will her idyllic life be over?

The story was a little slow at first, but I read the last 75% of the book in one sitting. I couldn’t remember too many details from Baby Teeth, but this read as a good standalone. The last 10% of the book had me on the edge of my seat. I don’t know if it was just me not remembering things, but the final twist caught me completely off guard. I am so glad I read this, even though I did not enjoy Baby Teeth. If you felt the same way, I’d give this one a try! And if you loved Baby Teeth, I think you’ll really enjoy Dear Hanna.

Zoje Stage is an auto-read for me and should be for you if you're looking for:
--gorgeous writing
--nuanced conflict, both internal and external
--off-putting characters that you can't automatically dislike because they resonate and/or are relatable

I was thrilled when I saw Dear Hanna, the follow-up to Baby Teeth, announced and couldn't wait to dive in. It should be noted that you do not need to have read Baby Teeth to understand this book, though I highly recommend giving that a read first because it amplifies the eerie, unhinged tone as you progress.

Hanna is living the dream with her new husband and stepdaughter, but not everything is as it seems. Despite the normalcy, Hanna wants more. And when unexpected news hits the family, Hanna is more determined than ever to get what she wants.

I left the summary purposely vague, but let me tell you: this is a page-turner from the get go. Hanna's voice is incredibly honest but simultaneously detached. She feels things deeply but doesn't always understand what they mean, nor how these feelings affect those around her. The result of which is both jarring and unsettling. Combine that with a series of letters that helps you explore the inner workings of Hanna's mind when she's pushed or questioned by someone else, you get a character-driven narration that knocks it out of the park.

One thing I always appreciate about Stage's work is the care and attention she gives to relevant real-world themes, including societal pressures of becoming a mother, quantifying traits of a Good Mother, gender imbalances in power, and (one of my personal favorites) the inherent competition that mothers often face with each other.

Without giving anything away, Dear Hanna is a twisted, quietly complex stunner that will leave you numb in the best possible way. I loved every minute of this one.

Huge thanks to Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

Wow wow wow! Thank you Netgalley, Zoje Stage and Thomas & Mercer for the ebook. I honestly have no words this book was everything I could have wanted and expected and then some!!! I absolutely loved Baby Teeth when it came out and I was a bit skeptical but excited for a sequel ... to see what ever happened to Little Hanna. Dear Hanna delivered!! If you want psychological, creepy any horror all combined with a plot that will have you just needing more you must read this book and the prequel Baby Teeth. The coolest part, confirmed in the authors note, is you don't have to read in specific order. Stop, drop whatever you're currently reading and read this!!!

Dear Hanna is the sequel to the wonderfully creeptastic Baby Teeth. While they can be read in any order, definitely go back and read the first if you start with Dear Hanna as it will explain the "problems" Hanna had growing up. A part of me wishes Hanna had stay exactly the same but I think this is a more accurate portrayal of a sociopath grown up. Afterall, none of us are the same as our 7-year-old selves. Witnessing Hanna have an awareness of her abnormal thoughts and adjusting her behavior to hide in plain sight was more interesting. As they say, 1 in 25 people are sociopaths, so we should all be more careful at potlucks, LOL. After all, one could be your next-door neighbor or even... me? Muwahahahahaha

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I just loved how freaked out I was when reading Baby Teeth where we are introduced to Hanna as a young girl who tried to kill her mother to get her out of the way. I could not help wondering what had become of young Hanna and I can honestly say that it was worth the wait. She really does try but people inevitably disappoint leaving Hanna no choice….well you’ll just have to read it and find out!

Dear Hanna is the sequel to 2018’s Baby Teeth, about a psychopathic child competing with her mother for the love of her father. As the author explains in her afterword, you don’t need to have read that one first, although I’m glad I did, as while the first book is disturbingly creepy, but in a good way, this one was a bit of a letdown. Obviously reading this one first would spoil the suspense and twists, such as they are, of the first book - but also make it easier to read, by removing the uncomfortable sense of dread that accompanied it.

After being sent away to a residential treatment centre for disturbed children by her broken and terrified parents, and learning how to function in a socially acceptable way, at least outwardly, Hanna is now grown up. Having found a kind widower to marry and provide the lifestyle she wants, she’s comfortable with her work as a phlebotomist, her art projects and her relationship with his teenaged daughter Joelle. Then Jo makes an announcement which threatens everything, and Hanna reverts to thoughts of murder as the best solution…

This had a great premise - I was curious to see how the voluntarily mute 7 year old from Baby Teeth would behave as an adult wife and stepmother, but unfortunately it took so long for anything to happen that I was just bored for most of it. Unlike the first book, where we also got her mother Suzette’s perspective, this is all told from Hanna’s third person point of view and in a series of letters between Hanna and her younger brother Goose. You know that the relationship is not a normal sibling one when he cheerfully encourages her murderous impulses, and the main suspense centres on whether she will go ahead with it or not. I was disappointed by the ending which was a bit of a damp squib, and was unsurprised by the twist. If you loved Baby Teeth, you may yet enjoy this more than I did, but if you haven’t read it and like dark psychological suspense, read it instead of this.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for the ARC. Dear Hanna is published on August 13th.

I really enjoyed Baby Teeth, and I was excited for this sequel. This can definitely be read as a standalone, but you'll have a much better understanding of Hanna's character having read the first book. This story is character-driven by Hanna as she struggles to cope with unexpected events in her structured family life with her husband Jacob and stepdaughter Joelle. I don't want to say more and spoil anything, but the plot is intriguing and fans of darker characters will love this one.

We first met Hanna as a child in the fantastic BABY TEETH, and now she is a twenty something trying her best to navigate a “normal” life as a wife and stepmother. This book can absolutely be read as a standalone but I highly recommend the first book if you haven’t yet read it.

Hanna still has very dark thoughts but seems to have learned to manage her sociopathic tendencies through her intensive therapy as a child. She is employed as a phlebotomist which is the perfect job for her. She regularly corresponds with her younger brother (nicknamed Goose) who was sent to boarding school at a young age. I love an epistolary novel!

I enjoyed how the author dealt with Hanna’s parents in this book and how the tension was slowly built up from the very beginning. There’s a big reveal at the end which I guessed early on, but that still did not affect my enjoyment of this creepy novel.

Many thanks to the publisher Thomas + Mercer for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.