cbr14bingo Verse Level 1 (prose verses)
When I first saw Baby Teeth I thought “Finally, a book that is ‘cover different’ and still eye catching.” (Or in other words, it was not “just like all the other” covers out there.) And then “Ooooh prose poetry.” (When reading I would think, “Less poetry and more ‘poetic’ though”). After finishing, I thought, “Meg Grehan. You are one weird person.”
In many ways this is a sophisticated read (and at times made me feel like I was missing something, as it could get a little “cocky” with the writing style) and in other ways just a simple love story. Twists and turns and vampire passion all come together in a mixed up, bloody mess. Grehan mixed horror, romance and even comedy. Everything and everyone plays a role, even if it is not clear at the start what is going on. I cannot say much about the story without giving it away, but will say when two people fall in love, things can get messy. And when one of them is a vampire? Well, messy is the kindest thing you can say.
The only issues I really have are how are they reborn (the vampire characters) and how/why do the vampire character meet each other the first time, and how they find each other in each life afterwards. You see, there are three characters, Freddie, Henry and Immy. Immy is the youngest (this time), probably in her late teens or early 20s. Freddie is a few years older and Henry the father figure. The main theme of the story is Immy keeps hearing the voices of her past selves. Therefore, it sounds like she is “born,” “lives,” and then eventually “dies” to repeat. She talks about the pasts she remembers, (mostly how they center around the others in her found family), and how the voices “scream at her” making things that should not be familiar actually familiar and demanding something of her. The second part is the love story between Immy and Claudia. Which is a normal, everyday romance, except the literal hunger Immy has for blood and how Claudia will eventually give it to her.
I guess you can say the message is life is messy; love is messy; coming to terms with our past and how we shape our future messy. For at least 14 and up for concepts more than content, but content can be mature, too.
