Review: Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

Genre: Psychological Thriller

⅖ stars

   I’ve really been craving a fun, on the edge of your seat thriller lately. I want a story that builds and builds, gripping you in a way that sets your teeth on edge. In a good way. So when I saw people recommending Baby Teeth in various posts and book groups, I thought, “Maybe this is the one!”

   I was pretty wrong, sadly.

Now, before I go into my thoughts on this book, I do want to say that I commend the author for taking on such a challenging subject for her debut novel. Writing a book in the perspective of a seven-year-old child is a tall order in itself—and writing a book in the perspectives of BOTH a maniacal seven-year-old and her highly stressed, chronically ill mother is a huge undertaking. I give Stage props for taking on such a massive endeavor!

   That being said, while this book has a nice premise—genius, maniacal child set out on killing her mother so she can have Daddy all to herself—it really never holds up to the creep factor I was really hoping for. I mean, it tries. But I honestly never felt scared for Suzette or scared of Hanna.

   But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let me take a few steps back and give you a few examples of things that tried to mess with readers’ minds but just left me wanting more.

1. Hanna is, first and foremost, a genius child. And while that isn’t a bad thing at all (in fact, I really found myself having high hopes for her intellect and how that could play creatively into the story), it becomes exceedingly clear that this little girl is extra smart. She’s seven, for crying out loud—I found it very difficult to believe that a seven year old could be so purposefully spiteful and prepared in messing with adults.

   Example: She somehow had enough comprehension to know how to replace the insides of Suzette’s pills with flour when she was wanting to screw with her mom’s health. She emptied the contents of the pills, realized that they were too light feeling when they were empty, then had the idea to fill them with flour so her mom wouldn’t know the difference. I mean, come on.

1. Suzette has been dealing with Hanna’s cruel shenanigans for years, and now that Hanna is getting older and even more resolute on getting rid of her mother, Suzette fears for her life. But here’s the thing: Daddy refuses to believe that Hanna is as bad as Suzette is making it out. He thinks that Suzette is just not having enough patience or care for their child, or whatever. He continually shows a disregard for his wife’s safety and sanity (over and over!) because he’s too blind to see that his daughter is the spawn of Satan.

Well, until the absolutely last minute, that is. Then he comes to his senses, but that’s only AFTER Hanna has attempted to kill his wife by bludgeoning her in the head.

   Granted, I think a lot of other people had the same frustrations toward him, and I guess it was a plot point for the story, but it just wasn’t believable. 

1. Okay, I get that the bit about “bludgeoning mom in the head” sounds pretty crazy and possibly thrilling. And yeah, I was actually excited for that part of the book because we spend the first ¾ of the story basically waiting on Hanna to go full hellion on her. I was hoping that part of the story would actually pick up a bit and we’d have some action, some tension. But no.

   It builds, and builds, and Hanna does some admittedly weird, non-seven year old crap—but then, right as Hanna is holding the hammer at the ready...nothing. Her plan doesn’t go quite as she anticipated, so things kind of fall apart and she doesn’t get to even follow through on the hammer bit. My point in laying all of this out is that it was a big let down to constantly have hints of tension or action without any type of fulfillment of that promise. I was waiting for something to happen the whole book.

   (I sound like a sadist. But if you read the book, you’ll know what I mean.)

   I’m reading a book about a cruel, murderous kid because I want to feel chills, man! In all honesty, I was wishing in the back of my mind that Hanna would turn out to truly be the Spawn of Satan—or at least possessed or something—because she certainly liked to play that card with her mother. Eye rolling, unnerving staring, and one especially jarring instance of her pretending to be accosted by Satan himself...I would have been very happy if, underneath all of this warring between mother and daughter, the little girl actually ended up having something royally supernatural going on with her. That would have been the ultimate twist!

   Because this is the thing: I heard so many people lauding the ending of this book. Saying, “Ooh, I can’t stop thinking about it! That ending! The chills!” All that stuff. So I stuck it out the whole book expecting a totally jaw-dropping finale. I wanted to gasp. I wanted those chills, dang it.

   What I didn’t want was everything being summed up by a therapist as sociopathic tendencies and behavioral disorder. But that’s what we get.

   All of Hanna’s oddly well-thought out torture tactics, all of her self-caused, witch-possessed seizures, all of her murderous intentions, were summed up as a mental disorder. I felt taken advantage of, to say the least. In what world is it okay to build and build to something monstrous and untameable only to slap the label of mental illness on it? Maybe I missed something. But especially with the little cliffhanger (not really, but some people felt it was) ending that was thrown in, I closed this book with a feeling of dissatisfaction and a bit of frustration.

   Like I said at the beginning, I’ve been really wanting a good thriller or suspense lately. I have been focusing more on stepping outside of my normal realm of fantasy/sci-fi/action and seeking new genres. But so far, the year has only held a few golden nuggets in the pile of, er, normal nuggets that I’ve read.

   I want a read that will stay with me even long after I have finished it, one that will stick in my mind in the odd hours of the night. Stories that cause some deep thinking are some of the best kind to read, in my opinion, but I am having such a hard time finding any lately that leave me with anything besides a desire for something more.

   I’m not normally one to have such negative things to say about a book and it makes me feel bad for even feeling this way. I definitely don’t mean any of this to affect the author or her writing, honestly; I think my cause for such aggravation toward many books lately (not just this one) is that I’m searching for something that I just haven’t found yet. Everyone’s tastes are different, and I know there are many people that absolutely love some of the books that I feel disappointed in.

   But that just goes to show that everyone needs something different. When I read, I do it to feel something, to get away from my everyday humdrum life and live and think and breathe deeper. Not many books can give that to me right now, but that’s alright because they’re giving life to other people somewhere, right this instant. That’s the beauty of books.

All of that to say: while Baby Teeth wasn’t quite the fit for me, I am most definitely going to be checking out Zoje Stage’s newest novel, Wonderland, when it releases later this month. I want to delve more into Stage’s work and see what other horror she has to offer. Wonderland certainly sounds promising!

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Have you read Baby Teeth? Do you agree with my sentiments, or did you find it deliciously thrilling? I would love to hear your thoughts! And if you have any thriller suggestions for me that you think will knock my socks off, let me know!