Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng follows twenty-something Cora as she works cleaning scenes. When Cora and her friends notice a series of deaths where mutilated bats are left behind with the victims, the trio begins to suspect foul play and begin their own research into a potential serial killer.

While all this is happening, Cora also experiences a supernatural horror - hungry ghosts are stalking her in the night and she has to find a way to get rid of them. With supernatural entities and human killers around every corner, how are Cora and company supposed to make it out alive? 

I'm not usually a fan of books that revolve around COVID, but this novel felt like a perfect balance between fiction and reality relating to the emotions and experiences of COVID without using it as a crutch - the story flows and stands on it's own.

The characters of this book were also very real. I was rooting for them the whole time and (spoiler alert) each loss felt absolutely gut wrenching. While the story started out slow it picked up momentum at the halfway mark and kept me hooked with both the ghost and the serial killer storyline to the very end. 

A horrifyingly necessary read. Kylie Lee Baker made me so uncomfortable, so jumpy, I felt like I had to sleep with the lights on, the hate the characters receive makes your stomach feel hollow and your heart like lead. And because of that, this book is 110% a must read. 

Cora is a fascinating character to live this story through. She is a rightfully anxious narrator walking through this horrific world, while also coming to blows with the state of the world, and the world beyond. . . It was all just brilliant. 

This book is my literal worst nightmare and I loved every second of it. The pacing was perfect for this kind of thriller, the writing was poignant; so many lines from Lee Baker had me sitting in my chair just thinking for several minutes. The side relationships she has with her team was a terrific addition (I liked Yifei the most), they provided some lovely humorous elements to the novel (which I really needed haha love my lil ghostbusters). Cora’s grief was probably one of the hardest aspects to read, I think because of how it was written. You don’t ever want to experience what she went through and her grief, guilt, and complex feelings, are visceral, something you can feel down to the marrow in your bones. And the plot twist. Just?!?!

 Truly just wow. 

CW: Asian Hate, Xenophobia, Sibling Death, Gore, COVID-19, Pandemic, Mental Illness, Racism, Violence, Sexual Harassment, Animal Cruelty, Murder, Grief, Death

Immense thanks to HTP and NetGalley for this ARC. 

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!