NO SHELF CONTROL

Title: Baby Teeth

Author: Celia Silvani

Publisher: Irion 

Publication Date: February, 2025

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Pages: 304

My Rating: ★★★★★

** I don’t think it’s possible to miss the trigger warnings, but if you are affected by fertility issues or baby loss, this is definitely not the book for you **

Baby Teeth is an emotional read. It follows Claire and her struggles to conceive, pregnancy fears and unconventional birthing choices. 

It feels so real that I had to keep reminding myself that this is fiction, and I think that’s one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much. I say “enjoy”, but I feel a bit strange using that word when the topic is so heartbreaking and emotive. 

The characters are believable and some of them are utterly vile (Holly I’m looking at you!). I felt like I was on the ride with Claire and really understood her thought processes and fears. 

This book was very thought provoking, I’d never really considered the dangers of parenting forums and social media pressure connected with pregnancy and childbirth before. Terrifying. 

I feel the author was pretty brave writing about such a sensitive topic but I feel it was really well done.  This book flew by for me. I just HAD to know what happened next. I didn’t want it to end! I would’ve loved it to have been slightly longer and covered the actual birth but that is literally my only criticism. 

I’d just like to say, I had an amazing home birth (second child, midwifes present and attended all my hospital appointments/scans). It was the most incredible experience and if you’re considering one, and it has been deemed safe to do so by professionals, please don’t let this book put you off.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion for my advanced copy.