Greenteeth

• Author: Molly O’Neill
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: February 25, 2025
• Publisher: Orbit

Thank you to Orbit and Oliver Wehner for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

From an outstanding new voice in cozy fantasy comes Greenteeth, a  tale of fae, folklore, and found family, narrated by a charismatic lake-dwelling monster with a voice unlike any other, 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, 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.

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

This book caught my attention quite easily. The bright green cover is eye-catching, with the image of Jenny Greenteeth herself. And the synopsis sounded both unique and exciting, promising to be a cozy fantasy that I’d most likely enjoy. Here’s my thoughts about this book:

It wasn’t long into the book before I realized I was going to struggle with some of the words. If you aren’t familiar with Welsh names, which I’m guessing that most people aren’t, you may have a difficult time figuring out how to pronounce some of the names, including Gwyn ap Nudd, Creiddylad, and Twrch Trwyth. Once I got to that point, I read along with the audiobook, since I wanted to do justice to the book and be able to think of the characters by their correctly sounded-out names. I highly recommend this method  if you haven’t learned the basics of Welsh pronunciation.

While the Welsh alphabet might be a mystery to me, the folklore of the British Isles is not. Gwyn ap Nudd is the leader of the fabled Wild Hunt, and I’ve read quite a few stories that feature him as a character. In this story, I saw some echoes of Greek mythology. Both Jason and Heracles were given a quest with tasks to accomplish in exchange for a magical item that would help them overcome an obstacle they couldn’t do without help. For me, this also brought back memories of fairy tales, where three tasks comes into play before the story can move forward.

I lean a lot more into the plot-driven camp over the character-driven one, and this book was heavy into the character-driven side. A lot of the book was just banter between the characters and Jenny’s frequent references to her needle sharp teeth, and I felt like so much of the story didn’t move the plot forward. 

When it comes to the characters, Jenny was the most memorable of all of them. Temperance started out strong and interesting, but I felt my connection to her fading as the story went on. She kind of blended into the background, especially when compared to their hobgoblin companion, Brackis, who wasn’t overly memorable outside of the low-key tension between him and Jenny. But Jenny herself was pretty fun to get to know, and it does make the book more interesting.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable book, even with the aspects I didn’t quite connect with. It is a low-stakes cozy fantasy, and it’s lighthearted, which always makes for a fun read. This happened to fall between some heavier books that I was reading, so it was perfectly timed, and ensured that this was a sweet and fluffy story, even if it felt a little drawn out. You might also enjoy this if you like: cozy fantasies, low-stakes events, found family vibes, or learning more about the mythology of Britain.

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