Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
"Goosebumps rose on her skin... when she thought about her creepy daughter."
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Pros: dark and unsettling, left me with a lot of feelings and not a clue what to do with most of them
Cons: Unlikable and unreliable characters, not fond of the ending
TW: Illness, Violence, Forced Institutionalization, Sex, Mental Illness, Medical Stuff, Child Abuse, Bullying, Blood
For a full review of this book plus a discussion, you can watch the entire meeting of Weirdo Book Club on our YouTube channel!
For the month of August, Weirdo Book Club was feeling witchy so we selected Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage as our main read. It is an unsettling thriller with unreliable narrators, a wild plot centering around a mother/daughter relationship where the daughter may be evil.
Written with a dual POV - half of the chapters being the mother, Suzette and the other half being the daughter, Hanna - this book had me ready to blow but also deeply unsettled and unsure. The plot was intriguing but I didn't really connect with the characters. The ending had me questioning everything I had read up until that point and going back over things in my mind to try to figure it out.
I do feel like a lot of it was very disjointed in many ways. There was a pretty big plot hole which we discuss in the meeting briefly. The ending felt very rushed and called into question everything we had learned about these people along the way. I felt weird at the end of Baby Teeth for sure and it wasn't until I discussed it with everyone at the meeting that I realized I enjoyed it. At first I just felt annoyed.
I am glad I finally got to read this one, it's been on my TBR for a while. If you'd like to join us for our next read, please do! You are absolutely invited and we would love to have you.