Hmmmmm.

Greenteeth's story is pretty. It's a sweet quest around the British countryside, with three endearing characters, and lots of fun bits involving folklore that feels both familiar and fresh. I genuinely loved Jenny and Temperance, though I'm still a bit conflicted on whether I liked Brackus or not.

The problem is the lack of commas.

I know that, with ARCs, it's generally accepted that best practice is to ignore typos and errors, but in this book, it was excessive, and actively took away from my enjoyment of the reading experience. The book is close to being released, and I do hope that at least some errors will be corrected.

Here are some examples:
- "And the heat Jenny you would've hated it."
- "Now don't be polite to Brackus."
- "Exactly Jenny."
- "I'm sorry, you don't like fire do you?"

In conclusion: not sure. Could've been good, but the lack of commas felt like a splinter underneath your nail - always there and irritating.

Greenteeth by Molly O'Neill is something else. It was so so good. It was so well written and the characters were so well created. It was a pleasure reading this story.

Greenteeth is a tale of pure enchantment. Laced with both the whimsy and darkness of folklore and legends of the British isles. This book had its claws in me from page 1.

An accused witch sent to drown. An ancient lake dwelling hag and a mischievous goblin. On a magical quest of trials to defeat the dark corrupted magic that has taken root.

I loved this fantasy injected version of the British isles and wanted to know every single bit of lore there was in it.
Greenteeth is a wonderful and wholesome story full of hope and a classic trope which also happens to be one of my favourites; Good vs Evil.

I never though it could be so easy to be charmed by a green lake monster who eats bags of kittens. Jenny may be one of the funniest, endearing and stubborn characters I have ever met and I love her for it. Athough dear temperance certainly comes close.
I adore everything about this story from the light hearted beauty and fun of three unlikely friends sharing small moments, to the quest they set out on in order to defeat the evil that has infected, and started to plague a small village that was once something much grander and more magical then they ever could’ve imagined.

Molly O'Neill is able to conjure the most vivid imagery of this magic laced land. feeling as if you're swimming in the underwater home of Jenny, between the reeds and lilies of a lake, enticing unicorns down to the waters edge on the isle of sky or visiting the high fae king and queen in their travelling court, you will find yourself hard pressed not to be completely and utterly drawn into this world.

Friendship, love and perseverance (maybe just the aforementioned stubbornness) are the driving forces of the decisions these characters make, even when faced with what seem to be insurmountable odds, as well as prejudices and challenges within their own company. This book felt like a warm hug to the heart. An absolute must read for any lovers of both cosy and epic fantasy; Greenteeth manages to blend the magical cosy and enchanting side of this world with a hint of the adventure that is so well loved in the epics.

I cannot wait to see what O’Neill cooks up next (if its more of Creiddylad and Gwyn’s story then I am in)

1.2 stars

This was incredibly disappointing. When I first found out about this book I got so excited by the concept and when I got an arc for it, the first few pages were exactly what I wished for.

And then, it was all downhill from there. I would have preferred if none of the characters had the ability to talk. The writing is not very great, inconsistent and the dialogue, the quest the story itself felt so incredibly forced and I’m actually very sorry I did not dnf this book. I kept hoping for it to get beter but nope, it only got worse and worse.

The dialogue was so forced and uncomfortable and it went from stereotypical middle ages speak to modern and switching back and forth which I found very annoying. The characters were just…flat and uninteresting and they kept pushing for us to see then how they wanted to be, like Temperance kept mentioning her poor ordinary farmer husband and her poor two small children almost every time she opened her mouth and Jenny kept fluctuating between ok and unlikeable.

Small things like Temperance saying she doesn’t do “flashy magic like in fairy stories “ and that she “doesn’t know the spells a great wizard like Merlin or Ceridwen would use “ meanwhile she was throwing fireballs a few pages ago. Yeaa I’m sorry but in my book that’s flashy magic and annoying. Or for example having a long explanation of the faerie court changing location every two weeks and then revealing that ah yes, there is literally no reason for that because it can also only be reached by the Wild Roads where “anyone who steps onto one of those roads intending to find the court will arrive there after a day of walking “ THEN WHATS THE POINT ???

I’m not sure if those very frustrating and annoying bits are supposed to be funny but it sure wasn’t for me unfortunately.

The extremely unnecessary and childish fight between Jenny and Temperance was so so bad “But I didn’t want to- I was in the right!” And stupid. And later revealed to be hypocritical were their points they held so so stubbornly in this argument were reverse in the next quest where they did not even realize it. It was. Just. Annoying and pointless.

The quest was not intriguing at all, the danger was not interesting nor did it feel to be looming and there was no sense of urgency at all but also no cozy found family feeling you’d get instead normally. It was just bad overall for me.

Literally none of the characters were interesting or well developed and I did not care for any of them, not even the evil guy was not intriguing at all, all he had was cliche dialogue that only made me cringe “Give it up, Mistress Crump, Master Marsh, Jenny Greenteeth. Yes, I know your names. “ congratulations what did you want ? A trophy?

I kind of regret I didn’t dnf and I’m just glad I don’t have to read it anymore. I’m very sorry I didn’t like it, the concept sounded so good, but it just felt so so poorly written in my opinion.

Beautiful fantasy story about friendship and found family. The cover design is amazing, and was kept for the German edition, thankfully.

This is the type of cosy fantasy that I want to read, not the pro-capitalism entrepreneurial nonsense coming out at the moment. (@ legends and lattes). A good 3.5/5.

We follow Jenny, of the Jenny Greenteeth, on a quest to defeat the Erlking who has arrived in the village of Chipping Appleby and is whipping the villagers into a witch-hunting frenzy. She meets Temperance, a witch, drowned by the Erlking himself and begins to form a friendship (possible the first of her life) with the woman, and is moved to help her try to save her family.

We get a lovely little quest fantasy with a witch, a Jenny Greenteeth, and a Goblin, while they complete three trials set by the king of the faeries in order to obtain the weapons needed to banish the Erlking for good. They travel across Britain to find unicorns, magical boars, kelpies, and more. Granted, the story is a little straightforward, they are told to go and get item -> they go and get said item, but I still enjoyed it. O’Neill took advantage of the full range of folklore found across Britain, and it did move along at a reasonable pace.

That being said, for a story so steeped in mythology, the tone was rather matter-of-fact. Jenny is a very blunt creature, and watching interactions with Brackus and Temperance was well done, but I think the story lost some of its whimsy through the lack of wonder Jenny had for the world. The magical creatures weren’t magical to her, because she was one herself, so as a reader it didn’t come across as magical as it could have.

Similarly, Temperance and Brackus could have had a little more depth, they were rather blank and did seem to serve as crutches to get Jenny moving through the world at times.

I really did enjoy the ending sequence, and I thought this was a strong debut overall, though I do wish we’d possibly had a different narrator at least some of the time - perhaps the same story told by temperance with flashes of Jenny’s point of view to fill us in on the magical world.

Greenteeth is a cozy folklore tale that is told from the monsters perspective (Jenny), who is a delightful and vivid character. I loved the lore behind the story, the historical context and the actual setting. You really are in the lake with Jenny and I loved that immersion. The story is well paced for a cozy atmosphere with that mild peril. The adventure aspect is well done, the found family is great and of course there’s a trusty animal companion. What more does one need from a fantasy folklore? This is one for fans of Someone You Can Build A Nest In.
I always feel like the books I enjoy the most I write bad reviews for and I feel this is the case here. I apologise now as I literally have no words for this cast of characters that swept me into their magic world.
One another note the audiobook really gave Jenny a voice, created that immersive feeling and was an utter delight to listen to so I would highly recommend this format.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

No os voy a engañar, la razón por la que leí Greenteeth es porque comparaban a Molly O’Neill con T. Kingfisher y ahí ya saltaron todas mis alarmas, porque una es víctima del marketing como todo hijo de vecino. Afortunadamente, aunque quizá la comparación con la estadounidense es un tanto exagerada, sí es cierto que la novela de debut de O’Neill es refrescante (no sólo porque esté protagonizada por una náyade) y muy entretenida de leer, así que ha sido un acierto.


El libro está narrado en una primera persona muy directa y veremos toda la historia a través de los ojos de Jenny Greenteeth, la náyade de un lago situado cerca de un pequeño pueblo inglés, que un día, tras siglos de soledad, decide rescatar a una mujer a la que han lanzado al río por bruja, siendo esto el origen de una hermosa amistad. Y es que esa es quizá la mejor definición de Greenteeth, que es un libro sobre la amistad inverosímil y cómo no se debe prejuzgar por los orígenes de cada uno.

He de reconocer que me hace mucha gracia que todas las náyades se llamen igual, Jenny Greenteeth, porque me imagino a “las Jennys” juntándose para irse de fiesta y me río yo sola, aunque el libro no se extienda mucho por el campo humorístico. Esta es una de las grandes diferencias con Kingfisher, pero como digo la comparación es inadecuada, aunque comprensible.

Jenny y Temperance, la joven rescatada que resulta ser una bruja, investigarán las razones de su intento de asesinato y tendrán que partir de viaje para cumplir tres misiones que les encargarán las hadas. Hasta aquí, todo muy convencional, ¿verdad? Molly O’Neill no está innovando en el género ni falta que hace, porque el libro está narrado derrochando ternura y bondad, no me extraña que lo etiqueten como cozy. Y es que hay veces que no hace falta crear todo un nuevo subgénero o inventar alocadamente, si no que basta con tener las ideas claras y ganas de escuchar un relato agradable.

También me gustaría destacar que el libro tiene un giro final que me parece que da un nivel más de complejidad (sin llegar a ser ecuaciones diferenciales, que nos conocemos) al relato y que justifica ciertas reiteraciones que al principio tomé como pecados de juventud de la autora, pero que luego vi que estaban colocadas a propósito.

Un libro entretenidísimo y perfectamente disfrutable, de esos que te alegran el día. Muy recomendado.

Greenteeth is perfect for anyone who enjoys adventure, quests, found family, and stories of the fae/British mythology. The character development and the relationships that flourish are heartening and I loved how all the pieces came together in the end for a nice twist.

As soon as I read the blur I knew this book would be right up my alley. How to describe this book well it's a mix of
magical fantasy that goes into dark fantasy with a mixture of fae/folklore and myth. It's hard not to give feedback without giving too much away but I have to say I really really loved this book.....I loved the mixture of mythical and human interaction with the human turning out to be a witch and the journey they have together how their friendship forms and unravels and bonds again.....what Iove more was the twist at the end because nothing is given away or maybe I was just a little slow on the uptake due to long working hours but when you get that ooooooo moment .....and the ending was just perfect...I would be even more happy if there was another book to follow but not overly disappointed if not....I hope this book does well as its definitely been one of my favourite reads if the year and can see it going far in 2025

I was quite enjoying this in the beginning but at around the 75% mark I just started to get a bit bored by the story and the ending felt a bit rushed.

I did like Jenny as a character but I think the author was doing a bit too much with the plot and it felt jumbled.