Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Book Review: Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

Suzette lives with her husband and daughter in their stunning, custom-built home in Pittsburgh, dealing with her irregular health, and her weird, possibly murderous child. She's been h ome-schooling Hanna since she gets expelled from every school, but she can't keep that up much longer and maintain her own sanity. Her husband just doesn't get it since Hannah acts like an angel when he's around, but soon Hannah's dangerous predilections for harming Suzette are undeniable.

Hanna is a creepy, creepy little girl. She reminded me a lot of My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier or The Bad Seed (although I haven't read that, but I know enough about it thanks to the cultural zeitgeist.) But I'm starting to feel that little psychopathic girls are becoming a trope and they needs to be expanded upon before they firmly meld into a cliche. Particularly since according to psychological studies, the vast majority of psychopaths are male.

The narrative switches back and forth between Suzette and Hannah. The Hannah parts felt kind of weird to me, stilted and not like the real voice of a child (always tricky to pull off.) And Suzette's medical issues are presented as a serious problem in the beginning of the book, so much so that you expect them to come back and have some important role in the end, but they don't. For me, the level of tension in the book didn't payoff, but I did like the ending as one that's actually realistic in this situation. However, thrillers about psychopathic kids aren't usually noted for their realistic endings, so I am not sure that's effective. It was a fun read, but uneven, and with some gaps.

I got this book for free from my employer, Macmillan, which is the publisher.

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