What Big Teeth

by Rose Szabo

Book Overview

A Strand February 2021 Book of the Month

"With a layered mystery, a haunting setting, and thrilling tension, What Big Teeth has an otherness to it that pulls you in and forces you to keep reading." --Tricia Levenseller, Publisher's Weekly-bestselling author of The Shadows Between Us

Eleanor Zarrin has been estranged from her wild family for years. When she flees boarding school after a horrifying...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374314306
• ISBN13: 9780374314309
• Release Date: February 2021
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.7" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 14 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 9 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Good atmosphere, lacking in story.

I am a bit conflicted. First off, the cover is absolutely perfect in its creepiness with the normal girl but the swipe away scary teeth! That was mostly what made me want to read this book. The little blurb sounded really interesting too. I really wanted to find out what Eleanor was in her family of werewolves and other odd monsters. Sadly though it was nicely gothic and creepy, it was very slow paced and I found it irritating at times that Eleanor was so clueless (by choice sometimes and other times by spells) and so the story meandered as she went searching for answers. I wanted more on the family dynamics and history of the wolves (liked Luma!) and I wanted a definite name for what she was. That was frustrating too. Her Grandmere was nicely creepy and the ending was very action packed. It did not make up for the rest of the story though. Good atmosphere but the story could be better. Hence the confused feelings about the book and I probably would not read it again.

This is wild

I finished What Big Teeth, and I’ve gone back and forth in my head several times trying to decide how I felt about it. 3-5 stars This book isn’t necessarily a bad book, but there is very little explaining and you’re just thrown into the story. This was one of the most wild and twisted books I have ever read, and my stomach is still in knots because I don’t know that i liked it, but I couldn’t stop reading. Our main character Eleanor is different from the rest of her family of werewolves. I still don’t understand what’s going on with her mother. I still don’t understand why she’s mad at everything and constantly being scolded for being “rude” in the beginning even though she wasn’t. And the side plot with the plants that never comes to anything. I’m still so confused by so much of this book. The reveals at the end were completely obvious by the time we got there, and I wasn’t shocked. I wouldn’t call this a horror novel, but I do read a lot of horror and this was maybe like a goosebumps type horror, it would’ve been scarier when I was younger. It’s very rare that I have a hard time putting into words my opinion on a book. This wasn’t good, but I couldn’t put it down, and I don’t know what I feel about it.

Strange, atmospheric and compelling YA horror

Eleanor is sent away to boarding school at a young age by her grandmother. What Big Teeth starts when teenage Eleanor flees home to her strange family after an incident at school. Eleanor is mystified and frightened by her creepy, savage family members and their weird dynamic. The reader shares her fear and confusion. When her paternal grandmother dies Eleanor is entrusted by her to protect the family. The story follows Eleanor as she discovers more about her family history and the odd man called Arthur who does their bidding. Eleanor, feeling lonely and excluded, invites her maternal grandmother to visit from France. Her Grandmere initially seems warm and supportive, but Eleanor comes to realize she is not all she appears to be. Eleanor must stand up to unite and protect her family and follow her own moral compass. The haunting, isolated setting of a huge gothic mansion on the outskirts of a small village in Maine creates an ominous foreboding atmosphere. The author skillfully builds tension, fear and a pervasive unsettling feeling of constant threat. There are deeper themes of family, identity and controlling the monster in others and within. I could not put this creepy yet triumphant book down and flew through the pages. An astonishing and highly recommended debut.