Release date: February 2nd, 2021
Publisher: Farrar Straus and Giroux
Genres: Fantasy, Gothic, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Rose Szabo’s thrilling debut What Big Teeth is a dark, gothic fantasy YA novel about a teen girl who returns home to her strange, wild family after years of estrangement, perfect for fans of Wilder Girls.
Eleanor Zarrin has been estranged from her wild family for years. When she flees boarding school after a horrifying incident, she goes to the only place she thinks is safe: the home she left behind. But when she gets there, she struggles to fit in with her monstrous relatives, who prowl the woods around the family estate and read fortunes in the guts of birds.
Eleanor finds herself desperately trying to hold the family together. In order to save them all Eleanor must learn to embrace her family of monsters and tame the darkness inside her.
Exquisitely terrifying, beautiful, and strange, this fierce paranormal fantasy will sink its teeth into you and never let go.
My review:
For a debut novel What Big Teeth took me by surprise – I was consumed with the need to know what was going on. So much of Eleanor and her family are shrouded in mystery. I went into this thinking (from the title) that it might be something along the lines of Red Riding Hood – that was not the case. It was so much better, so much more weird and creepy.
We slowly figure out the state of Eleanor’s family with Eleanor herself, who doesn’t recall much of her time spent with her family as a child. I will say one thing though, wolves are Eleanor’s least concern and nothing is what it seems in this family. I was NOT expecting the reveals towards the end of this book and yet I STILL have questions, which I cannot give voice to since I don’t want to spoil the fun for anyone.
What Big Teeth was such a wild ride from beginning to end and most of the time I had no idea what was going on or what would happen but I enjoyed every minute spent reading this book. I would highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy Gothic, ya, horror, low fantasy, and Rory Power’s books. I will be on the lookout for more books from Rose Szabo, to say the least. A huge thank you to Xpresso Book Tours, Rose Szabo, Farrar Straus and Giroux, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this bizarre gothic fantasy! All opinions are my own.
Author info:
Rose Szabo is a nonbinary writer from Richmond, VA, where they live with an assortment of people and animals and teach writing at VCU. They have an MA in English from the University of Maine and an MFA in creative writing from VCU. Their work has been published in See the Elephant and Quaint magazines. What Big Teeth is their first novel.
Giveaway:
- International
- One print copy of What Big Teeth
- Enter to win here – giveaway ends February 11th, 2021
Such a great giveaway!
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Great review! I’m so excited for this book and so glad to hear you enjoyed it
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Thank you 🤗
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I love how much you love this! It’s always a great read when the book is super engaging!
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I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this! I love twisty endings!
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It was a conclusion but open ended for the characters at the same time 😅
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Great review! This sounds like it would be a perfect Halloween read.
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This sounds wild and thoroughly unique! I love how exciting it seems, too! Lovely review! 🙂
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Thank you 🤗 it definitely was!!
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Interesting, I kind of like knowing what’s going on but can definitely dee the appeal!
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It made me finish it super fast 🤣
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