Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Bloody brilliant.
When Suzette becomes a new mother, she is excited and anxious, like any new mother would be. She didn’t have the greatest relationship with her own mother and she feels she has to do better than that by her own child.
Suzette and her husband, Alex (p.s. not a fan), work hard to provide their new daughter, Hanna, with a home she can grow and flourish in. However, it becomes apparent overtime that Hanna is no ordinary child.
Due to Hanna being non-communicative, Suzette is forced to keep her home and provide all of her schooling and care. She doesn’t want to do this. She wants Hanna to go to school like the other children. She want her to learn how to play and interact with others. And, yes, let’s be honest, get Hanna out of her hair for a while but Hanna is not having none of that.
What transpired within these pages chilled me to the core. THE CORE. This kid. Mmmmm, she is not messing around. I WANTED to get away from her and she’s a fictional character.
This story is a story you think you know. It’s the classic The Omen evil child trope. I don’t think I am giving anything away by saying that. You can deem that much from reading the synopsis but this book is SO much more than that. It is unnerving in the reality of it. This could happen and probably does. I know there are parents out there who are afraid of their children. This book made ME afraid of their children.
I loved this book. I added it to my favorites shelf and I haven’t done that in LONG time. This disturbed me in such a glorious way. I shall be singing its praises for years to come and you best believe I will be picking up anything else Zoje Stage chooses to write!
