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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Cutting Your Teeth is an amazing debut novel, full of fantastic characters and exhilarating imagery. Any lovers of vampire tales is sure to enjoy this fresh twist on a classic trope!
I’m already in love with Killian and Ezra and cannot wait to see where this Series takes them and the rest of these characters.
I’m already in love with Killian and Ezra and cannot wait to see where this Series takes them and the rest of these characters.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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!
ARC was provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Little slow at the start, but when the story gets going, it really gets going! The characters were immediately endearing and I loved the core cast a lot and would totally be down to read more of their adventures. I think what I liked the most was the vampire lore introduced and played with. Unique enough, but still very familiar!
If you like character driven stories, vampires and family curses, definitely give this a shot!
If you like character driven stories, vampires and family curses, definitely give this a shot!
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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
🌻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
Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and Caylan MacRae for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This story follows Ezra, who’s on the run from his family, the Espinas. He bumps into Killian, a vampire who takes him under his wing, and the story takes off from there. Elements of Ezra and Killian’s histories and motives are shrouded in mystery, and information is slowly drip-fed to you in a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
First, I think this novel is a little mismarketed. It’s tagged as *horror* in both NetGalley and Goodreads, but I personally think *paranormal fantasy* fits a little bit better. There were a few elements of horror, but not enough to truly create the horror vibe that I was expecting going into this. I personally didn’t mind the discrepancy (I like this atmosphere a lot more than horror for these characters specifically), but others might.
I generally liked the writing! There were a few typos and misspellings here and there, but nothing that detracted from my liking of the novel. Writing in present tense can be a little challenging, and while there were a few hiccups, there was nothing terribly erroneous.
Now, let’s dig into what I really worked for me. Despite Ezra being completely unfamiliar with Killian’s world, there’s never a huge info dump. Rather, MacRae gives you exactly as much information as you need to keep up, and no more than that. It’s perfect, really—you never get bored through a laundry list of characters, and it also builds up tension and suspense. The writing was descriptive, but never so focused on descriptions that you lose the plot. For the most part, the characters acted logically given their circumstances, and none of them were one-dimensional, aside from maybe the main villain. But I can forgive that, since this is the first book of a series, and I’m sure MacRae will reveal more information in the future.
Something unexpected that I enjoyed was the found family trope. Horror and found family don’t exactly fit in the same sentence in my head, so when some parts of this novel turned out to be downright cozy, I was surprised, but pleasantly so. It just makes me more excited to see what trouble these characters will get into in the future.
On the other hand, I couldn’t really reconcile Killian’s age with his personality. Some of his actions didn’t speak of a person who had lived as long as he had; if he were younger, I’d view his behavior a bit more favorably. I’m also not a big fan of multiple POVs, but MacRae pulled it off well enough that I’m not mad at it, though I’m still not sure it was entirely necessary. It added some drama, but there were other ways to go about doing that. Again, that’s just my personal taste. That being said, the romance wasn’t central to the plot, which I absolutely love, so massive kudos for that.
Overall, this novel was lovely and served as a great setup for the stories that will follow! The characters and intricacies of the plot were well conceived, and the story was generally well written. MacRae also gets points for originality—this isn’t your every day paranormal story, and MacRae doesn’t shy away from some bloody descriptions. There’s something clearly more sinister afoot throughout the entirety of the novel, and there are implications that the threat will continue to lurk in future installments.
This story follows Ezra, who’s on the run from his family, the Espinas. He bumps into Killian, a vampire who takes him under his wing, and the story takes off from there. Elements of Ezra and Killian’s histories and motives are shrouded in mystery, and information is slowly drip-fed to you in a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
First, I think this novel is a little mismarketed. It’s tagged as *horror* in both NetGalley and Goodreads, but I personally think *paranormal fantasy* fits a little bit better. There were a few elements of horror, but not enough to truly create the horror vibe that I was expecting going into this. I personally didn’t mind the discrepancy (I like this atmosphere a lot more than horror for these characters specifically), but others might.
I generally liked the writing! There were a few typos and misspellings here and there, but nothing that detracted from my liking of the novel. Writing in present tense can be a little challenging, and while there were a few hiccups, there was nothing terribly erroneous.
Now, let’s dig into what I really worked for me. Despite Ezra being completely unfamiliar with Killian’s world, there’s never a huge info dump. Rather, MacRae gives you exactly as much information as you need to keep up, and no more than that. It’s perfect, really—you never get bored through a laundry list of characters, and it also builds up tension and suspense. The writing was descriptive, but never so focused on descriptions that you lose the plot. For the most part, the characters acted logically given their circumstances, and none of them were one-dimensional, aside from maybe the main villain. But I can forgive that, since this is the first book of a series, and I’m sure MacRae will reveal more information in the future.
Something unexpected that I enjoyed was the found family trope. Horror and found family don’t exactly fit in the same sentence in my head, so when some parts of this novel turned out to be downright cozy, I was surprised, but pleasantly so. It just makes me more excited to see what trouble these characters will get into in the future.
On the other hand, I couldn’t really reconcile Killian’s age with his personality. Some of his actions didn’t speak of a person who had lived as long as he had; if he were younger, I’d view his behavior a bit more favorably. I’m also not a big fan of multiple POVs, but MacRae pulled it off well enough that I’m not mad at it, though I’m still not sure it was entirely necessary. It added some drama, but there were other ways to go about doing that. Again, that’s just my personal taste. That being said, the romance wasn’t central to the plot, which I absolutely love, so massive kudos for that.
Overall, this novel was lovely and served as a great setup for the stories that will follow! The characters and intricacies of the plot were well conceived, and the story was generally well written. MacRae also gets points for originality—this isn’t your every day paranormal story, and MacRae doesn’t shy away from some bloody descriptions. There’s something clearly more sinister afoot throughout the entirety of the novel, and there are implications that the threat will continue to lurk in future installments.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Thank you so much, Caylan MacRae and Netgalley for sending me an E-ARC to review!
.
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.
.
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.
.
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!
.
I absolutely did not expect to love Cutting Your Teeth as much as I did! 5 stars for sure!
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
5 / 5 ⭐️‘s
“Cutting Your Teeth” by Caylan MacRae
I found this to be a fun and addictive story that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The book follows Ezra, a young man who has spent his life on the run, as he meets a mysterious vampire? named Killian. The two form an unlikely bond as Ezra hopes to finally break free from his past and the family that relentlessly hunts him.
MacRae does an excellent job of building tension and keeping your attention throughout the story. The characters are well-developed and the chemistry between Ezra and Killian is palpable. Like just kiss already!! The inclusion of a family curse adds an extra layer of intrigue and raises the stakes even higher.
The writing style is fluid and descriptive, allowing you to fully immerse in the world that MacRae has created. The pacing is just right, with the action-packed moments balanced by quieter, more reflective scenes.
Overall, a must-read for fans of paranormal romance and anyone who enjoys a good thrill ride. MacRae’s debut novel is an impressive start to what promises to be a thrilling series.
Out 3/31/2023!
This ARC was provided by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.