Overview

Weak Teeth follows Joni, a young woman growing up in a housing scheme in Scotland. She is navigating work, family pressure, and the limits placed on her by class and expectation. As Joni searches for escape and control, the novel charts the quiet violence of poverty and the damage it leaves behind.

Writing & Voice

We found the voice raw, intimate, and direct. May writes with restraint and clarity, allowing small details to carry emotional weight. The prose is grounded and unsentimental, giving the story a strong sense of lived experience.

Content & Perspective

The novel stays close to Joni’s inner life as she moves through work, relationships, and moments of hope and disappointment. There is no romantic gloss here. We are asked to sit with frustration, anger, and longing as they unfold in ordinary settings.

Themes

Weak Teeth explores class, autonomy, and inherited limitation. It looks at how systems shape personal choices and how difficult it is to imagine a future beyond survival. We were struck by its honesty about stagnation and quiet resilience.

What Worked

• Authentic voice rooted in place and class.
• Emotional precision without sentimentality.
• Clear social insight woven into daily life.

Minor Quibbles

• The narrow focus may feel bleak for some readers.
• Its quiet pace offers little release.

Final Thoughts

We found Weak Teeth unflinching and quietly devastating, its close focus on class, constraint, and endurance revealing how survival shapes desire and limits imagined futures.

Rating: ★★★★½ / 5