Greenteeth is an excellent debut novel, a dark fantasy proposal written by Molly O'Neill, published by Orbit Books. A story about unlikely companions rooted in British folklore, which deliciously mixes dark and cozy fantasy (and somehow, it works), having to battle against an evil force that is threatening their place, and which ends revealing a deeper layer that makes it memorable.

Jenny Greenteeth has been in her lake for a thousand years, plenty to eat, not humans because they are problematic and a cave with items she feels proud about it; her lake is her home, and she's quite happy about it. She's surprised when a woman is thrown to the bottom of the lake, and Jenny saves her; the woman is a witch called Temperance and has been thrown after the evil pastor put all the village against her. When trying to help Temperance shows that there's danger for everybody near the village, Jenny, Temperance and a goblin named Brackus start a quest across Britain, including trading with the fae to get all they need to defeat the evil.

A quest that will put our three characters through many dangers while O'Neill takes this as an excuse to not only develop a bit the Wild Hunt myth, but to also take the plot towards mythical creatures and places of Britain. But the quest itself, despite being excellently written, is overshadowed by how well Jenny's character is captured; while the Greenteeth figure is a bit changed, we see that mix between what is expected from a monstrous creature, but who also has a delicious range of emotions. Not only she's trying to help Temperance, and even if it's difficult, ends developing a real friendship with her (even with those bad moments that sometimes arise), but the combination between those darker moments and cozier ones works marvels to tell the story; at the end, we are totally invested with Jenny, Temperance and even Brackus (who can be a bit of a pain in the arse, but still has a good heart).

The writing is quite evocative, descriptive, with O'Neill taking the opportunity to reflect not only the beauty of the nature, but also reflecting those darker aspects of the story (certain mouth with teeth is really scary). The novel is well paced, and honestly, the final avalanche kept me on the edge of my seat, especially as the plot is finally merged with one of my favourite British myths; the combination between cozier scenes and some more frenetic ones is a weird but effective mix.

Greenteeth is an excellent debut that weaves British myths with a style that feels as T. Kingfisher's one; if you like folklore and dark stories with space for a bit of heart, you should totally read Greenteeth. A novel that leaves me in awe of what Molly O'Neill writes in the future.