Cozy fantasy is a sub genre within the fantasy genre that is gaining more and more popularity. Books seem to pop up out of nowhere, everywhere. One of the newer additions to this landscape is Greenteeth by Molly O’Neil. How does it fit in the cozy fantasy sub genre?

About the book

Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill
Published by Orbit on February 25, 2025
Pages: 279
ISBN: 9780356522623
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Narrated by a lake-dwelling monster, Greenteeth is an utterly charming tale of fae, folklore and found family, 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 by an angry mob, 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. All she wants is to return to her husband and children, still trapped under his baleful influence. 

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

Reasons why and how this book fits in the cozy fantasy genre

• The characters – Most books within this genre have humanoid and non humanoid characters, this is no different for Greenteeth. We follow Jenny, a water monster who is able to disguise herself as a human if necessary. She’s neither a mermaid, nor a siren, but just… a Jenny. This is explained more in detail in the book, but this Jenny Greenteeth is a fairy creature which appears in many fae folklore. However, I never encountered a Jenny before. This was quite confusing though, because Jenny is a Jenny, named Jenny. Okay do you get it? Furthermore, the cast of characters contains a human witch, Temperance, and a goblin, Marsh if I spell it right. I consumed most of this in audio so I’m not too sure.
• The quest – Many cozy fantasies rely on a quest to evolve their plot round. Again, no different here. Temperance is in danger for being a witch and seeks shelter at Jenny’s lake, but then something terribly dangerous enters the lake Jenny calls home. Together they have to embark on an unusual magical quest to conquer this dangerous influence and save both the lake, the village and maybe even the whole world.
• The low stakes – Okay, hear me out. A quest has some high stakes of course, because they have to complete it successfully in order to save literally everything. But one of the trademarks of cozy fantasy is the low stakes. There are no epic battles to be fought, there’s just the “simple” quest with magic and travelling.
• The magic – Oh did I say magic already? Sorry. Yes, this is also one of the key elements in cozy fantasy. Nearly all characters in Greentheeth possess magic, one more than the other. And it’s coming in handy a lot.
• The fights – It all seems so cozy out there, but there are definitely some fights. No epic battles, but more like fights within the inner circle of this novel. And this is connected to my next point.
• The character growth – Yes, I could have placed this straight under the first reason on this list, but it’s more connected to the one above. Several of the characters are involved in a quarrel at some point which provides them some much needed time for reflection. This reflection and inner monologue. This reflection leads to character growth which this is pretty important for the continuation of the story.
• The predictability off the plot – I already mentioned the fact that the plot in cozy fantasy is predictable most of the time (hello quest and low stakes) and that’s no different here. Even though it’s intriguing, there is a structure to be followed which makes this book – and many other cozy fantasies – feel pretty formulaic.
• The easy-to-follow and straight forward writing – O’Neills writing is pretty straight forward and easy to follow. The language is not difficult, and this makes this novel perfect for an easy read.
• The ending – Yes, we all know how cozy fantasies end, cozy. This is no different here.

Final thoughts

Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill was a book I didn’t really want to pick up at first. However, this changed when I saw that this was super cheap on Kindle. Cozy fantasy is not really my cup of tea, but I always want to give it a fair chance. I enjoyed my time reading this novel because it was such an easy read, but I find the plot pretty predictable and formulaic. The characters show some growth, even though the stakes are low. For me, this book was just fine and a nice and quick in-betweener. Unfortunately, quite forgettable though.