Review: Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz

20 September, 2012 Reviews 13 comments

I make no secret of the fact that I love Moskowitz’s work with the power of a thousand Beiber fans except I don’t need to suspend my disbelief in Moskowitz’s ability.

Teeth is a heartbreaking novel about a lonely boy and an even lonelier magic fish boy.  On an island there is a secret.  The fish there are magic and they can keep you alive from even the most serious illness.  Rudy moves there with his family for is brother’s sake, but things aren’t as simple as they seem when he meets Teeth.

As I’ve come to expect from Moskowitz, the writing is nothing short of spectacular and the characterization, Oh! The characterization!  Here is a quote from my review of her book Gone, Gone, Gone about her characterization:

“Well and truly it is the intense char­ac­ter­i­za­tion of Craig and Lio that make this novel. Clearly Moskowitz doesn’t just do char­ac­ter­i­za­tion. She DOES char­ac­ter­i­za­tion. You know. Like, when she writes a char­ac­ter – that char­ac­ter has been writ­ten. That character KNOWS it’s been written. That character will probably tell all it’s friends about that time it was written really well. Then it will compare all other writings to the writing that Moskowitz gave it. Thoroughly.”

That is as true in Teeth as it was in Gone, Gone, Gone.  Teeth and Rudy are incredibly complex characters – amazingly flawed and dysfunctional. Lonely, desperate, passionate, broken and utterly charming.

But the themes in Teeth are significantly darker than they were in Gone, Gone, Gone, making me hesitant to recommend it to those unable to cope with issues of serious and repetitive sexual abuse.  Teeth is dark.  Teeth is very, very gothic and depressing and sad.  Sometimes I wondered if it was too sad, too dark, too emotive.  There’s very little cheer and fun to be had in it.  But it turns out it’s just the right amount of dark, sad and emotive for me because I still loved it.

And if you love Moskowitz, it is likely that her ability to make you feel, to illicit a remarkable amount of empathy for her characters, to bare their soul to you – is one of the biggest attractions.  That is what you consistently get with Moskowitz – so if you’re up for another beautifully written tale with a fresh bunch of characters waiting to make your heart bleed, than this is for you.  If you’re in the mood for something that will make you laugh and feel good, then maybe you’re better off movingly along.

And, people, when you do make it to the end of this book, just remember, I’m here for you.

*An ARC was provided to me by the publisher.  No gifts, favours or money was exchanged for this review.

13 Responses to “Review: Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz”

  1. MyEclecticBooks

    Wow…I am unfamiliar with this author but Teeth sounds like a pretty powerful read.  I’m off of issue books for a time..but I’ll keep this one in mind when I start reading them again.

    • KatKennedy

      @MyEclecticBooks I sincerely hope you get to experience as Moskowitz book one day. They’re truly something to behold!

  2. AnimeGirlAlex

    That does sound pretty intense and different. The magic fish thing remind me a little of Ponyo but just a little.
    🙂
    Great review. 

  3. Mary BookSwarm

    Wow. I don’t even know how I feel about all that. I like a dark book but more fantasy dark rather than dark issues dark. Still, Hannah’s a master storyteller and she knows characterization like no other… *is torn*

    • KatKennedy

      @Mary BookSwarm give it a go. The themes are dark but not in your face all the time.

  4. rocapri

    i cant wait for teeeeeth . iiii . ii ijiuhibgtrgesgvgnsffadrgshrzsrthfzgegn

  5. Addie R

    I haven’t read anything by Hannah yet, but that will change soon because of all of the just downright amazing things said about her. Great review. 🙂

  6. readingwishes

    I haven’t read anything by Han­nah Moskowitz yet (I must get on this) but I’m *really* looking forward to Teeth. I don’t mind a dark read but I’m making a mental note to read something fun and light before this to prepare myself for all the dark and sadness.
     
    Amazing review, you’ve definitely intrigued me even more! If I happen to finish this at 2pm and I need a shoulder, I’ll be sure to give you a ring. I mean, you did just say that your here for me, did you not? I apologise in advance for disturbing your sleep ;D

  7. Meg

    I loved this one too, but I definitely agree – as incredible as it is, it is very hard to recommend to people… I tend to get stuck at magic fish :-). Great review!