You never knew you needed to read a female Teen Wolf type character in your life, but let me tell you, you do. Rory Morris moves back to her hometown and leaves her fun life in Manhattan behind to take care of her twin sister, Scarlett. Scarlett is pregnant and her baby’s father has fled. After a night out at a bar, Rory hits something with her car. Then, she gets bit. Yes, this is a werewolf story, but it’s well done, different and fun. If you are looking for a book for spooky season, pick this one up. It is different, that’s for sure.

This story was an odd one but perfect for this time of year. Talk about creepy, unique, a bit scary, definitely atmospheric, and perfect for Halloween time. You knew what was happening when certain foods started to taste bad and she was wanting/craving others. While it was predictable, it was still a bit….oddly different? I heard it referred to as a bonkers read, and I agree.

I liked how the author wrote her characters. The sisters seemed authentic, and real. Very easy to imagine and visualize.

Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for providing an e-arc for an honest review.

Please check content warnings prior to reading this book.

I absolutely loved this book! I usually do not read horror books because I don’t really enjoy the gore but this book did not focus on that but on the relationships surrounding the main character, Rory. Her being a werewolf is secondary to how she navigates her return to her hometown. This story focuses on Rory’s relationship with friends from her past, her twin sister, and her mother. Rory has to find a way to move forward with the wolf and also her past. Her character development is written beautifully with a dash of dark humor.

This is a great spooky season read and it will be on my spooky season TBR to reread every year.

I have loved Rachel Harrison's book ever since I read THE RETURN, and when I heard that she was going to do a werewolf story I was very excited to see what she would do with it. And SUCH SHARP TEETH lived up to my expectations! For one, Harrison brings her snappy and banter-y dialogue and characterizations to this story, as our protagonist Rory is definitely witty and wry. I loved her interactions with the various characters on the page, and loved getting inside her head as well. I also thought that Harrison brought her own perspectives and interpretation of werewolf mythology to the story in a way that worked well, as the werewolf aspects cover the body horror things as well as the metaphors you'd expect. But I also liked the more original metaphor explorations of lycanthropy in this story, and how it can apply to the usual body horror stuff, but also to agency and autonomy over women's bodies (i say this as the characters at hand identify as cis women) and how they can change and transform in ways that are scary and feel uncontrollable (Rory's pregnant twin Scarlett had a fair amount of this along with the usual werewolf stuff). And finally, the way that this beast within Rory can also translate to her own personal rage, resentment, and trauma really spoke to me, and I liked seeing this feminist take on a werewolf story about how one can control these things, and whether or not they should even feel oligated to.

Overall, SUCH SHARP TEETH is another win from Rachel Harrison! Those who want a spooky story this Halloween season that isn't super dread filled, but still well within the horror genre, ought to give it a try!!

Quick and enjoyable.
Rory returns home - pausing her big city life to lend her twin support during the last weeks of her pregnancy.
On her way home, Rory has an accident. Getting out of her car - while the reader of course is like no no no no. She suffers an animal bite, gets treatment and the book begins.
Lots of complicated relationships, mentions of childhood trauma and moving on.
And the love interest - so well done.

This was such a fun read. A paranormal romance about a girl who turns into a werewolf? I also loved the relationship between Scarlett and Rory and how much of an importance it was in the book. The romance fell a little short but hey Rory was a little preoccupied with becoming a werewolf so understand that.
If your looking for a fun paranormal book for Halloween this is a great one.

This was a really fun take on a werewolf story. I loved the dynamic of the two sisters. I kind of wish I got a little more about Rory's past and a little more of Mia but overall really good

I really enjoyed the world this built, the connections and snark of the twins especially, from the very beginning. Wonderful exploration of how trauma changes us but doesn't necessarily have to end us.

Rory isn’t exactly happy to be back home, but she knows her sister needs her. So here she is. Unfortunately for her, after a night out she hits an animal on the road, and while checking to see what she hit, she is attacked by an animal she cant even describe. She somehow survives the attack, but weird things are starting to happen. Will Rory be able to figure out what is happening to her?

Damn Rachel Harrison can write a super fucked up story. I loved it! Like seriously, her books are the perfect way to get yourself ready for Halloween! I loved the characters, and the story was just beyond crazy. I don’t want to give any spoilers so I will keep this brief, but if you love Harrison, or even just creepy halloween stories, you need to read this book!

I read this amazing book in a single sitting! What Rachel has done here is absolutely incredible. Compelling characters, real life trauma and relationships, all woven into one of the best werewolf stories I've ever read!

Review to be posted on RueMorgue.com

Rachel Harrison (Cackle, The Return) comes howling in for the Halloween holiday with SUCH SHARP TEETH [Berkley, October 4, 2022]—a werewolf body horror novel with every bit as much bite as the title promises.

When Aurora’s pregnant twin Scarlett calls her sister in for help, Rory puts her life in the city on hold to come home to take care of her sister. Her homecoming turns out to be even less exciting than she expects when she’s attacked driving home from a local pub (where she bumped into a high school pal turned new flame, rawr). Thinking she hit a bear, Rory gets out of her vehicle to check for damage and roadkill and is accosted and bitten by a strange animal. Luckily, the beast is distracted by an easier prey before it can finish its feast. Luckily again, the bite is healed by the time Rory wakes up in the hospital. Unluckiest of all, the aftermath of the damage left beneath her skin is far from over.

Besides bleeding silver goo and finding fur trapped under our skin, Rory’s acclimation to life as a werewolf isn’t the only body horror rollercoaster waiting for readers. Scarlett is experiencing a type of body horror too familiar to be foreign: pregnancy. Both sisters undergo mental and physical transformation as they face twin scenarios in which their body is no longer completely their own. Being unexpectedly pregnant and mutating into a werewolf every full moon are a contrast to be sure, but Harrison’s visceral, delicate handling of both serves not to diminish either woman’s experience but remind readers that even natural transformations can be monstrous. It’s creature feature meets body horror, fierce and female and never forgetting the power that women’s bodies are capable of.

Vivid and visceral, Harrison’s readers experience every stinging pain, every grotesque change, every absurd hunger that Rory experiences during her transformation, giving fresh bite to our inner wolves.

Another fun guaranteed- entertaining- scary- quirky and addictive novel comes from Rachel Harrison!

I love this paranormal self growth- body shape positivity approach ( learning to love yourself even though you have silver blood, grey fur, sharp teeth and nails, red eyes) - romance story!

Characters are flawed but so much attachable, genuine, quirky! I loved Aurora/ Rory’s dark sense of humor and her twin Scarlet’s peculiar, artsy, unpredictable manners! They are flirty, smart, ballsy, self confident women, bottling up their pain, acting like invincible!

New Yorker, young, ambitious Rory who has her dreamy job, apartment, social life, reluctantly goes back to her hometown to support her very pregnant twin Scarlet who is abandoned by baby’s father and freaking out!

Rory is not pleased to return back, dealing with nosy small town gossip, reconnecting with her long time friend Ian who still has a big crush for her. She also has complex feelings about him.

After sharing drinks with him at the bar, she decides to drive to her sister’s home but on her way back she hits something with her car even though she doesn’t drive fast! When she gets out of the car, she sees something… a red eyed monster looking directly into her eyes… She starts running into the woods but she cannot escape!!!

And…she gets attacked by a massive fanged mystery beast! When she opens her eyes at the hospital, she realizes she’s alive and she’s told she got attacked by a bear but she is lucky! There are only a few scratches on her body! That’s all!

Unfortunately they didn’t realize she’s oozing silver blood and anytime she looks in the mirror she sees a werewolf stands behind her!

She starts craving meat, suffering from nightmares and on the full moon she handcuffs herself in a distillery because :tadaaa she turns into SHE-WOLF OF SMALL TOWN!

Rory has to deal with this transformation and she also has to confront the big trauma from her past, her harbored anger to her mother, her unresolved feelings for Ian! She has to find a way to survive with her new self! Can she manage it? Of course she can! She’s the coolest, craziest bitch who can do anything to take care of her loved ones!

This is so far my favorite work of the author! This is amazing Halloween reading choice including scary paranormal theme blended in sarcastic, entertaining women’s fiction- romance- mystery theme! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts!

Rachel Harrison is one of my favorite authors, so I was beyond excited to get an ARC of "Such Sharp Teeth!" Thank you to Rachel Harrison, NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Such Sharp Teeth" is about a girl named Rory, who returns to her hometown to help her sister through her pregnancy. Unfortunately for Rory, soon after getting to her hometown she is bitten, by a werewolf! Rory doesn't take this well and is mad she's turning into a supernatural creature. I mean how does a werewolf date?!

Rory is the most amazing character. Funny, flawed, truly herself, and honestly someone I want to be friends with! This book is such a great dark comedy and kept me laughing all the way throughout it. There is no other author that can write about horror in such a witty, fun way. This is truly the perfect book to kick off "spooky season."

5 Stars, A+, Order it now! You won't regret buying this book!

This was an atmospheric seasonal read perfect for the Fall. I really enjoyed the idea of the story, but it fell bit flat with the actual werewolf bits. This was more of a coming into yourself/finding yourself story than a werewolf book. I enjoyed Rory’s story and the comparison between her and her sisters transformations. I thought the characters were well thought out and went through a lot, but the writing style was a bit blunt. I feel like I went into this with a different idea of what the story would be.

And we’re back to our regularly scheduled program…

I took a break from thrillers for you know, 3 days? But you can’t keep this blood sucking, thrill loving, suspense junkie away for too long.

I’m jumping on the spooky season band wagon and I was looking for something to rock my world.

I found it!

Such Sharp Teeth

I took one look at this cover and got all the dark “little red riding hood vibes” and I was totally here for it. This might be one of my favorite horror-ish books to date.

I have read both Cackle and The Return which led to my undying love for Rachel Harrisons witty writing style. The characters are relatable and at times comical (rare for horror).

The other element of the book I appreciated was the love interest and family dynamic . Not all families are perfect and Rory’s family was no different . I developed a hatred for both her mother and sister .

If you, as an author, are able to have the reader develop such strong feelings for a character whether that be love or hate, you know you nailed it. Ian, on the other hand was the PERFECT love interest and just as Rory did, I fell in love with him.

Now let’s talk about Rory, besides the fact that I loved her, she was a charismatic, sassy and down right comical MC. I need more Rory in my life! I loved reading along with Rory’s storyline and the werewolf aspect was unique and NOT corny as one would expect .

Harrison has done it again! I absolutely loved Such Sharp Teeth and I believe a wide audience range will as well!


Teaser :

Rory Morris isn’t thrilled to be moving back to her hometown, even if it is temporary. There are bad memories there. But her twin sister, Scarlett, is pregnant, estranged from the baby’s father, and needs support, so Rory returns to the place she thought she’d put in her rearview. After a night out at a bar where she runs into Ian, an old almost-flame, she hits a large animal with her car. And when she gets out to investigate, she’s attacked.
 
Rory survives, miraculously, but life begins to look and feel different. She’s unnaturally strong, with an aversion to silver—and suddenly the moon has her in its thrall. She’s changing into someone else—something else, maybe even a monster. But does that mean she’s putting those close to her in danger? Or is embracing the wildness inside of her the key to acceptance?

5 stars !

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

Cackle is one of my favorite novels, so I was delighted to receive this advanced review copy of Rachel Harrison’s latest novel, Such Sharp Teeth. This story centers around Rory, who is temporarily living in the town where she grew up. After a chance meetup over a few drinks with a guy from her past, she hits an animal on the way home. When she leaves the car to investigate, she is attacked. She convinces herself it must have been a bear, but as time goes on, strange things are happening to her body: fur is growing where it shouldn’t and she knows the moon’s cycle intimately. Juggling her twin sister’s complicated pregnancy and her attraction to this man from her past, how can she be there for others when she doesn’t even know who she is anymore? Harrison has the very special knack for making the unbelievable utterly and completely believable, complex, funny and scary. This is an engrossing novel about transformation, returning home and women’s bodies and people’s expectations of them. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and to NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

The author of "Cackle" returns with her funny, irrepressible voice, this time tackling the horror mainstay of werewolves. She skirts the genre in a way that isn't too gross out and that readers who enjoy whimsy and romance will still find plenty to like.

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
@RachelHarrisonsGhost
Pub date: October 4, 2022

“𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴. “𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵,” 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦. 𝘐 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, “𝘐’𝘮 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳.”

Know that when I tell you I love Rachel Harrison’s writing, it is not an exaggeration! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 and 𝑪𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆 are two of my favorites and now I’ll be adding 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑 𝑻𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒉 to this list. You can scroll down my IG feed to see my reviews and look for my audiobook review of her short story collection 𝑩𝒂𝒅 𝑫𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒔 next week!

When Rory decides to move back to her home town, all to help her pregnant twin, Scarlett, the last thing she expects is a) to be attacked by a wild animal and b) to fall for her childhood sweetheart.

As Rory slowly transitions, old friends come into her life – some are good for her, some not so much but she’s determined to face this on her own. Bleeding silver blood and catching sight of the wolf in the mirror every time she looks, she knows this is something she must face. Despite her habit of locking herself in her room and waiting for the bad to pass, Rory is a badass, make no mistake.

Following Rory throughout her journey combined with the drama that surrounds other aspects of her life makes for a page turner. While this is at times serious and filled with horror, there’s Rachels trademark humor imbued in every chapter. She is whimsy combined with blood and guts, what’s not to love?

I cannot recommend this book or author enough! Rachel has the perfect sense of horror and humor and when this combination happens, it is pure magic!

My sincere thanks to @BerkleyPub for this gifted DRC!

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing and Rachel Harrison for my copy of this book. Weird, disturbing, creepy, and wonderful, Such Sharp Teeth is the perfect book for spooky season. Rory Morris is moving back to her childhood hometown to help out her pregnant twin sister Scarlett. As soon as she is back in town, two things happen almost at the same time. The first is she reconnects with Ian, an old high school friend who could have been so much more. The second is that she hits a large animal with her car and ends up in the hospital after being bit.

Now, strange things are happening. Rory is starting to become much stronger than she was before. Her blood looks silver and she is constantly craving meat. She is changing into something new, a monster with uncontrollable urges. In conflict with her unnerving situation, Rory is trying to prepare her home for a baby and start a new relationship.

Thoughts: Rachel Harrison is one of my favorite authors to read near Halloween. Her writing is hilarious and relatable and the dark comedy is perfect for the subjects she chooses. Harrison is the master of pairing a horrific plot with fun and witty writing. She layers the deeper subjects of vulnerability and trauma and rage within the story in a way that is stunning to read. I felt myself having a range of emotions while reading a book that should have been a simple scary story.

The romance in the book served to show a power dynamic that was so different in other characters' relationships. I loved the characters in this book and it was easy to imagine their looks and voices. The character development in this book was particularly enjoyable and if you’re looking for a dark comedic horror with powerful feminine themes, this is the book for you! 5-stars!