Charming and fun, a cosy fantasy with an epic knowledge of early British and Irish folklore.

Jenny Greenteeth, local monster in the lake of Chipping Appleby, is minding her own business when a witch gets dumped in her lake. After deciding against eating the witch, Jenny instead saves her life and her peaceful, aquatic solitude is a thing of the past, for Jenny Greenteeth is far from the worst monster around. Together, a goblin, a Jenny Greenteeth and a witch embark on an unlikely quest to save Britain.

Well I learnt so much! This story struck exactly the right tone, it was just whimsical enough. I thought it was pure genius to tell the story from the POV of the monster.

It has all the trappings of a fable, full of morals and messaging. It’s funny, it’s exciting and really well plotted and characterised. Super suitable for YA and all the way up the ages.

Fans of Emily Wilde, Sorcery and Small Magics, and the Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches I think you’ll really enjoy!
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Thank you #netgalley and @LittleBrownBookGroup_UK for my #arc

There are plenty of books in which a literal monster is the protagonist, from Frankenstein’s monster to Doctor Jekyll and beyond. More recently we had John Wiswell’s delightfully twisted debut Someone You Can Build a Nest In. Molly O’Neill’s debut Greenteeth takes a similar premise but sets it in medieval England and ties the characters and action more firmly to established British folklore.
Jenny Greenteeth is a monster living in a lake next to a small English village. She is disturbed when a witch, called Temperance, is thrown into the lake bound in chains. Jenny saves Temperance’s life and the two quickly find that the reason that the village has turned on her is the influence of a new pastor who may well be the avatar of a much older evil. The two, accompanied by a goblin, travel to find the fairy court in a bid to find a way to rid the village of the malign influence and rescue Temperance’s husband and children.
Despite trying really hard, Greenteeth often fails to engage. The characters, monstrous and otherwise, a fairly flat to the point where the falling out between Jenny and Temperance feels contrived just to create some drama. And the plot, essentially a series of mini-quests, would work better as a video game. The way the book is narrated it is hard to conceive of Jenny as a monster at all, unlike the protagonist of the Wisell book. And her arc, such as it is, boils down to: monster comes to terms with her life and learns to like humans.
Greenteeth draws heavily on the folklore of the British Isles. Besides witches and goblins and lake monsters there are the fae, unicorns, and giants. But the tale also connects back to legends of King Arthur, with Merlin getting a name drop early in the piece. And the quest-based narrative is at least of a piece with this tradition, even if it also feels a little hackneyed. That said, the reveals through the climax of the book, based on tiny clues dropped through the narrative, are quite satisfying.
Greenteeth is a solid debut aimed squarely at lovers of traditional fantasy and traditional fantasy narratives. O’Neill has fun with familiar character types from what Ben Aaronovitch calls the demi-monde in a more medieval setting and links it all to some deeper mythology, and it will be interesting to see what she does next.

Thank you to Molly O’Neill, Orbit, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was so sure I was going to love this the whole way through. Historical fantasy with a Jenny Greenteeth as the protagonist is so creative. However, after the original 25%, the book felt a little flat? The conversations seemed slow and the actual action seemed rushed. I think the book struggles with being in first person as well. I definitely would’ve enjoy it more being in third person. Cozy fantasy is quite difficult to pull off well but there was so much potential here with the story. I found myself reluctant to read on so had to dnf. If there was a rewrite, I think it could be a solid 4 stars.

What an incredible debut book! I was already drawn in when I read magic + fae + Folklore, and it was fantastic! I loved the setting, the atmosphere, the magic and that Jenny Green teeth, a lake monster, Temperance the witch that is thrown in the lake and a hobgoblin, Brackis, embark on an adventure to free Temperance from her curse, defeating villains along the way in a perfect fairy tale quest! This was such a perfect cosy fantasy, with villains and friendship, hope and trust, and so much magical prose.
A pure delight to read and I can't wait to see what O'Neill writes next!

Such mixed feelings on this one! Jenny Greenteeth is probably one of the most interesting and unusual protagonists I've read in forever and for the first 20% I was very intrigued as to the time period and setting of the story. The way this book focuses in on British mythology and folklore is right up my street; I found this novel full of familiar characters and creatures: goblins, witches, unicorns, the high fae and wild hunt.
However, once this gorgeous medieval setting had been established, and our main characters had their mission, I started to lose interest. The dialogue during each scene often felt slow, and like it lacked purpose and, despite the brave adventures they all went on, I never felt like the stakes were that high (perhaps it's leaning on some of the ideas of cozy fantasy?).
Then again, the book pulled itself back at the very end for me with some Arthurian mythology and some dramatic twists and turns in the last few pages. A mixed bag!

I'm normally a sucker for a good character driven novel, give me all the characters and no plot & I will more than likely love it, the problem with Greenteeth? The characters felt overly flat, they didn't really grow past their initial introduction: Jenny Greenteeth, Temperance the Witch and Brackus the Goblin. The story is told from the POV of Jenny, a creature who has been around for generations. I expected her to be a more mature, to come across as knowledgeable in that way only mythical creatures can (if that makes any sense), but instead she was the most juvenile of them all, I guess this could have been blamed on the fact that she had mostly lead a solitary life, and wasn't used to spending so much time with others, but I just found her a little annoying if I'm being honest. She was recalcitrant, grumpy and seemed to argue just for the sake of arguing at some points. She read more like a teenager than a creature that had been around since the time of Camelot, and that lack of gel with her as a character played a big part in my not loving this book.

The narrative started off really strong, Jenny had this monstrous voice that drew me in and made me question just what kind of character she would end up being, but as it progressed she almost became a side character in her own story. The author just kept trying to make her seem more human than she was, shying away from the monstrous side apart from a few sections that felt a bit too on the nose. Temperance and Brackus seemed in parts only there to give Jenny a chance to show empathy, to try and change her ways. Neither really had any character growth in anyway. Temperance's main job was to show Jenny the wrongness of her ways, how to be more human. And Brackus felt like that character in video games that you talk too when you need a hint, or advice on a part of your quest. As someone who loves a well developed character, I did feel a little underwhelmed with this mostly crew, in fact my favourite characters were the Fae, for the short time we spend with them, and Cavall, a dog from the Wild Hunt gifted to the gang to help them on their quest.

Greenteeth is a story with a few moving parts, almost like side quests in a video game, and while I did enjoy the main plot of Jenny and co going on a quest to take down the Erl King, there was a part that was thrown in towards the end of the book that seemingly came out of nowhere. There were hints linking to it, but nothing to suggest the story would end the way it did, and I felt it almost took away from the big battle with the Erl King I was expecting. O'Neill does do a great job of inserting creatures and stories from British mythology, and while I knew some of the parts mentioned, there were others, both creatures and stories that were new to me. She weaves both creatures and stories into her plot effortlessly, allowing them to add some mild peril or a little coziness to her story, and helping to break up the plot.

There were definitely some dark parts to this book. Trigger warnings for child abandonment/death, animal death amongst others, but the way O'Neill writes the story, as well as the lack of empathy I felt for the characters meant that these didn't really hit the way I think they were meant to. I'm not sure if it was a conscious decision, or just how she ended up writing Jenny, but it felt like there was a bridge between her and the reader, I almost felt kept at arms length, never really getting that feeling of attachment that allows you to empathise with these emotional plot points. I also felt like the pacing was off in parts, we get some really long slogs where the characters are just walking and talking and taking in the sights... it's a short book anyway, but these bits could have easily been cut... in fact I would absolutely say this would have worked better as a novella. I feel like the emotional punches would have hit more, and the lack of character development wouldn't have been as noticeable.

All in all this one ended up being a little 'meh' for me, but there were some parts that I enjoyed. It just lacked the character attachment I feel is needed in these kinds of novels, but I do feel like these were debut novel problems and I would absolutely check out whatever the author writes next.

Sadly this is a case of 'not for me'
I think this is well written and I can understand why other people would love it but for me this was to cosy and nice.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this earc!

Safely I dnfd this book as it wasn’t for me. I did see the potential and why people would love it but I couldn’t connect to the characters

Opening the cover I didn’t expect to find this wonderful adventure story waited for me. Perfect for children, and for adults to enjoy too. Jenny Green Teeth has oft been a children’s fairy tale horror. But maybe she’s not all bad. Yes she eats things that end up in her lake, humans included, but what else would you expect. However she’s not so self absorbed that she can’t tell something is not right when a young women is thrown in. For Jenny and the young women a fairy tale adventure is about to begin, because Jenny is right, not all is as it seems. An eldritch villain has come to this sleepy remote village threatening Jenny and everyone. Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine freely given.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I enjoyed this nice quick read, and I agree with the comparison to some of T.K Fisher's work as it did have a similar vibe. I enjoyed reading from Jenny's perspective although I would liked a bit more depth to the other characters.

Told from the point of view of Jenny Greenteeth, a monster dwelling in a lake, Greenteeth is a wonderful story full of magic and myth.

Incredibly clever and absolutely hilarious, Jenny was instantly likeable, and the adventure, the quest, the reluctant friendships and found family all had me reading with delight.

My only criticism is that the language felt too modern for this type of story, considering it's a historical fantasy and Jenny is a 1000+ year old creature. Otherwise it was fantastic.

The overall plot of "Greenteeth" was fine, but, apart from Jenny Greenteeth, the characters didn't really feel well-rounded, and even Jenny didn't really feel like a real person. Overall, this didn't really stand out to me.

A lake-dwelling hag, a witch and a goblin go on a quest to defeat an evil spirt, that has possessed the villages new pastor. Tasked with completing three magical missions these three unlikely companions begin their ardenous journey across the British Isles. Aided by a delightful party of side characters this books was as monstrously charming as promised. Only deduction is that the ending felt a bit rushed.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

This book was exactly what I needed after a rough start to the year—I devoured it! With fae stories being so popular, it’s refreshing to find one that takes a unique and creepy twist. This book focuses on the darker, unsettling side of fae folklore, and I was hooked.

The main character, Jenny Greenteeth, is a terrifying lake monster straight out of English folklore. The story kicks off when a witch named Temperance is thrown into Jenny’s lake to drown. Instead of devouring her, Jenny saves her life. What follows is a wild, world-saving quest neither of them signed up for, with an incredible focus on friendship at its heart.
Another huge win for me? No romance—just pure character growth and adventure.

What a fantastic debut! I can’t wait to see what this author writes next.

2.5

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for providing me an eARC to review!

For some reason I didn't realise this was cosy fantasy which just isn't really my thing, but I think this is definitely one to try for the Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries and A Dark and Drowning Tide girlies!

I just wasn't really invested in the plot or characters, and found it a bit of a slog at times. Things were solved pretty easily/conveniently, and by the time the action picked up near the end I had lost interest. I'm also not an Arthurian legend girlie so tbh I think this is really on me more than the book itself.

I did like the hints at discussions around how the modernising world is losing its connection to nature and folklore, and how the 'creatures' are responding to that change, but I just wanted more of this! The messaging around like choosing to be a 'monster' also felt a little heavy handed, and I was hoping for a bit more of the morally grey vibes from Jenny which did come through more near the end but by that point you could kind of tell something was up.

Would recommend for fans of the cozy folklore fantasies that have been floating around lately, but just not my thing!

I really wanted to love this book but the only likeable character in this was the dog. The Excalibur reveal at the end was obvious from the start and not sure why the erl King would have let Jenny keep a weapon in the first place. Unfortunately every task seemed way too easy and I don't understand why he would have had the alicorn blade with him in the first place. Unfortunately too many plot holes and not enough character development for me

💚 Greenteeth • Molly O’Neill 💚
★★★★.𝟱

Read if you enjoy:
💚 Historical fantasy
💚 T Kingfisher books
💚 Monster main characters
💚 Unlikely friendships
💚 Adventurous quests
💚 Arthurian mythology

Jenny Greenteeth has a witch thrown into her lake and contemplates whether to eat her or help her. Temperance, the witch in question, is thankful that Jenny chose to help her however the village has discovered she is a witch and has turned against her. Jenny sneaks into the village and takes a close look at the new parson who’s condemning women and realises he is an ancient evil, capable of destroying everything she holds dear (the lake). Together, they set off on a quest to discover the secret to defeating this common enemy.

This is a breathtaking, somewhat cosy, definitely monstrous, heartwarming and adventurous tale that has swept me off my feet. Swimming in British mythology with strong echoes of welsh and Arthurian mythology taking center stage, this debut was unputdownable for me. I’ve immediately gone and ordered a copy for myself. I loved the plot, the heartwarming unlikely friendly between witch, River monster, and goblin, and I loved the world building. Sometimes the plot threads did tie themselves up a little too conveniently but that also added to the fairytale atmosphere of the story.

There is a lot to like in Molly O'Neill's "Greenteeth". Lots of myths and legends, Arthurian ones primarily, and a story told by an actual monster. As a German who had to learn Goethe's "Erlkönig" ballad by heart back in school and loves it dearly to this day I thought it was cool to have this character featured in a fantasy book, though obviously its the author's own spin on him (that I, admittedly, did not enjoy all the way through). I liked our main character, the titular Jenny Greenteeth who doesn't actually have green teeth, and I'm always happy to read a quest story. So for all that, this is a nice little read for sure.

I did have some issues with it though. For one, the beginning of the book was absolutely amazing and I immediately got hooked. Jenny's narrative voice was actually monstrous and unique. All of that changed, though, once Temperance - a woman accused of witchcraft by the new priest of her village and thrown into Jenny's lake to die that also turns out to be an actual witch - appears in the story. One of the very first things Temperance does after she meets this scary lake monster that she didn't even know existed and generally knows nothing about is telling said monster her entire life story in the form of an incredibly cringey unrealistic monologue that goes on for multiple pages. Noone does that, and just like that I was completely pulled out of the story.
Temperance proceeds to be the weakest character all around and I really did not enjoy her one bit. There are quite a few inconsistencies both in her story and her as a character, like her saying she doesn't know any spells to defend herself yet a few pages later basically hurling around fireballs.
But I also slowly but surely started to like Jenny less and less, because her narrative voice changes quite harshly. She talks like a human, she often thinks like a human, she doesn't act monstrously for most of the book (and walking on all fours does not count that much, alright) and I was just hoping for more, say, moral questions brought up due to her being very much not human. I still liked her the most and think she had so much potential, and her story was what kept me reading, but there could have been done more.
The story is nice enough, but sadly, the quest part feels at times drawn out then rushed completely, and there was no real excitement there. I also rarely felt like Jenny's companions, besides the dog, were of that much use to her. The villain is interesting at first, but later on becomes a bit carricature-y. He did fit the general vibes of the story though.

So yes, the vibes, the atmosphere, the myths involved and the little twist at the end were all well done, and it's still an enjoyable book and a quick, fun read. But it could have been much more than that, and the uneven pacing, the characters other than Jenny (and the dog) that I just never really warmed up to and the at times clunky writing made this more of a 2,5 star read for me, rounding up to 3.

As someone who isn’t British, I approached Greenteeth without any prior knowledge of the folklore it’s rooted in—but that only made it more magical ✨️ (I'm going to Oxford next April and definitely keeping an eye out for lakes). Reading this felt like hearing an ancient tale told for the first time (from the source I guess?). It's a beautiful story that talks about the loss of magic with a quiet but powerful intensity. Even though the pacing occasionally slowed, it mirrored the ebbs and flows of a tale soaked (see what I did there!) in history and myth, making it all the more immersive 🧚

a mesmerizing and vibrant mondern fairytale.
unlikely allies learn to trust each other, filled with humor and a lot of heart. the magic of england,wales and scotland is written so well you can picture the places in your mind with beautiful detail without being overwhelmed.
a villain written as they should be, and a main cast that you cannot help but fall in love with.
molly’s writing style hints to a lot of great authors while always remaining distinctly unique.