The Good Parts: Zoje Stage sets a very vivid picture of the place where they are living. I love that the mother, Suzette, has a prominent facing battle with Chron's Disease. I feel like that detail played into some of the desperation that she feels towards needing time to rest and gave an interesting plot device. The plot as a whole reads as a modern telling of an Oedipal story to great effect. I loved how her actions were completely different around her father than her mother which was credible after seeing how my own kids act differently between each parent.
The Bad Parts: Hannah was too young for some of the thoughts that she was having. Even with her advanced intellect and powers of observation, I had a very hard time grasping that a 1st grader would be able to formulate some of these elaborate plots, much less be able to execute them. The second challenge that I have with the novel is that after multiple neurology and speech pathology exams, there was no mention of a psychiatric evaluation until things reached critical mass. I know that it is definitely difficult to source psych services for children but I can't believe that after 7 nonverbal years not one medical professional suggested mental help for her. I understand the mother's reluctance toward doctors, etc due to her chronic illness but she did not seem to have a problem with the medical testing.
All in all - if you can keep a reasonable disbelief suspension, you will likely enjoy this novel. For me it was a solid 3 stars - not great but I'm not mad that I spent the time to read it.
Many thanks to St Martins Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy of Baby Teeth. Available 07/17/2018 at retailers.
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