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senchastories 's review for:
Cutting Your Teeth
by Caylan MacRae
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is like the third time I have started reading a book, gotten to the point where a supernatural twist is revealed, and said out loud "god dammit is this about vampires?" I don't particularly like reading about vampires, I don't find them sexy or scary, and I don't know why I keep falling into this trap, but just know that that's on me and not on the book. If you like vampires, you will probably enjoy this book much more than I did.
Cutting Your Teeth does have a lot going for it. The action starts early and keeps up the pace throughout, but there are also slower moments where we develop the found family dynamic and the romance. I wouldn't call this a scary book, but there are some deliciously creepy concepts that crop up, and we also get a fresh spin on vampire lore that went in some unexpected but interesting directions. I wouldn't say these vampires are gory per se, but they are grittier than you might expect from a paranormal romance. On that note, the romance itself was sweet and developed slowly throughout the book, which I really appreciated.
That said, there were some weird writing choices in the first third of the book that I had a hard time overlooking. I can't give specific examples because it looks like my net galley copy has been archived, but there's a lot of passive voice used and many instances of actions/senses/objects being described in an abstract way (ex: "a door was locked" instead of "he locked the door") that made me feel detached from the story. At times I wasn't sure where we were or what characters were taking what actions, and it put a distance between me and the characters that felt like a poor way to start a book. There was a point when both of these issues just stopped appearing in the writing (maybe different editors worked on it? Maybe some was rewritten after editing? idk) and I had a much smoother reading experience after that.
Overall, this feels like a solid debut. There's plenty of room to expand on this world in future books, and the ending was satisfying while still leading you on into the next book. It's not to my personal taste, but it's a good start to a series that I'm sure will continue to improve from here.
Thanks to the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Cutting Your Teeth does have a lot going for it. The action starts early and keeps up the pace throughout, but there are also slower moments where we develop the found family dynamic and the romance. I wouldn't call this a scary book, but there are some deliciously creepy concepts that crop up, and we also get a fresh spin on vampire lore that went in some unexpected but interesting directions. I wouldn't say these vampires are gory per se, but they are grittier than you might expect from a paranormal romance. On that note, the romance itself was sweet and developed slowly throughout the book, which I really appreciated.
That said, there were some weird writing choices in the first third of the book that I had a hard time overlooking. I can't give specific examples because it looks like my net galley copy has been archived, but there's a lot of passive voice used and many instances of actions/senses/objects being described in an abstract way (ex: "a door was locked" instead of "he locked the door") that made me feel detached from the story. At times I wasn't sure where we were or what characters were taking what actions, and it put a distance between me and the characters that felt like a poor way to start a book. There was a point when both of these issues just stopped appearing in the writing (maybe different editors worked on it? Maybe some was rewritten after editing? idk) and I had a much smoother reading experience after that.
Overall, this feels like a solid debut. There's plenty of room to expand on this world in future books, and the ending was satisfying while still leading you on into the next book. It's not to my personal taste, but it's a good start to a series that I'm sure will continue to improve from here.
Thanks to the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!