I’m sure if you tried to describe this book to me it would sound like something I would enjoy, but that just wasn’t the reality for me. I was never really clear on wether my confusion in regard to the world building was intended, and I felt that the atmosphere lacked some depth preventing it from being as dark and mysterious as I think was the aim.
A miss for me, unfortunately.

A fantastic YA supernatural novel about lost memories, wolves, witches, shapeshifters and mind control. Set in a backdrop of reality, it follows Elenor a young woman who has ran away from boarding school to return to the family she has been ostracized from.
Slowly, she regains snippets of memory and realises she's not like the rest of this family, but will that fact be the downfall or saviour in the end

Think 21st Centurary, modern horror and Adams Family vibes, and you'll be pretty close with this! I'm still not sure exactly how I felt about this book, is the honest truth. I certainly thought it was curious and unique, and I was interested enough to see how it would finish, but it was a very odd read. That said, I do think that was the mood that the author was attempting to achieve, so I can't criticise it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a right mix of genres, which can be risky, but I think in this case it was a gamble that paid off. The subtleties are what make this such a captivating read. Although I am not the target audience I enjoyed this adventurous, fun, romp and I think younger me would have absolutely adored it.

Definitely a well-written debut and I'll be eagerly watching to see what Szabo writes next.

4 stars

I was lucky enough to receive an e-arc of What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo. Thank you to Netgalley, Szabo and the publishers for allowing me this opportunity.

First of all, the cover is absolutely stunning and not like anything I've ever seen before! 😍

I found it really difficult to connect with the characters and plot line of this book which is such a shame as I truly thought I would enjoy this more. The world building and family atmosphere was there, but I just felt like the plot lacked depth and I was never sure what the purpose of the storyline was and where we were going; I felt like at times I'd missed vital pieces of information only to find that I hadn't, we just hadn't been given it until then and that information didn't feel cohesive to what was going on at the time/felt like it was an added extra thrown in.

Perhaps I'm not the intended target audience for this book and that might be why I picked up on key pieces of information I felt was needed.

I would still say to give this a go if you're into YA with more world building as apposed to character development and depth in plot.

This is a bit of a hard review for me to write as I am still mulling over what I actually thought of this book.
The premise captured by attention immediately, and I loved the first few pages of the book, but saying that I do think it had a very strong beginning, a mediocre middle, and then again a strong ending.

I loved the creepy atmosphere of the book, and the characters and their monstrousness, however I think the pacing could use some work, and I do think the ending wrapped up a bit too easily, and a bit too neatly.

I wish there had been more flashbacks to the grandmother and the grandfather’s time to be honest as I thought that was much more interesting character arc.

So over all a good debut, and am excited to see what else comes from this author.

*Disclaimer: I was kindly gifted an electronic copy of this book by Netgalley and Titan Books in exchange for an honest review.

3.5

"I sat with that for a long time. I thought of every person I had met, wondering how many of them had wolves inside them and just had never pulled them out. Or perhaps more horrible: how many of them, in a moment of fear, reached inside themselves for something to save them, and came up empty."

The debut novel of Rose Szabo is an atmospheric read where everything isn't as it seems. Eleanor Zarrin returned home after being sent to a boarding school by her grandmother Persephone. But after her sudden return, an important family member passes away and she is left in charge to take care of everyone; which seems a little impossible since everyone makes her feel unwelcome.

Being different to the rest of her family of shapeshifting wolves, except for her mother who resembles a kind of sea creature, Eleanor calls upon her estranged Grandmère who lives in France for help. After Grandmère's arrival everyone becomes uneasy, even Grandpa Miklos who is terrifying and isn't easily scared by anyone avoids Grandmère. Strange behaviour is taking place in the household and Eleanor wishes for guidance. Unable to trust anyone, she finds herself fighting an age-old battle without even knowing it. The story takes a dramatic turn near the ending as secrets and identities are revealed and we see Eleanor caught in the middle of it all.

I was expecting a scary read but most of the story wasn't scary, although the ending turned out to be full-on creepy. If you don't like scary reads that leave you awake at night, this is the perfect read because the eeriness of the story leaves you on edge but it isn't scary. You will still be able to sleep. Near the ending, the plot went in a different direction to what I expected and this is where the creepiness sets in. I found it interesting to read about the Zarrins and their ability to shapeshift into wolves and found Arthur's character intriguing and mysterious. I never could quite put my finger on what made him different but after the twist regarding his character I was shocked, completely unexpected! The highlights of the story were Arthur and Grandmère. With the slow plot, they definitely made the ending more exciting. A slow plot isn't necessarily a bad thing; the author builds the reader's curiosity about the characters and their intentions.

Secrets are gradually revealed which builds up to a dark twist. Even though the shapeshifting isn't the focus of the story, the reader experiences the characters' jealousy, fear, self-acceptance and the qualities that make them who they are. With a dysfunctional family, shapeshifting wolves, a mother who spends most of her time in a bathtub, a creepy aunt and a house with an eerie atmosphere, Eleanor takes charge to protect the ones she loves.

As I really love werewolves, I had high hopes for this one. Sadly the book didn’t held up to my expectations. Don’t know if it just wasn’t the right time because I liked the dangerous world building and the atmosphere.

I had high hopes for this, because I love werewolves and this sounded like it would be an atmospheric story. Unfortunately it wasn't really for me though. I did like the atmosphere of this book, which felt very dangerous and intriguing. But I couldn't make much sense of the world building or the plot and that made it hard for me to enjoy the book.

WHAT BIG TEETH is a great new take on the monstrous family trope. A little like a queer, modernised The Addams Family. There’s lots of family secrets waiting to be unearthed and a nice gothic, outcast, out-of-time aesthetic.

The one thing I will say off the bat, is that I’m not sure I’d go so far as to label it horror, as it seems to be getting called. I’d say something more along the lines a darker paranormal? It’s definetly spooky with eerie Gothic aesthetics, but it just didn’t feel like capital H horror to me… But that’s getting a bit sematic. My point is, if you don’t like ‘scary’ horror, this could still be a good choice for you.

I particularly liked mysterious, handsome Arthur, and Eleanor’s not-so-warm-and-cuddly grandmother Persephone. The two both have secrets tied to the house and Eleanor’s present-day problems, and I really enjoyed watching Eleanor gradually chip away at the mysteries. No-one in the family is quite who you think they’ll be, and it’s interesting to uncover all the deeper purposes and hidden motivations.

There’s a lot going on in Eleanor’s family, and in her past. There are a lot of characters with a lot of secrets, and I found it a touch muddled in places (most likely my own fault, to be honest). Things came together towards the end, and I found it had a lot more emotional heart than I had initially expected.

I had one or two issues with pacing and resolution, but overall I really liked WHAT BIG TEETH and loved its Addams Family vibes. Dark family history meets haunted house mystery. Fab for spooky season, this deserves to be a Halloween hit.

A dark, strange book that feels like it could have been one of the Grimm brothers' stories. I thought the opening is compelling, giving me a Red Riding Hood vibe mixed with Addams Family. Eleanor returns home after being sent away to school, yet she's not exactly welcomed back. The storyline involves family secrets, dangerous creatures and black magic which are all my favourite things.

However, I found the story unfolds unconvincingly and Eleanor's characterisation seems to change so often without a clear motivation. Her entire family is obsessed with their human accountant that it became annoying to read. The reasons are revealed later which finally gave me some answers. But I thought there was so much potential left unexplored, especially about Eleanor's mother and how the family fits into society. The book seems to say family is everything, but it's hard to buy that message when the family tries their best to hurt each other. This was a rough read for me but there are some gems in the writing style and I hope I have better luck with the author's future work.

Every once in a while you come across a book that speaks to the strangest little corner of your soul. This is one of those books. Beautifully, arrestingly weird but also completely accessible, it sucked me into the wacky world of the Zarrin family and had me hooked throughout. Like the best kind of Umbrella Academy meets Shirley Jackson mash-up, it’s a sensitive, thoughtful exploration of family, duty and inherited oddness that is utterly, gorgeously unique.

What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo was one I was very excited for. A creepy family mansion, clan secrets and a girl returning from boarding school to uncover it all? Sounds like the gothic book of my dreams. Add in some magic and wolf shifters and I’m bound to love it. However, I actually ended up dnf’ing this at about 40%. I tried reading it as an eARC, and when I struggled to get into it, I switched to audio (as I had it available on my Scribd). And while there are quite a few reasons that influenced my decision to abandon the book, the main one was that Eleanor, the main character, A TEEN, as well as her sister and cousin, both teens too, are weirdly obsessed with this middle aged man who seems to be grooming them – and I’m just not here for that. It might well be that there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for that later on in the story that I just haven’t reached, but the behaviour as depicted in the story up to where I reached just made me feel so uncomfortable as a reader that I could not keep reading. Thus, this is a book I will not be recommending.

I admit it, I found this a little confusing at the start and it made the pacing feel a little slow at first, but luckily it quickly picks up pace and you are then invested in the plot and the characters completely. Each character is a mystery and you the reader, like Eleanor have no idea who to trust. I loved this as you feel completely immersed due to this writing style, which is absolutely is captivating by the way. This was an enjoyable and interesting read, a definite must read for fans of Gothic literature

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

What Big Teeth is, in a word, odd. It’s a very unusual book, but in the best way possible. It’s not like anything I’ve read before. I was first pulled in by the cover (the US one, unfortunately not the UK one) and from the brief blurb I knew I had to read it. This book is filled with unusual characters, weird magic like reading the guts of birds and forceful instructions, wolves and crows, generational oddities and strange family friends. Though a bit confusing at times, I felt that added to the oddness and confusion Eleanor felt in the book, and matched the twisty plot and bizarre events.

Because so much happens, it’s difficult to talk about the plot without feeling like I’ll reveal something I shouldn’t. But this book isn’t just plot heavy. It also focuses largely on the environment, the big, old house where the family live playing a huge part in the history of this family and the eeriness of the book. Likewise with the remote, small village they live and secluded beach by the house, the woods surrounding the house.

But, told through Eleanor’s eyes, it’s also very chracter based. Each character was individual, fleshed out, could have a story of their own. They were critical to the plot and each brought something new out about Eleanor, our hesitant and witholding protagonist at times, the forceful and determined badass propeller of plot at others. I really liked Eleanor as a character. She is relatable and likable, and in my eyes, wonderfully written and the perfect guide to take you through this carnaval of weirdness and mismatched elements.

There were parts of this book where I didn’t know if I would finish it, if it would be the book for me. But, probably helped by the audiobook narrator, as I delved deeper and deeper I truly loved it. It is, for want of a better phrase, batshit crazy at time. There are parts where I had little idea what was happening. The pacing is all over the place. Sometimes weeks happen in a sentence, sometimes an afternoon takes chapters. I started to think I was getting somewhere and then BAM, confused all over again. So I can totally see how some people didn’t finish this book, or how they didn’t enjoy it. But I did. I really did, and I hope that if you, like me, make it to the end, that you enjoy it as much as I did.

What Big Teeth is the type of book that defies expectations and categorisations. It is the whisper in the dark, the chill in your bones and the feeling of something lurking over your shoulder.

This is a book that is woven together by its thick atmosphere and labyrinthine tale built upon layers and layers of secrets and complex family relationships. It’s so deeply Gothic and richly drawn that I just wanted to sink my teeth into it and devour every last drop. Szabo’s writing has this bold, grandiose style with more than a touch of the bizarre to it. It just feels decadent in the word choice and layering of metaphors. What Big Teeth is a twisted blend of historical magical realism and horror that leaves an imprint on your mind and a chill in the air around you.

The plot is compulsive reading, as you want to peel back each layer of this family and its entanglement with darker forces. It’s dark and twisted and gory in all the best ways. Szabo delicately walks that line between fantasy and reality perfectly, messing with your head. This is a family of wolves and teeth, monsters in far more ways than one. You end up with this odd concoction of fairy-tales, myths and horror that I just cannot get out of my head. It’s both so fiercely and vulnerably human as it is monstrous and dark.

Eleanor is a fascinating and ambiguous protagonist to follow along. As an outsider amongst a family of outcasts, she feels alienated and distraught. This makes her headspace a difficult one to inhabit, as she has fortresses up. Her narrative is also not entirely reliable, with certain events manipulated and presented to the reader in various ways throughout the novel. This leaves much of the story open to interpretation and there are several thematic ideas presented that I found myself falling down the rabbit hole of.

This is a twisted story of family, revenge and magic that makes for an irresistible concoction for any reader. Szabo has created a fairy-tale fit for a modern audience, with all the original darkness and gore of the myths of old.

DNF at 34%

This is an instance of 'it's not you, it's me'. I think this book will work well for me at a different point, so am going to pick it up in the future! It's a mysterious tale, however I was struggling with the trope of 'everyone else knows what's going on except me, and no one will tell me what's happening'. I was as frustrated as Eleanor!

I'll pick this up again when I'm in a different reading mood, I really enjoyed the writing and Eleanor's character.

I know we shouldn't judge books by its cover but I adored the way it looked and instantly got monster vibes, both the UK and US cover had me requesting this book so fast. Excited to have had the chance to read it through netgalley.

It is a well written book with a thought out plot and characters that have personality. It is on the darker side of ya fantasy reads which is fine with me, I love a bit of dark vibes. There are a few trigger warnings to research before reading this, I wasn't too bothered but others might be. It was a bizarre and disturbing read that reminded be of Wilder Girls and House of Hollow.
Definitely will be grabbing a copy for my shelf.

I needed a few days to wrap my mind around this book. Overall I loved it, especially the ending when everything fell into place made it a very satisfying read.

The only thing that annoyed me a little in the beginning were the amount of implications made. A lot of the time things weren't really told but just sort of implied. Later on I found out we were told the story this way because the main character lived the story this way and it all came together beautifully in the end.

The vibe of the book kind of reminded me of Crimson Peak. A rich family in a big house that starts decaying. Very, very eery and perfect for the Autumn months!

trigger warning
<spoiler> xenophobia, trauma, grief, being controlled through magic, infanticide, implied slavery, bullying </spoiler>

When Eleanor comes home after running away from boarding school, everything has to be learned anew yet is oh so very familiar at the same time.
Something is going on. It might not be safe to be at home.

This is the kind of book you spend trying to figure out what really is going on. Either that hooks you, or leaves you annoyed.

I was intrigued, everyone is so <i>weird</i> and wants to hide things but they all want Eleanor to know what they hide. After realising that asking only annoys people without getting her anywhere, she pokes around, trying to learn, remembering snatches here and there.

There are tropes I like: A dark, brooding house, beautiful and once luxurious but now crumbling, and it's inhabitants are shy, sticking to themselves, and thus only seem to confirm the villagers' worst suspicions which keep them all further apart.
Hidden magic that may be learned, but has to be earned.
European roots one may be proud about but should never mention.

The time of the setting is unclear. A person moving in laments the lack of radios or turntables, but not of televisions, and Eleanor mentions the recent invention of the two-piece bathing suit a.k.a. bikini, so I'd guess somewhere in the sixties, but it's never outright mentioned.
This also means that while characters show themselves falling in love or being interested in men and women, I am reluctant to label them as pan- or bisexual and just went with the tag queer.

I liked it, I would read more by this author.
The arc was provided by the publisher.