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Series Review - Teeth: The Complete Meal by Chele Cooke

Greetings and welcome to Reviews That Burn: Series Reviews, part of Books That Burn. Series Reviews discuss at least three books in a series and cover the overarching themes and development of the story across several books. I'd like to thank longtime Patron Case Aiken, who receives a monthly shoutout, as well as returning patron Chris Alvarado. Full Audio Here   Teeth: The Complete Meal by Chele Cooke TEETH: The First Bite Being dead just got complicated.   Spencer’s life began after his death. Being a vampire is better than any teen flick made it out to be. After all, what’s not to like? He’s stronger, faster, and deadlier than any predator. He has a job, a home, and he’ll be young and pretty forever. When Thomas wakes up in the throes of transitioning, Spencer is assigned to train the newly sired vampire. He thinks it’ll be fun, but it could turn the afterlife upside down for everyone, even the people Spencer didn’t know existed. Spencer is about to learn that the rules he ...

Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews (The Edge #3)

Audrey Callahan left behind her life in the Edge, and she's determined to stay on the straight and narrow. But when her brother gets into hot water, the former thief takes on one last heist and finds herself matching wits with a jack of all trades...

Kaldar Mar-a gambler, lawyer, thief, and spy-expects his latest assignment tracking down a stolen item to be a piece of cake, until Audrey shows up. But when the item falls into the hands of a lethal criminal, Kaldar realizes that in order to finish the job, he's going to need Audrey's help...

TITLE: Fate's Edge
AUTHOR: Ilona Andrews
PUBLISHER: Ace Books
YEAR: 2011
LENGTH: 372 pages
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy, Romance
RECOMMENDED: Yes

Queer Rep Summary: No canon queer rep.

Kaldar leaves with Gaston on a job for the Mirror, but things get complicated when Jack and George stow away on the wyvern. They track down Audrey, a thief who's trying to leave her conning family behind and go legit, but got tangled up in one last job that ended up involving the Hand.

Jack is in the rotation of point-of-view characters this time, and it's nice to see him a littler older and trying to figuring out being a teenage changeling. Kaldar is a rogue, and the way he and Audrey play off of each other during the job is just wonderful. This builds off of the world in the first two books, but mostly takes place on the west coast in an entirely separate zone of the Edge. 

By following Kaldar and having Jack, George, and Gaston as central characters, this continues some character development which was left open at the end of the previous books. It also addresses the Hand's next steps after the conflict in BAYOU MOON. The main storyline is entirely new, bringing in the Hounds and various other entities who didn't appear in earlier books. Kaldar and Audrey's relationship is introduced and resolved, as is the particular mission that Kaldar was sent on. As with the previous books, this doesn't specifically leave anything hanging except for the possibility that these characters will have other missions later if there are more books. George in particular might be involved more in the future. The returning characters, like Kaldar, are consistent with their previous appearances (though Jack and George have definitely grown up). It might make sense to start here since what matters is explained enough to be understandable (and the plot is way more straightforward than BAYOU MOON's complicated tangle of a story). Anyone who skips the first two books would enter FATE'S EDGE more in Audrey's position (and hopefully would pick up on what the Edge is quickly enough to not be lost).

The plot revolves around gathering information and then retrieving a stolen object, with a detour to con a prosperity preacher in the middle. I love the focus on heists, cons, and grifting which make this a slightly less bloody story than BAYOU MOON. The dynamic between Kaldar and Audrey steals the show, but Jack does get a chance to develop more on-page now that he's also a main character. He and George do a great job with the con, and Gaston is a steady presence who mostly supports Kaldar's plans since he's there to learn.

Graphic/Explicit CW for sexual content, cursing, blood, gore, violence, gun violence, body horror, torture, murder, death.

Moderate CW for ableism, homophobia, sexism, misogyny, alcohol, mental illness, toxic relationship, injury detail, medical content, medical trauma, child abuse.

Minor CW for drug abuse, forced institutionalization, slavery, rape, animal cruelty, animal death.

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A red-haired woman stands in a black shirt and jeans in the middle of a misty forest, holding a sword by her side. A man's face floats in the mist above her.


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