#r rose szabo
Book review:What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo
A decadently Gothic examination of intergenerational trauma, self-control and what it means to be monstrous. I read What Big Teeth in just two sittings - both of which were late at night, bundled up in a blanket with a steaming mug of tea, listening to the wind and rain battering against my windows. It was the perfect atmosphere in which to read a creepy, surreal fairytale like this one.
InWhat Big Teeth, 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.
If I had to describe What Big Teeth in one word it would be: disjointed. That might sound like a critique, but it’s not - what I enjoyed most about this book was that everything - the dysfunctional relationships between characters, the protagonist’s frustratingly vague memories, the eerie setting - felt off-kilter. Even the pacing was jarring, veering from lengthy descriptions of a single afternoon to weeks flashing by in just a few lines. The overall effect was a pervading sense of uneasiness and the feeling that something terrible could happen at any moment.
If I had one wish, it would be that the ending was fleshed out a little more. Once we, the readers, are finally made aware of exactly what is happening, everything happens very quickly. I would have liked to have spent more time with Eleanor and her family after everything had been revealed.
One final thought: can we just appreciate that cover? It’s STUNNING.
Many thanks to Farrar, Straus & Giroux for providing a copy of What Big Teeth. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Rating: 4 stars | ★★★★✰
Review cross-posted to Goodreads
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