Greenteeth

by Molly O'Neill

Genres: Arthuriana, Fantasy
Pages: 279
Rating:

Synopsis:

Narrated by a lake-dwelling monster, Greenteeth is an utterly charming tale of fae, folklore and found family, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher.

Beneath the still surface of a lake lurks a monster with needle sharp teeth. Hungry and ready to pounce . . .

Jenny Greenteeth has never spoken to a human before, but when a witch is thrown into her lake by an angry mob, something makes Jenny decide she’s worth saving. Temperance doesn’t know why her village has suddenly turned against her, only that it has something to do with the malevolent new pastor. All she wants is to return to her husband and children, still trapped under his baleful influence.

Though they have nothing in common, these two unlikely companions must band together on a magical quest to defeat the evil that threatens Temperance’s family, Jenny’s lake, and possibly the very soul of Britain.

This review seems to have missed getting posted back when I read the book, so I’m surfacing it now!

Molly O’Neill’s debut Greenteeth was a delight to me. I didn’t know about “Jenny Greenteeth” as a type of monster, but I recognised much of the rest of the folklore and legends referenced, and was pleased (and honestly, relieved) to see the Welsh spellings used. I imagine people are complaining about the author not anglicising for their benefit, but I liked it a lot.

I loved the way that the “twist” at the ending was seeded through the rest of the story, if you go back and look. There’s a Chekhov’s gun, there are references that set it up, there’s the presence of Cavall… there are so many hints, at least if you know your folklore and legends.

If people are curious about what they may have missed, here are some of the spoilers that made it somewhat obvious what was coming. On my blog this should let you click to expand; hopefully it won’t post in clear text in the email notifications, but if it does, consider this your warning!

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1. Chekhov’s gun: or should that be Chekhov’s sword? Tossed into Jenny’s pond at some stage…
2. Chipping Appleby, “bound to be an elf door with all these apple trees around”: Avalon is the Isle of Apples;
3. Twrch Trwyth: the boar from The Mabinogion is giving you yet another clue that you’re in an Arthurian story;
4. Cavall: King Arthur’s hound, likewise;
5. Durandal or Excalibur could do the job: gee, I wonder what Jenny’s carrying around;
6. Creiddylad literally says it reminds her of quests in King Arthur’s court;
7. Jenny meets the afanc: again, another clue you’re in Welsh mythology, and specifically Arthurian;

…Okay, I stopped counting here!

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There were some things that dragged a bit for me (the argument between Temperance and Jenny) or didn’t quite ring true —  I feel like I could’ve stood to understand a bit more about Brackus’ decision to join Jenny and Temperance — but mostly I just enjoyed the ride.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)