What Big Teeth (Paperback)

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What Big Teeth By Rose Szabo Cover Image

What Big Teeth (Paperback)

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Staff Reviews


Those of us who love horror novels cheer when an author tweaks the genre. In the case of What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo, the author turns the genre (and some characters) inside out. When you step into the forbidding environs of the Zarrin family, you may think you know what to expect, but you would be wildly mistaken. This is a YA novel, but it is by no means a children's story.

The title almost certainly brings Little Red Riding Hood to mind. Eleanor Zarrin, returning uninvited after years of exile at boarding school, is knowingly entering a house of human wolves and a grandmother more powerful than any of her lupine kin. Her grandmother sent her away as a child, cut off all communication with her family, and Eleanor cannot remember why. Yet when a crisis occurs, this grandmother, who seems to both fear and love her, entrusts Eleanor with the safety and survival of her bizarre family. “Bizarre” is truly the right word – I never quite identified what Eleanor’s mother is.

As Eleanor navigates her unfamiliar family, she both fears for her life even as she aches for their love, realizing she is not like any of them. She tries to revive long-buried memories of what horror caused her to be sent away. She calls increasingly on help from a family friend whose strange charisma causes even more family divides and from a never-met maternal grandmother who is both an answer to a prayer and a nightmare.

Finally, Eleanor must decide if this strange brood can be savedand and at what cost. Can she protect the community from Zarrins and save the Zarrins, too?

— Rosemary

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 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.

Rose Szabo's thrilling debut is a dark fantasy novel about a teen girl who returns home to her strange, wild family after years of estrangement. Perfect for fans of Wilder Girls, this exquisitely terrifying and beautiful tale will sink its teeth into you and never let go.

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.
Product Details ISBN: 9781250821195
ISBN-10: 1250821193
Publisher: Square Fish
Publication Date: June 7th, 2022
Pages: 432
Language: English

*A Strand February YA 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

"Deliciously gothic and wonderfully creepy." — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, STARRED REVIEW

"Shadowy, gothic, labyrinthine." — Kirkus

"... one part haunting mystery, one part dark fantasy ... This darkly thrilling gothic fantasy will appeal to fans of Karen McManus and Maggie Stiefvater alike." — School Library Journal

"A tale so gorgeously twisty, it'll turn you inside out." — Tor.com

"Gazes into [the] darkness to face the monster that dwells within." — NPR Books

"A complete ghostly chill that deserves ten stars." — The Nerd Daily

"Has bite—and will leave you feeling dazed." — Forever YA

"A hauntingly thrilling read." — The Lineup

"A fascinating debut." — PopSugar

"[An] inventive concept — Den of Geek

"Not your typical YA fantasy." — Culturess