Holy hell! This was a wild ride! But it was a ride I didn't want to get off of! I read this book in less than 24 hours. I promise that you'll be instantly hooked! The themes that Baker was able to wind together throughout this book (trauma, grief, racism, and mental illness) was done so fantastically. By the end of the book, I was floored...in a good way. This is my top read of the year!

Thank you HTP, Mira, and The Hive for the gifted digital copy

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng
Kylie Lee Baker
Publishing Date: April 29, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a complex and important story this was. Kylie Lee Baker somehow took gruesome ghostly horror and made it an emotional and impactful read. There are also sprinkles of humor throughout which provide much needed levity. The writing and storytelling was just really well done.

This novel takes place in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our FMC Cora is a crime scene cleaner who also struggles with what presents as anxiety/OCD, there are hungry ghosts at play, and a series of murders. All of which leads to the spooky, bloody, wild ride that was this book. But in truth, the real horror, is the racism faced by Asian people, which is a theme all throughout this story. It was uncomfortable and infuriating to look these truths, which are still unfortunately so prevalent, in the face.

The last bit of this book was one punch in the gut after another, and the final “reveal” was just so powerful and disheartening. This was the type of book and ending that left you feeling so many feelings and thinking about important things, and those are my absolute favorite. The heartfelt authors note at the end was icing on the cake. This was my first book by this author and it won’t be my last.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zang by Kylie Lee Baker was an incredible read. It doesn’t come out until April 2025, so add it to your tbr now. Once again, the horror aspect of a book took me by surprise but a bunch of friends were buddy reading it so I jumped on the band wagon. I was so glad I did!

I won’t share much about the plot, except to say that this book begins March 2020 in NYC. I have successfully avoided all pandemic books, just didn’t feel ready. Too soon. But holy wow! The story follows an Asian woman who suffers a tragedy, then finds work as a crime scene cleaner. From this point on, we embark on a dark and horrific adventure. Her two sidekicks were funny and they all had great character chemistry.

I knew that during the pandemic Asian and other marginalized communities suffered more than others. But this book really shows the reader just how horrendous it truly was for the Asian community during the pandemic in the US.

While the novel is supernatural/horror fiction, it felt so real! The ending was brutal and powerful and the authors note just clinched the read for me. I ate this book up, just like all the hungry ghosts that were in it.

WOOF. Major commentary on 2020/COVID anti-Asian sentiments that swept across the globe. I was angry and exhausted reading this only because I could relate and hated how close to reality this felt. Highly recommend. Kylie Lee Baker continues to be a favorite for me.

As a horror fan and someone who lost people to the pandemic….wow, just wow. The imagery and prose were beautiful and haunting at the same time while painful in their references.

I'm an Asian immigrant woman, so Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng really hit close to home. From the more subtle forms of racism to the blatant hate crimes—one of them claiming Delilah's life—everything felt so viscerally real. Even the ghosts felt familiar, and as horrifying as they were, they didn't feel like villains that the protagonist had to exorcise. Wretched, disfigured, and voiceless, they represented victims, both fictional and real, that died because of misguided hatred. It makes sense that they would be hungry in the afterlife.

I personally enjoyed following Cora's arc and how she learned to step out of her sister's shadow, which loomed over her even in death. She found her group of friends in the most unlikely places (scrubbing crime scenes, but hey, we find our people where we can) and learned to lean on others for help, especially in the face of ravenous ghosts and mysterious killers.

I think it may have helped for the ending to be a few pages longer so the resolution could sit with the reader, but I was satisfied nonetheless and thought the book wrapped itself up pretty nicely. There's so many layers that I'm still digesting—spirituality, politics, grief—but overall, I feel incredibly seen. The racism is sometimes super obvious, but I recognize that what's apparent to me might not be for another reader. I highly, highly recommend people give this story a try, whether to vindicate their own anger or better understand the hurt that the AANHPI community experienced during COVID.

This book hooked me in immediately. I enjoyed the relationship between the characters and the incorporation of how Chinese honor their dead. The horror was perfect, but so was the social of commentary of the racism against Asians during the pandemic and throughout history. Not much has changed and in times of crisis, our country is still prone to use scapegoats.

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️
Gore: 3.75/5🩸

Holy shit, this was so good. THIS is the feeling I wanted to have when I read The Eyes are the Best Part. I am so sad people have to wait til April 2025 to read this!!

If you can stomach vicariously living through the pandemic again, this social commentary horror about racism against Asians (specifically Asian women) is jaw-droppingly horrifying and brilliant.

To have lived through the pandemic and experienced SO much of what Kylie wrote, I was feeling those emotions all over again. The anger, the fear, the horror of it all. Being treated like shit for just being Asian. The heart pounding feeling when you actually stand up for yourself against a racist POS. Kylie captured it all, along with the added layer of paranormal, blood-thirsty ghosts. She also provided a lot of heart and humor in this horror with a great cast of supporting characters (Harvey, Yifei, Auntie Zeng!)

This is a must-read for horror fans!!

Bat Eater … is a depressing cross between reality and fantasy. Unfortunately, it was just too much fantasy for me. The symbolism connected with COVID is well placed, the writing is free-flowing, and the author’s imagination is superior.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng.

American-Asian Cora Zeng cleans crime scenes for a living. When her sister, Delilah is killed right in front of her eyes in a most horrible fashion, Cora spirals into a hellish nightmare of dealing with the aftermath. Trying to come to terms with her own grief and trying to find her way alone she finds herself disinfecting crime scenes in the midst of the Covid pandemic and discovering most of the victims are Asian women.

If you like gory, dark, malicious ghost stories then this one is for you. Rich in Chinese culture and the legend of hungry ghosts you will be mesmerized by this remarkable woman as she tries to come to terms with the violence around her and the racist bigotry toward her Asian community.

I forgot to mention the bats……

"Everyone wants Asian girls to look pretty. No one wants them to talk."

This book was not what I expected, in a very good way. It's 2020, and Cora Zeng is trying to figure out how to function during COVID, just like the rest of the world, except she also cleans up crime scenes for work. Her sister was murdered in front of her with no killer to be found. On top of navigating a pandemic Cora is also left trying to come to terms with the loss of her sister and the Asian hate that is being directed at Asians across the country.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng was a wild ride. Between the horror filled pages lies a story about racism, Asian culture, familial love and responsibility, and panic. The multitude of monsters that surround Cora - from the unseen germs of COVID to an actual killer - allow this book to come alive in the fear this generates. I loved every minute of this book and cannot wait to delve into Lee Baker's other pieces.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book!

4.5 stars rounded up

In the wake of the Covid pandemic, biracial Chinese-American Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, working to scrub away the worst of the tragedies New York City has to offer. But the blood and gore don’t bother her like most; Cora has already witnessed her sister Delilah’s gruesome death – when a man shoved her into a train with only two words: “bat eater.” The act was racially motivated, as fears of Covid-19 and anti-Asian hate mount across the US. Now, Cora lives with the grief and guilt of her departed sister and takes comfort in her obsessive compulsive cleaning tendencies, disguising them as good pandemic hygiene. But Asian murders are on the rise, as every crime scene Cora and her coworkers are called to involves the deaths of East Asian women with a possible serial killer on the loose. With everything going on, Cora is wholly unprepared to find herself haunted by a hungry ghost that is searching for vengeance.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a brutally honest, poignant depiction of the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and the racism that reared its head during those early fragile months. Bat Eater takes a stab (pun intended) at all the ugly moments of 2020, portraying a very realistic image of the isolation, fear, and hatred that permeated the population. Baker has a talent for writing beautiful prose juxtaposed with all the gory, grimy details - poetic and blunt. This writing is perfect for a horror novel and creates a sense of wrongness. While it does lend itself fabulously to the genre, my only complaint is that it feels omniscient and disconnected when focusing on a single main character, like we never actually get inside Cora’s head.

The book’s centering of anti-Asian hate is such an important point of view in a unique package. Bat Eater is a ghost story and serial killer horror with a great focus on the importance of culture and grieving your lost loved ones. While East Asians in America are being killed all over New York City, the Hungry Ghost festival is being celebrated - where the ghosts of the deceased visit their families to be remembered and fed. But what happens to those hungry ghosts who are forgotten? Bat Eater explores this idea in depth.

I really enjoyed this novel and am so glad I was accepted for an ARC. I think this is an important ownvoices story that offers a crucial insight into one marginalized group’s experiences in America during 2020 onward. Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA for my review copy.

<i>First, a thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC of this book.</i>

<b>FINALLY</b>, a book to get me out of my reading slump. The past few books I’ve read haven’t really caught my attention, so I was a little hesitant going into this book, especially as I just read another horror book.

<i>Bat Eater</i> does not disappoint. Cora is a woman reeling after witnessing her sister be murdered as part of a hate crime. Cora is numb to the world and going through the motions, desperately trying to keep control over herself in a senseless and frightening world.

She slowly realizes she is being haunted by a hungry ghost - and what is she, someone who tries to maintain a rigid sense of the world and reality, to do?

I will say at times there is body horror and gore, but it isn’t overdone and you aren’t getting paragraphs of it all at once. It can be disturbing though, so take care of yourself, fellow readers. This book is also about Cora and her friends coming to terms with the threat of a serial killer who is specifically targeting Asian people, and mostly women - so, once again, take care of yourself and what you can read.

While some might say this book is “overdone” or “over exaggerating”, I want everyone who might think that and is not part of a marginalized community to really stop, and really listen. While this is primarily a horror novel - isn’t the true horror in how in our real world, there are humans who look at other humans and see something less than human?

I loved Baker’s writing, and I really enjoyed following this story through. It left me hungry (pun absolutely intended) for more.

This book is an absolute banger and I devoured it! It’s an intricately woven ghost story that shows the horrifying realities of the Asian American experience in a world filled with hate. This book has everything I want in a horror novel and I know it will haunt me long after finishing it.

This one was quite out there and feel like still fresh with the COVID references. I felt so bad but unfortunately it was a little slow for me.

Kylie Lee Baker’s Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng completely blew me away. Going into it, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I had only read a brief snippet of the synopsis, and the striking cover art caught my attention. But what I got was far beyond what I anticipated—an emotional rollercoaster that left me with a lot to think about.

For one, this book feels like it could be an excellent A24 film. The narrative’s unique blend of horror, suspense, and social commentary would translate so well to the screen, especially for an American audience. Having spent several years living in Thailand, I developed an appreciation for Thai horror films and the theme of "hungry ghosts" that often appears in them. What surprised me, though, was how this concept plays a significant role in Bat Eater, and how it draws on a broader cultural tradition that spans many Asian countries. As someone on the outside of that tradition, I was able to deeply connect with and visualize the story as it unfolded.

The book’s premise is gripping: Cora Zeng, a 24-year-old half-American, half-Chinese woman, is living in the aftermath of her sister’s brutal murder. Her sister was killed for being accused of “eating bats” during the early days of the COVID pandemic. Fast forward six months—Cora is now working as part of a crime scene cleanup crew, terrified of contracting COVID, all while cleaning up the aftermath of murders targeting Asian women. The killer leaves behind chilling "calling cards"—dead bats. When the Month of the Hungry Ghosts arrives, Cora begins to believe that her sister is haunting her, and from there, the story takes on a surreal, otherworldly dimension.

Reading this book the day after the election, as a woman filled with rage and frustration, the ending hit me hard. The story captured that feeling of being overlooked and forgotten—of being treated as expendable in the pursuit of power. It’s that anger and disillusionment that really resonated with me. Kylie Lee Baker nails the full spectrum of emotion here: grief, loneliness, fear, and, most intensely, rage. I found myself genuinely frightened at points, my heart racing as I turned each page, wondering what would happen next.

The emotional depth of the characters and the unpredictability of the plot made for a truly unforgettable read. The themes are both personal and political, blending family trauma with the larger social issues surrounding race and xenophobia. I can't stress enough how well this book captures a broad range of complex emotions and experiences. It’s a work that will stay with me for a long time.

And seriously, someone needs to adapt this into a movie.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA for providing me with an eARC of this book. I highly recommend it.

This book is everything that I want in a novel: it's horror, a little bloody, beautifully written with Chinese-American representation, has ghosts... It's horror with heart and I consumed it whole without much rest. This was my first foray in the Baker's work and I look forward to more.

A haunting and visceral social commentry, this was one of the best horrors I've read recently, heavy topics are explored beautifully and horrifically, This blew me away I can't stop thinking about it, not for the faint of heart this paints a gut wrenching realistic portrayal of spirituality in Asian culture, racism, covid, grief, death, love

It's bleak and dark and I couldn't look away for one second

Thank you @htphive @htpbooks @netgalley for the advance reader copy!

During the Covid pandemic, Cora Zeng works as a crime scene cleaner in Chinatown. She and her coworkers discover bats hidden at the scenes of gruesome murders of Asian American women. Meanwhile, she is being chased by a hungry ghost - is it her sister trying to tell her something?

Wow! I don’t even know where to start with this one! I don’t read a lot of horror, and this book truly scared me, but I could not put it down. It is so much more than a horror novel and has touching and emotional moments. It has elements of body horror, paranormal, and the horrifying truth of racism towards Asians during the pandemic. I learned so much about Chinese culture and will be thinking about this one for a long time!

Rating 5⭐️

While occasionally a little far-fetched, this is a compelling story that moves at breakneck pace. I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved how it really went all-out with the horror! The Covid-era setting is also evoked very well.