Book Review: Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker

Synopsis: Darby, Mary Beth, and Rhea are on personal quests to reclaim aspects of their identities subsumed by motherhood—their careers, their sex lives, their bodies. Their children, though, disrupt their plans when an unsettling medical condition begins to go around the Little Academy preschool: the kids are craving blood.

Then a young teacher is found dead, and the only potential witnesses are ten adorable four-year-olds.

Soon it becomes clear that the children are not just witnesses, but also suspects . . . and so are their mothers.

As the police begin to look more closely, the children’s ability to bleed their parents dry becomes deadly serious. Part murder mystery, part motherhood manifesto, Cutting Teeth explores the standards society holds mothers to—along with the ones to which we hold ourselves—and the things no one tells you about becoming a parent.

My two cents worth ...

I can honestly say that Chandler Baker weaves quite an in depth, and pleasantly surprising account of motherhood - the joys, the fears, and the things we never truly admit to anyone else - from the perspective of three very different women. A mother myself, I found a lot of the inner dialogue and conversational pieces relatable, and at some times, laughable for the honesty imbued. I actually think this is where the strength of this book truly lies. The story line, although quirky and somewhat slightly different if you are expecting some sort of supernatural read does ultimately prove to be short of thrills. Without revealing too much of the story, the characters unfold with a level of predictability that offers very little for the reader to figure out. About halfway through this book I knew "who'd done it", but still found myself wanting to understand how the children craving blood tied in with everything unfolding.

The author, although very clever with their formation of characters and creating a true believability, unfortunately fails to bring a sense of relevance to the overarching story. Where I'd hoped for the supernatural element of blood craving to be further developed, it merely operated as a side car to the real vehicle of this novel - the who done it.

With a very real skill in crafting relatable characters and relationships, this author tipped the scales from a mediocre read to something closer to intriguing. If you are searching for something highly thrilling and dripping in darkness, then this novel is not quite the page turner. That being said, the candid and astonishingly inciteful deep dive into the working minds of motherhood is worth the read alone.

3 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐

Kristy 😄

Book Review: Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

Ever since The Shifter series I have been quite a fan of Rachel Vincent's writing. I fell in love with Faythe, Jace, and Mark but unfortunately Blood Bound has left me a little cold.
Following the story of both Cam Caballero and Liv Warren from first person perspective was to say the least, extremely jarring. For at least the first ten chapters I had a moment where I said to myself 'who the hell am I now?' before settling into the chapter, knowing in just a few short pages I'd be once again be taken by a new perspective. For me as both a writer and a reader, I prefer one angle of first person narrative and then a flip to third person so it's still identifiable who the protagonist of the story is. This is the first novel I've ever read where this has happened, and although I found no fault with the writing itself, this was more than a little distracting.
The characterisation was good. As per usual Vincent delivers a highly intelligent piece with plenty of twists and turns, however, I did at one point find myself flipping through the pages, wondering when all the back and forward bickering dialogue between characters was going to end. Sentences like 'Get a room already' or 'Just shoot the bastard' flew through my head at regular intervals, tampering my enjoyment.
On a much more positive note, I found the entire concept of the book fascinating - Shadow Walkers, Blood and Name Trackers, Jammers, and other supernatural entities with talents for finding, binding, killing or flushing out anyone and everyone to serve the purposes of two major crime syndicates was thoroughly entertaining. Yes, we've all read about the poor bound workers of crime families, sold, bargained, or chastised into slavery under the guise of protecting loved ones etc, but Blood Bound took it to the next level, exploring the depths of the underworld with a new and interesting twist.
Liv and Cam, once lovers and now estranged by certain events of the past and the syndicates they are now bound to, must work together to solve an unspeakable crime - the murder of a mutual friend's husband and the unfolding plot of stolen abilities, human trafficking, and the kidnapping of certain, useful children.
Relying only on their abilities, trust for each other, and the loopholes within their bindings, they are forced to work with some less than savoury characters to prevent an all out syndicate war and hopefully dispel some ghosts from the past.
All in all, I couldn't fault the plot or the writing of Vincent as she cleverly interwove a deceitful tale of love, lust and betrayal. Although the first half of the book was incredibly slow, the inevitable showdown at the end was worth the wait. I give this book three out of five fangs.

Synopsis:
As a blood tracker, Liv is extremely powerful. And in a world where power is a commodity that can get you killed, Liv's learnt to survive by her own rules.
Rule number one? Trust no one.
But when a friend's daughter goes missing, Liv is bound by a potent magical oath. She can't rest until the child is safe. And that means trusting her dangerous ex, Cam.
A sinister prophecy tells that she and Cam will be the death of each other, yet Liv is tired of being a slave to destiny. She's ready to play for the forces controlling her world at their own game, no matter what the cost.