What Big Teeth

By Rose Szabo

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children meets The Addams Family in this haunting story of one girl's attempt to reconnect with her monstrous family.

Eleanor has not seen or spoken with her family in years, not since they sent her away to Saint Brigid's boarding school. She knows them only as vague memories: her grandfather's tremendous fanged snout, the barrel full of water her mother always soaked in, and strange hunting trips in a dark wood with her sister and cousins.

When Eleanor finally returns to their ancestral home on the rainy coast of Maine, she finds them already gathered in wait, seemingly ready to welcome her back with open arms. But a strange and sudden death rocks the family, and in order to keep the family that abandoned her from falling apart, Eleanor calls upon her mysterious other grandmother from across the sea.

Grandmere brings order to the chaotic household, but that order soon turns to tyranny. If any of them are to survive, Eleanor must embrace her strange family and confront the monstrousness lurking deep within her Grandmere – and herself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Titan Books
• Release date: Jul 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781789097825

Rose Szabo

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.

Reviews for What Big Teeth

[bridgettes-104215 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"What Big Teeth" is a well written book that fells like a horror story. The main character, Eleanor, would describe it that way. Eleanor, who previously attended boarding school for years, returns home to her very strange family that has basically ignored her all these years. Things fall apart after her grandmother dies and the reader is taken down a road of horrifying twists and turns. A great debut novel and I look forward to book #2 from Rose Szabo!

[Shana · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 / 5 stars

This book had a good premise and idea, the execution needed a little work.

I felt the writing was good but it had too many holes that weren't explained completely.
Especially the first few chapters - they had a LOT of references to past events etc that was not explained in a easy way, I was really confused. It's almost like, during the book, things were 'explained' without simple straightforward words (so you have to logically work it out and rely on your own interpretation)

I also didn't relate super well to the main character but that's not such a big thing. As a reader I had a theory from the start and it felt like banging my head against the wall as Eleanor had to figure things out.

However, the story flowed quickly, I wanted to find out what happened next, and there was definitely good intrigue, hence the 3.5 rating.

Worth reading, possibly not worth owning, but that's what we have libraries for!

[bibliovermis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like the Addams Family—but spookier! It's got very bad parents (very unlike the Addamses), and a really complicated and really problematic love, like, hexagon. Compells me, though!

[carolesrandomlife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book quite a bit! I marked this book as currently reading weeks ago but it really only took me a few days to read it once I had time to sit down with it. I have to admit that one of the main reasons I wanted to read this book was the fabulous cover. The story sounded promising so I was eager to give it a try. Once I started reading this book, I was hooked and ended up having a fantastic time with it.Eleanor goes back home to her family after being away at school at the start of the story. It becomes immediately apparent that Eleanor's family isn't your normal family. Her grandfather and several other members of the family turn into wolves and her mother spends most of her time in a tub. I immediately had so many questions that I needed answers to which kept me turning the pages as fast as I could.The book is told from Eleanor's point of view. Eleanor was an interesting character. I liked her but I wanted to know more than I felt like she was sharing. I wanted to know why Eleanor left the family to go to school in the first place but the big mystery for me was finding out what Eleanor was and what she could do. I had similar questions about some of the other family members and Arthur who was more of a family friend. This book was rather weird. I like weird books so that worked out well for me but I am not sure that this will be the right book for every reader. I really liked the writing and found myself pulled in the story right away. I liked the fact that anything could happen at any time and I was on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what would happen. I would recommend this book to readers looking for something different. I had a great time with this book and look forward to reading more of this author's work in the future.I received a review copy of this book from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group via Bookish First.

[standhenry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After a mysterious incident, Eleanor heads home from boarding school. Only she doesn't know what she's heading home to since she hasn't seen her family for 8 years. She is in the dark about the past and doesn't understand why she is different. Why did her Grandma send her away? Why does she feel so alone? When the family dynamic changes suddenly, Eleanor feels like she can take the reins. She contacts her Grandmere for help in saving her family. Each family member is intriguing and offers a unique history that make this story creepy, unreal, and realistic at the same time. Eleanor learns that family must stick together. Witches? Check. Wolves? Check. The Undead? Check. Mind Control? Check. This book has it all. No matter how different we each are, we all have the ability to dig deep and find our other self. Love can swallow you up! What Big Teeth is well written and super fun to read!

[mishker-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After an incident at her boarding school, Eleanor Zarrin flees back to her family home in the small town of Winterport, Maine. Eleanor doesn't know quite what to expect upon her arrival after being sent away years earlier for being too dangerous. Eleanor can't remember the exact reason that her grandmother Persephone wanted her gone. Upon her return Eleanor is the one frightened of her sister Luma, cousin Rhys and grandfather Miklos' untamed wolf forms, her mother's half coral body and her Aunt Margaret's silent acceptance. As Eleanor tries to figure out her place within her strange family, her Grandmother Persephone dies, leaving her an ominous warning that she must now take care of the family. To do this, Eleanor seeks out her other grandmother and unknowingly unleashes an even larger monster upon the family. What Big Teeth is a unique young adult fantasy horror that kept me on the edge of my seat as Eleanor unraveled the many strange elements of her family. The writing is immediately engaging, leaving the reading with a constant sense of wanting to know more and needing to dig deeper into the secrets of the Zarrin family. The Zarrin family is filled with many different types of monsters, yet they seem very familiar as they deal with family drama. Every aspect of the Zarrin family pulled me in and left me in a suspenseful state from Persephone's death, to Miklos' and Rhys' wild habits and the oddities of their family friend, Arthur who seems ageless, can only drink Margaret's special coffee blend and may be controlled by Persephone. The addition of Eleanor's other grandmother created yet another mystery and wreaked havoc on every member of the Zarrin family. With her other grandmother, Eleanor learns that she may be the most dangerous monster of them all; and yet, she may be the only one who can save what is left of her family. What Big Teeth is an unexpected gothic tale with many surprising twists and turns.This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

[alliepascal-876024 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eleanor Zarrin is from a family of werewolves (though they're never referred to as such), and her grandmother Persephone sent her away to boarding school when she was young for reasons she doesn't remember or understand. She's never been able to transform into a wolf the way her grandfather, father, sister, and cousin can... Coming back to them after she hurts another girl at school, she feels like she doesn't belong, even fears her family."What Big Teeth" was a weird and fascinating book, and I think I loved it. Szabo's writing was wonderfully descriptive, and the progression of the story was well-paced and kept me reading. I say "I think" because I have mixed feelings about certain parts, and because there are other elements I consider weaknesses, mostly having to do with Eleanor as the protagonist. Her naivety and some of the assumptions she makes in the story were frustrating to read (not to the point where I disliked or was sick of her, though). Also, the ending definitely could have been stronger, and it's a bit frustrating that one character's fate was left up in the air. I mostly loved it though. The whole mystery surrounding Arthur and the family was a surprise, and uh dark and messed up and good. I also adored its overlapping themes of hunger and obsessive love and possession and how no matter how much you love someone you will never own them."...love starts out as something you want to bite into, and ends as something that swallows you up."So good.*I received a finished copy from FSG via BookishFirst.

[lea.pearl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What an incredibly strange book. I'm left feeling very...confused about what I've just read.I went into this book really looking forward to a gothic, strange, very different-type of book, but I was a bit underwhelmed. The pacing was slow, which was just fine, but it seemed like not a lot plot-wise happened, but a lot of character development did and gave me a bit of whiplash considering the steady pace of the plot. I did enjoy the more horror-driven details of the story, but I was put-off by how much Eleanor was disgusted and/or terrified of her family. The book just felt off, and sadly, for me...not in the good way I'd hoped for.The story definitely kept me intrigued enough to make me want to finish, but the ending was just...there. It wasn't really a big build up to an epic finish or anything, it just happened. The end...eh.All in all, this book was decent and a fairly quick read, but I personally wouldn't read it again.Thank you to FSG via BookishFirst for the advanced finished copy to read and honestly review.

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley from NetGalley to review.Story (4/5): This was an odd, but well done, book. Eleanor has spent the last seven years at a boarding school but flees home because of an...incident...at the school. The problem is she doesn't really fit with her really odd family, who are very literally monsters. As she struggles to fit in a disaster happens and, at a loss, she contacts her French grandmother to help. However, her French grandmother is something else completely.This is a dark story and a bit ambiguous at times. It does have some Lovecraftesque types of undertones as well (I feel like I am reading a lot of stories that draw influence from Lovecraft lately). For much of the book you are trying to figure out a lot of the family's secrets. I found it engaging and liked it but it crossed the line of being just a bit too out there for me at points.Characters (4/5): The characters are what pretty much make this story. Initially you don’t really know what kinds of monsters Eleanor’s family are; it’s pretty apparent that there are some werewolves but the others are more mysterious. Eleanor is intriguing because there is a lot of mystery behind why she was sent to boarding school and what made her leave. All of these characters are complex, intriguing and mysterious. I ended up enjoying them for the most part, although at times they were hard to relate to and by the end I still didn’t feel like I understood them well.Setting (4/5): I could never really get a feel for the time frame the story takes place in. It seems to be in the 1950’s because they talk about The War a bit. It also seems to be set in a small European town and more specifically set at the mansion Eleanor’s family built in this town. The setting definitely influences the story because of the way Eleanor’s family has a somewhat symbiotic relationship with the town.Writing Style (4/5): This is all told from Eleanor’s POV and is well written and easy to read. I found that the mysteries presented here kept me engaged and interested in the story. The pacing does lag at times and the ambiguity of what is going on can be a bit tough to figure out. You are pretty much dropped into this strange family and then left to wade through and figure everything out; it was well done but a bit confusing too. The book takes some strange and dark turns towards the end that were a bit much for me, but I enjoyed the creativity behind it.My Summary (4/5): Overall this was an odd little book that I enjoyed but didn’t love. I did really enjoy unraveling these strange mysteries alongside Eleanor but that story is a bit slow and ambiguous at times. I loved the monsters introduced and enjoyed how things unraveled with finding out what Eleanor was but this was also a bit too “out there” for me. This is definitely a dark story about monsters and has some very Lovecraft overtones to it.