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It has been months since I have written a review, but this book deserves it.

If you are interested in reading this book simply because you heard it is about a gay mermaid, you are in for a treat. I first read Hannah Moscowitz's book Invincible Summer two years ago, and it left me stunned and awed. Her writing was powerful, edgy, and raw, and her characters were all complicated little beings, bursting with faults and quirks and all the little things that make us human. I am truly happy to say Teeth was not a disappointment.

This book is about Rudy, a bored, lonely teenager who lives on a remote island populated mostly with old, sick people. There are fish only found on this island that are said to have magical healing properties. Rudy's family moves there in order to save his younger brother, Dylan, who has cystic fibrosis. And as much as Rudy loves Dylan, he counts the days until he leaves for college. Then he meets Teeth, an equally lonely half-human fish boy, and becomes engaged in the island's darkest and best kept secret.

Oh my, this book is heartbreaking. Gothic in tone, even the island itself was a character with its wailing wind and icy waves. Rudy and Teeth were frustrating, charming, tragic, hopeful. They were so dysfunctional and unique, it is hard for me to accept they are not real people. And even though the plot might seem ludicrous, the book immerses you in its little world and releases you gasping and crying at the end.

Teeth will sink itself into your heart and your soul and won't ever let you go. Read it with an open mind, and try not to fall in love with the fishboy with a smile of crooked, pointy teeth.

"And I can't stop crying for anything in the world right then. And I can't let go of him. Nothing could make me let go of that kid. The house could fall into the sea and crush everybody and we could go underwater and I would hold him the whole time."