12/14/2020
Comparable to The Hazel Wood, Szabo’s uneven debut features a pitch-black fairy tale atmosphere and rich, mid-century gothic descriptions. Returning home to Maine after a violent incident at her boarding school, Eleanor Zarrin reunites with a family unlike any other. With a mother who is half woman, half marine life; several werewolf-shapeshifting relatives; and Grandmother Persephone, who can see the future, Eleanor is not sure how she fits in or why she was sent away for eight years. When her grandmother dies, first instructing Eleanor to care for and protect the family, the girl uncovers long-buried secrets and calls on her maternal French grandmother for help. But Grand- mere’s incredible powers threaten them all, and Eleanor must decide whether to defend the family who abandoned her or become the creature her Grandmere insists she is inside. Fragmented worldbuilding leads to labored plotting, yet Szabo introduces an intriguing cast of characters—particularly Arthur, a vampirish family guest and paramour to many—alongside meaningful explorations of identity and belonging. Ages 14–up. (Feb.)■
*A Strand February YA Book of the Month
"With a layered mystery, a haunting setting, and thrilling tension, What Big Teeth has an otherness to it that pulls you in and forces you to keep reading." — Tricia Levenseller, Publisher’s Weekly-bestselling author of The Shadows Between Us
"Deliciously gothic and wonderfully creepy." — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, STARRED REVIEW
"... one part haunting mystery, one part dark fantasy ... This darkly thrilling gothic fantasy will appeal to fans of Karen McManus and Maggie Stiefvater alike." — School Library Journal
"A tale so gorgeously twisty, it'll turn you inside out." — Tor.com
"Gazes into [the] darkness to face the monster that dwells within." — NPR Books
"A complete ghostly chill that deserves ten stars." — The Nerd Daily
"Has bite—and will leave you feeling dazed." — Forever YA
"A hauntingly thrilling read." — The Lineup
"A fascinating debut." — PopSugar
"[An] inventive concept — Den of Geek
"Not your typical YA fantasy." — Culturess
01/01/2021
Gr 9 Up—After an incident at boarding school sends her running to a home and family she hardly remembers, Eleanor Zarrin must find a way to reconnect with relatives who both terrify and intrigue her. Will she find her place among these bizarre family members, or will her return prove to be their downfall? Set in Maine, ostensibly in the 1950s, this debut YA novel from Szabo is one part haunting mystery, one part dark fantasy. As the title suggests, wolves abound—but so do ghosts, witches, and other, less definable paranormal beings. Eleanor is well-rounded, with understandable motivations behind her actions; many teen readers will surely relate to her feelings of inadequacy and "otherness" as she struggles to find a place where she belongs. The rest of the ensemble are slightly more one-dimensional, though still enjoyable to read. All characters present as white. VERDICT This darkly thrilling gothic fantasy will appeal to fans of Karen McManus and Maggie Stiefvater alike. A recommended purchase.—Kaitlin Frick, Darien Lib., CT
Magic and monsters abound in the story of Eleanor Zarrin, a girl who is forced to return to her fierce and—until recently—estranged family. Narrator Jasika Nicole’s cool voice transforms subtly into the various characters, who range from young Eleanor to her more confident family members. Nicole’s shifts from character to character are good, and her pacing is pleasant. Spanning from light but not hurried passages to slow but not dragging ones, she injects her voice with an edge of mystery at just the right moments to highlight the peculiar plot Szabo has concocted in this debut novel. E.J.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Magic and monsters abound in the story of Eleanor Zarrin, a girl who is forced to return to her fierce and—until recently—estranged family. Narrator Jasika Nicole’s cool voice transforms subtly into the various characters, who range from young Eleanor to her more confident family members. Nicole’s shifts from character to character are good, and her pacing is pleasant. Spanning from light but not hurried passages to slow but not dragging ones, she injects her voice with an edge of mystery at just the right moments to highlight the peculiar plot Szabo has concocted in this debut novel. E.J.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
2020-11-12
A homecoming spurs a strange family’s transformation.
Eleanor has left her nun-led boarding school after a violent incident with another student. She’s been away for years, without a single letter from her sister in response to dozens of hers and with only the foggiest memories of her extended family. When she arrives at her ancestral home in the small Maine town of Winterport, the mystery isn’t whether or not she comes from a family of werewolves but rather why she can’t find a wolf inside herself. Other questions swirl around her mother, whose body is half-covered in amphibian polyps; her grandmother’s enigmatic accountant, whom everyone is slightly in love with and who hasn’t aged in decades; and the long absence of her maternal grandmother, a stout, lavender-scented woman from France who goes by Grandmere and, like everyone else in this story, is more than she seems. Extended chapters with long, florid descriptions of the setting make the story drag somewhat. Keeping the tale tightly tied to an atmospheric old mansion and a reclusive, tightknit, supernaturally dysfunctional family gives it an almost claustrophobic feel. The decline of an old family with European roots is a classic theme in literature, here given horror-novel elements, with a slowness and complexity best suited for patient older readers.
Shadowy, gothic, labyrinthine. (Horror. 14-18)
