The Tooth Fairy is a dark meditation on the pains of growing up, following a trio of boys in rural England during the 60s. Sam, the main character is haunted by the titular Tooth Fairy, a shape shifting fairy who exacts a terrible price on Sam’s loved ones. This is a really good psychological drama about just how alone children are, about the uncanny bonds of friendship, and about the roiling tensions of puberty. The periodness of the setting is very present without being overwhelming: drugs, delinquency, white collar despair, pop music. Oddly enough, my least favorite parts were the overtly supernatural. The malevolent, protean, codependent Tooth Fairy just didn’t cohere as an external force of menace, or really more than a super extended metaphor for various growing pains. A stylish and fun book, but not my cup of tea.