Review: Between the Teeth by Taylor Fitzpatrick

Title: Between the Teeth

Series: Between the Teeth: Book Three

Author: Taylor Fitzpatrick

Length: 285 Pages

Category: Contemporary Sports Fiction

Rating: 3.5 Stars

At a Glance: I didn’t love the execution of Between the Teeth, which is a rarity for me and this author, but I did love the support and compassion David finds from his friends.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: David has the fresh start he’s always wanted. He’s on a better team, one that doesn’t depend on him for their wins and blame him for their losses. In a better room, with teammates David might even consider friends. It doesn’t make any sense for David to feel more out of his depth than ever.

But then, so many things don’t make sense to David — why should this be the exception?

Review: I very much had to shift my perspective and expectations while reading Between the Teeth. This trilogy, unlike some of Taylor Fitzpatrick’s other books, is not a hockey romance. It’s not a romance at all. It’s ultimately a character study. David Chapman can’t read social cues and has a difficult time interacting with people, even those he’s close to and considers friends—a group that’s small but growing through the efforts of a couple of his teammates.

In the Author’s Note, Fitzpatrick confesses she didn’t realize she was writing an autistic character until readers began to point it out to her and then, in a twist of events, was later diagnosed herself. The representation of what it means to be neurodiverse is portrayed clearly and honestly in the way David relates his thoughts and feelings on the page. What he chooses not to reveal—expressing his feelings isn’t comfortable for him—is a study in patience, which makes what he affirms all the more important to pay attention to.

Between the Teeth is a deep dive into what it means to David to be a hockey player, how important the game is to his own identity. He doesn’t want to be held up as the token gay player, he’s okay keeping that secret, which is why he’s alone now. For better or for worse, hockey is all David is. Whether that’s intentional on Fitzpatrick’s part or a failure to develop a multifaceted character is a question that will remain unanswered. That’s simply who David is—a man focused on his game. But Jake Lourdes is the man who makes David feel, and while there isn’t enough page time devoted to their reigniting relationship—which does indeed consume some of David’s think-time—it is a component of the series.

This story was published directly from the author’s AO3 account, and it shows in its lack of polish, but that doesn’t minimize how clear Fitzpatrick’s passion is for the sport or the men who play it. I didn’t love the execution of Between the Teeth, which is a rarity for me and this author, but I did love the support and compassion David finds from his friends.