Dark and honestly not my typical as I don't delve much into horror-ish books but I loved the writing and sped through this. Free advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Many thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for providing me with an eARC of Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng in exchange for my honest review!

This grisly and heartbreaking book hits me hard in the gut as it yanks me back to the start of COVID and guides me alongside Cora as she grieves her murdered sister Delilah, undergoes the gruesome job of being a crime scene cleaner, and confronts the fact that someone out there is hunting down and killing East Asian women. Right from the first chapter, this promptly introduces me to its dark, gory, and devastating potential. And then oh, it turns out that there will be a whole lot more of that to wrestle with down the line as Cora sets out to solve this murder mystery and as she reluctantly partners up with her amusing coworkers Yifei and Harvey. Those two could have been annoying characters, particularly Harvey, but I end up getting charmed by their presence and by the sincere chemistry that they share with Cora.

As someone who remains COVID-conscious, I'm glad that this book and its author approaches the pandemic from the stance that it isn't over—a perspective that, unfortunately, many people have pursued in order to brush past COVID and act like it's all behind us. But no, we're still in the midst of the pandemic as it disables and kills its victims alongside other illnesses like measles and tuberculosis. And this book drives the terror of that pandemic into me, reminding me just how horrifying it was to endure COVID back when it had first begun. Thankfully, I've never caught it (or at least, I've never shown any symptoms) and nobody in my circle has died from it. But even then, it has continued to be awful to witness the harm that COVID has done to us (along with the ways in which foolish and irresponsible people let COVID spread around). Of course, the spike in anti-Asian racism and violence that some bigots decided to spew during the pandemic was frightening, too, and we get a ton of that portrayed in this novel. The casual racism and misogyny that's on display here is capable of viscerally upsetting me throughout a story that brutally concentrates on just how little society cares about Asian women and how disinterested it is in stopping whoever is killing them. Instead, this society would rather falsely smear Chinese people as "bat eaters" and blame them for spreading "the China virus" (and let's not forget that such racists will also hurl the same hatred towards other East Asian ethnicities and get us all mixed up).

That's all a crucial element of the third act that this reaches. I kid you not when I say that there was about 25 pages left when it grew so nightmarish that I had to put the book down and take a break for a bit. And I'm speaking as someone who has processed plenty of incredibly heavy tales, who doesn't usually have to pause like that, so it's notable that this was a reaction of mine. And once the book is over, I'm left to sit back and reflect on what I just navigated my way through. I truly believe this has a good chance of landing in the spot of being one of my favorite books of 2025.

Overall, I'm officially rating Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng 4.5 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding up to the full five stars. I'm absolutely keeping an eye out for more of Kylie Lee Baker's top-tier writing.

This was great. I think the only thing that knocks it down a bit for me is that I felt like it ended kind of abruptly and was a bit anticlimactic. I was really engrossed in the mystery the entire time and when the big reveal came, it was shocking, but wrapped up super fast after that. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was a little disappointed. The rest of the book was a really fun read. I liked all the characters a lot, the horror aspects were pretty creepy and it had some truly wild scenes. Thanks for the ARC!

Stars: 5, not for its ability to be used in the classroom, which is why I give 5 stars, but more because it reawakened my teen obsession with horror novels.
My Thoughts:

Non-white ghost stories are MUCH scarier. There, I said it. Sorry, not sorry. I am not being reverse racist. I am speaking from experience. The obake stories I grew up with in Hawaiʻi, like the faceless woman in the bathroom of the old Kahala drive in theatre, or the other long haired faceless women in kimono in the black and white movies at the Japanese theatre in Chinatown. . . horrifying. Then there are the forests and coastlines of Hawaiʻi where as young children we are warned to ignore the voice calling your name. Do not turn around. Even the rocks that do not want to be moved. Try moving it with your heavy equipment. Your tractor breaks, or you move it and it goes back home.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is that kind of asian horrifying. Put the lights on. Leave the lights on. Look for hands crawling out of the shadows. Don't feed the ghosts. They will come back.

This story takes place in COVID New York where someone is killing Asians and ripping bats up near them or calling them bat eaters and shoving them into trains so that their faces explode onto the tracks. Things that white people do are scary enough, but that is just the inhumane part of living in a racist society.

What is absolutely terrifying are the ghosts that will not settle and cannot leave. When I was a young girl, I would visit my grandparents on another island and I would bring these flowers for the grave. We called them obake anthuriums and they are only found on Hawaiʻi island. Once my grandfather told me that I don't have to bring as many because someone steals them from the grave. I told him that whoever is stealing the flowers will get "batchi." It is a Japanese term for bad luck and negative karma. He told me something that makes sense when thinking about this book. He said batchi only happens when you believe in it. So why are the ghosts not haunting this killer that takes pictures of the victims with the bats and posts it on some hate sight? Why do the hungry ghosts not haunt the people who comment on these pictures and say that these victims deserve it because of the "China virus"? Why do they only come to Cora? Because, like my grandfather said, she believes in it. I guess I believe too because I could not read this at night. Too many shadows. Not enough light.

If your students like this, give them:
Man Made Monsters by Andrea Rogers
She is a Haunting by Trang Than Tran
and Tran's new book on my TBR list They Bloom at Night

What all of these horror stories have in common, including this one, is that from the lens of a non-white author, the horror is not just about monsters, but about monsters that walk in the light. Meaning, these are novels about social injustice, colonisation, racism, and all the things that haunt this society.

From the Publisher:
In this explosive horror novel, a woman is haunted by inner trauma, hungry ghosts, and a serial killer as she confronts the brutal violence experienced by East Asians during the pandemic.

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. But none of that seems so terrible when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister, Delilah, being pushed in front of a train.

Before fleeing the scene, the murderer shouted two words: bat eater.

So the bloody messes don’t really bother Cora—she’s more bothered by the germs on the subway railing, the bare hands of a stranger, the hidden viruses in every corner, and the bite marks on her coffee table. Of course, ever since Delilah was killed in front of her, Cora can’t be sure what's real and what’s in her head.

She pushes away all feelings and ignores the advice of her aunt to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open. But she can't ignore the dread in her stomach as she keeps finding bat carcasses at crime scenes, or the scary fact that all her recent cleanups have been the bodies of East Asian women.

As Cora will soon learn, you can’t just ignore hungry ghosts.

For fans of Stephen Graham Jones and Gretchen Felker-Martin, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a wildly original, darkly humorous, and subversive contemporary novel from a striking new voice in horror.

Publication Information:
Author: Kylie Lee Baker
Publisher: MIRA (April 29, 2025)
Hardcover: 304 pages

This book was so cinematically written, I couldn’t help but to picture it on the big screen. Hitting heavy topics of racism and the fear every one experiences during COIVD-19 this book does a great job mixing horror and mystery. At 1st I was a little confused on the serial killer moment, I felt that plot line slipping away and getting lost in the supernatural aspect of things, however it all came together nicely at the end. I really enjoyed this book overall, thank you NetGalley and HTP for letting me read this ARC!!!

Probably the first book I felt good reading despite the genre. I am early predicting this book will be big. So happy I got my hands on it before the social media community could dissect it.

The book had a strong start and featured some cool side characters, but unfortunately, it became repetitive from the 25% mark onward. The second half felt overly juvenile and lost my engagement. The pacing was uneven, and the conclusion ultimately made the entire story feel meaningless.

“Closing your eyes doesn't stop monsters from devouring you.”
Wow. What an incredible, devastating, powerful, gory, and heartbreaking read. I was gripped from the first chapter. Baker did a fantastic job giving us a supernatural horror story, while also getting into the unbelievably real horrors faced by the Asian community during the pandemic. The combination of social commentary, horrifying moments, a glimpse into Chinese culture, and the well-thought out characters made for what should be one of the biggest reads of the year. I’ll be thinking about this one for awhile. If this isn’t on your radar for 2025, it needs to be. I will leave it at this as to not give away any more of this incredible story. An immediate full five stars from me.

“Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng” is an absolutely horrifying, hard-hitting story about violence against Asian women during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was already a big fan of Baker and this book was extremely different from the other books of hers I’ve read, and I was certainly not disappointed. Cora’s sister is murdered, and Cora is being haunted by her hungry ghosts. She teams up with her fellow crime scene cleaners, Harvey and Yifei, to try and quiet her. Throughout the story they also clean up after the murders of women killed by those who blame the pandemic on the Asian American population.
It’s clear that Baker’s powers, which were already formidable, have only grown since the publication of The Blood Orchid (If you haven’t read the Scarlet Alchemist series yet do yourself a favor and start). We get a deep look into Cora’s psyche as she processes the death of her sister and the violence she is surrounded by every day. The book also offers a gripping take on the very real and targeted violence of the 2020 era and reimagines it in the context of a horror novel that incorporates fantastical elements. While not for the faint of stomach, this book is incredibly well written and paced and tells a compelling mystery. I highly recommend picking this one up!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Harlequin Audio for both an ARC and advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Hey There Delilah, What’s it like in New York City? 🏙️
It’s the end of the world and Asian women are being murdered left and right by a serial killer that leaves behind bats as a calling card.

If you loved Monika Kim’s “The Eyes are the Best Part” you’re gonna love this. The ghosts are creepy AF, the revelations are chilling and there is so much gore, whilst still maintaining a darkly funny undertone and also made me tear up at times. This is feminine rage at its finest, and the first book I’ve ever read that totally centered around the pandemic, and I think the author did a great job of capturing the fear surrounding that era. I also loved how Chinese traditions and folklore were woven throughout the chapters. The one thing I’m gonna complain about is that Cora never actually finds out the name of Delilah’s killer. I’m glad that she gets a semblance of justice in the end but the author really built up the reveal of the killer for there to not really be one. I read and listened to the book in tandem, picking up where I left off at each one. The obvious song pairing for this absolutely wild ride is Crazy Train (sorry Delilah!) by (another bat eater) Ozzy Osborne 🦇🩸🚊

Pub Date: April 28th 2025 🥳

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy of this book!

Kylie Lee Baker has honestly become one of my go to authors. The premise of this book was horrifyingly perverse to me and it didn't disappoint. The quality of the writing is just so engrossing. The one thing I did notice was that in the beginning-middle the plot did not really further. This is still a 5 star read for me though because the writing was just so good and I can understand some of the set up. The last 80% got real really fast and I was very freaked out. I'm not a constant to the horror genre and I was a bit concerned if I'd be freaked out. This is 100% horror, but I never felt like I needed to stop.

I would totally recommend this book, the social horror definitely hit very close to home for me.

When I started reading this book I was prepared to be emotional. It’s set during the pandemic and from the very first chapter it’s clear this is a book of loss. Of injustice. It shines a light on the abhorrent way people responded to fear. The way they still respond to fear and intolerance for anyone different than them. A misplaced mindset of “there’s not enough of us”.

Cora’s story is heart wrenching and raw. Are there ghosts? Yes. Are they freaking terrifying to think about? Of course. But the real terror is being scared to walk down the street because you may be attacked. Of having to have three locks on your door because people feel they have the right to take what’s yours, to take your life.

The elements of horror were spectacular and the plot wrapping up was incredible and gut wrenching… I don’t even truly have the words to describe the way it made me feel. I think it’s important to read things that make you feel. That make you uncomfortable and put yourself in other people’s positions.

I will never understand the experiences of Asian people living in the United States but getting a glimpse into the emotions behind those experiences is priceless. I cannot reccomend this book highly enough. Read it.

Wow, this was a really captivating horror novel! I haven't read Baker's other works, as I believe they're YA and I don't read a lot of YA, but I may need to change my mind about that if this is how strong a writer she is. This was atmospheric, creepy (also really, really gory, which is not something I actually enjoy, so heads up if you are like me and don't love lots of gore), and so strongly rooted in the 2020-2021 COVID setting that I felt like I was back in that awful, uncertain time. Baker is an excellent writer, to force my headspace back into those days.

Cora is a young Chinese-American woman who struggles with obsessive-compulsive tendencies around cleanliness. Her sister, with whom she had a complicated relationship, was horrifically murdered and Cora's life was derailed, and she has ended up as a crime scene cleaner during the COVID pandemic in NYC. The story is driven by Cora's anxieties and disconnection from Chinese culture, her difficult relationship with different family members and her hesitation to let people into her life. It's a fascinating away to introduce readers unfamiliar with the Hungry Ghost festival and the traditions and rituals it entails, while also heightening the tension as Cora begins to encounter two inexplicable things at once: all the dead bodies she's being called to clean up are Asian women as of late, and a terrifying figure is lurking in the shadows and eating chunks out of her coffee table.

I love horror driven by social forces, and horror that explores if humans or monsters are the real monsters. This book does both beautifully. I kept having to set it down and walk away because it was too tense and too creepy and I needed a break. That's a pretty high recommendation from me. Cora is a fascinating character, and her two friends, other crime scene cleaners, are great foils for her. There were some things in the book that didn't work for me. As noted, I don't really love gory books, and this was super gory. I can't really dock it for that, though; that's what this book was, and me not liking it is a personal thing. However, I felt like the last quarter of the book was rushed, with some major things happening that didn't feel necessary for the story. It also had some pacing issues occasionally, getting a little bogged down.

Overall, I did love this. I waited to write my review for several days after finishing, because I was still mulling over all of the themes and impacts of the book. It may not be perfect, but I still think it's a fantastic read that people should pick up.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC for review; all opinions are my own.

First I would like to say I’ve been in a horrible reading slump and somehow the prose of THIS horror novel is what to took to snap me out of it. Bat Eater and other names for Cora Zeng is the kind of book that sticks to you, both in grief and hope. Writing a horror novel that spins both real life tragedy and the horrors of white supremacy along with Chinese folklore during the global pandemic in 2020 is nothing short of brilliant. Kylie Lee Baker takes both real and spiritual fear and builds a web of terror that’s sure to stick with you past the last chapter. Besides being incredibly scary, it’s just so dang important. I think the Xenophobia of the COVID pandemic is something that was/is largely overlooked if that is not a community you’re actively part of and the reality of those deaths were never properly mourned as a society for their tragedy. The “fictional” corruption that lead to so much, for lack of a better term, horror in this novel mirrors so much of the racism still felt in 2025. I wish I could read this again for the first time, there’s so much beauty between the bones and gore of Cora Zeng. Kylie, you’re a genius.

Short synopsis: Cara witnesses the brutal murder of her sister, and the murderer yelling “bat eater” at her while he flees. Now Cora isn’t sure what’s real as a hungry ghost starts following her.

My thoughts: Wow. This book is brutal, and gruesome, and completely bingeable. I don’t read many horror books, because I’m kind of a whimp and I did have to pick up a lighthearted book before going to sleep, but I could not put this down.

This is probably the first book I’ve read that has a Covid-19 pandemic focus, and it might have been too soon. That being said there were many things mentioned that are big pandemic memories, Cora searching for toilet paper actually had me laughing out loud.

If you’re squeamish know going in there is a lot of gore, but the story and the meanings behind it are so good. I was blown away at the way Kylie was able to discuss such difficult topics in a way that be equally educational and entertaining, her authors note at the end left was very impactful to me.

Read if you love:
* Bingeable horror books
* Hungry Ghosts
* Ride or die friends
* Difficult topics

Don't let the cover fool you!!!! This is an amazing horror/murder mystery/thriller novel set during the COVID 19 Pandemic as we follow Cora, a crime scene cleaner (and trust me the gore and blood is explained in perfect detail <3). The first chapter starts off with a literal bang as we witness a hate crime unfold in front of Cora in the New York subway. Her sister is targeted and thrown in front of an incoming train, and the rest is described in detail... don't want to spoil the gore for you.

As you read this novel looking back at what we went through you feel and connect with Cora's emotional journey as she trudges through isolation due to Covid and her with her broken family. We can't acknowledge Covid without mentioning the rise of disturbing anti Asian racism Cora encounters throughout the novel. The countless times "Bat Eater" is thrown at her as if that's what the people only see her as.

A true emotional horror book this is a must read for everyone.

Taking place during the COVID-19 Lockdown, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a harrowing story of Isolation; isolation from family, friends, society, culture, and most disturbing, from yourself. Cora suffers a lack of identity to the point where she not only has no sense of purpose but no sense of self. When her sister, Delilah, is killed in a racially motivated attack, Tension and horror continues to rise as Cora discovers someone out there is murdering Asian women in brutal ways and leaving behind bats, all while becoming increasingly convinced she is being haunted by the hungry ghost of her sister. I struggled at first to connect with Cora because she felt like such a flat character in the beginning, but as the story progresses you can see her develop and grow. A truly horrifying look at family, mental health, culture clash, and racism within the confines of a quarantine, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a modern take on classic horror tropes that will keep you reading late into the night.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng follows Cora, a crime scene cleaner who witnesses her sister's murder. While she deals with her sister's death, Cora begins to notice a troubling pattern: many of the recent deaths involve Asians. Set during the pandemic, this book delves into darker themes such as mental health, racism, hatred, and grief. I have enjoyed Kylie Lee Baker's previous works, and this one was different but equally amazing and more darker and more gory than her other works. It’s a unique read that is not for the faint of heart. Even if you enjoy horror, be sure to check the trigger warnings. I highly recommend it. Thanks to the Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the early copy. All opinions are my own.

This was an incredibly fascinating and disturbing look into life as an Asian woman following the emergence of Corona , wrapped in a murder/mystery/horror/thriller. The first 50% of the book I felt crazy and wasn’t sure what was going on (intentional as the character isn’t sure what’s real or not), but as the story became clear, and the character cleared her head, I flew through the last 40% and can’t believe the the societal statement the author was able to make with this book.

Thank you NetGalley, the Author, and the Publisher for the ARC Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng in exchange for my honest opinions.

This is the first book I've read that is set during the Covid pandemic. As I'm sure most people can agree, we all experienced different traumas, while living through the collective trauma of the scary unknown. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng perfectly captured the fear of that time and the intense racism & hatred that so many Chinese people experienced. I was completely absorbed in the story, the way that Kylie described the changes in the once vibrant New York City to cold and desolate was visceral. I could see the shadows she created in my mind so vividly, as if they were in the room with me. I very rarely get actual chills while reading a horror novel but there were a few moments that I was actually scared. If you have a hard time with body horror, be warned that there is quite a lot of that in this book. PLEASE read the authors note at the end. I was moved by Kylie's sentiment. If you choose to pick any fiction book up about the pandemic, I highly urge you to pick this one up.