4.5 stars!

If you were a fan of Baby Teeth, you'll want to pick up Dear Hanna! I devoured this book. Though it can be read as a standalone, it is the sequel to Baby Teeth and follows Hanna as an adult. She is a textbook sociopath, but the way Zoje Stage allows readers to enter Hanna's inner dialogue makes her almost relatable. There are a lot of outlandish events in this book, yet they are entirely plausible as plot devices. This was a wild ride that you won't regret going on!

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Hanna is back, and better than ever! After reading "Baby Teeth" a few years ago, I found myself enthralled by Hanna and her.....how should we say it.....antics. Now Hanna is newly married to a handsome and successful man, working as a phlebotomist, and stepmother to a teenage daughter, Joelle. All is well in her world, and her urges are *mostly* contained. (And she of course has the needle at her disposal when she is feeling a little grumpy). Life is moving along swimmingly, with Hanna communicating through handwritten letters with her younger brother, with whom she remains close.

Until....Joelle becomes pregnant. Hanna tries her best to deal with this turn of events, but she just can't seem to get over it. As Joelle's pregnancy advances, Hanna is filled with angst. She begins to brainstorm ways to ensure that Joelle does NOT bring home a baby in nine months. Is it her fear of harming the child that is causing her angst? Or perhaps jealousy? All Hanna knows is that Joelle simply cannot have this baby.....and she will do everything in her power to make sure that it doesn't happen.

Hanna is just a villain that you love to hate. Or maybe even hate to love?? With her many flaws (and boy, does she have some!), part of me just couldn't help rooting for her in some twisted way. There was one twist that I did find largely predictable, but the ending was unique and not to be missed. Start with Stage's first book, "Baby Teeth", if you have not already done so, and then move on to this one. A quick and easy read that you won't be disappointed with!

YIKES BIKES!!! Its Zoje Stage!!!!

If Stage wrote a phonebook, I would read it. The depths of my love for this author are immeasurable and this book right here is everything my little heart could have desired and so much more.

In true Stage, fashion, you'll never figure out this twisted tale and when it smacks you right up in the face, you'll never know what hit you.

If you know anything about Stage, books you know not to spoil it for the next reader. So, I will leave you with this. Read Dear Hanna, it will change the way you feel about the thriller genre and sets a whole new bar for authors to follow.

Check out this teaser :

Zoje Stage delivers another knockout with a blood-chilling follow-up to international sensation Baby Teeth, taking readers back into the unsteady world of a young sociopath who’s all grown up.

Hanna is no stranger to dark thoughts: as a young child, she tried to murder her own mother. But that was more than sixteen years ago. And extensive therapy―and writing letters to her younger brother―has since curbed those nasty tendencies.

Now twenty-four, Hanna is living an outwardly normal life of domestic content. Married to real estate agent Jacob, she’s also stepmother to his teenage daughter Joelle. They live in a beautiful home, and Hanna loves her career as a phlebotomist―a job perfectly suited to her occasional need to hurt people.

But when Joelle begins to change in ways that don’t suit Hanna’s purposes, her carefully planned existence threatens to come apart. With life slipping out of her control, Hanna reverts to old habits, determined to manipulate the events and people around her. And the only thing worse than a baby sociopath is a fully grown one.

Hanna is now an adult living the suburban mom life, nice house, husband and teenage daughter.

When Joelle gets pregnant, Hanna has a hard time controlling her dark thoughts.

I really enjoyed reading about what Hanna was doing now as an adult, Baby Teeth was one of the first books I read on my kindle. While technically this book is a sequel to Baby Teeth, I feel you could read it first.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

I LOVE ZOJE STAGE! Dear Hannah follows the life of Hannah After the first book Baby Teeth. I Loved Baby Teeth and this book did not disappoint! I am completely obsessed!

Welp, Hanna is still Hanna! This was dark and disturbing, not as creepy as Baby Teeth, but just as chilling. If Zoje Stage writes something, you can bet I am reading it.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Baby Teeth is one of my favorite books of pretty much ever, and when Desr Hanna was announced I screamed from excitement and boy did it live up to its predecessor! I was not really sure how much time would have progressed since we last left Hanna and her parents and I’m glad that the aging was done the way it was-I didn’t want a carbon Copy of a sequel. I think the letter element was great as well. the twist and reveal, while I kind of guessed part of it towards the end, I really think payed off well and I want more!!

I had initially read BABY TEETH back in 2018, and let me tell you, it scared me. Hanna, the child, was just terrifying [her mother Suzette was pretty scary too]. So when I discovered that one of my favorite authors [especially of Motherhood and Mother-Daughter travails; see also MOTHERED] is bringing out a "stand-alone sequel" to BABY TEETH: with a (gasp!) ADULT Hanna! I knew I had to read it! And it's great! Now we get to understand [I think] a lot more, in depth, of Hanna; and she IS more understandable, and NOT the full-grown psychopath I feared she would be. She even has a close (if circumstantially necessarily distant geographically) with her much younger sibling, Goose.
The author enabled me to elicit empathy for Hanna, which had been problematical in BABY TEETH, and I actually rooted for her. No, she's not a perfect angel; but she's learned a lot more Impulse Control, and some of her relationships are helpful. DEAR HANNA is definitely going to be one of my Best of 2024, and a Future Reread.

I was so excited for this follow up to Baby Teeth! I didn’t enjoy it as much as Baby Teeth but it was still interesting to see adult Hanna’s perspective.

I really couldn’t get into this book. I don’t think I liked the main characters inner dialogue as an adult. I loved baby teeth but I dnf’d this one.

After devouring the story of Hanna in the novel “Baby Teeth”, I was like, that’s it?! Then, along comes Zoie’s amazing sequel, called “Dear Hanna”. First of all, I was beyond excited when I found out she was writing a second book, because I wanted so badly to find out what would become of Hanna. But this book had me on the edge of my seat. I finished it within a day, because there were so many insane possibilities that could happen, and I had to know which one it would be. I absolutely loved it!

💉 We first met Hannah in Stage’s debut novel Baby Teeth. As a young child she tried to murder her mother. Now 24, Hannah has a job she enjoys, is married to a real estate agent, and is stepmother to a teenage daughter Joelle. Her pen pal relationship with younger brother Goose serves as a type of therapy, giving Hannah an outlet for her dark thoughts.

💉 She’s baaaack! This standalone sequel revisits Hannah, and she is as creepy as ever. It seems she is leading a normal, well-adjusted life, but nothing is quite as it seems in the mind of Hannah. As we get to know her in this story, we see her manipulative tendencies have stayed with her, even after years of therapy. She relishes her job as a phlebotomist because it lets her occasionally bring pain to patients she thinks deserve it.  Readers with an interest in abnormal psychology should find this an interesting read.

💉 The writing in Dear Hannah is stronger than Baby Teeth as Stage has grown as a writer. The story is compelling even though it is easy to dislike Hannah as a person. Baby Teeth found a large following and made many fans. Readers who were drawn to Hannah’s story will certainly want to read this latest check-in on her.

The Knife – Silent Shout

#dearhannah #thomas&mercerpublishing #netgalley #bookreview #bookstagram

Hanna returns in this diabolical, twisted story. Whether you're meeting Hanna for the first time in this story or being reunited with her in this book you will not be disappointed to unveil one evil thought and plan after another.

This highly anticipated follow up to Baby Teeth picks up when Hanna is 24. Now married to an older man and with a step daughter, Hanna believes she has mastered her darker impulses. With help by her job as a phlebotomist, which gives her an outlet for causing just a little pain and the letters she writes her little brother, perhaps the only person she can truly be herself with, Hanna believes she can navigate the world as a normal person. However, when events beyond her control begin threatening her carefully cultivated life, those dark impulses begin bubbling to the surface once again.

Zoje Stage has crafted an excellent book that fans of the original book will love and that those new to the character will enjoy also.

Highly recommended.

I love Zoje and I am always so excited to see what they are going to write, but this was a let down. I was not part of the camp that wanted a sequel to baby teeth, but happy to see where the story went. It didn't really go anywhere. I knew what the twist was from the start so even that didn't do anything for me. There were parts I wish we would have explored that I liked, like the dabbling in the Munchausen, or how Hanna sees her actions as a child.

Dear Hanna is a companion to Baby Teeth but can certainly be read as a stand alone (as I did).

In DH we meet Hanna. She is an interesting young woman in her mid-twenties who makes strategic movements to escape her family and live a life that she feels is comfortable. Hanna has tendencies to go to the "dark side" and those are normally played out in her searching for a vein in her Phlebotomist job or in letters to her brother Gustav (Goose) who is in a boarding school.

Hannah has reinvented herself and married Jacob, a widower with young child. All is well until Jacob's daughter Joelle gets a bit older and begins pushing the envelope as teens often do. These actions upset the equilibrium of the household and of Hanna's carefully controlled life. Via POV and letters to Goose we see what happens when Hanna is crossed.

Creepily clear, I enjoyed Hanna's voice and learning what made sense to her. I can't wait to go back and read Baby Teeth! WIth any luck, there will be a trilogy!
#thomas&Mercer #dearhanna #zojestage

A fun ride and a vast improvement compared to the first book! Hanna is so much fun to read, her mind is fascinating and the way she thinks makes an enjoyable ride.

In "Dear Hanna," Zoje Stage returns with a bone-chilling sequel to her international sensation, "Baby Teeth," immersing readers once again into the unsettling world of a young sociopath navigating adulthood.

At the heart of the story is Hanna, whose disturbing past includes a failed attempt to murder her own mother as a child. Now twenty-four and seemingly reformed through therapy and letter-writing to her younger brother, Hanna leads an outwardly normal life as a wife to Jacob and stepmother to his daughter, Joelle. But beneath the facade of domestic bliss lies Hanna's penchant for manipulation and a chilling willingness to hurt others when her carefully constructed world begins to unravel.

Stage masterfully crafts a narrative that is equal parts darkly humorous and deeply unsettling, drawing readers into Hanna's twisted psyche and the web of deceit she weaves to maintain control. As Joelle's behavior threatens Hanna's carefully laid plans, the story hurtles towards a gripping climax, leaving readers on the edge of their seats until the final, chilling conclusion.

With its compelling protagonist and relentless suspense, "Dear Hanna" is a stand-alone sequel that will captivate both returning fans and new readers alike. Stage's razor-sharp prose and knack for psychological tension make this novel a must-read for anyone craving a thrilling dive into the depths of darkness.

Oh Hanna! What are we going to do with you? Are you healed from your mental illness as a child or are you still suffering with the impulsivity that makes you want to harm others?

This book can be read as a stand-alone quite easily. However, I think reading Baby Teeth really brought home that Grand Slam needed to fully immerse ourselves into Hanna’s life as an adult. Baby Teeth focuses on Hanna as a child; also very eerie and jaw-dropping.

Hanna is married to an older man who has a teenage daughter, Joelle. Hanna doesn’t really love or empathize easily but she does seem to care about Joelle. A few years into the marriage, things begin to get more complicated and Hanna begins to unravel emotionally. The toxic behaviors can’t help themselves from rearing their ugly heads.

This cringeworthy book is everything a true thriller/psychological thriller lover wants. I read a lot of thrillers but Stage has a knack for pushing you head-on into the mind of the emotionally unbalanced character. It is much more eerie when you begin to feel what Hanna feels. At times you can kind of understand where her feelings are coming from. I wanted to stop her so many times from doing destructive things but as readers, our hands are tied, and we just keep reading and wincing every step of the way.

Another fabulous read from Zoje Stage. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC of this book.

An enjoyable psychological thriller, Dear Hanna (2024) by Zoje Stage features an adult character from a previous novel (Baby Teeth). Narrated by adult Hanna and interspersed with letters between her and her brother Goose, who is a source of comfort for Hanna. Hanna is now twenty-four years of age and happily married to an older man. Her childhood behaviours are now under control, as she works as a phlebotomist (an allied health professional who takes blood). The seemingly content family life becomes unravelled when Hanna’s sixteen-year-old step-daughter, Joelle reveals she’s pregnant. Hanna’s dark thoughts and evil tendencies begin to surface, as the family dynamics change and Hanna’s life begins to crumble. A sequel to Zoje’s debut novel, with the grown-up Hanna, this tale lacks the same maleficent atmospherics and intensity, making it a four stars read rating. With thanks to Thomas & Mercer and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without inducement.