actual rating: 2.5

Most people seemed to really like this one so don't put too much stock in my review. I thought about rounding this up to 3 stars but I was so bored with it that I ended up skimming at least half of it and my general rule is that when I start skimming it gets an automatic 2 stars. There's nothing technically 'wrong' with this, it's well written in that there are not a lot of glaring grammatical errors and the pacing and structure is decent, but I just found all the characters to be incredibly two dimensional and never really connected with any of them and unfortunately that will make or break a book for me. The first few chapters were promising but to me they just never really developed to an extent that would make me care about what happened to them.

Cutting Your Teeth follows Ezra as he runs away from his old life. A life full of murder and violence that he just couldn't take anymore. He runs right into Killian. A mysterious man with an irish brogue who promises to take him away and keep him safe. But secrets are dangerous and you never know what may lie in the shadows and Ezra's demons seem to finally be catching up to him.

Cutting Your Teeth took a well known monster, vampires, and gave them an interesting twist. Some parts are creepy, some parts thrilling, some parts sweet, but always exciting. Cutting Your Teeth was an enjoyable story and I look forward to what adventures these characters face next.

I saw this compared to a couple of my favourite books, and so I was intrigued to pick it up, but I was not ready to enjoy this magnetic and sinister horror as much as I did!

Found family, romance, charismatic characters, and frankly addicting *vibes*! What more could anyone need?

It’s very rare for me to find a book that hooks me right from the start and keeps me glued to the pages until the very end but this is exactly what happened when I started to read “Cutting Your Teeth”. This story just had everything I craved for and wanted to read about in a book. When I picked it up I hoped it would be similar to “All For the Game” and it actually was advertised for this target audience but the more I read, the more I realized that even though the story might have some AFTG vibes it could still stand on its own.

Alone the way the book starts and how Ezra and Killian meet was interesting and it was exciting to dive into that underground fighting scene. Ezra is used to fight and survives by competing against other fighters in the ring. Of course, this is illegal but it’s the only thing he can do to gain money while he’s on the run from his family and as long as he keeps a low profile they won’t find him in those shady places. Well, until one night when everything goes to hell and Ezra’s past catches up to him and forces Killian to act.

And this is the moment we got to the supernatural element of the story which involved not only vampires but also other mythological creatures. I already said it and I’ll say it again: AFTG and “Cutting Your Teeth” might have some similarities when it comes to Ezra’s character. He’s on the run from his family which seems to be some sort of mafia clan, Killian gifts him clothes, it’s a slow burn romance and Ezra doesn’t trust anyone because he’s gone through literal hell. But this is already the moment where all the similarities end and I was so here for it, because I got something totally new and a great story that was amazing in its own right.

I hurt so much with Ezra, because this boy deserved so much better than he got and sometimes to read about his past and what happened to him in the book felt like a stab to my heart. I really loved his character so much and I just wanted him to be happy and safe. It was so nice to see him change and to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t going to be alone anymore and I really liked that his dog Piper was an active part of the entire book as well. Usually pets just casually appear in books and don’t get all too much attention, but the author made sure that Ezra’s dog was always there and included in the plot. It was so refreshing to see this and considering the influence and importance of Piper’s existence in Ez’s life this was done more than just well. Which brings me to Marigold who is also an important character in the story and I really liked her relationship with Killian. They had such a nice sibling bond and even when they were angry at each other, you could still feel their mutual love. Plus despite looking very innocent Mari is extremely badass and if push comes to shove you definitely would want to have her on your side.

As much as I enjoyed the AFTG vibes and the supernatural element, what really made this story for me was the found family trope and Killian and Ezra’s slow burn romance. I just loved that they had all those little soft moments together and how Ezra started to trust Killian. This arc was done so well and the way their relationship developed was extremely sweet, which only caused my heart to ache even more the closer I came to the ending. It made everything so much harder to bear and even more bittersweet and painful. I was in pain. I truly was. I was in tears at that point and it still hurts to think about.

Anyway! If there’s one thing I have to touch on and criticize, then it’s the time span in which the plot of the book unfolds and happens. If I remember it correctly and got it right the entire book plays in the span of about two weeks and this just felt too short for everything that happened. I mean there happens a lot and I personally think it would have been more realistic to let some time pass between all of those events. And if we’re already talking about some of the negative aspects of the book I also have to mention that a little bit more editing wouldn’t have hurt. Sometimes there were sentences that weren’t logical or conclusive and at times the way Killian spoke and acted felt slightly off for his experience and age. This however changed nothing about my enjoyment of the book and since I read an ARC the things I just mentioned might already have been changed in the final version.

All told, I enjoyed this book immensely and it was the perfect read for me. I know some people might see it differently and that’s okay, but for me personally, this story just hit the right spot. Well, maybe there’s another similarity to AFTG after all: This book won’t be for everyone. If you love a good found family trope, a lovely slow-burn romance, supernatural creatures, AFTG vibes and broken boys that learn to heal you’ll definitely enjoy this story though. And last but not least because I just can’t end this review without mentioning it: Killian’s Gaelic endearments killed me! No seriously, whenever he addressed Ezra with another term of endearment I died a little inside. I wish Ez would have understood them and I can only hope he will be able to in book two! I honestly can’t wait to read the sequel but since this was an ARC I’m afraid it’s going to be a long wait. I already know it will be worth it, though.

had a lot of fun reading this novel. Despite being in a reading rut this novel allowed me to dive in quickly. I enjoyed getting to know Ezra and Killian and their budding romance. As well as Marigold, who often seemed to be the voice of reason.

This novel is perfect for young adults. Although it's tagged as Horror it definitely reads as a paranormal fantasy to me.

Cutting your Teeth is action-packed, with a little bit of romance, found family, and vampirism!

Ezra is an easy character to root for. You want to see him thrive and be happy. Despite his upbringing, he still manages to find people who grew up in similar situations. This found family troupe is a good way to make you fall in love with each character and understand why they might have found each other in the first place.

I can't wait to find out what happens next.

I've been loving vampire stories recently and this was no exception. The characters were a joy to read about. I can't wait to see how their story develops in the next book. There were a few times the plot lines were getting confusing to me, but overall I enjoyed my time reading this book and will be looking forward to reading the next one.

CYT is about vampires, blood oaths, scientists, a boxer, the mafia, and an ancient family curse.

This bad boy has SO much packed into it, it was definitely a roller coaster ride of a read. CYT had a lot to say and made sure you were going to hear it. I think this would have been really interesting to see stretched out into two books, especially because I am DYING to know more about [redacted] at the end. There were a lot of fun, unexpected twists with this story as well, where I wasn’t sure where things were headed.

One of my biggest draws while reading for me was the way that Ezra was constantly in a state of just-got-his-ass-handed-to-him. I really love a guy who is just, in absolute shambles. I really think more authors need to write about men who are bruised and a bit pathetic.

Although it was not a turn-off to me, I do feel like I should note that the characters fallinf for each other happened extremely quickly, however the romance aspect of this is very much a slow burn. There’s some vampire attraction stuff happening there, but it felt very sudden. Gay people are just like that though <3

AFTG was a pretty good comp for this title, I agree with that. If you like the wild mafia elements and “gays who would kill for each other” aspect of AFTG but think it should have had vampires, this is a book for you. I’m looking forward to reading more by this author!
Thank you to netgalley and the author for an eARC of this book, all views expressed are my own.

Yet another vampire book for the queers!

Cutting Your Teeth is an urban fantasy vampire adventure that follows Ezra Santos, a man on the run, as he unexpectedly gets pulled into the orbit of Killian Hale and his life gets turned on its head.

THESE BOYS ARE SO MESSY! I think that was probably the most enjoyable aspect of the book for me. They both had so much they were hiding and seeing them realize how much they were each fucking up and trying their best to fix things was one hell of a ride to go on. The romance was both insta love and slow-burn in the sense that they both caught feelings pretty quickly, but also both kept putting off doing anything about it for their own respective reasons. It was alright, but I definitely personally would have enjoyed seeing more development of their feelings at the beginning, or at least more introspection into what made the love so instant? But that’s a pretty minor nitpick and I still overall enjoyed their arc together.

The plot was a tangled mess that progressively got messier the more you found out, and I honestly had no idea how any of it would play out. I enjoyed it well enough, but I personally found my attention lagging through much of the middle part of the book and into the climax, making this read take a while for me. It was Alright and I Liked it, but there also wasn’t a lot that was actively sucking my attention in between the beginning and the very end.

Now, the things that made this a slower read for me might absolutely make this the book for other people, and either way, I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for messy queer vampires in an urban fantasy setting. One aspect that I did really love was the vampire lore! I thought this story did a good job of blending familiar things and taking new twists!

Thank you to Netgalley and Caylan MacRae for approving me for an eArc copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion!

Cutting Your Teeth starts out fast and furious, throwing you right into the action as Ezra prepares to step into the ring at an underground fight club. But as plans go awry and his intended opponent doesn't show, Ezra is forced to go head to head with a fighter named Killian, who Ezra feels a strange pull to from the start. The fight is gritty and violent and spectacularly written and paced, and by the end of it, Ezra's victory feels well earned while you're left longing for more information on his competition. Later the same night as Ezra is leaving the club to head home and pack up himself and his dog Piper to move on--already clearly on the run from something the reader doesn't yet understand--he is attacked and nearly killed before being rescued by the same man he'd fought earlier and subsequently being dragged into the mysterious, dangerous world that Killian and his friend Marigold live in.

Between Ezra's re-awakening to his new life and world, Killian's guilt over past decisions, the plots and influences of other side characters on the leading trio, Ezra's past always there on the edges of things haunting and hunting him, and an actual, honest to god Vampire therapy meeting--I'm not even kidding--there's something for everyone in this story of love, loss, life spent constantly on the run, and the lengths we go to to keep ourselves and those we love safe.

Cutting Your Teeth is spectacularly well written and perfectly paced with a cast of incredible characters down to the roles on the sidelines who are so fun to read even when they aren't particularly likeable, racial inclusivity and multiple counts of queer representation down to a mlm love story at the book's center that had me screeching into my pillow in the middle of the night as I was reading. I can't wait for more stories by Caylan MacRae, especially within the Cursed Corpses world, and to see more of Ezra, Killian, Marigold, and all of their friends and enemies alike. It was an easy five star read for me, a book I will always go out of my way to recommend, and one I know I'll read again more than once in the future.

This book had a very good premise, but it was not well executed. The book is non-stop action, which is great because you don't want to have a lull in the story...but nothing was given a chance to breathe. As a result, none of should have been huge emotional payoffs felt earned. The main character laments that he doesn't know when he was last cared for or feels like he can't have love, etc....but he was broken up with less than a week prior to the start of the book and has a guy calling him "my love" two days after they officially meet. Towards the end of the book the love interest says he had "long abandoned" a plan...but that plan had been abandoned less that a week before he said that. The characters weren't given time to have character growth, and there was so much happening that things were being solved too quickly and too easily. Need a quick escape? No worries, theres inexplicably two horses tied right outside. It's sad because the world building is there, the concept was there, but this almost felt like it needed to be split into two books and then had the emotions and personal relationships grow more.

The Goodreads profile for this author says that this is their first book, and I sincerely hope they continue writing. I feel that they have some wonderful ideas, and I would love to read future books from them, I just hope they can delve a little more into the much needed emotional resonance of story telling.

This is a supernatural gay romance with a really good cast of characters. I liked everyone, even the morally reprehensible ones. My only issue with it was that the plot wasn't linear and went off on a lot of tangents which made it confusing at times. I'd like to see the new vampire and Ezra's family plotline isolated, with the romance as a subplot. Everything else just made it a bit clunky, but it was still an enjoyable experience.

Ezra has been on the run from his family for the past two years. Just as he's about to skip town and start over he runs into vampire Killian and his companion Marigold. Killian promises Ezra a life safe from the family that's hunting him down. Can Ezra finally stop looking over his shoulder or will the family curse lurking in his blood bring his new life down in flames?

🌻Debut & Indie published
🌻Queer Cast
🌻Boy on the Run
🌻Found Family
🌻Vampires & Werewolves
🌻Slow Burn

Queer vampire stories are on 🔥 right now!

The relationship between Ezra, Killian, and Marigold was perfect! Ezra's abusive family background has made him feel like he's not enough for others and I just ate up the love and support these three brought to each other. Seriously, the hurt/comfort mixed with tons of found family vibes was just fantastic!

I also really enjoyed side character Quinn and hope to see more of her and her wife in the future. Humans might not be aware of the supernatural but the vampire support network that has been set up in this universe and Quinn herself providing group therapy meetings for vampires to come and talk about the changes that have happened in their lives had me 😭

MacRae compares Cutting Your Teeth to the All for the Game Series. I've only read The Foxhole Court but I can definitely see it with the similarities between Ezra and Neil.

Quite a bit was revealed in book one of this series so I'm very excited to see what the author expands on in the next one 😍

Just published March 31, 2023 and available on KU, ebook, audiobook, and paperback!! Highly recommend - check it out now!

Thank you to Caylan MacRae and @netgalley for providing an egalley copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As always please check content warnings. I've listed a few that come to mind TW: knife, gun, violence, abusive family, drowning, mind control/memory replacement, blood, blood drinking

I really liked Cutting Your Teeth by Caylan MacRae.
It was a fast and fun read that was well written.
I also really liked the characters especially Killian!
I definitely recommend this book especially if you love Vampires, Werewolves and found family.
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was interesting. It has an interesting plot and cast of characters and I can absolutely see the appeal. Unfortunately, the writing style just wasn't for me and so I struggled to enjoy it.

TW: Blood, violence, sacrifice, biting, death, gun violence, a hint of human & child trafficking, child abuse, murder, and more.

Torn between 3 - 3.35 stars

This is a wholly unique book and captures your attention from chapter 1 with the introduction of Erza and the hints of his life. The world we are dragged into has a lot of depth to it.
While the love was a tad insta-lovey for me, I think the foundations of trust and friendship grow to be genuine - we are excluding that... betrayal.

Where I feel this became a little less enjoyable for me was just how many stories were happening at once. I 100% loved a few of them; I think each character should be more than the main character/story, but BOY, a lot was happening! It took me out of the story a little because of how much was happening.

Scary and suffocating. Had me on the edge of my seat. Not my usual genre but I’m glad I have it a try.

Actual rating: 3.5

Thanks to NetGalley and Caylan MacRae for providing me with an early copy. The book came out on March 31th. And I’m sorry my review is a little late.

Cutting Your Teeth is aimed at fans of books and movies such as AFTG, Burn Our Bodies Down, Hereditary etc. Since I am a fan of those I thought this book would be prefect for me. I did like it but not as much as I expected I would going into it.

Ezra is on the run from his family and over the years he has changed many identities. We meet him at the point when he is doing some underground boxing where he meets a guy named Killian who rescues him from certain death. But also pretty much changes the trajectory of his life after that. I won’t get into too many details because I think they are spoilery.

I think I really don’t have any objective issues with this book. Like, it was fine. The beginning kind of reminded me of AFTG maybe a little too much. Like Ezra is on the run, he has a twin, changed identities and so on. But after that the story goes it’s own way which is great. I did enjoy the writing. This is a debut novel if I’m not wrong? And the writing is really neat. I liked the way that the story was established and the way the flow went. I think for me the main issue was when it came to the characters. And I was trying to figure out why is that but I think it's just because I could not connect to them as much as I would have liked. At the end I feel like I just didn’t learn enough about them to be fully invested. This also made me not care about the romantic relationship as much. So yeah, I would love to see the characterization explored more.

Thank you so much, Caylan MacRae and Netgalley for sending me an E-ARC to review!
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This book is compared to a favorite series of mine - All For the Game. With this and it featuring vampires, I knew I had to read it immediately. While reading Ezra reminded me a lot of Neil with their family’s past and being on the run, constantly changing their names. I really enjoyed this one and the found family aspect! The perspective changes from main character Ezra to love interest Killian which was nice. I loved the ending and can definitely see myself rereading this one! I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future.
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I’ve seen a lot of people describe this as horror but to me, it wasn’t very scary. This could be because I immerse myself in some pretty scary media, but I thought I would just note it. However, I feel like some of the grotesque descriptions reminded me of those in Hell Followed With Us, by Andrew Joesph White.
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I saw one review mentioning they head cannoned the main couple as being ace because they do not have a sexual relationship in the book is so sweet to me! I absolutely loved how the vampires in this book weren’t overly sexualized like they typically are in most media. As someone who is ace and loves vampires - I love this head cannon! I just wanted to mention this!
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I also won the author’s giveaway for this book, which is amazing! Such a lovely queer vampire book and I’m so happy to add it to my collection!
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I absolutely did not expect to love Cutting Your Teeth as much as I did! 5 stars for sure!

If you enjoy vampires, werewolves, magic, mystery, and found family; you should definitely pick up Cutting Your Teeth by Caylan MacRae.

Overall this story was entertaining. The interactions between characters made me remember and feel nostalgic for the pretend role play games I used to play with my friends growing up. However, I feel that the characters were too black and white. The villains were evil, and the protagonist were good to an extreme. Killian and Fran were the two characters that seemed to have more depth to them.

Wish the pacing of the story had been a bit faster and that more consequences for everyone’s actions had been given. If this is the beginning of a series, I would definitely give the sequel a try.

I really enjoyed this book! Part of why I wanted to read it was because of the comparison to all for the game, which I love, and I definitely saw the similarities. It also showed vampirism in a way I thought was interesting, especially with the idea that it can be easy for them to gain too much power. The found family in this was amazing, and I particularly loved Mari and Killians friendship.

I found the romance to be really well written and believable, and appreciated how queerness seemed normalised, both with the mcs and side characters. I highly recommend this, especially for fans of books like aftg or hell followed with us.