Baby Teeth
Ratings40
Average rating3.4
15
Ratings40
Average rating3.4
Afflicted with a chronic debilitating condition, Suzette Jensen knew having children would wreak havoc on her already fragile body. Nevertheless, she brought Hanna into the world, pleased and proud to start a family with her husband Alex. Estranged from her own mother, Suzette is determined to raise her beautiful daughter with the love, care, and support she was denied. But Hanna proves to be a difficult child. Now seven-years-old, she has yet to utter a word, despite being able to read and write. Defiant and anti-social, she refuses to behave in kindergarten classes, forcing Suzette to homeschool her. Resentful of her mother's rules and attentions, Hanna lashes out in anger, becoming more aggressive every day. The only time Hanna is truly happy is when she's with her father. To Alex, she's willful and precocious but otherwise the perfect little girl, doing what she's told. Suzette knows her clever and manipulative daughter doesn't love her. She can see the hatred and jealousy in her eyes. And as Hanna's subtle acts of cruelty threaten to tear her and Alex apart, Suzette fears her very life may be in grave danger...--Amazon.com
Reviews with the most likes.
Alex, Suzette, and their daughter Hanna live the ideal life on the surface. Seemingly happy family, financially well off, beautiful home. But 7-year-old Hanna has never spoken. In fact, she's not as sweet as she seems, tormenting her mother when they're alone but sweet as candy to her dad. We come into the story when it seems both Hanna and Suzette are reaching their breaking point.
To Suzette, it seems that Hanna has it out for her and she doesn't know why. Throughout, we hear from her on how her Crohn's makes her feel less than and hear fears of whether she's failed as a parent, made her daughter this way, deserves to be retaliated against. We also hear from Hanna, the things she sees in her head and the behind the scenes of the things she does to her mother, how she feels about Mommy and Daddy really.
I won't say much more because you should experience this book for yourself, I don't want to spoil a single thing. This story is masterfully told and the author seems to have done a lot of research in a lot of areas. I absolutely couldn't put this down, I read it all in somewhere around 26 hours even though I'm working and running a house because I was determined to find out what happened next. The only reason this received 4 stars instead of 5 from me is because the ending seemed a little lackluster to me. I understand it and I like it, even. But I just was waiting for even just one chilling sentence or something at the end. However, Baby Teeth has convinced me I don't want children anymore. I'll definitely be here to see what this author does next.
Would I recommend?
If you like psychological thrillers, definitely yes.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Which , of course, doesn't change my opinion of the book as that will help no one. It drops July 17th.
So let's see ....
Suzette- SAHM, Crohn's Disease
Hannah- 7 years old, mute but doctors can't find anything physically wrong.
Alex- delusional AF dad
The story is told from alternating POV between Suzette and Hannah. Which I happen to like. At first I could relate to Suzette because being a parent is hard, a mom harder and a SAHM is fucking bananas. But almost right away I disconnect myself. Not that Hannah is innocent either.
The whole family is grade A dysfunctional.
I'd say the book seems like it will be controversial because of how their relationship is portrayed. I see a lot of people being uncomfortable with a lot of the book. That being said I did enjoy the book. It was well written. I liked the ending because I wasn't really expecting it to end that way. This being Stage's book debut in looking forward to more of her work and definitely another thriller to see if and how she ups her game.
