Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2023
320 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
New York Times bestselling author Chandler Baker's Cutting Teeth is a witty, thrilling story of parental love that asks: is there anything a mother won't do for her children?
Darby, Mary Beth, and Rhea are on personal quests to reclaim aspects of their identities subsumed by motherhood—their careers, their sex lives, their bodies. But their children disrupt their plans when an unsettling medical condition begins to go around the Little Academy preschool: the kids are craving blood.
Then a young teacher is found dead, and the only potential witnesses are ten adorable four-year-olds.
Soon it becomes clear that the children are not just witnesses, but also suspects ... and so are their mothers.
As the police begin to look more closely, the children's ability to bleed their parents dry becomes deadly serious. 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.
"What could be a more perfect and hilariously dark metaphor for privileged modern motherhood than Baker's invention of "pediatric Renfield's syndrome"? ... Any parent who has imagined that their young children are draining the life out of them will both get the joke and feel the (piercing) pain ... Gruesome, funny, jam-packed, sharp as baby teeth.
―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Suspenseful and darkly comic tale of motherhood and murder…Baker's descriptions of the joys and trials of raising children bolster the mystery at the book's core. With winning cynicism, she delivers a wicked thriller that doubles as a glimpse at motherhood's dark underbelly."
―Publishers Weekly
"Complex and gripping...Dark secrets, retribution, and the lengths a mother will go to to protect her child all feature in this twisted, disturbing story that will keep readers off balance from beginning to end."
―Booklist
"Entertaining and engaging…Baker examines the complexity of female friendships and the expectations of mothers in particular, making Cutting Teeth relevant and thought-provoking....A hugely suspenseful and delicious enjoyable story. Cutting Teeth is going to bring Baker into the spotlight once again, and the praise is warranted."
―Mystery & Suspense
"With devourable writing and pitch-perfect humor, Cutting Teeth is a sharp, original, wickedly astute look at the sting of modern motherhood. In this group of toddlers and parents out for blood (literally!), Chandler Baker nails the performance pressures of parenthood, and the unachievable standards to which we hold ourselves."
―Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of The Push
"Cutting Teeth may be Chandler Baker's boldest book yet. A razor-sharp, biting social commentary on motherhood that is equal parts scary and satirical, thrilling and thought-provoking, that begs the question: how far is too far when it comes to taking care of your kids? You'll sink your teeth into it."
―Stacy Willingham, New York Times bestselling author of A Flicker in the Dark
This information about Cutting Teeth was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Chandler Baker lives in Austin with her husband and toddler, where she also works as a corporate attorney. She is the author of several young adult novels and her adult debut, Whisper Network, was a New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick. The Husbands was a USA Today bestseller and a Good Morning America Book Club pick. Cutting Teeth is her third novel for adults.
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