Holy shit, I loved this book! This book covers some genuinely scary topics: the pandemic, heightened AAPI hate crimes as a result of said pandemic, racism, murder cover ups by police & people in positions of high authority and more (check the TWs for the full list) It’s a heavy one y’all, but it’s soooo good. The hungry ghosts were actually really terrifying. With horror as my main genre, I don’t find myself scared by much anymore but Kylie kills it. This would make a great movie or limited series too, just throwing that out there. 👀 Anyways, literally no notes. When this comes out I’m snapping up a copy (with the UK cover because it’s stunningggggg.) I didn’t reveal the plot because this is one you need to go into knowing as little as possible, trust me!

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and MIRA for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bat Eater

Entering into this tale of horror you smack face first into the horrific death of Dehlila. Much like how she is cut short. A misleading intro. Excellently executed.

This definitely expanded my knowledge of racial slurs. Stuff I’d heard in passing but never realized what it was. Unsettling. Bat eater for example. Absolutely in love with the dark humor throughout this book. Spot on, makes you laugh then shudder internally, “oh that was dark.” Cora is stuck in a bizarre state of trauma. Her sisters gruesome death and subsequent job has her essentially reliving it as well as an awful glimpse of her own death as the cadavers of conveniently Asian (doubt Chinese only) are coming up in her work AO as a crime scene cleaner.

I don’t know how to feel about the ghost. Unsettling to say the least. Well executed but unsettling to read and envision.

Cora Zeng has always lived in the shadow of her perfect older sister Delilah. Even in her sister's death, she is haunted by her ghost and the creepy feeling that there is something supernatural and someone real following her...

I've always tried to write objective reviews for books, because there is no overall, perfect way to assess books, so here is my very subjective review of Kylie Lee Baker's <i>Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng</i>. My mom has always told me to be careful with kindness because this world is not as good as you think it is, and this resonates throughout the book. I also related to Cora's fear of germs, bacteria, and viruses and how that kind of haunts your brain. Her actions to be as clean as possible were things that I did during the pandemic as well, and this was very weird but also validating (in a way) to read. Cora also goes through so much internal struggle and this book captures all of it so well. I also connected so much to the tradition of keeping the memories of the dead alive through burning joss paper or cooking up their favorite meals. I would say that this was the most beautiful part of the novel.

This book also explores the harmful stereotypes placed on Asian American women and the horrific effects of such stereotypes coupled with the xenophobia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ghosts have always been eerie and scary, but I would say that the eeriest and most terrifying aspect of this novel is the real humans who treat other humans as not human, but objects. I think the author's note is also so so important to read after finishing this book, because we have to keep in mind that this does not just occur in the Asian American community but in other minority communities as well. I've always thought that art can express social issues and provide thought provoking conversations, so I hope this book will do the same.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA for an e-ARC of this book!

Terrifying, terrific, and beautifully written. This book will keep you up late reading it, and then up later, worried about hungry ghosts hiding in your bedroom.

Cora Zeng is going through it. The setting is NYC, peak COVID-19 pandemic. She lives with her older sister, who she idolizes yet seems to also resent. She seems to struggle with a mixture of anxiety and depression, though it’s hard at first to tell exactly what’s going on with her. And then, right in chapter 1, her sister is murdered right in front of her in what appears to be a hate crime.

I absolutely loved this book and the layers it contained. Cora’s loneliness and grief are so deeply explored, and the backdrop of the pandemic was such a powerful plot device. Cora is not only dealing with the death of her sister, a worldwide pandemic, but also the extreme xenophobia & racism that made itself abundantly clear during that time period. Cora, a biracial Asian-American who is not close with either parent, grew up caught between the two worlds of her identities, and she spends much of the book trying to connect with each side.

So there is all of that, which on its own would make for a strong book…but this is also a really well done, legitimately scary ghost story. I’ve never read a haunting like this one, and there are some truly terrifying scenes.

This is a fantastic book with a lot of depth. Highly recommend if you like light horror with purpose.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love this book! It takes place during Covid so if that's something you do not like / a trigger, keep that in mind. Also, big triggers for gore, racism against Asian (namely Chinese), and murder. This is by all means not an exhaustive list of triggers, just points I noticed while reading.

The main character is a very interesting person to follow because we are not sure how much, in the beginning, is actually going on versus just her imagination. This really explores the sharp rise in Asian-hate crimes and racism during Covid. Some more insidious than others. The ending was such a gut punch and honestly infuriating, not due to any fault of the book but simply due to the fact that this occurs in real life. Crimes against certain races are simply ignored and its devastating and maddening.
This book really reminded me of Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore. I got the same angry and helpless feeling of what do you do when everyone in power seems to just ignore or worse cover up issues being done to different races when if it were done to a white person, it would absolutely be all over the news and dealt with swiftly, no matter the cost.
The horror aspects of the book really had me questioning my decision to read parts at night with few lights on! Very well written and really had me eyeing all the shadows in my room, terrified.
Highly recommend!

This freaked me out on the best way! I wasn’t sure when I first started it if it would be for me, but it took my by surprise and held me in a chokehold. This book is so creepy atmosphere but also emotional! Highly recommended, especially for a fall.read!!!

Where to start with this review. I finished it about a week ago and I haven't stopped thinking of it, and haven't formed coherent thoughts to write an actual review.

It was painful at times to read, as an Asian woman who faced a fair amount of racist comments during the pandemic. Horror isn't generally a genre I read either, because I am afraid of everything, but I have really enjoyed this author's other works. This did not disappoint. It was scary in a very real way as we were seeing anti-Asian crimes rise in numbers with not a whole lot being done about it. I do wish the book had gone in a different direction but it was realistic and that is what is so unsettling to me.

However, it's so well written and I'd recommend it to people even if horror wasn't their thing!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA for my unbiased arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I immediately knew reading the opening chapter that this book would really stick with me. Kylie Lee Baker does such a brilliant job of capturing how claustrophobic and isolating the COVID lockdown was. I also could not get over how well she got the rampant racism that was and is still commonplace in society that only really came to the notice of non-SEAs and non-EAs during COVID. This book deals a lot with Cora's trauma regarding the murder of her sister, Delilah, and her struggles with OCD and of course, racism. On top of that, Cora's job was also one that I remember being interested in when I was working in a funeral home spring of 2021: crime scene clean-up. There's also a serial killer targeting Asian women...the same women that Cora cleans up after.

This is generally a pretty spooky and haunting book. It's definitely something that will stay with you for a long while after you've finished it and moved on to another book. Especially as anti-asian crimes still continue to go on uncared for here in the U.S.

I could tell from the first chapter that Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is one of those novels that will stick with me. This novel was bleak and horrifying, but it captured the feeling of Covid isolation and the rampant racism, tension and violence of the summer of 2020. This book struck a perfect balance between storylines; there was a Chinese folklore based hungry ghost story line but there was also everything regarding Cora’s struggle with trauma, OCD, and anti-Asian racism. I would recommend the read but know what you’re getting into and what your personal triggers are before diving in.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was absolutely amazing, and I read it in one sitting! I loved the FMC, Cora. She sees her sister die by being pushed in front of a train, she cleans up messes of dead bodies after they have died (strangely Chinese women), and ghosts (her sister)! This fast-paced book will absolutely have you on the edge of your seat and it was fabulous.

🌟horrifying
🌟disgusting
🌟triggering
🌟haunting
🌟traumatizing

i am not a horror girlie so i had to put this down every time i got scared... which ended up prolonging the experience and had me living in this terrifying book for ten whole days.

i sincerely hope cora is living a much happier life in 2024, i would like to find her and give her the biggest hug

This was good and spooky but mainly scary how people treat each other. I loved the description throughout and really related to Cora and her paranoia with the pandemic. It was… a lot and then for Asian women, I can’t even begin to understand.

This book hurt my heart a little. Kylie writes so well and I loved her precious series as well. It doesn’t shy away from the truth and presents it in a way that makes you want to keep reading.

I was so excited when I was granted access to this book because I love mysteries/thrillers combined with more important themes of social injustices. It’s true that the most horrific thrillers are those that twist in elements of real life horrors.

First and foremost, I received an ARC copy for NetGalley. Thank you!

After a tough start, I can say that I actually enjoyed this book. The subject matter is a bit close to home and can be depressing for some to read but overall it’s a good story.

This book is so many things all at once, but pulls all of them off. It’s bone-chilling at times: it’s a gory, page-turning murder mystery. It can be incredibly bleak and nihilistic before turning around at break neck speed and being a story about finding light and friendship in the darkest, most hopeless of situations. It peels back the mask of how hate can spread and grow. This book flip flops between exposing the best and absolute worst characteristics of humanity.

The longest running metaphor showcases in full color exactly how grief can sink its teeth into so many aspects of a person life and how confusing and messy of a feeling it is.

I thought this was a brilliantly written book, not quite like anything I’ve read before. I’d definitely recommend to anyone that’s up for a dark read.

Big thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley for letting me read this advanced copy.

"Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng" by Kylie Lee Baker is an intense, visceral ride that latches onto you and doesn’t let go. Cora's journey through the gritty streets of Chinatown, haunted by both literal and metaphorical ghosts, is a raw and unflinching look at trauma and identity in the face of relentless horror. Baker’s portrayal of Cora’s inner turmoil and the stark reality of violence against East Asians during the pandemic is both heart-wrenching and terrifying. The book is a masterful blend of psychological horror and cultural commentary, with the eerie presence of hungry ghosts and a chilling serial killer adding layers of dread. It's a haunting, powerful read that will leave you questioning what’s real long after you’ve turned the last page. If you’re into horror that cuts deep and stays with you, this one’s a must-read. 👻🔪📚

set during the covid-19 pandemic, the novel explores the rise of anti-asian hate crimes and overall rise in anti-asian hate that followed. cora zeng is a crime scene cleaner who watched her sister get pushed in front of a train and die in the very first chapter of this book, the man shouting “bat eater” as he did so. the novel follows her as she is left to deal with the grief and trauma of that event while still trying to live her life, going to work and trying to survive the pandemic. if that isn’t enough, the crime scenes she’s cleaning up have her and her coworkers wondering if a serial killer is rising in new york city, with bats showing up at the scene, and she’s been witnessing some strange activities… the hungry ghosts, maybe, that her aunt talks about every august.

this is the first horror book i’ve read in a while that really gave me chills and had me scared of the dark. the way that kylie lee baker writes scenes is beautiful and horrifying at the same time. every crime scene that cora had to clean up or mention of blood and guts left me feeling squeamish and uncomfortable, while the hungry ghosts that lie in wait in the dark spaces cora sees had me anxious. it was a book i both wanted to put down to give myself a break, but also didn’t want to stop because of just how good it was. the plot being put into covid was poignant, even to this day, and didn’t feel like a gimmick an author threw in just because or thrown in lazily as just the background to the story as i’ve seen in other books released post-pandemic. no, covid-19 and the rise in anti-asian hate were very intrinsically linked and it is shown throughout the novel. it’s amazingly done, even if a bit hard to get through (as many social commentary horror books are) and i couldn’t recommend it enough. i can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy.

a huge thank you to netgalley and harlequin trade publishing for the arc of this ebook in exchange for an honest review!

An incredibly powerful and disturbing read, one that hit a little too close to home for me. Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, this novel explores the staggering rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and the normalization of rampant Sinophobia through a horror lens.

Cora Zeng's sister Delilah has always been her blueprint, her lifeline. After witnessing Delilah's brutal murder, Cora is left traumatized and adrift. Abandoning her dreams of a career in fashion, Cora becomes a crime scene cleaner. After all, she's already seen the very worst – nothing can faze her now. However, Cora soon notices a spate of dead East Asian women, found alongside mutilated bat carcasses at the crime scenes. "Bat eater", her sister's murderer yelled – and perhaps, so did these women's killers.

With the Hungry Ghost Festival looming, Cora starts to see Delilah's ghost, a desperate, gaping maw hungry for vengeance. Efforts to raise awareness about the dead women are rebuffed by the media and silenced by law enforcement, highlighting their complicity in a system where certain victims – immigrants, undocumented, non-English speaking – are seen as expendable. As Cora copes with her grief, loss, and anger, she strives to bring justice to the victims while trying to fend off the growing maelstrom of supernatural fury.

As an Asian woman, this was a particularly bitter and heartbreaking read. We worried about the safety of our elders, not only from illness, but also from the misplaced anger and hate that people harboured. We endured unhinged verbal abuse, like the man who yelled "fucking Chinese" at me as he rode by on his bicycle. Kylie Lee Baker paints a painfully realistic portrait of how so many people felt entitled to be abusive to those they perceived as Chinese – with complete impunity. Drawing from Chinese mythology, the Hungry Ghost Festival was a perfect vessel for exploring the the collective hunger and fury that lives in our veins, that flows from generational trauma and loss.