September 28, 2012

Teeth - Hannah Moskowitz





Young Adult
Pages: 288
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: January 1, 2013

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.

HOLY CRAP. HOLY... AWESOME.

There are just some books that impact you deeply and I never know how to quite highlight those books more than the ones I simply love. There should definitely be a sixth star reserved for that. Beware, you are entering raving territory.

I loved it so, so, so, SO MUCH. Hannah, to me, has a unique, urgent, intense and perfect writing style that separates her from the rest of the mere great writers. Her words can touch, reach, punch and stab in a way I've rarely seen in my reading life. Her dryness of storytelling makes each sentence more powerful. And I can say honestly, this is my favorite of Hannah's books so far. 

I'll admit that as much as I was dying to read it, I was also hesitant. The weird sounding plot and Hannah's nick name for it "Magic Gay Fish" (she tweeted about it even before she actually had a deal) made me raise an eyebrow more than once. And I will admit that YES, it is very unusual and that's part of its awesomeness. She created a perfect magical realism that with a meaning so powerful that it will resound for generations. It's very metaphorical, every 'magical' aspect can be translated into a 'real world' message. 

I loved the world, I loved the characters, I loved the tension, I loved the emotionally-charged simplicity of the story, and OMG I loved Teeth (he's the magic gay fish)! I am sure it will be a book that will not appeal to everyone, but the utter brilliance of it will never be denied. With this book, Hannah Moskiwitz has been placed firmly in my author pedestal joining Courtney Summers, David Levithan and Melina Marchetta. 

This novel is joining my small list of all-time favorites, so that makes it a MUST READ for YOU. 



2 comments:

  1. AAHHHH I NEED TO READ THIS! I'm so glad you enjoyed this one though and I can't WAIT to finally read it. Moskowitz truly is SUCH a fantastic author and your review is fantastic as well! :)

    ~Keertana
    Ivy Book Bindings

    ReplyDelete
  2. This one sounds so...odd. I've been a little hesitant about it, but you make me want to read it asap!!

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