Overview
Cutting Your Teeth (317pg) is an adult horror novel, the first book in the Cursed Corpses series, that follows Ezra, a young man on the run from his family and a dangerous past.
Ever since he managed to escape his family, Ezra has been running from town to town, never staying long, and changing his name each time he moves. But this time, right before he’s set to leave town again, he crosses paths with Killian, and his whole life gets turned around.
Now having to deal with his newfound vampirism after an incident left Killian with no other options, and having to face the fact that he can’t run from his family forever, Ezra has some tough decisions to make.
How can he be sure those around him can be safe while he’s there? Why are the people from his past so committed to bringing him home? And what is the family curse that has been haunting Ezra his whole life?
Rating and Review
I gave this book 4/5 stars.
This book has the perfect combination of creepy creatures (vampires, werewolves), queers being oblivious (two men, both crushing hard, both very convinced the other doesn’t like him like that), and family trauma (mob families, twins with a connection, no-one-leaves-alive level bad guys, an ancient family curse that creeps into your nightmares and messes with your head). None of these aspects are lacking, and none are taking more space than they need.
It’s just enough to keep you interested and wanting to know more.
I really enjoyed the story, and the characters are very cool and loveable. Mari is an absolute delight, and truly the sunshine to everyone else’s grumpy.
This book is listed as the first book in a series, and the ending held up really well in regards to this.
A lot of indie authors have a habit of leaving the end of a book completely open to tell you there will be a sequel, putting pressure on the reader to read the next book. Cutting Your Teeth had a complete, tidy ending. There was a hint of a possible follow-up book, but this book was finished. It gives readers the choice to see this as a stand-alone, or to keep their eyes out for more, without it feeling forced.
And now for the issues I had while reading this.
Even though I enjoyed the book, it definitely has a few good examples of “If you’re not sure what a word means, look it up”. There are some standard basic typos, spelling errors, homophone mistakes, and sentences where the tense changes partway through. There are also sentences that don't make sense. they almost make sense but they don't quite.
Killian is Irish, but there’s one moment where an accent is written into his speech, and it appears to be a Scottish accent. To add to this, there are several times when Killian speaks different languages, but the most common one is Scottish Gaelic. On one page, he speaks Scottish Gaelic and Irish. One after the other.
But none of these are huge issues, and they don’t have an effect on the book itself for the most part.
Content warnings
- Animal death (brief)
- Mentions of abuse
- Self-harm
- Suicidal ideation
Who I’d recommend this to
If you’re after something a little spooky, a little queer, and packed to the brim with family trauma, this book is perfect for you.
See also: found family, Grumpy x Sunshine friendships, fantasy horror, and fighting off werewolves with a Molotov cocktail while jumping onto a moving train