Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

I was definitely drawn in to request this audiobook because of the cover. I also love January LaVoy. She is an excellent narrator and this one was so entertaining! This was such an interesting and original story. I loved listening to the different mothers perspectives, and the drama! LaVoy captured all the different characters and I don't know how the heck she does it. I was engaged the entire time. Definitely worth giving a listen to!

I finished this book this morning and I absolutely loved it!! It was satirical, creepy, and so much fun!! I binge read it in 24 hours! I went back and forth between the audio from @netgalley and the physical copy. I loved the vibe of the entire book. It had the creepy children along with traditional mystery elements of a good thriller. It’s a solid mix of thriller, horror, comedy, drama. The writing and pace were perfect and the narrator for the audio was perfection. Now to wait for @chandlerbakerbooks next book!

I was so excited when I got this audiobook, but honestly this one was just a little bit underwhelming to me.

Thank you Macmillan audio for this ALC! It was so well done!

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.

“Like, as the mother, it’s always her sworn duty and hers alone to take care of the hardest bits, the way the Secret Service has to take a bullet for the president.”

My 3rd book by Chandler Baker and my favorite! This book is layered thick with the nuances of motherhood. It is a great domestic thriller with some humorous bits! At times I felt like Chandler was looking into my soul!

When a preschool teacher is found dead, her class of small children are the only witnesses, and suspects 🫣 They have all recently been found to have Renfield’s Syndrome, which is characterized by a craving for blood 🩸 This hilarious thriller on motherhood asks the common question: is there anything a mother won’t do for her children?
And if you think you know what is happening or who did what… you just wait until the LAST line!!! 😱😱😱

Baker really nails the sometimes terrifying reality of what happens when you become a parent, that you are in fact in charge. I found myself laughing out loud and relating to these characters in many ways!
The dialogue is easy to read and hilarious, I feel like I’ve had some of these same conversations with friends!

“How in the process of raising new humans, you become a new one yourself. How love for a child can accomplish feats modern medicine and technology can still only dream of and it will do so in the blink of an eye. For that love will rewire your brain, alter your personality, modify your DNA, and explode your heart, all, somehow? Without killing you.”

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. I love her writing usually, but all the biting and blood talk just honestly made me nauseous. That combined with the incredibly slow pace made this book too hard to enjoy. I will definitely still try whatever she comes out with next!

The premise of this one is a bit ridiculous. A pre-school in which the children begin to crave the taste of blood? Especially the blood of their mothers? And then the preschool teacher is murdered? I thought it would be too much for me, but it actually works somehow. The POVs represent, in their way, different approaches to motherhood, marriage, and work/life balance. The plot is well put-together and the characters are distinct, each with an interesting arc. The narration is OUTSTANDING. It's little wonder January LaVoy is an award-winning narrator. She has a way with making voices distinct, even the men and the children, and the expression is emotional but never overdone.

I would give this book a 3.5 rating.
First of all, I loved the cover of this book! It is very eye popping and unique. I also love the concept of the book, little baby vampires! I was actually expecting to hear more about these little vampires. but instead, the story was parent driven. The story actually follows Darby, Mary Beth, Rhea and their families. These women take the center stage while the "little vampire kids" take a back seat. I would have loved to hear more from and about the kids and followed their POV. That being said, it is still a good read. It had a solid plot, good writing, great narration and a satisfying ending.

Let me just say that January LaVoy did an exceptional job at narrating this book. Omg she was great at every character. She is the reason that I did not put my phone down. She did such an amazing job telling this story. This was my first time reading a book by her and my first introduction to her. I can't believe I have been missing out on her narration. I will be adding her to my list of favorite narrators alongside Eunice Wong and Leslie Howard.

Lastly, I love the bonus conversation at the end. I always when authors include them. It gives us insight into how they create while also letting us know a little more about them. It humanizes them making it more likely readers will want to follow them and lookout for their new books.
I would have given this book an even higher rating if it had included more from the kids' perspective. All in all, it was good read with a very satisfying and twisty ending.
I would like to thank Netgalley and MacMillian audio for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A dark, satirical and creepy whodunnit involving a preschool class of children suffering from Pediatric Renfield’s Syndrome (aka children’s vampirism) and their parents. 


Holy creepy kids! From the first bite, you won’t be able to look away from these families. A dark and satirical look at parenthood, how far you’d go for your children and just how draining it can all be!

When the students in Ms. Ollie’s class begin biting and she ends up dead, it sets off an investigation into the four year old suspects and their parents. Told from the multiple POVs of three moms, Darby, Mary Beth and Rhea, we get their perspectives (and involvement) in the murder as the investigation unfolds.

I loved how Baker told this story - the secrets, the family drama, the friendships, the stress and expectations of motherhood, the ups and downs of marriage and the creepy children suffering from vampirism. It was all just so damn intriguing. I was worried about how it was all going to tie in together but it worked, albeit in a bizarre manner.

The audiobook was fun to listen to with the added music, interview clips and witness statements. The narrator, January LaVoy, did an amazing job voicing the characters. Highly recommend doing this one on audio!

📖 Cutting Teeth follows a group of mothers whose preschoolers attend Little Academy - an elite private school. Not long after the children are afflicted with a strange medical condition, their teacher is murdered. The children are suspects, and there's nothing their mother's won't do to protect them.

💭 This was a hoot! Part murder mystery, part satirical commentary on the struggles of motherhood - it's chalk full of symbolism that I couldn't help but relate to. January Lavoy's audiobook performance is just stellar. Cutting Teeth includes a very large cast, with many children, and Lavoy performs them seamlessly. 👏🏻 HIGHLY recommend, especially in audiobook format.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC.

Story: Entertaining
Narration: Fantastic
Kids: Creepy

I had a lot of fun with this one. I think it was a clever way of combining the tolls motherhood has with a murder mystery. There are a lot of people mentioned so it took me a minute to keep everyone straight and I wish a certain thing got a better closure in the end, but overall I enjoyed reading this one. Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this one.

Check me out on Instagram @books_boards_and_brews and @themarriagestoriespod
Cutting Teeth
Written by Chandler Baker
Read by January LaVoy
Book 149/200
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Format: Audio, ARC
Pages: 320
Published: 2023
Rating: 8/10
Horror: 👻👻

*This ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*

Cutting teeth is a humorous and horrific window into motherhood. I very much enjoyed reading this latest work from Chandler Baker. Cutting Teeth serves as a metaphor of how children can drain their mothers both physically and mentally. Baker hits home that "good mothers" aren't all cast from the same mold and that being a "good mother" doesn't always look the same. As a father, I have not personally experienced this hardship that effects mothers, but I have watched my wife go though all of this. Through this book I feel I can understand a bit more of what she goes through on a daily basis (and hopefully be a better husband as a result). January LaVoy absolutely nails this audiobook performance. Her range in voices is just incredible and she really help create an immersive experience.

I will say, I would give the first 75-80% of this book a 9.5/10, with the end missing the mark a bit for me. I was hoping it would go in a bit more of a horror ending than a thriller (if you're curious about the difference, keep your eye out for an episode of The Marriage Stories Pod where @thebookannelid and I discuss horror vs thriller). Though that is very much a personal preference, and I know many people who would prefer the thriller-y ending more! Chandler Baker will definitely be an author I watch out for in the future!

The Little Academy has the reputation of being one of the best in town until some strange things start to happen. Children at the school start to display some strange symptoms, they all start to crave blood. Then a young teacher is found dead in her classroom. It soon becomes clear that the police are not looking at the children as just witnesses but as suspects. Could it be possible for a group of four year olds to kill their teacher or should the police be taking a closer look at their mothers?

Cutting Teeth is a satire and commentary on motherhood that is full of the dark humor that I enjoy in Chandler Baker’s books. She has a way of writing about motherhood that makes me feel completely seen and understood. It's like she hears my thoughts and then uses them in her books. I read the synopsis for this book and initially thought, “vampiric toddlers…this is going to be weird.” It definitely was weird but it worked! This book is engaging and thought provoking and the mystery is interesting and twisty. I liked how Baker threw enough suspicion around that I couldn't easily figure out who the killer was. Cutting Teeth is narrated by January LaVoy who is one of my all time favorite narrators and she did an amazing job as usual!

This book…oh my! There is just no way, as a parent, I’d make the same decisions. Lots of friends who also kept secrets from each other. Lots of parents who are drowning in what to do with their kids. Lots of parents doing straight up crazy things! I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure where this one was going but it wrapped up well.

🌀Synopsis
A teacher is murdered.
Now the cops must get to the bottom of it by interviewing the children. Wouldn’t you know, kids say the darnedest thing too.
Piece by piece, this story starts to come out. It starts with some kids who seem to have an odd craving for blood. Yes, that’s right they want to bite and draw blood. Their moms, who are friends, don’t want to talk about it. They don’t want to admit that there are issues. None of them are willing to say how far they are going for their children.
As it turns out, one of them would even murder for their kid.

A murder mystery with vampire children? Yes. This was a eccentric, witty and disturbing murder mystery. Tying in the sacrifice parents make with blood sucking children was *chef’s kiss*. The phantom pooper has me dying - as a Kindergarten teacher I wish I could say it’s outlandish but it truly isn’t. Parents (and teachers!) will get a kick out of this one.

CUTTING TEETH by Chandler Baker presents an intriguing blend of murder mystery and motherhood exploration. Darby, Mary Beth, and Rhea's quests to reclaim their identities while juggling motherhood take an unexpected turn when the Little Academy preschool is struck by a disturbing medical condition—kids craving blood. While the premise hints at vampire children, the story leans more towards a critique of societal pressures on parents. The narrative examines the expectations placed on mothers and the struggles they face in meeting them, which is cleverly represented through the children's unusual condition. I found the domestic drama slightly overwhelming and struggled to connect with most characters. The inclusion of a single mom provided a different perspective. The murder mystery's early reveal was a minor drawback, but a surprising twist towards the end added excitement. Nevertheless, CUTTING TEETH delivers an enjoyable reading experience with its unique blend of humor, mystery, and thought-provoking insights into parenthood.

There is a preschool class full of children craving blood like cute mini vampires. What would you do if your little angel was demanding blood for a snack? And then one day their teacher is killed during the day - could one of the little Draculas have done in it in a blood thirst?

While this is technically a thriller it is a satirical thriller that looks into parenthood, and more specifically, motherhood, and the expectations around what makes a good mother (while we solve a little crime along the way).

In all honesty I kept reading the premise and thinking I didn’t want to read this book - my kids are teens and I didn’t think I wanted to read a “mommy novel” BUT thankfully I kept reading reviews and I put that aside and picked it up (and it is not what I thought it was). I half listened and half read and I really enjoyed it. I thought what Baker had to say about being a wife and mom was insightful (but in an entertaining way). The audio did a great job with the different characters and this book flew by. While the murder plot was pretty predictable the story itself was enjoyable and I will be picking up her other novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review

"To my son, Colin, the jolliest class biter around--your taste for human flesh may fade, but my love for you will never."

"If witness protection wants to know how to make someone disappear just make her a mother ."

From the hysterical dedication to her social commentary on how motherhood can make you lose "yourself," the brilliant author Chandler Baker has created a satirical masterpiece with her latest thriller, Cutting Teeth.

Single mom Rhea, married mom of two Darby and, needs to be the perfect mom and wife, Mary Beth are proud their 4 year olds are attending the illustrious Little Academy with the highly regarded Miss Erin as their teacher...until Miss Erin is found murdered in a pool of blood with little foot prints all around. Are the kids witnesses to this death or the cause of it?

OMG! Reading and listening to this story unravel was like no other literary experience. I had no clue where this inventive writer was taking me but I was going with her to the crazy end.

It seems the kids are suffering from "Pediatric Renfield's Syndrome." They are biting, drawing blood and licking it up.

Listening to the sublime narration of January lavoy as blood thirsty 4 year old Lola begging her mom Darby for blood will be in my head for eternity. Reading how these mothers would do anything to protect their kids, including taking blood out of their own veins to calm their child, was a perfect metaphor for the sacrifices of motherhood.

There are hilarious moments especially during the "poop" investigation. The fathers are perfect follies for their lack of awareness on motherhood.

Now, this is still a murder mystery and all I can say is the ending twist was as sharp as Cutting Teeth.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Fiction? Then why use a real life true crime story of the Paul Murdaugh boat crash? Completely lazy writing and a distraction from the rest of the story once it was described.

I loved this! I devoured it in a day or so. It was compulsively readable and so very original. I was mesmerized by the unique way CUTTING TEETH engaged with social commentary--especially how toxic groups of mothers can be and how draining motherhood can be.

Highly recommended..

Ever finish a book and wonder - WTH did I just read (or listen to in this case)?

So basically - four year old vampire like kids craving blood and biting their parents to fulfill their craving. But SO.MUCH.MORE!

We meet Darby, Rhea and Mary Beth. As in real life, they all have very different parenting styles. When a teacher at their children's school days, they are all forced to deal with that along with another underlying problem - some of the kids have begun biting to the point of drawing blood.
These are four year olds, preschoolers. But the investigators start to have concerns - could the kids have something to do with the teacher's death, and what is up with the biting and blood sucking?

This book was bizarre but in the best possible way. The narration was fantastic. And although the story line was so odd, I was still captivated.

Many thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!