Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker
At the Little Academy, mothers fret over their preschoolers, who have developed an unsettling medical syndrome. The children’s odd craving for blood is considered relatively benign (to everyone except their beleaguered moms) until a young teacher is found dead and the only potential witnesses are ten adorable 4-year-olds. Then it becomes clear that the police are looking at the children as not just witnesses, but also suspects…and they’re watching their mothers as well.
Darby, Mary Beth, and Freddie have very different parenting styles, though they’re united in their love for their children. They’re not thrilled about the biting episodes sweeping through the class, of course, and they’re coping to various degrees with the pressures of being a good mom, which suddenly seems to include, in addition to everything else, offering themselves up as sustenance.
Each of them was there at Little Academy the day of the murder, and as the police begin to look at them more closely, their children’s ability to bleed them dry is becoming not merely metaphorical. Exploring the standards society holds mothers to—along with the ones to which we hold ourselves—and the things no one ever tells you about becoming a parent, Cutting Teeth is a witty, original story of parental love that asks if there is anything a mother is not asked to sacrifice for their children.
I finished this book over a week ago…maybe two..but life has been so busy I haven’t had time to stop and sit my ass down to write my thoughts about it.
I absolutely HATE it when that happens!
I try really hard to review a book within a day or two of completing it, while everything is still fresh on my mind and I still have all those “book hangover” feelings.
I also usually take notes on my phone while I read or listen to a book so I can remember all the weird thoughts or unique feelings that pop into my brain or body while each story unfolds.
But alas…I didn’t do THAT either 😬
GAH.
I have a feeling this review won’t be as in depth or wordy as I usually am…hopefully next time I’ll be back to my ranting or raving self 😆
Anywho..down to business…
First thing–I can not put my finger on the type of genre this book is.
Fiction obviously—it has a touch of thriller and a little creepy factor (I mean…preschoolers who start to crave blood) but that isn’t really the point of the book.
What this story is really underneath that stuff is a commentary on parenthood.
These pages are OVERLOADED with many true statements on the nitty gritty, REAL DEAL hot mess, rough ass journey of being a parent.
ESPECIALLY on motherhood….and ESPECIALLY on being a mother of toddlers & preschoolers.
How we try to cover up the difficulty of it all, how we constantly compare ourselves to other, how we can so quickly judge each other, and how we really have NO CLUE what we are doing and are just doing our best to figure it all out every single damn day.
I mean, some days you really DO feel like small children drain the life out of you, so the idea that they could turn into teensy vampires isn’t really that much of a stretch to imagine 🤣
There is also imbedded commentary on Christianity, whiteness, classism and suburbia in this story.
Plus a little humor and also some emotional tugs too.
YASSSS.
Again I find myself reading a book with a fictional story BUT has plenty of real life issues to think about and consider.
Yall know I *always* love that.
The audio for this book was ON FRIGGIN’ POINT. Narrator was LEGIT GREAT.
Even has some little musical sound effects thrown in here and there which is always a good time.
The audio version also has an interview with the author at the end which is also always a good time.
I did enjoy this book and I do recommend reading it…but I can’t remember any more specifics for yall today.
I am sure I’ll have more to say after my next read when life takes a chill pill a bit.
See ya then!😃