I’d first like to thank @netgalley , @harlequinbooks @kylieleebaker for the opportunity to read & listen this book early. I am forever thankful ❤️
This book, y’all I can barely put into words how much of a whirlwind this book was. Seeing the horror of COVID-19 epidemic through a new lens was a truly shocking experience. We meet Cora, a crime scene cleaner, who witnesses something truly horrifying.. her sister being pushed in front of train. The killer is never caught but she is haunted by his last words, “Bat Eater.”
These days nobody can reach Cora: not her aunt, who wants her to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival; not her weird colleagues; and especially not the slack-jawed shadow lurking around her door frame. After all, it can’t be real-can it? After a series of unexplained killings in Chinatown, Cora believes someone might be targeting East Asian women, and something might be targeting Cora herself.
I felt so many emotions while reading this book: Rage, Grief, Sympathy & a strong Disgust with Humanity.
I honestly em I still thinking about this book friends.
Kylie has this unique talent for crafting such engaging and relatable characters while weaving a story that ensnares you and doesn’t let you go long after you turn the last page.
I adored this book in such a way cause it brings out so many emotions and reminds you that, “Do not let your empathy stop at the borders of your own community.”
I hope you check out this book when it comes into the world April 29th ♥️

Do not sleep on this incredible book. Perfect for both those seasoned horror vets and those tip toeing into the genre, Cora Zeng is one the most compelling characters I’ve read recently with simultaneously humanizing and bloody story to go along.
Set against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York City, the novel follows Cora, who, after witnessing her sister’s murder, takes a job as a crime scene cleaner. As she works, she begins to see bats at the scenes of the crimes, all while grappling with the rampant racism of people shouting “China virus,” a deeply religious and superstitious family, and an overwhelming confusion about her own place in the world.
This book deftly explores the complexities of the time, delving into identity and grief, while also taking readers on an intense and thrilling ride. The horror itself feels like its own character: symbolic, monstrous, and uncomfortably real.
Bloody and brutal, yet tender in its exploration of racism and grief, this book will hook you and not let you go.

Given its title, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, by Kylie Lee Baker, is (of course) about the COVID pandemic in New York City, at its height in 2020. It’s also about people’s struggles during times of great disruption, about people’s tendencies to find racial and national scapegoats to blame during crises, and more specifically, about one woman’s struggles to survive and to figure out who she is at heart. It’s also about mental illness, and being haunted by memories and more, and about investigation, and revenge, and in the end, a kind of mercy. It sounds like it would be a downer, and it is indeed horrific and very depressing in parts, but it’s also gripping, active, exciting, sometimes very funny, loving, and hopeful. It’s like nothing I’ve read, and I highly recommend it for those who can stand the horror and hatred to win through to the positive parts.

Cora Zeng is a very anxious young woman who is basically orphaned, with a Chinese father who left his second wife and two American daughters to move home years ago; Cora’s mother joined a cult and eventually died. Cora was raised alternatively by her half-sister Delilah’s mama, by their father’s sister Auntie Zeng, who paid for half of their college educations and tells of traditions that should be respected, and by Cora’s Auntie Lois, who pays for half of Cora’s student loans each month (for an art degree that went nowhere) as long as Cora attends her Christian church on Sundays. Cora relies on her beautiful, confident half-sister Delilah for stability, but she tragically and terrifyingly loses her early on in the book, in April 2020.

By August, Cora is supporting herself as a crime scene cleaner, a job that oddly suits her germaphobic self very well, as she is quite used to sterilizing herself and her environment as far as possible (but not TOO far, as Auntie Zeng monitors her stability), and she finds satisfaction in making things clean and orderly again. It’s disturbing that so many crimes that they encounter are murders of Asians, but that’s probably just their surviving relatives choosing to hire an Asian-owned cleaner, right?

Cora tries to live within reasonably normal parameters, but she doesn’t have friends. She does force herself to socialize with her co-workers sometimes, to try to approach normality, and so after things start to get really weird, she finds herself opening up to them, and eventually relying on them.

First, they start finding bats at the Asian murder scenes they’re cleaning up (Asian, not just Chinese, since racists don’t always distinguish carefully between Koreans, Japanese, Filipinas, other Asians, and Chinese), which is an obvious signal that the killer(s) blame the victims for the pandemic, because of “wet markets” allegedly spreading the virus. Secondly, and more disturbingly, Cora finds things missing and moved around at her apartment, and hearing things, and eventually comes to believe that she’s being haunted, possibly by a hungry ghost. Her Auntie Zeng has been trying for a long time to get Cora to participate in ghost-appeasing rituals, such as burning joss paper, but Cora has resisted doing that because she believes Delilah is gone, and Zeng’s beliefs just bring up memories that hurt her.

Finally, afraid that she’s either completely losing her grip on her sanity, or that she’s ultimately going to be attacked by ghosts, she takes her worries to her co-workers, and is amazed to actually find some support. Moreover, it seems that the ghosts may be trying to leave clues to help solve their deaths. But with the investigations they’re beginning, Cory and her … friends? … may be exposing themselves to even more danger, and not just from the spiritual side.

This book is full of anxiety and suspense, terror, and heartbreak. So it’s certainly a tough read from that perspective. And given that the pandemic that takes up so much of the beginning of the book, and persists throughout it, is still with us today, it can be grim reading. Even grimmer is the fact that the hatred and blame of The Other (or Us, if the reader is Chinese or even just Asian) that are huge factors in the plot still persist now, and are even worse in some ways.

However, it’s also a very hopeful book in some ways. Cora persists, through all her internal and external challenges, and learns that there are some allies she can indeed trust. She finds an inner core of strength that she hadn’t believed she held, and although she doesn’t manage to right the world’s wrongs, she does take some direct action that provides some satisfaction, and she starts to find some things to value in her current life, instead of just enduring it. She finds ways to honor some memories. She’s even beginning to believe she may be able to find some dreams to work toward.

So, this book definitely isn’t for everyone. But for the people it’s for, it’s absolutely great. I think Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is absolutely wonderful.

What's a book that has lived up to the hype on social media? It would be this one.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a fun and witty contemporary/paranormal thriller and mystery. Cora witnesses the horrific death of her half sister in the beginning turn of the Covid pandemic in NYC. She then becomes a part of a crime scene cleaning crew and realizes that there is a serial killer out there, murdering Asians likely because of their deep rooted prejudice related to the pandemic. It does not help that Cora is not in touch with her Chinese roots and does not heed her Aunt's encouragement to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival... Without proper preparation for these hungry ghosts, Cora is met with a ghost after a crime scene who is met with unfinished business.

Oh boy. Bat Eater struck an internal chord and was a hard read because of personal experiences during the pandemic. Though I did not receive direct words or physical contact of falsely based hatred, there was fear of the people around me that could cause harm as it happened only minutes from where I lived. I lived with a voice in the back of my head questioning if I was safe from this person walking towards me, or will this stranger dislike me so much that they would push me into traffic.

Beyond the personal feelings, Bat Eater was an excellent story. Kylie Lee Baker did an amazing job with this book. Cora is nuts and makes an interesting FMC who not only is trying to find a murderer, but embraces her ancestral heritage along the way. The plot had plenty of events and twists that had me on my toes, and was a great original story. Anda small warning for readers, it can get a bit gory as the FMC is a part of a crime scene clean up crew. Again, I definitely believe Bat Eater lives up to the hype AND I recommend it to all.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

I will be posting to socials (instagram, bluesky, goodreads, storygraph).

What a heart wrenching, amazing book! It made me cry and laugh and cry some more and boy did it scare me. All the stars for Bat Eater!

I was both excited and scared to read this book. As an Asian person who experienced the stress of the COVID pandemic and the rise of anti-Asian hate, I was nervous about reliving those emotions. But I’ve never connected with a story so deeply in my life.
The twists in this story are incredible, and the paranormal elements were beautifully written. It’s dark, suspenseful, and full of unexpected turns. However, I do want to give a heads-up that there are some graphic and gruesome death scenes, so anyone who is easily grossed out or afraid might want to tread lightly.
Cora’s character was portrayed so well, especially her struggles as a germaphobe. Her inner conflict between belief, culture, and identity really resonated with me and I think many other Asian-Americans will feel the same. We hear the stories and traditions, but sometimes we don’t listen to them or carry them out like we were taught. The mythology of The Hungry Ghost Festival was fascinating, and I had a moment of real understanding when it came to Cora’s experience with burning the joss.
I loved this book so much that I’m adding Kylie Lee Baker to my must-buy author list for my future reading journey.

I worried at first that this book would have too much going on—the pandemic, hate crimes, a murder mystery, and ghosts are an awful lot to fit into one book. But the result is a tense, harrowing story that keeps you on your toes from the first pages to the very end. It is dark, heartbreaking, raw, gory, and hopeful in turns. Baker does a commendable job of balancing so many elements and themes and creating a truly emotional and scary narrative. This is what good horror looks like, in my opinion. Packed with social commentary, forcing you as the reader to question what reality is, what we should really be scared of, and who the real monsters are. A really solid read overall.

This book had me hooked from the first few pages. Cora Zeng, a crime scene cleaner in Chinatown, is already traumatized AF after watching her sister get murdered, and now she’s dealing with bat carcasses at her jobs, a possible ghost sister haunting her, and a string of dead Asian women that feels way too targeted. Set during COVID era in NYC, Baker does a great job of reminding us of the uncertainty and disgusting racism and hate crimes inflicted on the Asian community. She also delivers creepy supernatural vibes, messy family drama, and a murder mystery that keeps you guessing. The balance is ✨chef’s kiss✨gory but emotional, scary but deeply human.

Cora is such a compelling MC and I loved seeing her grow more confident in herself throughout. Her OCD, her grief, fear, her love-hate bond with her sister, even as a ghost?? relatable. All the characters are also so well-written, each with their own quirks and depth. And the atmosphere? Immaculate. Baker nails the tension, every scene feels like something’s lurking just out of frame. Plus, the way grief, guilt, culture, and justice weave together is so powerful.

Easily a five star read, this is a book that will cling to your mind like a hungry ghost. Highly recommended for fans of atmospheric thrillers, supernatural horror, and stories that refuse to look away from the darkness, both in the world and within ourselves 🖤

Thank you NetGalley for the amazing eARC !

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a fiercely imaginative and emotionally dense debut that flirts with myth, memory, and identity in often mesmerizing ways. Cora Zeng’s voice is undeniably unique—equal parts raw nerve and poetic fire—and when the book hits, it really hits.

The strength lies in its imagery: lush, unsettling, and often arresting. Zeng crafts scenes that feel like waking dreams, blurring the boundaries between past and present, the personal and the ancestral. There's a folkloric pulse running underneath it all, and when it surges to the surface, it's hauntingly effective.

That said, the narrative sometimes gets lost in its own lyricism. The structure can feel disjointed, and at times, the emotional beats don’t quite land as intended, dulled by overly abstract language or pacing issues. I found myself rereading passages not for their depth, but for clarity.

Still, there’s something promising here. If you’re drawn to experimental storytelling with a strong emotional undercurrent, this book is worth exploring. Zeng is a writer to watch, even if this first offering doesn’t fully soar.

Content Warning: violence, death, gore, parental neglect

+ I love this author and she’s a must-read author for me now. The story is set in New York City during the COVID pandemic – early 2020, remember that? This brought me back to a time of so much fear and uncertainty, it was nostalgic but not in a good way. Cora Zeng is Chinese-American and she has some issues that has been exacerbated by the pandemic, like her being a germaphobe. She’s also dealt with a traumatic childhood with parental neglect and divorce so Cora is complicated, anxious, closed-off, and now she is haunted. Literally. Cora’s voice is so honest about what she thinks about her family, society, and herself.

+ This story is filled with gore, but I was surprised with how much there was because I was grimacing for half the book I think. It is that gory but I should have expected it since Cora is a crime-scene cleaner. Outside of the gore, there is something else going on in a paranormal aspect in the story. Cora is being haunted and it is the month where the Chinese honor the dead or hungry ghosts with some rituals like putting out food for the ghosts and burning joss papers. I learned something cultural that I didn’t know much about which was cool but the way the author wove it into this story about COVID and crime against Chinese and Asian people during that time period is really amazing.

+ I really liked how the tension built in this story. Cora’s mental state is not the best, so I thought she was just going through psychosis due to PTSD but add the anxiousness about COVID during that time really upped the tension in the situation around the city. Add to that the crime scenes she is cleaning up has a pattern and then the hauntings start happening – there were times when I was laying in bed in the dark reading this that I got a chill. Because who wants a hungry ghost haunting them? Not me!

+ I loved the side characters, Cora’s co-workers, Harvey and Yifei. They brought humor but also gave Cora support even though they weren’t close friends. They were there for her even if things got super crazy. And bless her aunts too, even though they were extreme opposites – I’m glad she had people, even though it wasn’t a lot or people.

+ The social commentary of this book is what really hits home with me. The racism Cora experiences in this story made me so angry and heartbroken that racism is so prevalent in our country. The violence of the deaths in this story just makes me question how can people be so filled with hate as to want someone to suffer in these ways.

~ There was a small lull in the middle of the book, as Cora is dealing with some ghosts but nothing that stopped me from reading. Going into this book I was thinking too hard and saying what is this? Is it a horror story? Murder mystery? Paranormal haunting? What is going on? And once I just went with the flow and went along for the wild ride, I was blown away by the end.

Final Thoughts:

I loved how this author combined the time period of COVID, the social commentary of racism, the paranormal hauntings of hungry ghosts, and the possibility of a serial killer on the loose plus all the gore, violence and creep factor into one wild ride of a book. It touched on the challenges of family, friendship, mental health, grief and so much more. It’s brutal and violent and I can’t stop thinking about it. I know this story will probably stay with me forever.

Thank you @htp_hive @htpbooks_audio @htpbooks #partner for the gifted copies of this book!

Let’s quick talk about that cover. It is such a stunning and beautiful horror book! SOLD on that alone. 😝 #ijudgeabookbyitscover

This book was haunting, unsettling, disturbing and deeply thought provoking at times. Much deeper than I had anticipated to be honest. In particular, the details around how Asians were treated during Covid was hard to stomach. I am super picky with horror books and this one was done really well. I thought the mystery behind Cora’s sister and Cora’s behavior and obsession with germs made for an enthralling book. Some of the situations that Cora was put in at work gave me the heebie jeebies. That whole spit scene grossed me out. 🙂‍↔️ Ha! This is a me thing but the only thing I didn’t love was the Covid details. I don’t know why but I still don’t like reading about it. All that being said, I thought it was done really well and it didn’t takeaway from the storyline and the rest of the book. If you are a fan of horror, like spine tingling tales about ghosts and enjoy a provocative story about social injustice.

Wow this book starts off with a bang.. I really loved how full circle this book is and how it was ended. It did struggle in the early/middle parts of the book, but the last chunk of the book was so good that it really makes this book such a powerful read.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng brought me back to a time when I was afraid of everyone. During the great COVID quarantine of 2020, we were told to stay indoors, social distance, avoid crowds, especially anyone outside your inner circle. I remember everyone being a risk, a threat to my safety and the health and safety of my family via contact. Bat Eater shows through a terrifying lens how that was amplified for the Asian community living in the US at the time.

Cora Zeng and her sister Delilah are in NYC during the major COVID shutdown of 2020, waiting for a train when a white man shouts "bat eater"and pushes Delilah in front of a train before running away. As months go by, Cora tries to move past her dependency on Delilah's role as the leader in their love/hate relationship.cora is lost and haunted. Both by the memory of her sister's murder and now a haunted by a hungry ghost.
Cora struggles with her identity, being half Chinese and half white. Being a person who relied on her sister to make decisions for her. She is lost and doesn't know who she is. Her white aunt and Chinese aunt are at opposing ends of eastern and western beliefs on how to deal with loss and spirituality. Cora is pulled in different directions while still having a ghost who is trying to eat her.

This is a story about racism and hatred toward the Asian community in the US during a horrific time, but I think this story is also about how someone can be haunted by their own identity. I could very well be wrong (I am a white male from the US) but I think the hungry ghosts are a symbolic haunting. The hungry ghosts of Chinese lore follow Cora. The struggle and maybe even what can feel like a curse of being Chinese. Rather than a monkey on your back, a Chinese ghost who is trying to eat you alive.
Either right or wrong in my assessment, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The dark imagery and fun characters felt drawn from real people and events. Obviously someone wants were very real. Horror can hopefully help us heal as a community. And hopefully move past all the bullshit.

<i>Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng</i> opens with Cora Zeng and her sister Delilah waiting for the train home. After a tense conversation, Cora watches in horror as someone reaches out and pushes her sister into the path of the oncoming train. Five months after the murder of her sister, Cora finds herself in the path of a serial killer targeting Asian women and haunted by hungry ghosts.

What a novel. <i>Bat Eater</i> takes place in those early days of Covid-19, when everything felt claustrophobic and horrifying, the uncertainty of the disease made worse by the rampant racism towards Asians and Asian Americans. Following Cora took me right back to 2020, to the gallons of hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes and fear. Baker did such a fantastic job writing a pandemic novel, but not letting the pandemic overshadow the plot or characters. Because this is a <i>horror novel</i> -- there is so much blood and body horror and tension. Baker does a fantastic job portraying some of the scariest ghosts I've read -- I had literal chills at some of the scenes.

At the heart of this, though, is two sisters and the complicated relationship between them. Cora is a difficult character, at times, as she is so in her grief and her inability to see anything outside of her sister. Because she has intertwined herself so tightly with Delilah, she doesn't see a place for herself outside of Delilah -- everything she is is Delilah. Baker described this codependent relationship well.

I was also so impressed with her depiction of mental illness and, in particular, the OCD-esque tendencies that Cora has. It felt extremely relatable, especially when it came to repetitious actions and intrusive thoughts.

I did think that the middle bit had some disjointed pacing issues, and it was a little repetitive. That said, I really enjoyed my time with this book. I highly recommend it -- and don't skip out on the Afterword. It's brilliant.

g just below the surface, festering until a moment of chaos and vulnerability allows them to break free. The anti-Asian narrative and accompanying violence that erupted during the pandemic was horrifying, a real life nightmare. Baker simply took this a put it into her book, highlighting the unfortunate human nature of hate and malice towards what we don’t understand and what we fear. The other parts of this book were equally enthralling. The ghost story mixed with a perfectly gory slasher story was a marriage made in heaven. Baker’s writing is superb and she is able to infuse such an intense feeling into her words. This book was suspenseful, terrifying, horrific, achingly sad, humorous, and full of hope. Baker handles the themes of racism, grief, fear, self-discovering, and family so tenderly but with such power. At its core this book is a powerful story based in reality, the blood and guts and ghosts and murder mystery are just wonderful extras. I could not put this book down.

I love that this book tackles the attacks Asian's have faced and the discrimination I wish this book was just about that in all honesty. Overall I just didn't click with the pacing and writing so while I wasn't the reader I know many will be. Maybe I'll give it another try later in the year and see if I still feel the same.

WOW. I usually avoid pandemic plots like the plague (pun intended?) but this was FANTASTIC!

Cora Zeng is just your average girl. Except she cleans up crime scenes (mainly centered around the gruesome murders of Asian men and women) and oh yeah she’s also being stalked by a hungry ghost. Just a normal 9-5 right???

This book is SCARY!!! I found myself hiding under the covers thinking that my own ghost was going to walk through the door! Kylie Lee Baker has crafted an eerie & incredibly descriptive story of hauntings, Chinese religious traditions, and the racial discrimination of the Asian community during COVID (and beyond).

In between the queasiness of Kylie’s violent descriptions, and moments of turning back on the light to fend away any spooky creatures that might visit me while I read…I was also put through an emotional rollercoaster of feeling the pain and hatred that these characters went through.

This book is meant to be creepy and ominous. But it’s also very real!!!

I DEVOURED it in 2 sittings and am so excited to talk about it with others!!!

This book focuses on a lot of heavy themes, but is perfect for you if you enjoy books that include:

🦇Chinese traditions
🦇Pandemic/dystopian plots
🦇Murder Mysteries
🦇Racial & Societal Issues
🦇Gorey Horror

In this subversive and darkly comical horror, Cora Zeng contends with her sister’s death, hungry ghosts, a serial killer, and anti-Asian hate, all during the pandemic. While it speaks to important topics such as systemic racism and police brutality, it also gives you all the gore you’re looking for.

An Absolute Terrifying Story!!

Kylie Lee Baker blew me away with this book. Not only did the first chapter have me absolutely horrified and I mean that genuinely, but this book gave me the creeps in so many ways. It’s horrific and terrifying, and it’s disturbingly spot-on with the political portrayal of our society. It’s just breath-taking and excellent! Words don’t do justice to how much I loved this story!

One of the initial grabbing features of the story is the out of this world first chapter. I cannot imagine any reader being able to not continue with this book after devouring that chapter. It’s gut-wrenching and the pace doesn’t let up from there. It’s breakneck from that moment on, while also being raw and vulnerable. Cora’s internal monologue its heartbreaking at times, but it also is very powerful. It’s moving and it moves the plot along as we add in more characters and relationships and bodies!

There is seriously disturbing imagery within these pages. Baker takes this story to entirely new haunting level with her visceral descriptions. I found myself staring at the shadows in my room for far too long and my imagination had plenty of inspiration from the creepy instances in this story.

This story is absolutely political and it added an extra fear factor to the horror within. It’s heartbreaking at times to read about the racism that Cora and her friends face, so be prepared because it’s done in a fantastic and motivating way. I think readers are going to connect with this story even more because it adds more raw emotional impact!

You absolutely do not want to miss this book! It’s going to blow you away and I cannot wait to see what other horrors that Kylie Lee Baker has in store for us!

‘Cora thinks about a time, before the pandemic, when she truly thought the worst monsters were the ones inside her own head. When she thought people were mostly good, that they would save each other.’

This is now my favorite horror read of the year, just the perfect blend of nail-biting suspense and terror with a beautifully told, powerful story. I won’t be turning my lights off any time in the near future, ha.

Cora Zeng works as a crime scene cleaner in New York City at the beginning of the pandemic. She isn’t really phased by the gruesome aftermath of deaths; she has already witnessed the most traumatizing event: her sister being pushed in front of an oncoming train by a man hurling the insult, ‘bat eater.’

But soon an unsettling pattern emerges: the deaths that Cora and her coworkers are called in to clean are repeatedly East Asian women, with the horrific detail of mutilated bats being left with their bodies. Cora starts to feel like she is losing her grip on reality, as signs of hungry ghosts her Auntie has warned her about begin to appear around her.

I wasn’t sure which entities were more terrifying: the hungry ghosts who had not moved on to the afterlife, or the humans who saw Asian women as disposable. I loved the character Cora, just everything about her. Her desperate anxiety to cleanse herself; her matter-of-factness when dealing with the brutal aftermath of violent death. I love when she thinks: ‘If God cannot love Cora unless she forgives, then Cora will die without his love.’ This was one of those books that made me feel gratitude to the author for putting all of this into a story.

Thank you so much to Mira for this ARC!