Baby Teeth

A Novel

By: Zoje Stage

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A battle of wills between mother and daughter reveals the frailty and falsehood of familial bonds in award-winning playwright and filmmaker Zoje Stage’s tense audiobook of psychological suspense, Baby Teeth.

Afflicted with a chronic debilitating condition, Suzette Jensen knew having children would wreak havoc on her already fragile body. Nevertheless, she brought Hanna into the world, pleased and proud to start a family with her husband Alex. Estranged from her own mother, Suzette is determined to raise her beautiful daughter with the love, care, and support she was denied.

But Hanna proves to be a difficult child. Now seven years old, she has yet to utter a word, despite being able to read and write. Defiant and anti-social, she refuses to behave in kindergarten classes, forcing Suzette to homeschool her. Resentful of her mother’s rules and attentions, Hanna lashes out in anger, becoming more aggressive every day. The only time Hanna is truly happy is when she’s with her father. To Alex, she’s willful and precocious but otherwise the perfect little girl, doing what she’s told.

Suzette knows her clever and manipulative daughter doesn’t love her. She can see the hatred and jealousy in her eyes. And as Hanna’s subtle acts of cruelty threaten to tear her and Alex apart, Suzette fears her very life may be in grave danger....

“We Need to Talk About Kevin meets Gone Girl meets The Omen...a twisty, delirious read that will constantly question your sympathies for the two characters as their bond continues to crumble.” (Entertainment Weekly)

©2018 Zoje Stage (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Unnerving and unputdownable, Baby Teeth will get under your skin and keep you trapped in its chilling grip until the shocking conclusion." (New York Times best-selling author Lisa Scottoline)

"Imagine We Need to Talk About Kevin only with insight into what Kevin was thinking and if Eva had fought back. This dark, terrifying novel unfolds as a battle of wits between a struggling mother and her psychotic young daughter and its genius is that the reader’s allegiance isn’t allowed to linger too long on either side. You’ll be desperate to discuss the ending once you’ve recovered from the shock of it. A must-read." (Catherine Ryan Howard, USA Today best-selling author of Distress Signals)

Immediately Gripping

This was a chilling portrayal of twisted psychology, and, surprisingly, Crohn's Disease. Remind me never to get that disease. Or this family. The level of disturbing unease over what those you love can hide from you gradually rises throughout the book, and gets EXTREMELY intense. If you are looking for an intimate glimpse into the creepy things that can go on behind someone else's eyes, this is the book for you. I'll just say that if you have any trust issues with people close to you, you probably shouldn't read it. You may never trust anyone again.

I sometimes listen to more than one book at once and jump back and forth depending on my mood, but this one had me hooked all the way through. I found myself frustrated with some of the parenting decisions, but even so it was impossible not to feel for these people. It was also easy to see how they could choose to do things as they did, even though I might not. In my mind, that is a sign of good writing and well developed characters. And the story itself was so engrossing it was hard to turn it off.

I was very impressed with this book. If I could change one thing, it would be the overuse of the word giggle. If you say "giggle" a thousand times, you really need to say "laugh" at least once or twice. But this was a minor annoyance alongside many wonderful things about this book.

Distracted reader gave full attention

I listened to this in just a few days. Usually it takes me several weeks or months because I get distracted. This held my full attention. I may be biased because I loved “we need to talk about Kevin. Im also a therapist who works with children on inpatient psych units with these issues. The narrative is also awesome!

Wow!!

This book was off the charts! I could NOT put it down! I was hooked from the start!

I still don’t get it.

First off let me begin by saying that the performance was good except for the voice of Alex. I never fully got a sense of his character to begin with but the voice had me imagining some sweet little old bumbling idiot of a man...so much so that the scenes that involved sex made me cringe. Either way, I just didn’t get it. I kept waiting for something to happen...Like maybe to find out that the mom was just imagining it all and that she was really the crazy one. I don’t know, just something because I really felt like I was waiting to find out the missing piece of information that was going to explain to me why they were the way they were. Maybe it’s from the recent trend of twists seen in books like Gone Girl and Girl on the Train...but I really felt like a good twist or something was needed. Add to this that I am never a fan of endings that lack decent closure.

Creepy

This story reeeally creeped me out...and, it completely reaffirmed that I made the right move when I decided that having children is NOT for me!!

Finally

Loved this read! Actually creeped me out. Well worth the credit! Please let me find more authors/stories as good as this!

Thriller!

long book but it kept me on my toes! I wanted to hear more! The different perspectives were great. This child is craaazzzy!

Creepy!

This book was hard to put down. I never would have imagined a child so evil!

Interesting perspective and great characters.

With a degree in psychology, I love to hear what people are thinking, what motivates them. The characters where flawed and realistic. The emotions were raw and highlighted the duality we so often feel and can't express. I was a little disappointed with the ending as it seemed more like it was setting up for the next novel, than truly ending. But hey, I'd read/listen to another, so bring it on!

book 2?

felt like it leaves room for a second book. but lack luster ending. hope there's a book 2