Baby Teeth caught my attention months ago when I saw its simplistic yet powerful red and white cover floating around over on bookstagram, and when I found out what it was about, I was even more intrigued. So when this book surfaced in my own home (seriously, shout-out to my boyfriend for letting me read this before he even got a chance to, even though he’s the one who ordered it), I knew I had to crack it open pretty soon and get to the bottom of this evil child situation.
This psychological thriller/horror novel is the debut work of Pittsburgh author Zoje Stage. The novel follows mother and daughter Suzette and Hanna, respectively, through an absolutely harrowing snippet of Hanna’s childhood as Suzette struggles to not just raise her child, but survive raising her as well.
Hanna is not an ordinary little girl. Aside from being electively mute, Suzette also suspects that Hanna is out to get her. Deep inside, she knows her seven-year-old child hates her and wishes to cause her harm, despite the fact that whenever Hanna’s father is around, she puts on a sweet, innocent act that Alex falls for hook, line, and sinker. But when Alex isn’t there to bear witness to the atrocities, Hanna tortures Suzette psychologically and physically, threatens her, punches babies, gets herself kicked out of school after school so that Suzette is forced to home school her in isolation, and all manner of other horrible things that some of us wouldn’t even imagine a small child doing.
As the novel goes on, Hanna’s behavior gets more and more bizarre and terrifying, and Suzette fears for her life, desperately grasping at some chance to make others believe that Hanna truly is the living embodiment of evil.
If that whole concept sounds pretty freaky—that’s because it is. I have to say, the overall concept of this novel was probably one of the scariest things about it. Familial horror is always pretty disconcerting, but when it involves an evil little child…something about that just sends chills down my spine.
You have to admit, when it comes to concepts and characters in horror, something about little children is just inherently freaky. I don’t care if you have a million kids and they’re the most adorable kids on the planet and you love them dearly—I’m sure you do. But face it: kids are creepy. I mean small humans with no filter and no idea what is and isn’t appropriate? Kids say and do freaky stuff all the time. If children weren’t inherently creepy, we wouldn’t have horror icons like the twins from The Shining or Damien from The Omen. Evil little kids are a horror mainstay, and Hanna could give any of the aforementioned children a run for their money.
Also, dolls. Not entirely related, but they’re also small and childlike, and also inherently freaky. Even if it’s just a regular doll. They’re freaky.
Making my way through this novel and seeing all the downright diabolical things this little girl was coming up with was horrifying to me, and it was even more horrifying seeing how little care she had for her victims. The thought of a little kid being evil is one thing—the thought of a little kid being evil to her own mother is even more horrific. It’s the kind of thing that is freaky because it’s so real and hits so close to home. Granted, I don’t have children, but it’s the kind of horror that seems like something that could really happen to you. It isn’t an overblown zombie apocalypse or being chased through the underbrush by a sasquatch—it’s the thought of your own child trying to murder you. That makes it much more scary because it’s more accessible and believable, and I really liked that aspect.
I really liked some of the details about evil little plans that Hanna came up with. I don’t want to spoil too much, but there were times when I knew where she was going with things, and then there were times when she was getting things into place for her evilness and I found myself thinking, “What is this kid about to—OMG!”
There’s also another aspect of scariness here as the author, especially in Suzette’s narrative, taps into the more primal fear of being unable to care for your child, or being an inept parent. Most parents hope that they will be good parents or intend to be good parents, so it’s sad at times to watch Suzette struggle so much and wonder if she has failed as a parent, wonder what it was that she did to make her child turn out so violent and abhorrent. It’s definitely a different kind of fear than the kind brought about by Hanna’s little plots to kill her mother, but it’s interesting to see multiple kinds of fear and horror working on multiple levels here.
I also liked how the novel switched back and forth between Hanna’s POV and Suzette’s POV. If it had just been written from Suzette’s point of view, it might have been easy for a reader to, like Hanna’s father, write things off as a misunderstanding, or even wonder if Suzette was the evil one, rather than the child. But the fact that we got a glimpse inside Hanna’s head and got to see her plotting not only made her a better villain, but also made it a bit more terrifying overall. At the end of the day, I can tell that Zoje Stage did an excellent job writing because she really made me dislike Hanna, and when an author can make you hate or dislike their own character intentionally, I think that says something about their abilities. I know it sounds messed up to say I hate a little kid, but damn. Hanna was truly awful and Stage made sure we knew it.
Stage also did an excellent job of isolating Suzette. Making her a stay at home mother with very few friends or acquaintances and a husband who never really saw what was going on brought yet another layer of fear to the situation as Suzette struggled to make anyone believe her and felt more and more alone. At times when reading about Suzette’s issues with making Alex understand, I could really feel that loneliness that comes with struggling with something completely on your own, and it was crushing. I could really feel it closing in on me, and was able to put myself in Suzette’s shoes.
As with all books, I had a couple dislikes, as well. Though I mostly enjoyed Baby Teeth, a few minor gripes kept it from being too perfect, but nothing that even remotely took away from my enjoyment of this novel.
Overall, I did enjoy reading this book. It easily held my interest, I felt for the main character of Suzette, and there were times when it was really scary and played on some very real fears. It gets in your head and makes you hate this evil little kid, which I think is what the author was going for, so she definitely accomplished her mission. I’d give Baby Teeth four stars, and I’d recommend it to anyone who is looking for something mildly freaky that will get your mind racing and keep your hands flipping the pages! I especially recommend it for anyone who finds children a bit creepy and wants to scare themselves.
Has anyone else read Baby Teeth? What did you think? Did you end up hating Hanna? Did you feel bad for Suzette, or did you side with her daughter? Let me know in the comments! You know I’d love to talk. <3