Dark bleatings, my howling tribe! I’ve been extremely enthusiastic about Rachel Harrison since reading her incredible religious horror novel, Black Sheep. Now I want to tell you about Such Sharp Teeth, in which she takes on werewolves. I sincerely hope that she hops around every subgenre I love because so far, she has been smashing it out of the park for me.
Rory Morris isn’t thrilled to be moving back to her hometown. There are bad memories there. But her twin sister, Scarlett, is pregnant and needs support, so Rory returns to the place she thought she’d put in her rearview. After a night out at a bar where she runs into Ian, an old almost-flame, she hits a large animal with her car. And when she gets out to investigate, she’s attacked.
Rory survives, miraculously, but life begins to look and feel different. She’s unnaturally strong, with an aversion to silver―and suddenly the moon has her in its thrall. She’s changing into someone else―something else. But does that mean she’s putting those close to her in danger? Or is embracing the wildness inside her the key to acceptance?
This darkly comedic love story is a brilliantly layered portrait of trauma, rage, and vulnerability.
Rory is single and enjoys a mingle, but she is quite willing to temporarily leave her life and successful career to go home and move in with her sister to support her during the final stages of her pregnancy. On her first night back, something attacks her in the woods, and thus Rory begins to change.
I love werewolf stories but my usual gripe with them is that they tend to be quite samey in that someone is bitten, they realise they’re changing, and then they fight against their own duelling nature as the wolf side becomes more dominant. Then, what’s left of the story is that they’re either embracing their out-of-control animal side, or they find a way to control or suppress it. Now, this book does follow that formula, but for me, it didn’t fall into the usual traps that turn these kinds of stories into a snore.
Firstly, Rory is relatable to the extent that she doesn’t spend two thirds of the book denying what is clearly happening. She’s really pragmatic, pissed off, but accepting of her situation.
The other major difference in this story is that the werewolf part – though a major plot point, of course – really does feel secondary to what’s going on with Rory otherwise. Usually, the “A Plot” would be the werewolf part, and the “B Plot” would be the underlying emotional/family/trauma elements – but I’d say that they’re reversed here. Rory’s personal relationships very much feel like the main focus , so rather than the story being all about how the wolf will change everything, it feels more like a story about how Rory will see fit to accommodate her wolf side, according to her other priorities.
This story has everything – great werewolf scenes, great family drama and dynamics, surprises, lies, even romance – which I don’t normally enjoy (because there’s usually too shiny a tint on it), but I did here.
If you’re looking for a great read in this subgenre with realistic characters (funny, too!) and a great journey of self-discovery, look no further. I loved this story and would recommend it to general horror fans.
If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I’ve popped some links below for you.
Bleeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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