LOVE LOVE LOVEDDDD this book!! Can not recommend it enough. You won’t regret picking this book up! I am terrible at writing reviews but I sure know a good book when I read one lol

I usually avoid books that are too covid focused but I loved Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng! Seeing as it's the author's first adult novel, it did feel a bit YA in the beginning (I'm old and cranky and 24 year olds may as well be teens) but the full on, adult horror really ramped up in the last third.
This had the right combo of gore, cultural practices (Auntie Zeng is the best!), humor, found family, female rage, the unease felt during early 2020, and was super acab. I love stories with bi/multiracial characters figuring out where they fit into the world. Cora's identity struggles were relatable, even if I don't share those identities myself.
Covid was scary but the real horror here was white supremacy. While the ending was kinda hopeful, it felt realistic and didn't wrap up too easily.
I loved the author's note too. She gets it. I appreciated that she is not comfortable profiting from telling stories that aren't hers to tell. I'll definitely read more from her in the future.
Check CWs because there is a lot of heavy shit!

I really loved this supernatural horror. Cora was a likeable lead and the story was a little quirky to compensate for the heavy plot content. I liked Cora’s quirks and her job as a crime scene clean up person in NYC during the pandemic. Cora’s search for her sister’s killer turns into a dark horror comedy with some gore. I thought it was a very entertaining story.

Cora Zheng is a crime scene cleaner. The gore is awful but Cora’s not a stranger to violence: early in the pandemic, her sister was pushed in front of a train by a stranger yelling “bat eater.”But Cora slowly begins to notice some striking commonalities in the crime scenes she’s tasked with cleaning.

An intense, unconventional, and powerful book about loneliness, grief, family, and anti-Asian hate of the pandemic. I haven’t read many books that use the pandemic as a backdrop, and Cora’s preoccupation with cleanliness really took me back. I was similarly moved by her cruel internal voice that mercilessly compared Cora to her sister.

Unexpectedly, the book is also darkly funny. The developing relationship between Cora and her cleaner colleagues was perhaps my favorite part of the book, and I would have loved more time with Yifei and Harvey.

What an intense book to read as someone who has lived through the COVID-19 pandemic. The author does a fantastic job of transporting you right back to where you were and how you felt in the early months of the pandemic. Do we need to wash the groceries? Are we wrong for going out for drinks, even if they are outside? All of these anxieties that I have not fully processed came right back to me, particularly through the main character's obsessive thoughts about cleanliness. That part alone made me really sit and think about how I have changed since March 2020. The horror of this book, however, does not come from living through a pandemic, but the horrible hate that grew through it. Cora, the titular character, experiences (truly not the right word but I do not want to spoil it for others) an anti-Asian hate crime that shakes her to her core and upends her life. She begins to unravel... or does she? Honestly I can't give you more than that without giving anything away. But this book sucked me in and kept me there right til the end. This book is gross -- even grosser than her book where a main character does bloodworking -- but it is intentional and necessary. I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend.

Thrilling and heart wrenching all at once. I can see a lot of people not getting it, but it's clearly not written for them. It made me feel seen as an Asian American woman that was scared every time my parents had to go outside during the pandemic. It quenches a bit of my thirst for justice but it definitely whets my appetite for more.

*Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng* by Kylie Lee Baker is a hauntingly compelling novel that blends elements of horror and realism with sharp social commentary. The story centers around Cora Zeng, a young girl grappling with the weight of trauma, identity, and survival in a world that seems indifferent to her pain. Baker’s vivid prose captures the chilling nature of Cora’s inner turmoil while also painting a raw picture of the external struggles she faces.

The novel’s dark themes of family, mental illness, and societal expectations are both horrifying and deeply affecting. The gore and horror in this book are not gratuitous but are used to illustrate the extreme measures Cora must take in order to reclaim control over her life. It’s a visceral, often uncomfortable read, but one that pulls you in and refuses to let go.

What stands out most is the way Baker intertwines supernatural elements with the very real and relatable issues of growing up, facing trauma, and coming to terms with oneself. There’s a deep sense of anguish and a profound exploration of personal and collective history that gives the story an emotional weight beyond its horrific surface. This is a book that will leave readers reflecting long after they’ve turned the last page. It’s a dark, intricate, and ultimately powerful narrative that is both unsettling and unforgettable.

Thank you, MIRA and NetGalley, for my eARC of Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

I really enjoyed this one! It's an interesting--albeit saddening--commentary on the treatment of Asian Americans during the pandemic and how people used fear as a justification for racism and hate crimes. We also see how death and sickness can affect one's mental health.

I liked the writing, the characters, and that we were following along with Cora while she tries to figure out who is killing the Asian women.

This one is pretty gory, so if you're squeamish, I don't think it'll be for you.

Thanks, MIRA!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio | MIRA for this ARC Copy!

I was so nervous to read this book because I did not want to lose any more faith in humanity, but seeing the reality that so many people experience every day is important, and this book is so well written and impactful that anyone who can get past the trigger warnings needs to read it. This story was so impactful and really gave such a tragic and raw insight about the abuse and racism that is still alive and well in America to this day. Seeing this through the eyes of Cora, who has so many internal struggles, had such a strong impact on the whole story.

I was sad about this. I was looking forward to this so much. Commentary about racism towards Asians, possible Asian ghosts, and a serial killer targetting Asian women? Sign me up!

Unfortunately, I am more picky about what kinds of horror I can tolerate in my reads, and BAT EATER ended up falling on the other side of that line. If you're a squeamish scaredy-cat like me, be warned that BAT EATER is incredibly gory, and if adapted into film/TV would be the kind filled with lots of spooky jump-scares and sudden noises and ghostly shapes out of the corner of your eye, the kind that I am much too scared to read, let alone watch.

The thing is, I can tolerate creepy-crawly dread, and even gore, if the story was a bit more compelling. But besides for the opening scene of Cora's sister's brutal death (which was very effective, even for a non-horror fan like myself), I found BAT EATER otherwise repetitive. The plot moves forward at a snail's pace; rather, we are in Cora's head a lot about how she feels like a non-person without her sister; meeting well-intentioned relative after well-intentioned relative that don't add much to the story (at least for me); caught in repetitive scenes of her crime scene cleaning job with her two odd colleagues, being directed to details of gore or creepiness or ghostliness.

As I write this, I'm aware that this is probably what most horror stories are like--that the "enjoyment" is in the slow build-up of dread. But if you're not enough of a fan of horror to be patient through these same-y scenes, you may, like me, also end up losing interest, no matter how interesting the premise of Asian women being murdered in the wake of COVID-induced racism is.

This was the perfect commentary of the COVID pandemic while bringing us tons of gore and body horror. If you want to read a horror book that gets you more mad and riled up about racism than afraid of boogeyman, then you need to pick this up.

As events ramp up in the story, Cora starts to lose her grip on reality a bit, which adds to the horror of Asian women being slaughtered across New York and as we find out who the killer(s) are, the fear is heightened.

Everything about this story was perfect. The character dynamics between Cora and her fellow clean up crew members were fantastic and everything felt too real. I am so glad this book was written. I am so glad it is coming out right now. It is the perfect time for this book, to be able to look back at the pandemic and the way our country handled things, through the lens of horror.

If you get the chance, read this via audiobook also. Natalie Naudus is the perfect voice for Cora Zeng and brings so much emotion to this story.

Thank you to @harlequinn and @htp_audio for the eARC and ALC. All thoughts are my own.

I enjoyed this book. The horror is very well written, and appropriately disturbing, and the connections to the actual COVID pandemic are very nicely made. The cultural context and complexity is well done as well, and the plot arc perfectly unnerving, with a satisfying ending.

I know I'm fairly alone in this opinion, but it was just ok. there were parts I really loved.. it was perfectly scary and gross like I expected, but it took almost half of the book to get reinvested after a great start.. and the ending was just ok.

📖(what you’ll find):
𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙙 • 𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙩-𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 • 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙠𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚 • 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 • 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 • 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 • 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙨 • 𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 • 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨 • 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙨, 𝙡𝙤𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙨 • 𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙨 • 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 •

🦇:
This was a refreshing change of direction from how my reading has been going lately. I had a few “meh“ 🫤 reads prior to picking this book up (it happens!).

Bat Eater (for short) was unique. It is bingeable and I listened to this one in the span of a day.

✅:
I found BE to be atmospheric, haunting, emotional, and creepy! Some of the elements that I love in a horror book. Check, check, and check!

🖤:
I never thought I’d get in my feels reading a horror, but here we are.

I am part of the group of women that was targeted with such violence and cruelty in this book. While fictional, the reality is that the prejudices and the discrimination that people in marginalized groups face is very real.

👻:
I just have to note that I don’t easily get creeped out. I’m a horror junkie through and through. There was a part in this audiobook where I jumped and felt super creeped out. Well done to the author! 🥲😂

🎧:
The voice actress did a stellar job in portraying the characters in this book. Nothing felt off or that it didn’t belong. Perfection!

This book was amazing!! Phenomenal characters that brought the story to life.
The imagery was incredibly vivid. I enjoyed the mix of paranormal and mystery.
Dark, lyrical, and deeply haunting, a blend folklore and horror into a powerful story about grief, identity, and survival.

This book is giving me quite unsettling feeling because it brings back the C19 pandemic trauma.

It centers on Cora Zheng, a Chinese-American woman who lost her sister in a tragic (alledged murder) accident. It is a well composed story explores various themes such as horror, trauma, paranoia, thriller, and Chinese beliefs in Ghost Month; how they believe there's one special month where the underworld's gate will be opened and the dead will roam into the world of the living. It also highlights how C19 pandemic affects people, especially the Chinese, how xenophobic hate crimes escalated toward the Chinese during that time.

If you love slow, thrilling paced horror story, this might be right up your alley. It's more complex than just a horror story. It has body gore, hungry ghosts, serial killer who targets chinese during the pandemic, mental illness, grief and every kind of paranoia and anxiety we felt during 2020 era. It t's gory, bloody, disgusting, creepy, spooky, a kind of horror story that will keep you awake at night.

It could be 5⭐ if the author didn't mention anything about 1sreal tbh. I don't know the author's real intention by mentioning 1sreal in this book, but with the current condition, my brain cannot help but trying to decipher the real meaning of the passages about that d4mn colonizer. (It says: ... the priest continues. "No matter how the people of 1sreal disobeyed, God's patience and forgiveness for them was infinite, for his love has no bounds.) So yeah it's my brain tries to find the underlining meaning of those words.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng follows Cora Zeng in NYC during the beginning of the pandemic where the only work she can get is a crime scene cleaner. During this work Cora and her two coworkers start finding bats at brutal crime scenes of Asian people. Not only are they facing prejudice and hate for merely existing due to the origins of Covid but they are starting to piece together that there could be a serial killer targeting them as well. In addition Cora is dealing with crushing grief, OCD, family issues, and the stories her Chinese Aunt told her of hungry ghosts may actually be more true than she thought.

Kylie Lee Baker outdid herself with this fantastic Adult debut. I was a big fan of her YA fantasy duology, The Keeper of Night, but Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is extraordinary. The horror was so skillfully done that I’m blown away that this is her first published foray into the genre.

To be honest, I’ve really been struggling with this review because I loved every single second of it and my only coherent thought about is that everyone should read it (if you can handle the horror elements!). I was so wrapped up in this story that I barely knew what was happening around me and I stayed up way too late to finish the book. I went into it without knowing the fully synopsis so everything that happened shocked me and I could never have anticipated the ride this book took me on. Truly one of my best books of the year and has more than earned a spot in the top ten of my life.

It's NYC in the early days of the Covid pandemic and Asians are dealing with scapegoating and violence due to the president's "China Virus" nickname. A young API woman witnesses a horrifying act of racially motivated violence and ends up uncovering a spate of gruesome murders of Asian Americans and immigrants. The book is very dark but does an excellent job blending horror and mystery into a story that is , at its core, about isolation, loneliness and the fear of others. And the toxicity it breeds. The one false note was in a car crash scene, but otherwise masterfully done.

A haunting tale of grief, rememberance, COVID, culture, and fighting your inner demons.
This powerful novel begins with the unlikely protagonist, Cora Zeng- a germaphobic, hyper-anxious crime scene cleaner. Cora loses her sister in the most traumatic way, and must grapple with the loss of someone who lit the way for her, and lead her throughout life after her mother abandons her, and her father never returns from China.
Cora is such a visceral character, painted in such sharp lines, that I could physically feel her pulsing beside me. Not only that, but the nature of her disposition was so real and relatable- I remember being ill and insomniatic, scrubbing down every surface of my home with disinfectant, leaving my counters glistening with the aroma of bleach in the air.
The plot was propulsive and made this a difficult book to put down. Cora was not the only character that I was drawn to, as the author did an incredible job of blending and comparing different character personalities to make the story feel alive.
There is so much I would love to say, but ultimately, the themes of rememberance and culture were huge reasons (besides the aforementioned) that made this a 5 star for me. The connections to grief and rememberance had my heart reaching out to Cora to hold her.
A well done book in all aspects.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for an outstanding debut.
And thank you to Cora for your bravery. You are a character unlike any other.

This book did not come to play. In the first chapter Cora witnesses her sister's decapitation via subway car and it's all downhill from there. I typically avoid 2020-set novels, but after seeing so many ecstatic reviews the FOMO was too strong and I caved. As an Asian woman, Cora is a target of vicious attacks, hurled slurs, a sheep for wearing a mask. After losing her job early on in the pandemic, she finds work with a former dry cleaner-turned crime scene clean-up crew. Remember that opening chapter? Cora relives the gore every single day, washing blood from bathroom tiles, scrubbing bits of brain matter from vents. The horror of the pandemic quickly takes on a supernatural bent as Cora realizes the shadows she's been seeing aren't just a part of her imagination after all. The ghosts are real and they're hungry.