Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz

 

TEETH is such an immersive, interesting story. Reading it kind of felt like watching one of Hayao Miyazaki's darker, more adult movies, like Princess Mononoke, where human nature is put under the microscope and nothing is resolved with easy answers. It's set on an island with magical fish. Eating them cures any disease and prolongs life. Rudy is there with his family because his younger brother has cystic fibrosis, and if he doesn't eat the fish, his lungs don't work.

One day, while on the shore, Rudy meets a being named Teeth. Teeth is a mermaid-- sort of-- but not the kind that they make dolls of. He's hideously ugly and every night, he opens the fish traps and frees the fish, depleting the supply that all of the islanders desperately need. He also hates humans, but for whatever reason, he lets Rudy get close. And as the story progresses and the two boys grow closer, Rudy learns more about the mysterious Teeth and the secrets the island harbors.

This was not a perfect story by any means-- I do feel the ending lacked closure and some of that was intentional and some of it felt like an omission-- but it was transportive, lyrical, and beautiful, with a truly well done cast of "unlikable" and flawed characters, and a setting that was practically a character itself. I'm shocked that this book has fallen into obscurity instead of becoming a classic, because it is SO good. Thank god I have more Hannah Moskowitz books on my Kindle. I think I might have to read everything she ever wrote because this was just... amazing.

4.5 out of 5 stars