A review by rhii_reading
Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The second I read the blurb for this book I knew it was going to be brilliant, and I was right. While I’m sure this isn’t the first book to use this concent, vampirism as a way to explore the difficulties and intricacies of being mixed race is such an intriguing idea! I loved the way the Kohda views vampires and turning through a colonial lens, added even more layers of complexity between all these themes.

Lydia’s relationship with her mother, despite her not being present for a large part of the book, is so interesting. Seeing Lydia reexamine her relationship with her mother as she examines her own identity, and how they are intertwined were some of the most poignant parts of the novel.
The way that her mother’s regression to her pre-vampire self as her memory degrades also seems to bring about an undoing of the assimilation she’s had to undergo (both as a vampire and a Malaysian woman living in England) was a thread that had been touch upon a bit more.

The way that Lydia’s relationship to (human) food works as not only illustrate her complication feelings and desires of wanting to be human but also the struggles with her Malasyian identity is so perfectly done! The descriptions of the food  content that Lydia methodically watches almost as a form of penance for her vampirism - so enticing but quite literally uneatable - are some of my favourite moments in the book.

After having to experience her mother’s guilt and shame for so long, having Lydia embrace being a vampire and enact revenge against Gideon is so satisfying. Whilst the ending does leave you wanting more in a sense that things are left a little up in the air, I think this worse perfectly with the deliberately sparse world building that Kohda had sown throughout the novel.

I feel like I could write for pages about all the different details and connections that Kohda makes - an amazing book that definitely has lots of re-reading potential.
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