THIS WAS SO FUN. Chandler Baker's writing is so fresh and unique. And her stories are always so entertaining. I never thought I would enjoy blood-sucking 4yos so much. This is a medium-paced, domestic suspense story that I really enjoyed. January LaVoy's narration was absolutely spectacular. She is one of the best narrators in the audiobook business. While the story had a couple of places where it dragged, the overall story was so entertaining and darkly comedic that I didn't mind the slower parts.

I am generally a Chandler Baker fan but Cutting Teeth fell short for me.

The cover instantly drew me in, and I expected a much darker, evil children type story. That was the aspect I was interested in, yet there was little exploration in the end about how and why the kids developed their syndrome. I get that the thriller/horror elements are meant to take a backseat to the commentary on motherhood, but as a childfree thriller/horror lover I didn't quite connect with this book.

However I think the audio recording was done incredibly well. The narrator did a good job distinguishing between adult/child voices, and the kid voices weren't too cringey. The differentiation between the narrative and the police interviews with "newsy" sounds made it easy to follow. The narrator got fired up (similar to the emotion of the monologue in "Barbie") and you could feel her frustration with modern motherhood expectations. I also enjoyed the commentary at the end from Baker and her fellow author discussing the craft of audio narration.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This book was very unique. I thought the premise was somewhat funny and interesting. I listened to the audio book and I found I greatly enjoyed it. Again, the story was very unique, dealing with trying to solve a murder and four year olds being the only possible witnesses. I loved the voices of the kids. They sounded so cute and of course like four year olds that can’t possibly be reliable witnesses whom can help detectives figure out the mystery. I thought the mothers were so relatable, their concerns, their complaints, their love. The ending definitely was a twist I did not expect! Definitely recommend! 4 ⭐️ from me!

𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗛 is a biting (pun intended!) look at motherhood that includes a murder and blood-sucking toddlers. Yes, you read that right. It's clever and weird and totally made me feel seen. I loved every crazy second of it!

4.5 stars

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the copy to review.

Interesting mystery. The question of the kids were my favorite! I loved the characters. And the ending was so dark.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this.



I read The Whisper Network a few years ago and I really liked it so I was excited to be able to read this....and I loved it!

It is a well known fact that kids are creepy, especially little ones (I am not the only one, right? Right?) and this really takes the that to the next level. What would you do if you kid starts craving blood? The answer it seems is to feed it yours. From there the story really starts picking up steam. A teacher at the preschool is found dead. Could it be the kids or a parent? I loved the writing in this and the story. If you like suburban thrillers/mysteries this will be right up your alley.

I really enjoyed Chandler Baker and January Lavoy,

Pre-school age kids seem to suffer from a virus where they crave blood. When a tragedy occurs at the school, one of the little blood suckers is blamed. Parents will do anything, and I mean anything, including blood-letting, to appease their offspring.

This is a very strange book, and not at all what I was expecting. I didn't love The Whisper Network either, so suffice it to say that this author is not for me. I saw this book as an allegory of how parents today will literally kill themselves to give their children what they want. At their own personal health, mental health, etc. parents and, especially moms, will stop at no sacrifice to provide for their children. This book has been described as a "motherhood manifesto", and in that case, this book is just another example of people trying to get mothers to be selfish and "put themselves first". After all, you can't fill a cup if your pitcher is empty. However, I am not buying the message or the ideals behind it. Maybe you should have been paying more attention to what was going on before your kid go this virus. Most of the moms were busy having crushes, working, working out, etc. to even notice their kids were turning into literal vampires and so, I think they got the "gotta take care of yourself!" down pat.

I listened to the audiobook version, and I have to say that I didn't particularly care for the narrator either. She was very dramatic and serious, when to me, this book was rather silly. I do not think that the subject went over my head, I think I just didn't care for it.

Special and sincere thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

This was definitely unique. Children exhibiting a form of vampirism. A teacher winding up dead. And the story behind how it happened.

The themes of motherhood and parenting were relatable. The writing could be a bit disjointed at times but I finished the book really quickly even so. We got a lot of the perspective of the adults, and I wish we spent a bit more time with the children. I didn’t really emotionally attached to any of the characters but enjoyed the story nonetheless.

The narration helped the flow of the story. Where the book slowed down a bit, the audiobook still kept my attention. Thanks to Macmillan!

This was fun. I guessed most of the twists ahead of time, but not in a way where it made me felt bored because it felt like things were very purposefully being revealed to point you in the right direction. My one complaint is that with how central the mystery do the children’s biting is, there is not actually much focus on the children. I loved that it was an adult storyline and didn’t make the children feel like a paranormal evil little horror story, but I also would have loved to see more of their personalities. Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron for the review copy

I'm not even sure what to say about this my goodness. This book was a wild ride for little reason. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Such a fun story!! I loved the concept of the little vampires…I had never heard of that type of thing. I also think the concepts in the book about motherhood are spot on. Being a mom is freaking hard! And yes, any mother would do anything to protect their children.

I was really hoping that I would love this one, I thought the blurb sounded like it could be a lot of fun. Children with a bizarre disorder that causes them to crave blood... ooOooo...vampire children!

But wimp WOMP, this was a major disappointment. The first half was the better half, I got some of the sharp teethed blood sucking little children that I wanted, there was even the added component of having it be a mysterious "medical phenomenon" which added a little bit of oomph to the story, but by the time we got to the 2nd half the book had stated to sour and turned into a very first world whine session from a very world class whiner & bizarrely turned into some type of social commentary about parenthood, whatever it was tho it went right over my head because I lost interest.

I'm rounding this up to 3 stars but in reality it was a 2.5 star for me.

This is my second Chandler Baker book and it solidifies her as an auto-buy author for me. I enjoyed her commentary on motherhood. "Vampire kids" may seem a bit out there, but it works in Cutting Teeth.

Baker's writing style is engaging and captures the nuances of each character's perspective, making them feel authentic and relatable. The way the characters' thoughts and emotions are depicted adds depth to their individual struggles, making them more than just stereotypical figures.

The book's focus on the intricacies of parenthood, marriage, and career aspirations is refreshing, as it tackles the everyday issues that many readers can relate to. The conflicts that arise within the group shed light on the challenges faced by modern adults, juggling personal desires with societal expectations.

However, while the exploration of these themes is intriguing, the pacing of the story can feel uneven at times. Some parts of the book seem to drag on, while others could have been further developed to enhance the emotional impact. Additionally, the multiple perspectives can occasionally lead to a fragmented narrative that may require more effort from the reader to fully connect with each character's journey.

The blood craving of the children is a bit off putting- I wish this story would have focused more on the murder rather than the kids wanting to suck blood.

I love Chandler Baker so I really wanted to read this, but I also thought the concept sounded really weird and like something I wouldn't love. But somehow she pulled the concept off really well and the idea of blood-sucking toddlers just really worked. I guess that's a testament to how great of a writer Baker is!

The book features 3 mothers of preschool children. The children, and multiple others in their preschool class, start exhibiting signs of pediatric Renfield's syndrome... Which means they develop a taste for blood. When their teacher is found dead, an investigation is launched to determine how she died. Renfield's syndrome is actually a real disorder (though it's very rare) and I sort of love that Baker took a totally outlandish concept and somehow mostly grounded it in reality.

Really, this book is just one giant metaphor about how children will suck the life out of their mothers (side note: when I was a kid and being really annoying, my mom would sometimes say, "what do you want from me; my blood??" and now I get it lol). I'm not a mother, but I think this book will really appeal to those who are. The mothers in the book have very different parenting styles and I think it's easy to find something relatable in all of them.

Of course, this book is a little bit ridiculous, but please don't let the summary sway you from reading it!

So I came across this book while I was watching a webinar for work. I don’t think I was supposed to be watching said webinar because it was for adults, but I ended up there anyway…. And thein this weird ass book showed up. And I was done. I immediately added it to my TBR with no questions asked. I HAD to know wtf was going on at that school and which one of those lil bad asses did it lol

OK so I DID like this, but I can admit that it was really repetitive. IT was told in different POVs from the parents. But they all had the same questions and all of them were mad at some one. It just felt like it was all the same. And because there were so many different POVs, it took so long for the main mystery to start. Baker had to give all the parents, and then the kids an intro and then it was time to introduce why they might have motive. Add in there the mixed media that was in there and yeah, it took a while.

But with that being said, the mixed media in the audio version was pretty cool. It changed the tone of the audio and made it seem like it was actually the police recording. Idk, I know this is something small, but I love audiobooks like this. And the fact that this wasn’t done by a whole group of people but only by January LaVoy?! That’s crazy! She is so good and I LOVE listening to her. I will listen to any and all books she narrates.

I DID like the characters and their crazy tho. I didn’t guess the whodunit, but I kinda did. I guessed the type of person if that makes sense. I knew what they were trying to do too, which obviously made me think it wasn’t right. And although it was to an extent, I was not expecting what happened in the last few minutes. I remember having to go rewind it and listen back. The ending will throw you for a loop lol

I also liked all the secrets this book held. Let me tell you, my messy ass was hanging on every word! I was talking out loud to them and i was even considering writing out the tidbits that kept turning up so I could place the blame on someone. I even remember gasping in some places too because some of this shit was outrageous and I was just shocked.

*SPOILER* Speaking of the ending, it also pissed me off. There is one whole part of the story that was not explained. Like I get what you were doing with it Baker, but the least you could have done was explain it. Because I got so into the damn story and was mostly interested in this book because of that and yeah. I just didn’t understand why you left that part out. And please don’t give the excuse the book uses, because THAT WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. You can’t just say eh it’s a condition?! That’s what the whole book was about?! I remember yelling while I was listening lol

This was my first book by Chandler Baker and without spoiling anything, I thought it was a delight. It had it’s problems, but it didn’t stop me from being so interested I forgot to make my family dinner one night lol This weird ass book had me hooked from the beginning all because these little kiddos were chewing on people like they were vampires. Definitely a weird ass story, but also definitely worth the read!

This is a book about motherhood, specifically motherhood with toddlers. It's a strange book, funny at times but presenting an unsettling picture of motherhood. It examines just how much mothers are expected to do for their children. The characters in this book are all mothers and students at the Little Academy, a prestigious preschool where a young teacher is found dead. Part of the story is told by police interview notes while questioning the 4 year olds and their mothers, all of whom can be considered witnesses or perhaps suspects. The mystery is of course an important part of the story but not in my mind the most important part. The social commentary on motherhood is spot-on. The mothers are dealing in their own ways with being the "perfect" mothers and worrying how others judge them, a problem shared by all mothers. They deal with it all even if they have a husband in the picture. The kids always "want my mommy". They are also dealing with a strange malady that seems to be going around the school that gives "cutting teeth" a whole new meaning. This book is dark and somewhat gross, if you think snottiness and tumblers of blood are gross. The plot is unique, the characters well developed and believable, and there are a few unexpected twists thrown in. January LaVoy is the perfect narrator for this book. She does an excellent job with the narration, voicing each character in a unique way. Her well modulated voice is a joy to listen to.

This is a novel for anyone interested in exploring the complexities of parenthood via the prism of dark humor. This isn't a horror tale about vampiric toddlers terrorizing a suburban town. It's a metaphor for how children may figuratively drain the life out of their parents, particularly their mothers.

Don't go in expecting a popcorn thriller either. This story requires thought, and while it is easily digestible, it is a little slower paced. Having said that, it manages to pull off a mystery with some surprising twists, while also analyzing the cultural expectations we place on women and incorporating some wonderful dark humor along the way.

If Chandler Baker writes a new book, sign me up first to read it because every book she writes entertains me. CUTTING TEETH continues that pattern. It's witty, makes you think, and a little bit disturbing - everything I like in a book. I thought it was a play on words in a book blurb about preschool children drinking blood, but no, Baker wrote a book about preschool children drinking blood. And every other part surrounding that strange ordeal keeps you salivating until the end.

A big round of applause needs to be given to January LaVoy as the audiobook narrator. She's exceptional at bringing this story and all the characters of every age to life.

Thanks, Macmillian Audio, for the gifted book!

What an interesting concept for a thriller! Wow.

This book follows a group of moms and their 4 year old kids after their teacher has been murdered and the kids have started having a strange desire for blood.

I just don't even know where to begin with this book because I'm still yelling out WHAT THE FUCK?! This book makes you question just how far mothers are willing to go to protect their children.

I truly enjoyed so many aspects of this book. The writing and narrating did an amazing job keeping the multiple POV's seperate (as long as you were paying attention). I did find myself having to rewind several times because I did get slightly bored as the buildup was happening and would lose focus. However, this book needed that. I felt like I was constantly processing what the heck was going on and still wondering where in the world the book was possibly going next.

A truly one of kind thriller!