This novel Blew me away!
I enjoyed Baker's novel Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. I thought it was well written, commentary on the Pandemic (and it's effects on people/populations) at a time when other "Pandemic" books were not yet published or were sort of vague. But, I am unsure if I REALLY LOVED it...
In fact, in part because it was so tied to the Pandemic, I kind of had a visceral reaction to it, which really had nothing to do with the novel, and everything to do with the Pandemic.
Despite my reaction, I knew Kylie Lee Baker was an author to watch. So, when Harper Collins/Hanover Square reached out with an e-arc of the book, I jumped at it. Although my eye condition remains - sort of- BAD, I can still read pretty well, so I wanted to give it a shot.
I went into this book entirely blind. I had read not one word about the book at all, and I think, honestly that's the way to go with this one!
I LOVED IT with my whole body and soul.
At this point, I am going to give a bit of synopsis, so, if you are taking my advice to go in blind, you probably should skip the next paragraph and maybe enjoy this image which may or may not be related... If you do read the book you'll come to find this photo from 1977 to be verrrrrrry interesting.
Stillfried & Andersen, Publisher. Samurai or Retainer Kneeling Before Government Official or Daimyo. Japan, ca. 1877. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2009632874/.
As a synopsis, two people living centuries apart discover a door between their worlds. Sounds simple enough. We have all read a few of these time hopping type novels. But, wait, there's more!
Lee is a college student in 2026. He's sure he's done something horrendous, and illegal, so he flees to his father's new home in Japan. Sen is a Samurai who is in exile with her family in 1877. Sen's father is a Samurai who returned from conflict - but Sen is convinced that it isn't really her father, but some grotesque version of her father.
Both Lee and Sen know something is wrong, but neither can exactly pinpoint the problem. The story alternates between timelines, with Lee and Sen. Someone is a ghost, and one of the stories is a lie. Over time, readers will realize that both Lee and Sen are unreliable narrators. Typically I do not like an unreliable narrator, as it usually makes me feel sort of duped or something... BUT, a lot of the fun and excitement I had while reading the book was the generation of theory after theory about what was really going on, how there was a bridge between two worlds, and why it was occurring so regularly. I came close to drawing a few diagrams.
Baker weaves a tale around the 1877 in Japan, Modern day current times and the myth of Urashima Taro- a fisherman who saves a turtle and dallies at the bottom of the ocean in the magnificent Ryugo-jo. As he dallies time passes in unusual ways- and for Sen and Lee, time is also passing in unnatural ways. The intersection of these three story lines is crafted seamlessly, and kept me on the edge of my seat- formulating theories right up until the last chapter.
Ok, OK- If you were skipping the synopsis - you can go back to reading now!
When I was about 50% through reading the book, I was also approved for the audiobook version! (Thank you Harlequin Audio!) It is narrated by Natalie Naudus! Naudus is a real voice professional. She does not rely on sound effects or large voice changes, but produces tension and emotion just by subtle changes in tone and timbre. The result is a smooth narration, which made me forget I was even listening- her voice seems to fade away and the story continued to play out in my mind cinematically. I loved the experience of the audio book, and I recommend it, if you enjoy audiobooks. It was such a good rendering of the story that I felt I could go between the print book and the audio book with no issues and pick right up where I left off in one or the other! I even did some "immersive" reading with this one. As the book has a lot of subtle plot points, and I had a lot of theories, it was definitely a great way to experience the novel.
This is the kind of horror I love. There's no specific jump scare moment, but rather, a series of encroaching creepy moments that create that unsettling tension, punctuated with truly horrific moments that made me sit up and take notice!
STATS
First Published : 4/14/2026
Pages: 352
Available as an Audio Book : YES ( ~ 10.2 hrs)
Trigger Warnings: Child death, parental death, mental illness, main character death, body horror, blood, violence, references to racism, stereotyping, and more.(this is not a full list, read responsibly)
