First of all, I would like to thank Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

Do not let this book fool you. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng may sound like a murder mystery from its synopsis. Some of the stories center around solving a murder, but most is mostly a wonderfully written and gore-body horror.

the story will take a while to get into. The author spends a lot of time with the main character and her life after the murder of her sister. In doing, so it takes s while for the conflict of the story to get started. Once it does though it is great. The main cast of characters are all unique with their own stories but do not take away from the story the author tells.

As I was reading I was fully brought back to my time during the Covid 19 pandemic and found a lot of similarities between how Cora handled it to how I handled it. I think honestly that might be why I enjoyed this book so much because the setting was so similar, and I remember hearing the bigotry and racism that was spewed during the pandemic. I liked that Cora found a way through the pandemic and helped the hungry ghosts find some semblance of justice.

This book penned a new form of horror for me and I loved every second of it.

*I received a free ARC from NetGalley*

Kylie Lee Baker’s Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a haunting and visceral blend of horror, cultural folklore, and social commentary. Set against the backdrop of pandemic-era New York, the story plunges readers into the experiences of Cora, a crime scene cleaner dealing with a disturbing series of murders and her own unraveling psyche after the traumatic death of her sister. Through vivid scenes of gore and spine-chilling encounters, Baker weaves a powerful narrative that is both frightening and deeply reflective.

I'm indifferent to this book. It was good, for about the first 3rd. It was beautifully written and the subject matter was very intriguing, but then it turned into a ghost story and I lost the narrative. I'm not sure what I was supposed to be reading/feeling. You have a character who has a job that is really crazy and interesting and a murderer on the loose, but then you add in ghosts and I'm gone. I liked the idea, but the execution wasn't my favorite. There were moments that were fantastic, and then moments that just let me down. Such is the way of literature, I suppose.

Thank you so much to MIRA and The Hive for sending me an ARC of Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng!! I simply cannot get over this book.

I read this book back at the beginning of August (in a single day, too!) and it still hasn't left my brain. The release date is too far away, I need it to be out so more people can read this and we can scream about it together! Out of excitement and love, yes, but also occasionally out of fear because wow, some scenes in here had me double checking there was nothing creeping out of the shadows.

Bat Eater is gory, haunting, and spine chilling, while also being deeply emotional, reflective, and powerful. It's a terrifying tale about needle-necked hungry ghosts and a brutal string of serial murders, and a dark, honest discussion of the rise of hatred towards Asian communities following the COVID pandemic. Baker's horror prowess shines, masterfully building tension and then dropping heart stopping scares that left me hiding under my blankets but unable to look away.

This book is brutal and angry, a shriek in the face of all the real horrors experienced by communities in our world. It's also beautiful, and I simply cannot recommend it enough.

PS. If (when, please) you pick up Bat Eater, make sure you read the Author's Note at the end. It's worth it

dark and haunting. horrifying in both "mundane" (but awful and real) ways and in magically horror ways. tysm for the arc. 5 stars.

The cover for my attention. The headline and the message behind it was what kept me going. BAT EATER and Other names of Cora Zeng. If you missed or skipped the part after Cora's sister gets pushed in front of a moving train based on hate, then maybe the one where this man pulls her Cora's mask and SPITS on her face, because he recognized she was ASIAN, you completely missed the point of this truly important story. It is deeper than her complete unraveling for the loss of her sister and her mental state. We all saw and still see ASIAN HATE in our society. These happened during and after pandemic. BRAVO, to Kylie Lee Baker and Thank You to Netgalley for the honor of this arc. As a member of a "minority" group, this was one that will be with me for along time. #ourstories

This book is beautifully horrific for so many reasons just to name a few we have the pandemic we have asian violence and just murder. It was a lot but also just a really good read.

The cover art is fantastic and Baker is clearly a talented writer. I enjoyed the hungry ghost culture and history. But this story is terrible. Very anti-white, anti-police and romanticizes the restrictions during the pandemic. The acknowledgements were particularly misinformed--I know it's the author's opinion but the statements were very close-minded and poorly researched. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

Damn! This book is the first I’ve seen that tackles the COVID pandemic and subsequent attacks against Asian Americans in the US. Cora was such a fascinatingly imperfect character and her view of the world sucked me in throughout the book. Absolutely tragic, raw, and fully of guts and blood

I had to DNF this one. I had heard such great things about it and it sounded so ini. After trying to get into in multiple times, I just wasn't drawn into the story. It just felt tok slow moving and the characters didn't have any depth.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

As Cora tries to maintain her sanity, she encounters disturbing bat carcasses at her crime scenes and the looming dread of the Hungry Ghost Festival1
. Baker's novel masterfully blends elements of horror, suspense, and cultural folklore, creating a chilling and emotionally resonant story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

What an absolutely horrific, twisted and BRILLIANT take on being Asian in NYC during the pandemic. Bat Eater is all of our (AAPI) nightmares come true, and yet - and yet, I couldn’t love this more. Baker’s ability to let her mind go to such gruesome places with a topic that hits so close to home for her is admirable and fascinating.

The visuals she created of slaughtered victims and hungry ghosts lept from the pages and had me audibly gasping. Although racism can be such a tough topic to surround a story around, I found this beyond therapeutic. Although it’s a bit niche and many might not understand the catalyst for this story, it felt so needed. Perfectly haunting with a satisfying ending to match.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cora is a crime scene killer and while she cleans gruesome scenes, it’s nothing compared to watching her sister being pushed in front of a train as a man yelled “bat eater” at her. As she begins finding bats at crime scenes, she notices the recent cleanups have all been Asian women.

This is a creepy horror that has a lot more to it than spooks and gore (but it does have that). Taking place in NYC during the COVID pandemic, it shows the reality of Asian-American racism during the time period. I loved the Chinese folklore that was behind the story. The author’s note at the end was meaningful and I particularly loved her note to “not let your empathy stop at the borders of your own community.”

“Closing your eyes doesn’t stop monsters from devouring you.”

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng comes out 4/29.

‼️👁️ Don’t go any further else you’ll be adding more books to your shelves and carts ‼️👁️

“The woman stiffens, head bobbing on her needle neck like a withered dandelion, and turns to face Cora.”

Kylie Lee Baker.... where the hell have you been all my life?! Wow.... this was an absolute gem of a book to read.

I’m not even sure how to do this review justice in how much I loved this book.

Pure Chinese American horror.... this is what I loved THE most. I’ve always been fascinated by learning more about different cultures and their spiritual beliefs. Baker you sure as hell delivered here girl. I could not get ENOUGH.

Baker is one of those writers where you just KNOW how much of a master storyteller she truly is. The words pierce and hang off the pages edging closer to your heart. I devoured this book and it sure devoured my heart.

I was creeped out a few times in this one but it was a SUPER good creep factor. The combination of culture, horror, and a horror we all know to well racism at it’s core. This is one that will leave a special place in my heart and easily one of my top reads of 2024.

Let me leave you with this

“There is a woman in her living room. Her throat is needle thin, no more than a whispered silver thread. Her eyes are deep chasms of black, skin a translucent tarp pulled taut over her cheekbones, the knife edge of her jaw, her withered black lips.”

Ahh... yes don’t you need this book in your life! Do it! You won’t be disappointed.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5

Thank you so much to @htp_hive @kylieleebaker @netgalley for my copy.

Mark those shelves this beauty comes out
4/25/25

This book had a very interesting premise and what I felt was a fresh take on horror. However, I completely lost interest in the book at about 40% and ended up not finishing it. It ended up not being the right book for me. I'm giving 3 stars because the writing itself with descriptions and imagery was great.

The first few chapters of this were so completely and totally knock-out beautiful, that I didn’t want to do anything else but keep reading.

Unfortunately, it unraveled more and more as the story went on.

The premise, as well as the reflection from a devastating period in our recent history is timely, powerful and necessary. There were also some truly terrifying horror moments in here.

But I think it just dragged a little bit too much in places for me to have been immersed, from start to finish.

This was ok! I thought this was a really cool book to read before halloween. It was ok! Reminded me of "The Grudge:. Kinda dragged on a bit without the effect of building the story or suspense.


Also, the author put a warning note of "if you receive this without a cover. That means it's stolen.." and then proceeds to send the arc out through Netgalley with no cover. To have a warning like that and then to do yourself just kinda a red flag and should have been put off until release.

DNFed at 34%

This book is definitely gloomy and somber, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. First of all, it takes place in the modern time, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second of all, I’m sure there are ghosts and such coming up in the rest of the book, but I wanted it to be more paranormal quicker. I find Cora to be really uninteresting and not fun to follow. She seems to have little personality or emotions and doesn’t even really grieve the death of her sister? Overall, not my type of book though I love the cover.

10/10. I want to give author Kylie Lee Baker a forehead smooch and commend her on an amazing novel. I could not put this down. It was like this book was injected into my brain and just hung on there until after I finished. I still think about this book.... This book touches on religion, spiritual beliefs, Chinese culture, racism, and so much more. This truly is a captivating horror novel but not in an over the top way, I would recommend time and time again!