Thursday, December 20, 2012

Review: Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz

Teeth
 Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz
A gritty, romantic modern fairy tale from the author of Break and Gone, Gone, Gone. Be careful what you believe in.
Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness and lies awake at night listening to the screams of the ocean beneath his family’s rickety house.
Then he meets Diana, who makes him wonder what he even knows about love, and Teeth, who makes him question what he knows about anything. Rudy can’t remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother’s life.


Publishes in US: Jan 1 2012
Source: Simon Pulse
Series? no
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Blkosiner's Book Blog review
        I was drawn to this book because I liked the sound of the premise, a sick brother and secrets of his new friend that might make him have to chose between saving the two.
       Teeth delivered on so many levels, though I must say, this is a strange book. And being in Rudy's head felt pretty choppy at times... or maybe it was her particular writing style in this book. Because I felt like there really weren't a whole lot of transitions, it was from one thing to the next... but with Rudy, the main character's state of mind, it very well could be intentional.
     This is not my favorite that Hannah wrote, but I still think it was definitely worth my time to read it. It took me on a journey and made me question what I would do if I were in Rudy's position, or Diana's mom's, or especially in the character Teeth's places. For me it wasn't a book that I could just read in one sitting, because it was dark, Rudy had a fairly dirty mouth, and it was deep stuff that I was reading.
     Teeth is a modern day fairy tale, and it has mystical or fantasy elements that are at first a little hard to believe, but Rudy had a hard time with it as well, so that's doable. There is something special about this town that heals, and once Rudy meets some of the strange people in the town, like Teeth, he is forced to make some very hard choices, and I wondered many times how or if there would be a happy ending.
    In this very dark book, the ending didn't come how I would have wanted, but I think that it is the only fitting way to wrap the story up. Though I was still left with questions because I wasn't really sure how things were left between Diana and Rudy and Rudy and Teeth. I had many ideas, but none of them were really confirmed. I see a lot of clues in the story to make it point to one thing, but it never really said.

Bottom line: Strange but worthwhile book about tough issues and choices.

My question to you, my lovely readers:
Could you hurt someone else to save your brother (or close family if no brother or sister)?

23 comments:

  1. I can't say I really like the sound of this one very much. It sounds a bit too dark and gritty for me.
    I suppose I could hurt someone else to some extent to say a brother or close friend, but there would be a definite limit to what I would do. I certainly couldn't kill someone to save someone else.

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  2. Hmm... this does sound strange and dark. Logically, I wouldn't think it's a good idea to hurt anyone. Even when the goal is to save a sibling or someone close to me, I'd feel guilty knowing I've put others in harm's way in order to achieve what I want. I guess I'd rather have a win-win solution :)

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    1. Very true. Win win is of course always best, but not always the option.

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  3. Definitely not Hannah's best, but at least it got me thinking! I'm still conflicted about this book: there were things I adored and things I absolutely hated. I don't think it's for everyone, but it defintiely has its audience.
    Great review!

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  4. I'm very interested in reading one of Moskowitz's books, but likely not this one. Especially when the narration seems so disjointed.

    I don't think I could hurt someone to save my brother. I don't think he'd want me too. Seems like Teeth gave you a lot to think about. Glad you liked it!

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  5. I'm so excited to see your review. I've been reeeeeeeeeeeally excited and curious about this one!

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  6. I'm sorry it wasn't as good as the others but glad you liked it though. It sounds like an interesting story, I should check this author's books.

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  7. I had SUCH a hard time with this book. I actually had to DNF it, because I couldn't get through it. One of my main dislikes was my disconnection from all the characters and I never had the idea of a modern fairy tale. I'm happy that you liked it more than I did :)

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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  8. I'm not sure that this would be the book for me. In the past I found that Hannah's writing style wasn't really my thing. I think it's definitely just me and a preference thing, she's not a BAD writer by any means, it's just her unique style wasn't really to my liking. I'm not sure that this one would be either and it doesn't really appeal to me. At the same time I find myself curious about how things play out and what exactly Teeth is.

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  9. I'm curious about this one. I like tough books, so I think that aspect will catch my attention right away. As for your question, no, I don't think I could intentionally hurt someone else to save a siblings, because I like to think everything happens for a reason, you know?

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    1. Yeah, I try to think like that too, but it is hard to fathom a reason at times.

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  10. Great review, Brandi. :) I've seen mixed reviews of this book, although many raved about the author's book Gone, Gone, Gone. I'm not sure if I'll read it or not but it sounds oddly interesting regardless.

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  11. The cover of this book was the first thing that caught my attention when I first heard about this book but I wasn't really sure what it was about. I like to read strange books sometimes so I'll have to check this out. Great review! :)

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  12. This sounds really interesting and unique but I'm not too big a fan of really dark, depressing books. I also prefer a nice wrapped up ending. Weirdo healing island?! Makes me think of Lost. LOL

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  13. Sounds really good... and the cover is fascinating as well.
    And to answer your question, I don't think I will... (hopefully)Really don't like hurting others..

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