Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Dear Hanna is the unexpected follow-up to Zoje Stage’s 2018-debut Horror novel, Baby Teeth, which I adored.
It leaned into the creepy kid trope, which I’m always here for, and it did it in such a toe-curling way.
I never expected we would get more of this story and though I don’t feel it was necessary, it was interesting. I went on a journey with this. We had our ups-and-downs, but I’m glad I stuck with it for the satisfying conclusion.
It’s important to note that you don’t really need to read Baby Teeth before you read this. In fact, there could be a solid argument for reading this one first, learning about adult Hanna, and then going back and visiting her childhood, so you can see where all this came from.
Hanna is a foul human. Let me just get that out there. She’s a true sociopath from the moment we first meet her. Stage is so convincing with her characterization of Hanna, that there were times when it was making me angry; her thoughts.
I would have to set it down and walk away for a moment. Then I would remind myself, it’s just Hanna being Hanna. I will admit though, there were times when it wasn’t enjoyable to read, particularly through the middle bits and the parts involving Hanna’s step-daughter.
I also didn’t like Hanna’s husband, Jacob, at all, so any scene with him had the strong possibility of annoying me.
It’s funny, as I write this, the more I think about it and process it, the more impressed I am with just how convincing this story was. It left a bad taste in my mouth, it certainly did, but I think that was the intention, so I definitely need to give Stage props for that.
I feel like it’s important to go into this one in the right headspace though, and perhaps, I wasn’t quite in the right space when I picked this up. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more at another time.
Unfortunately, we’ll never know. I walk away happy I made it through, but knowing I’ll never pick it up again. Although, Baby Teeth I would def be interested in revisiting now.
Thank you to the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Zoje Stage has such creative and compelling ideas. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next!