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A review by bookgirlie_unbound
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
Mark me down as a forever fan of Kyle Lee Baker.
I approached this book with extreme trepidation and left crowing. This book is rife with trigger warnings: death, animal cruelty, COVID-19, nationalism, racism, sexism, ableism, hallucination, body horror, gore, and more. Each and every trigger was skillfully wielded by Lee Baker in this gripping story about the tension of being bicultural, the violence of white supremacy, and the grief of loss. The sensitivity that the author approached the violence towards Asian, specifically Chinese, women during this time through her book was remarkable and allows this book to be as successful as it is. I think authors who did not experience this pain so acutely or share these identities would not be able to pull off this book.
Cora Zeng was a remarkable main character and her growth throughout the novel was astounding. She's neurodivergent (diagnosis never given, but extreme interventions were taken) and the role of her unstable brain only heightens the tension of the story without demeaning Zeng. As a neurospicy individual myself, I appreciated this. Cora is also courageous, which made me root for her from page one.
The folklore and stories shared about Chinese death beliefs and practices were completely new to me. Lee Baker did a fantastic job explaining it and it made for a fantastic foundation for the story. I was completely bought into the premise, though I was never scared. Other reviewers found themselves much more frightened than I ever was. I was certainly swept along by the pace and the thrill of the unknown, but I was not afraid.
In the author's note, Lee Baker talks about how in dedicating this book to everyone we lost in the pandemic, as well as to "all that we lost, including the parts of ourselves." And wow, I needed to hear that. 5 years and 3 days since the first lockdown started and I am just beginning to realize that yes, something did change and die in me, even though I did not. I thought that the grief of the pandemic, and reliving it through this book would overwhelm me. This was not the case at all. Instead, I felt strangely comforted as I confronted my second plague book since living through one.
Mark me down as a forever fan of Kyle Lee Baker.
I approached this book with extreme trepidation and left crowing. This book is rife with trigger warnings: death, animal cruelty, COVID-19, nationalism, racism, sexism, ableism, hallucination, body horror, gore, and more. Each and every trigger was skillfully wielded by Lee Baker in this gripping story about the tension of being bicultural, the violence of white supremacy, and the grief of loss. The sensitivity that the author approached the violence towards Asian, specifically Chinese, women during this time through her book was remarkable and allows this book to be as successful as it is. I think authors who did not experience this pain so acutely or share these identities would not be able to pull off this book.
Cora Zeng was a remarkable main character and her growth throughout the novel was astounding. She's neurodivergent (diagnosis never given, but extreme interventions were taken) and the role of her unstable brain only heightens the tension of the story without demeaning Zeng. As a neurospicy individual myself, I appreciated this. Cora is also courageous, which made me root for her from page one.
The folklore and stories shared about Chinese death beliefs and practices were completely new to me. Lee Baker did a fantastic job explaining it and it made for a fantastic foundation for the story. I was completely bought into the premise, though I was never scared. Other reviewers found themselves much more frightened than I ever was. I was certainly swept along by the pace and the thrill of the unknown, but I was not afraid.
In the author's note, Lee Baker talks about how in dedicating this book to everyone we lost in the pandemic, as well as to "all that we lost, including the parts of ourselves." And wow, I needed to hear that. 5 years and 3 days since the first lockdown started and I am just beginning to realize that yes, something did change and die in me, even though I did not. I thought that the grief of the pandemic, and reliving it through this book would overwhelm me. This was not the case at all. Instead, I felt strangely comforted as I confronted my second plague book since living through one.