Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

The topic of the evil child has been around for a long time.  The classic The Bad Seed by William March is a creepy example, the book and movie. I, however, have firsthand experience.  I have lived it.  As you know I have three sisters, triplets.  Think The Bad Seed times three!  Now you know the horror I have and continue to live through.  Instead of making things easier for my sainted mother, and wearing the same thing, they demanded their own color of clothing. Same style but different color.  For their birthday, my poor mother, as if having nothing else to do, made three birthday cakes and each triplet demanded their cake being a certain color...all different. My poor dad would try and watch a baseball game and inevitably one of the three would stand in front of the TV blocking his view of the beloved Yankees.  He'd say name after name, trying to figure out who it was, there was so many of them running around.  Finally yelling, "hey you, you're blocking the game."  Oh yes, be wary, evil exists and it watches The Flintstones and eats Popsicles!

I recently read Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage.  This is the sequel to Baby Teeth, published in 2018.  I admit I have a soft spot for Baby Teeth.  Not only did I love the book, but it was the first advanced copy of a story that I ever received.  Baby Teeth is about a young child that is devious.  Hanna dislikes her mother, very much.  She scares her mother.  The story makes you feel twisted for liking the delicious evilness about it.  It is heart-poundingly tense.  

This time in Dear Hanna we are following Hanna again, years have passed.  She is married and has a teenage stepdaughter. Hanna enjoys not only a successful life with her new family, but she also corresponds with her brother.  As things in her life begin to change, dark feelings of the past bubble to the surface once again.

I appreciate that this book is carefully written so that it may be easily read as a standalone.  For those who are experiencing Hanna for the first time, they will likely enjoy this story.  For me, it was not quite as fun as the first story, Baby Teeth.  First, since we are seeing everything from Hanna's point of view, there is no suspense, no tension, which I expected but found missing.  I kind of felt like I was on a behind the scenes tour at Disney World.  I don't want to know how the Haunted Mansion works; I just want it to delight me.  I found seeing the darkness in Hanna's head, instead of wondering what she will do next, both disturbing and disappointing.  Next, for me, the plot was not strong enough.  Nothing really happens until the end of the book, and even that I knew would happen early on.  No surprises, no big twists. The plot of Baby Teeth was fairly simple, as well, but had the suspense to support it, which is missing here. 

I enjoyed reading Dear Hanna, especially reconnecting with the characters.  Although it wasn't my favorite book, I encourage you to keep an open mind and to give it a try.

Many thanks for Thomas and Mercer for the advanced copy. Obviously, my thoughts are my own (I'm not Hanna, you know!)