Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: Bat Boy

SERIES: Easton U Pirates Book 1

AUTHOR: Christina Lee

NARRATORS:  Iggy Toma and Kale Williams

PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio

LENGTH: 5 hours and 38 minutes

RELEASE DATE: April 13, 2021

BLURB: 

Brady Donovan

With a baseball scholarship to Easton University and awesome family and friends, my life is pretty golden. Except, things have never come together for me in the romance department. Until Kellan Crawford walks onto the field as the team’s newest bat boy. Bells and whistles go off in my body, and just like that, I’m totally crushing on a guy for the first time in my life. Too bad he’s the coach’s son and officially off-limits.

Kellan Crawford 

I’m working toward my statistics degree, so landing the bat-boy position with the Easton U Pirates is right up my alley. It keeps me close to the action on the field, even if that means hauling equipment, picking up sweaty jockstraps, and putting up with the players’ antics. My dad’s the coach, and his number-one rule is never to play favorites…which probably includes getting too friendly with the team captain. But Brady Donovan’s annoyingly perfect smile and protective nature are making that nearly impossible.

REVIEW: 

Christina Lee’s Bat Boy provides a lighthearted, sweet, swoony reader’s escape.  It’s a college sports romance between Easton University’s baseball team captain Brady Donovan, and the team’s bat boy, Kellan Crawford, who is also the Coach’s son.  The book tells a story of personal growth and self-awareness for Brady and Kellan in many different ways.  Ms. Lee then weaves them together into an altogether absorbing love story.  

Brady is a “jock” in the sense that he’s a talented baseball player and team captain.  Kellan is a “geek” in that he has a brilliant mind, head for statistics, and an analytical, strategic brain.  But neither of them are just that.  Brady’s not dumb.  He focuses on his studies, and he’s got much more going on in his life than just sports.  Kellan is exceptionally smart, but he’s actually a well-rounded guy with interests in more than just facts and figures.  He loves the sport itself, getting engrossed in the baseball games and the team’s success as if he’s a player. 

Reducing Bat Boy to the jock/geek trope does this book a disservice because so much more is at play here.  Brady’s love and devotion for his autistic brother, Ricky, shines a beautiful spotlight on unconditional love and acceptance of people as they are.  Kellan mirrors this in how he relates to Ricky.  He seeks him out because he enjoys his company and his like-minded enjoyment and affinity for baseball stats.  Both Brady and Kellan display love and loyalty by prioritizing Ricky and refusing to treat him differently.  The message that comes through loud and clear is that although Ricky is different, there.is.nothing.wrong.with.him. 

This directly ties into Brady and Kellan’s relationship.  Ms. Lee creates a refreshing trajectory for their romance that unfolds with an open-mindedness and nonjudgmental attitude. It’s just two guys figuring themselves out and falling in love.  There’s nothing wrong with what they want nor is there anything wrong with them and their unique identities. 

Brady and Kellan already have a history when this story opens.  They have been on the team together for some time.  They have spent plenty of time together.  They’ve developed a relationship closer than just arms-length teammates because Kellan regularly engages with Ricky to nerd out over game statistics.  So when the book opens, the groundwork has been laid.  Their mutual attraction has already sparked and Brady and Kellan are figuring out how to navigate that dynamic. 

Interestingly, Brady questions his attraction to Kellan, but not because he opposes it.  Rather, Brady digs in, taking a closer look at himself.  He realizes that his longtime lack of interest in girls and sex actually fit into the larger picture that is developing.  He isn’t attracted to girls at all.  Kellan unlocks Brady’s self-awareness and enables Brady to embrace the undeniable pull between them.

Kellan lives under his father’s arbitrary rules.  He shouldn’t play favorites. This precludes relationships with any of the players.  So Kellan steadfastly keeps himself from socializing or friendship.  He doesn’t want to lose his job.  Nor does he want to disappoint his father.  So understandably, his relationship with Brady has to remain a secret.  But as time goes on, Kellan recognizes the importance of putting himself first and advocating for what is important to him.

I enjoyed the way Ms. Lee twists the “coming out”/secret romance aspect of the story off its typical axis.  Brady and Kellan keep their relationship a secret not because they are afraid of coming out or even fear of blowback from homophobic teammates or fans.  They do it to avoid the consequences of breaking the rules.

For the audiobook of Bat Boy, Ms. Lee hit it out of the park, choosing two exceptional narrators.  Iggy Toma voices Brady and Kale Williams voices Kellan, and they are both spot-on with their portrayals. 

Iggy Toma’s narration provides the perfect counterpoint to Brady’s energetic, athletic, yet conflicted personality.  Mr. Toma’s voice has this interesting mixture of brightness and scratchiness.  His voicing of Brady is open, with a questioning vulnerability to it. There’s also his ever-present, seemingly matter of fact delivery.  It deceptively packs in a ton of emotion while the words are given a deliberate and considered weight.  I’ve always loved Mr. Toma’s voice because of the seeming contradictions in it.  It’s a characteristic that works perfectly for Brady, who is simultaneously confident and insecure.  Brady is secure in his athletic ability yet insecure about his developing feelings for Kellan and the acknowledgment of his sexuality.  Mr. Toma’s pacing is absolutely on point.  It’s never rushed, always thoughtful and apropos for the emotion and dialogue being conveyed.

Kale Williams voices Kellan with a distinctive, crisp, higher pitched tone.  Where Mr. Toma displays a vocal roughness, Mr. Williams delivers smooth, polished speech.  He has a fluid delivery that mirrors Kellan’s intelligence, thoughtfulness and maturity.  Mr. Williams makes Kellan sound like a college kid yet with an adult demeanor.  This reflects Kellan’s sincere, serious commitment to everything from his studies to his job as a bat boy to his promise to his father. Like Mr. Toma, Mr. Williams’ pacing is perfect.  However, where Mr. Toma keeps his inflections and intonations within a controlled range, we hear much more variation in pitch from Mr. Williams.  He imparts dynamics to his vocal portrayal of Kellan that mirror Kellan’s emotions.  Mr. Williams has a lovely cadence to his voice that mimics natural speech and conversation so faithfully, he disappears into the background.

Overall, these two narrators give very different, yet equally impressive vocal performances.  Their gorgeous voices and expressive portrayals create an immersive experience. Their euphonious tones entice you to fall into this story in the way that Ms. Lee no doubt intended when she wrote this lovely romance.  Bat Boy is terrific any way you experience it, but you are missing out on something special if you don’t hear Brady and Kellan through the voices of Iggy Toma and Kale Williams.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

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