Baby Teeth: A Novel

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anyway. i'd recommend reading this for the vibes and for the gay emotions. it's short and sweet and sad. I wondered if a seven-year-old was capable of some of the acts committed. Could a child be that diabolical and manipulative? I think this is one of those books that if you look at it closely, yes you will probably see a lot of things that push the believability envelope…right off the table. However, it ended up not mattering if things were all possible or believable…. I was pulled right into the story.

I’m telling you it doesn’t matter. Obviously if you didn’t like any of those stories you should probably save your dollars and refrain from buying this one. Zoje Stage is quite the wordsmith, but I don’t think she has a magic wand that will make you like things you normally hate . . . (But maybe Marie-Anne does????) If you did enjoy those others, Baby Teeth will be a sure winner. And there is a fresh take here because Hanna isn’t a cookie cutter of those other children. Neither is her mother. I’d love to say more, but I’m pretty sure my next communication from St. Martin’s Press would go a little summin like . . . . For a moment she was transported to the early days. The early nights. When he was everything. When she was someone. When the two of them were enough. And having a child meant the exponential increase of their love, because they wanted more ways to express it. Now they knew how a child divided them, as individuals, and a couple. Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. Several years ago, while I was still purs …more Thank you so much, Renee! Maybe not surprisingly, it's a bit of a long story. I'll give you the highlights... She never liked me. No, that’s not true. When she was a baby…Suzette knew she was oversharing, but the words spelled out. But at some point the war began. And I’m losing. I’m losing it. And I can’t tell my husband, I try but…He doesn’t see it. And where would I be? I’m supposed to be a good mom, the mom I never had, that’s what I wanted. That’s what I promised him, what I promised myself”.Being as Baby Teeth doesn’t come out for another seven months, I’m a little hamstrung when it comes to doing much more than singing its praises. To be honest, I’m not even sure if I’m supposed to be posting a review, but since I didn’t receive any blatant instructions not to, I will wait for my cease and desist letter before taking this down : ) Set in Pittsburg, PA, the plot revolves around young mother Suzette Jensen, her husband Alex and their mute seven-year-old daughter, Hanna. Hanna’s mutism is a cause of great concern to her mother, who sees it as a sign of her bad parenting, but in reality, it’s a sign of something much darker. Stage pits all three in the Jensen family against each other, and it’s intricately detailed with emotion. Although it does seem to take a long time for the father, Alex to come to his senses and see that something is seriously wrong with his daughter, he acts as anchor point for the reader, the center-point in the see-saw of doubt. This kid. Mmmmm, she is not messing around. I WANTED to get away from her and she's a fictional character.

There is something missing with this book, there is nothing there to hold your interest. I feel like Hanna should have been written with more of a horror bent, at least it would have spiced up the plot a bit. I spent the first half of the book wishing I could chalk it up as mindless entertainment, but it's missing the entertainment part. I found myself skimming out of boredom. No plot twist. No thriller. I didn’t feel tension or suspense. Dull as dishwater.As I said earlier, this book won’t be for everyone. I do wonder if it would fit more into the horror genre. I found it diabolical and creepy and I’m really glad I read it. “Baby Teeth” is definitely a book I won’t soon forget. I’m very curious to see what Zoje Stage is going to come up with next. Although I love the verses, I wish there could have been more world building or learn more about the supporting characters (Claudia, Freddie and Henry) - there were moments where things felt a bit two dimensional. Honestly, I left this novel feeling neither at-ease with the stability of the conclusion nor confident in the continued happiness of this family.