Probably my fastest DNF ever. The very very beginning mentions Israel which made me pause and investigate a bit, and once again I am incredibly grateful for the insights and helpfulness of Pagebound readers.

I want to highlight some folks if you're curious and want to evaluate before picking this book up:

1. Alanna's helpful warning in the forum about the author
2. Rosmerta flagged some ableism that was ostensibly supposed to be funny and an attitude from the author that was distressingly not very pro-bat
3. The_BookishBug has a thoughtful DNF review that I recommend reading that flags the author focuses on people rather than bats (in a bat book??) and the author's concerning attitude toward activism. The_BookishBug also shared this quote from the book that I think speaks for itself: "After two weeks in Maryland, I packed the bats into their wooden box and drove them back to New York. The official at JFK Airport's pet counter was very surprised by the contents of the box and asked if I planned to release the bats on Palestinians upon returning to Israel. I politely explained to her that after spending many hours a day with them for six months, I wouldn't allow them to become victims of the Mideast conflict."

madbee suggested The Secret Lives of Bats by Merlin Tuttle, which I will be reading instead because I really do love bats. laurasparkle also recommends Night Magic by Leigh Ann Henion, which isn't wholly about bats but has a chapter on bats!

THANK GOD this is over. Wow.

This book had a compelling and novel premise, but beyond that it completely fell flat for me.

Slaughter Beach, Dog you have lead me astray with your manic pixie dream girl lyrics. You will NOT catch me on a bench in Baltimore anytime soon.