Phenomenal. The scariest part of this horror novel is not the Ghosts, or the bloody scenes...but the racisism and fear of others the pandemic brought to the surface in such atrocious ways. Well written, full of lore and also trueness to what went on in 2020.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the audio ARC.

This was a great book. It was a bit slow at times and I would have appreciated a quicker pace. I am excited about this perspective in horror and I think it's a breath of fresh air. I just wish it hadn't been so repetitive on the protagonist's anxieties and self esteem issues.

uniquely thought provoking and unconventional - full of tension, gore and profoundly terrifying while tackling the topics of grief, racism, culture and a focused lens on our societies failures and horrors. all of this written alongside and within a murder mystery during the covid pandemic in the US and the rising violence against asians because of it. i can honestly say i have never read a book like this and probably never will again, this is a book that stands in a category all on its own. this one will linger on with me for quite awhile.

once you start this book i promise you will not be able to put it down. and the audio, oh the audio, it was magnificent. i adore @natalienaudus so much, her narration is always so immersive and i’ll listen to just about anything she does. bravo to her and @kylieleebaker on this absolute masterpiece.

Cora Zeng a young Asian American woman living in New York City during the COVID pandemic. Cora witnessed her half sister Delilah, fall to her death on the tracks of a train and when the suspect flees thescene he yells bat eater to her. Cora's job is to clean crime scenes for a living. When Cora starts to notice that the victims are also of Asian descent she wonders if this is not just some kind of hate crime. At every scene Cora has found a bat. The other strange thing is that Cora also sees Delilah's ghost. In order to help Delilah's spirit rest Cora must find out who is behind these attacks. With the help of her two coworkers they travel down the path of feeding ghosts, pieceing together shreeded papers from a dead Asian American police officer and reinacting rituals to make the ghosts go away. This was a great book and I liked the fact that it was told from the point of view of an Asian American, and how unjustly they were treated during the early days of the pandemic. I would like to thank both NetGalley and MIRA Publishing for letting me read an advanced copy of this audiobook.

This was both a gruesome horror story with some murder mystery, weird bats, and a serial but it’s also a heartbreaking sad story during and post covid of hate and racism.

This was a roller coaster. At times I was gored out, and then in the next breath laughing, and then 1 minute later my heart was hurting.

The hurt and hate in this is all too real. I did not want to put this down… it was so well written!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the advanced copy of this!

From the start, this book will do what many books won’t do these days: remind you of the very real, terrifying realities of the Covid era. Mix that in with the hate-fueled crimes that occurred across the country, but especially in New York City, and you’ve got yourself a truly horrific tale.

Come for the creepy horror story, stay for the powerful message.

(Thank you, HarperCollins Publishers | HTP Books, Harlequin Audio, and NetGalley, for the e-ARC and audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

The beginning of this book hit me like a punch to the gut. I am oblivious to things at times. I forget that Asian Hate is a thing, because I'm self centered and I love Asian people so naturally I assume everyone else must as well.
Which is incredibly stupid of me. I have had be reminded by Asian friends and I feel bad that they had to remind me. I should be better.
This book really solidified that fact for me. I wanted to hug all my Asian friends and remind them that I am glad they're here. It's a really sad opening chapter.
Somehow the lovely book gets scarier and creepier after that first chapter.
I loved Cora. I loved her death jobs. I loved her coworkers.
The narration was perfect. I do love this narrator.
I will read more from this author for sure.

i loved this book! it was wonderfully uncomfortable and freaky. i have no idea where it was going at any point - and was wonderfully hooked! reading about COVID is still a new and fresh thing, and due to the subject matter never comfortable - but this was done so well. it was an important message and i’m glad to have gotten to experience it.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a chilling, gut-wrenching blend of horror, grief, and social commentary. Kylie Lee Baker masterfully weaves psychological terror with real-world fears, following Cora, a crime scene cleaner haunted by trauma, ghosts, and a relentless sense of dread. The novel doesn’t just deliver scares—it also explores the lasting wounds of racism, violence, and loss in a way that feels deeply personal and unsettling.

The writing is sharp and immersive, pulling you into Cora’s unraveling mind as she tries to make sense of the horrors around her. The imagery—both supernatural and real—is vivid and disturbing, making it impossible to look away. The book’s exploration of cultural traditions, the Hungry Ghost Festival, and the ways trauma lingers across generations adds incredible depth to the narrative.

The only reason I’m not giving it five stars is that some parts felt repetitive, and the pacing dragged at times, making certain sections feel longer than necessary. Still, the story is powerful, unsettling, and thought-provoking, leaving a lasting impact long after the final page.

If you love horror with emotional weight and social depth, this one is worth the read.

I was so surprised by how much I loved this book. It was the perfect amount of creepy to just keep you on edge. It kept me up reading at night because I couldn’t put it down. The narration was absolutely perfect. I love when horror stories make you wonder what’s more scary, the paranormal or reality? I can’t for this one to release and for everyone to be obsessed with it.

Oh my fucking god.

Not going to lie, I had to put this one down and do a lap a couple times.

A gripping, brutal gut-twist of a horror novel that deserves every laurel it will inevitably receive. Baker is staring at the beast head on and calling its bluff in the best possible way here, and I applaud her.

Each element of this book is well thought out, well paced, and honest. As someone with OCD I can speak to how effectively portrayed Cora’s struggles with that particular monster were. I can only imagine the impact this book would have, perhaps too intense a one for some, on Asian women, particularly those living in the west that experience this kind of hate regularly. The reveal at the end made me say ‘of course, of course that’s who it is.’ And that sad inevitability is a stark reality check.

I laughed, cried, cringed, and stared in jaw-drop shock. I don’t think I can recommend this one enough.

A flawless performance from Natalie, as usual. No notes.

When I read the preview of this book, I knew I was gonna love this one. The audiobook was great. I enjoyed it more than I thought.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a haunting horror novel that weaves supernatural terror with the very real horrors of racism and violence against East Asians. Through Cora’s journey as a crime scene cleaner in Chinatown, the book explores the surge in anti-Asian hate during the pandemic, showing how fear, grief, and trauma manifest both psychologically and physically. As Cora uncovers eerie patterns in her work, the novel highlights the dehumanization and brutality faced by East Asian women, making the horror feel all too real. This book is both unsettling and deeply relevant. 4.5 stars

I realized this book isn’t for me as I was not able to finish. I won’t be able to give a full review and I won’t review on social sites as I wish the author the best pub day.

4.5 stars: Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

Pub date: 04/29/2025

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is following a woman who 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 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. 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.

This book had so much to say. I love it when horror/thriller novels have more to them than just horrific things happening. This book covers horrific topics like racism, the pandemic, the heightened AAPI hate crimes as a result of the pandemic, sexism, trauma, and so much more. For this reason, I really think that even if you don’t typically read horror novels, everyone could still love this book because it’s so much more than just a horror novel.

For some reason, the ghost element of this book didn’t work for me as much as I was hoping it would. But I absolutely could not stop reading for the murder mystery, important conversations, and thrilling aspects of this book. It was a page turner for sure and I would highly recommend it! I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Audio for this audiobook arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so delightfully disgusting - I loved the setting, I loved the storyline, I loved Cora as our main character. This book was so unique, so horrifying, and so profound, with so much to peel back to everything about it. I hope people don't shy away from this book jut because it's set during the pandemic, because that time was necessary for the plot and for so many of the events. I was a little hesitant to read a book set during the pandemic that was described as "darkly funny," but I really found it funny and moving and dark in all the right ways. I can see why this might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I really really loved this book.

Processing this book has proven to be a challenge for me. However, I can confidently say that I appreciated the profound, intense, and often horrifying content it presented. It was indeed a strange and exhilarating journey.

The layers within this book are extensive, tackling themes such as racism, brutality, mental instability, and much more.

This work explores the darker aspects of humanity and reveals uncomfortable truths. The presence of dark humor and clever banter added a quirky charm to the audiobook, all while illuminating some unsettling realities.

This book will linger in my thoughts for a long time, much like "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" has

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this book. I truly can't stop talking about it.

I loved this book! There are maybe 2 people in my circle I can recommend it to, but they'll love it too.

Everything about this book is dark, including the humor. The gore is so over-the-top it's surreal, and I wonder if the author was challenging our desensitization about crimes against Asians. I did find the racism and lack of humanity more shocking and horrifying than the rest, though. Cora being called a "bat-eater" horrified me more than someone being harpooned. It's addressed, but it was odd how they talked about picking skull fragments out of the wall, which gave me a cringe, but like the characters, I stopped seeing the carnage as people and it just became another mess to clean. Did I get that through osmosis from the characters or am I that far gone? I did a lot of thinking through the book and I found the Chinese culture parts fascinating. Was part of the horror the pandemic? Probably. Its still too soon for me and many others.

The story is grotesque, oddly humorous, shocking, upsetting, and thoroughly entertaining. I was antsy all day at work needing to get back to the story and drove around for a while to finish it off because I couldn't stop it even just to walk inside my house. It's definitely not for everyone, but it was the perfect story for me.

Covid was a wild and unsettling time. To be of Asian decent during that time was also likely traumatizing and I think this novel did an amazing job at encapsulating what a harrowing time it was for them. I loved the narrator for this novel and I could listen to her narrate anything. They ways in which Kylie Lee Baker can make gore and horror sound beautiful is amazing!

Received an advanced copy from NetGalley.

This book left me absolutely speechless. Wonderful job to Kylie Lee Baker!!

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.

Audiobook: excellent narration. It was just as good and chilling the second time as an audiobook.

Can’t wait to read/hear more.