Kylie Lee Baker masterfully writes a chilling story that contains several mysteries centering around a seemingly mentally unstable dry cleaner turned corpse cleaner as she navigates the very real horrors of the world along with the paranormal. Unexpectedly gory, this will continually shock you with its unpredictability. The intense bodily descriptions will be physically felt and you will be part of the horror next to the characters. Horror is certainly the perfect genre for her to write and she consistently does so well.

Relationships and Characters
The characters are the highlight of this story. Every character is established in depth, and each has a unique backstory that has led them to where they are.

- Cora is an outstanding lead whose complexity and strangeness makes for an engrossing read. An extreme germaphobe dealing with gaps in her memory and possible mental instability, Cora is bordering on insanity. You are never sure what to believe with her, and her hyperfixations mixed with her personality that just lets things happen to her creates an interesting mix.

- Harvey and Yifie are Cora's traumatized co-workers who have to unfortunately endure racism and stereotypes. All three of them go along with their work, but begin to question the deaths as it becomes increasingly evident that there is a specific target for these killings.

- Paranormal entities play a huge part, and they are certainly creepy.

Engagement and Enjoyment
- This was such an engaging read! With endless twists, mysteries, and deaths, how could you not be invested? There are numerous times where you are abruptly reminded to not get comfortable because sinister things are always lurking. You will be captivated from start to finish.

Atmosphere and Setting
- Completely based in the real pandemic world and in the city, the atmosphere and setting accurately reflect what the world looked like. The descriptions of the crime scenes and railroads excelled in creating a suspenseful and eerie feeling that stuck throughout the book. Learning more about the characters and the situations allowed for a rising anger to seep into the environment that had you cheering even more for Cora. There was also underlying dark humor that broke up the seriousness.

Development and Plot
- First of all, what an opening chapter! Hooked right from the beginning, there was never a moment in the story where the intensity wavered. There are several aspects of this story that keep you interested and wanting to find answers, including murders, personal backstories and motivations, religious and familial themes, and the horrors of real life and paranormal life. With multiple moving parts, the intricacies of the world reveal themselves slowly and consistently to both satisfy your curiosity and also pique your interest to find out more. The way all of the stories were woven together was immaculate, and this has, personally, one of my favorite types of endings.

4.5☆

Thank you so much Kylie Lee Baker, Harlequin Audio, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my genuine review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review. This one was a mix between heavy, real-world themes and gory, horror-filled fun. The author's note at the end of the novel was very impactful and powerful, and even if horror isn't your thing, I recommend finding this in a bookshop just to read that alone. I cannot imagine what it must've been like to be Asian in the United States whilst the pandemic was going on and having to deal with the vitriol they had to experience. From a novel perspective, Baker did a great job of blending folklore into the novel, and that was one of the most fascinating parts of this one to me. I wish there was a bit more of it in the novel and it was explored a bit deeper. This novel flew by, and I listened to the majority of it in one day, but I wish it was longer and that I had a bit more time to settle in with the characters so that when the horror started to really pop off, I felt a bit more deeply for them. The fact that Cora is a crime scene cleaner was a really nice touch and a way to add even more gore to the story. I would definitely read from Baker again in the future!

I devoured this book from the second I started listening to it! I was immediately engaged by the writing and the audiobook narrator, who gave a great voice to Cora's world and the people in it. I tend to shy away from books set during the pandemic, but this one offers a fresh and unsettling perspective that needs to be shared.

After witnessing a horrific death, Cora finds work as a crime scene cleaner. She doesn't mind the bloody messes too much. She's more worried about the germs and viruses of the pandemic and the weird things that keep happening around her. So much so that she ignores her aunt's advice to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell are said to open. But then she begins to notice that all the crime scenes she is cleaning lately are the bodies of East Asian women. Is there a serial killer on the loose? And should she have ignored her aunt?

Touching on themes of violence against women, racism, health, corruption, and trauma, Bat Eater is very effective at weaving a compelling story with elements of Chinese culture, horror, and stark realism that is set against a backdrop that feels unsettlingly familiar. I found Cora to be a complex and interesting character and I loved her coworkers/friends that gave both some comic relief and were great foils to her. The story had good twists and didn't shy away from the gore while staying rooted in the real elements at play. I found that the paranormal aspects helped ground the story even further.

The audiobook was immersive. It was always easy to tell who was speaking with the different voice inflections she used and it kept me engaged the whole way through.

Cora Zeng, a Chinese American woman, is already struggling with unemployment and rising xenophobia when her sister is brutally murdered in front of her. Desperate for income, she takes a job as a crime-scene cleaner, where she and her coworkers uncover a pattern of violence targeting Asian women, and as Cora delves deeper, the line between reality and nightmare starts to blur.

This book is not for the faint of heart. Baker doesn’t shy away from gore, psychological torment, or the grotesque, but the most terrifying elements are rooted in reality: the racism, isolation, and scapegoating Asian Americans faced during the pandemic.

Bat Eater is a masterpiece of modern horror. Brutal, thought-provoking, and impossible to forget. It’s a story about grief, identity, and the monsters both outside and within, wrapped in a mystery that will keep you hooked until the devastating end. If you can stomach its darkness, this is a must-read.

This novel shocked and terrified me, but not in the ways you may think. I knew there was was racism towards Asians during the major COVID outbreak. However, I was not aware of the extent. It reminds me about the state our country is in now. Where fear hides, often racism follows.
The book was beautifully written, even the gory horror scenes. I also enjoyed the voice of the narrator. 5 stars.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

“Cora knows all too well that the mangled clockwork of her mind doesn’t always respond to logical arguments, that the fact that something is objectively safe doesn’t mean her mind won’t short-circuit anyway, make her hyperventilate until her limbs lose so much oxygen she can’t stand up.”

🏮This one is about Cora, a young woman who is already struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic when her sister is brutally murdered, at once removing Cora’s closest relative, friend, and emotional centre. Cora becomes a crime scene cleaner, but with her sister gone, fear ramping up to a fever pitch, and racism rampant all around her, she’s adrift in a fog. When mysterious occurrences start happening all around her, Cora is at a loss whether it’s real, or whether he overwrought mind is conjuring it all up. 💀

🏮This book is absolutely not a simple scary story, and I love that about it. Truly good horror movies and books are a mirror, and they reflect real world terrors through a heightened and sometimes fantastical lens. We explore issues of racism (big trigger warning ⚠️). We explore grief and how to move on from it, and if it’s even possible. We explore issues of existential crises and identity exploration. Who was Cora without her sister who “made decisions”? Who is Cora now? She refers to herself as never having been real but “an echo of Delilah”, her sister. She sees herself as someone who never does anything for herself and cannot get anything right on her own. 💀

I listened to the audiobook for this one and it was great! Very well done. It’s possible that the audiobook made it slightly less scary so I’m tempted to go back and read one or two of the creepy/horror scenes to see if it affects the reading. I also found the Yifei voice to be a bit irritating but that may be because her character is a bit grating in general (she’s still a great side character and I did like her). I listened comfortably at 1.5x and there’s no distortion at 2x speed.

Thank you Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the ALC!

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng was so good and so gruesome. After witnessing the violent murder of her sister, Cora becomes a crime scene cleaner and begins to notice a disturbing connection between the horrific deaths of several Asian women while also maybe being haunted by her dead sister. Set during the COVID pandemic, this is a disturbing, gory, and ghostly story that will leave you angry and sick to your stomach. If that’s your thing, I highly recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for an ALC.

First and foremost, thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Audio for providing this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙＊˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙＊

⚝ Rating ⚝: 4.5✩ / 5✩’s

⚝ Review ⚝: This was absolutely unsettling and easily the best horror I have read in a *long* time. On top of the pre-COVID shutdown de ja vu when the world still seemed somewhat normal, being in the head of Cora Zeng as she struggles with the dangers of the world around her--dirt, germs, filth, sickness--added another layer to the story that often left my skin itching. Cora Zeng is a young, Asian American living in New York in 2020 with her sister, Delilah as the world is starting to spiral around them with COVID moving into the states. Now racists are making things even harder on them, right up until the night that Cora witnesses a man push her sister in front of a subway train, the final words both women hear from him being: "bat eater".

Less than a year later, the cops have no leads and Cora is convinced they never truly looked for the man who murdered her sister. She has now moved to a job on a crime scene clean up crew run by a Chinese immigrant who also runs the local dry cleaning shop. And a pattern is starting to form: Young Asian women are being brutally murdered in their apartments and bats, both alive and dead, are being left at the crime scenes. And through it all, the police and the media do not seem to be taking things seriously.

Cora, along with two friends from the crime scene clean up crew, are now invested in trying to figure out what is happening to Asian American women in New York while the pandemic continues to accelerate around them.

This book was a bloody, gory mess in the absolute best way. There were a few scenes that managed to leave me feeling a little queasy, which doesn't happen all that often. Maybe it was the matter-of-fact, borderline cavalier way that Cora observes the gore that is constantly around her since the murder of her sister. The relationships between the three primary characters, while often strained and a bit hesitant (especially on Cora's part) were believable and engaging and oh, my heart. I loved them all.

On top of the blood and guts is the supernatural look at Zhong Yuan Jie, or The Hungry Ghosts festival. Not only is Cora in a race against a possible serial killer, but she's being haunted by a ravenous ghost that will eat anything in its path--furniture, dishware, humans. I love learning about new things, even under the guise of a horror. As Cora is coming to grips with the reality that the Hungry Ghosts, the stories taught to her by one aunt, are real, the raining hellfire Christianity being taught to her by her other aunt are in a constant war in the back of Cora's mind as she tries to determine what she fears more: Hell and an angry God or Hungry Ghosts out for lethal revenge.

One of the greatest aspects of this book, I believe, is that Baker managed to take two genres that typically tend to overshadow each other when mixed, are equally expressed here in a way I can say that this book is both a Thriller/Suspense and a Horror, not a Horror with some thriller aspects, or a Thriller with some horror sprinkled in. It is equal parts Serial Killer thriller and a ghostly horror, and DAMN was it well executed.

⚝ Audio/Narrator⚝: I spent a good third of this book trying to figure out if I had heard this narrator before, before I finally decided to look her up. The answer is 'yes, yes I have', and I have loved her in everything I have listened to her in. Natalie Naudus is an audiobook narrating powerhouse! Great vocalizations as well as characterizations that does well to separate the characters from each other so it's easy to determine who is speaking when.

Was there a *touch* of predictability? Yes, but honestly, it was easy enough to overlook. This has 100% become my favorite horror book and I am thrilled that I had the opportunity to participate in the ARC process for this book. I'll excitedly read more from Kylie Lee Baker any time.

⚝ Representation ⚝: Chinese, Chinese American, Asian American, Mental Health

⚝ TWs ⚝: Mental Illness, Grief, Murder, Blood, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic (COVID-19), Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Body horror, Child abuse/neglect, Car accident, Animal cruelty/death, Sexism, Racial slurs, Violence, Alcohol

My monthly reading breakdown for April will be posted to TikTok, IG, and Threads the first week of May.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, Macmillian Audio, and Netgalley for the ARC!

Kylie Lee Baker, you are a genius and I love your work more than anything. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a unique take on horror, focusing on not just the mythology of China but also branching into the serial killer genre. I was nervous about this book, given the fact that the story is based in the COVID era. However, the way that it used the hate crimes against the Asian community to tell this story was perfect. I found that it wasn't the ghosts, but the humans that left me scared.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng hooked me with its striking cover and sealed the deal when I saw Natalie Naudus would be narrating. I knew immediately this would be an audiobook read — and I'm so glad I trusted that instinct. Naudus brings a jagged edge and deep vulnerability to Cora’s voice that perfectly matches the book’s shifting layers of horror, grief, and identity.

Kylie Lee Baker’s novel is as gory and ghost-ridden as the pull quotes promise, but it's also emotionally devastating and razor-sharp in its social commentary. Set during the early days of the pandemic lockdown in NYC, it follows Cora Zeng, a Chinese-American crime scene cleaner who’s already been through the worst moment of her life: witnessing her sister Delilah shoved in front of a train by a masked assailant.

From that moment on, Cora is unraveling. She’s haunted — by her sister, by a possible serial killer targeting East Asian women, and by something much older and hungrier. Baker weaves real-world violence with folklore and psychological horror, creating a story that’s as much about survival and inherited trauma as it is about vengeful spirits and body horror.

Though the book flirts with dark humor, the tone stays grounded in emotional realism. Cora’s obsessive-compulsive traits, her unease in her own body, and her push-pull relationship with grief and cultural identity give the book its weight — and make it hit hard.

This is a ferocious novel that doesn’t flinch from the ugliness of racism, fear, or grief. It’s brutal, hallucinatory, and beautifully written. I adored this book and can't wait for fellow horror fans to enjoy it.

Thank you @netgalley and Harlequin Audio for this advance listening copy.
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Cora Zeng is a young crime scene cleaner who witnesses her sister’s hate fueled homicide, the killer calling her a “bat eater” before he disappears. Cora is an easy character to cheer for as she transforms from quiet and reclusive into a fierce fighter confronting literal ghosts and demanding justice for the rash of Asian women killed in Chinatown during the pandemic. There is lots of gore here, and it felt a little gratuitous, but maybe I only saw it that way because it’s not really my thing. I wanted to hear more about the murder investigation, but the story focuses more heavily on the ghost aspect. In Bat Eater, Baker shines a spotlight on racism that often got buried in the headlines of 2020 and beyond. Natalie Naudus is wonderful as the narrator.

Wow. This horror novel absolutely stunned me. Set during the pandemic, it focuses on Cora Zeng, a young Asian American woman who witnesses her sister’s violent death in the subway by a masked white man who calls her a “bat eater”.

Still reeling from that tragedy, Cora begins working as a crime scene cleaner, and notices that someone is murdering Asian American women, leaving bats as their calling card. As the seventh month of the lunar year begins, the month of hungry ghosts, she and her friends decide to investigate these deaths…thinking that her sister’s death may be linked to them. But they don’t realize the danger they are in…from the killer who proves impossible to track, and the hungry ghosts waiting in the shadows to feed.

This book is absolutely incredible! It blends gore and horror with Chinese traditional customs and beliefs regarding hungry ghosts and the Hungry Ghost Festival, while highlighting the prejudice and racism towards Asian Americans that heightened during the pandemic. Cora is a complex character who I loved throughout the novel. She finds strength and healing as the novel progresses, as she confronts her grief and loneliness and fights for justice for those who were killed. The big reveal towards the end is steeped in reality…and the true horror of that hits deep.

I highly recommend the audio - I was absolutely engrossed in the narration, gasping audibly in certain parts. Definitely read this during daylight hours (trust me). I also recommend reading the Author’s Note at the end. My favorite quote comes from her personal thoughts, and it is a reminder to us all during these times:

“Do not let your empathy stop at the borders of your own community.”

Thank you Harlequin Audio for this gifted ALC, in exchange for my honest review!

I thought this was a horror story. And, honestly, there were some horrific things. But despite the running death and paranormal themes throughout this story, I'm left more depressed than frightened. But my eyes also opened more than they were during the worst of the pandemic to more than just the death, disease, and fear. I never thought about how deep the racism against Chinese and Chinese Americans ran during that time. And not just verbal but horrific physical assaults that these idiots thought were somehow justified. Disgusting.
Now I realize this was fiction. But it was based on unfortunate truths.
I'm glad I read this and that it made me look at that bigotry. But I think my heart is going to hurt for a while.
4⭐️
As always, I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an advanced audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The narrator was fantastic!

content warnings (please note i may have missed some): OCD obsessions and compulsions (mainly related to contamination), grief, murder, hate crimes, racism, gore, covid-19 pandemic, animal death, sexism, body horror

this book follows cora zeng, a crime scene cleaner with OCD, during the covid-19 pandemic as she yearns for justice for her sister, whose murderer was never caught. as the shadow lurking around cora becomes more prominent and more east asian women are murdered in chinatown, cora realizes that her sister wasn’t the only victim—someone is targeting east asian women, and some*thing* is targeting cora herself.

i’ve been a fan of kylie lee baker since reading the keeper of night a few years ago, and i know how much she loves the horror genre, so i was highly anticipating this book! though i knew what this was about, nothing could have prepared me for the journey this book took me on. though i will, occasionally, read horror that does not have real-life tie-ins, i love political horrors so much more. i thought it was incredible how kylie lee baker incorporated the paranormal horror of hungry ghosts into the real-life horrors of anti-asian hate crimes and the covid-19 pandemic. she also explored a complicated kind of grief, with cora missing her sister, delilah, deeply but still acknowledging the ways delilah hurt her. overall, this was an amazing adult horror novel. i highly recommend this book.

narration: as always, natalie naudus did a wonderful job narrating. there was so much emotion in her voice, which further helped me immerse myself into cora’s head and, by extension, the story.

This book is definitely outside my usual reading taste, but I heard so many amazing reviews that I needed to check it out myself. This will absolutely go down as one of the best books I read this year, but don’t let that fool you. This was not an easily digestible story nor is it for the faint of heart.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a ghost story, littered with scenes of gore and disturbing imagery. It’s set in New York City during the early days of the pandemic — a perfect backdrop as the isolated, ghost-town environment escalates the fear and tension. The narrative shines a light on Asian hate crimes, utilizing horror tropes and wraith-like figures of folklore to better convey its message. While there are paranormal elements, Bat Eater is so horrifying because it taps into the macabre of real life. Everything Cora Zeng experiences (race-fueled hate, religious ostracization, an internal identity crisis) is the appalling reality for many people of Asian descent.

The story as a whole is so effective because Kylie Lee Baker refuses to shy away from the heinous. After a gruesome first chapter, the plot’s pace continues its relentless pursuit towards the finish line, and by the time I reached the final chapter I was sufficiently rocked to my core. Reading this via audiobook heightened my experience tenfold. Narrator Natalie Naudus’ performance amplified my anxiety to the point where I could only listen to it during the daytime (but I’m a major scaredy cat, so take that with a grain of salt). Beyond the horror, Naudus was able to capture the quippy banter that provided much needed levity on top of Cora’s raw, emotional arc. I was invested in Cora’s survival, my heart breaking and raging for her. Through Naudus’ performance, I believe the reader was able to access a well-rounded image of Cora and her found family, empathizing with them despite the paranormal situations they find themselves dealing with.

Kylie Lee Baker has written a sharp socio-political commentary on racial crimes and the mistreatment of Asian women. It will make you fearful of undead spirts and your next-door neighbors in equal measure, because why dread things that go bump in the night when the real terrors lurk just beyond our doors? Bat Eater should unsettle you but it should also leave you with an intense desire to evoke change and a burning need for justice.

Thank you Harlequin Audio for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, MIRA and Harlequin Trade Publishers | Harlequin Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this novel by Kylie Lee Baker, with the audiobook perfectly narrated by Natalie Naudus. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner—but the bloody messes don't bother her, not when she's already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister being pushed in front of a train. The killer was never caught, and Cora is still haunted by his last words: "bat eater." After a series of unexplained killings in Chinatown, Cora believes someone might be targeting East Asian women, and something might be targeting Cora herself.

Horrifying in so many ways, brutally honest in others, all wrapped up in a novel that is not for the faint of heart, but one that will open your eyes. Covid brought so many of us to our knees, but the Asian Americans were subjected to that as well as all the racism and blame for the virus. Add a cultural ghost story and a murder mystery into the mix, perfectly executed, and this book is a winner. I loved Cora’s circle of found family - Yifei and Harvey – who were there for each other until the end. This is dark but has so many important themes. Don’t miss the author’s note at the end.

Audiobook/Book Review 🦇🩸
Thank you partner @htpbooks_audio @htpbooks @htp_hive for the gifted audiobook!

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng
by Kylie Lee Baker
Narrated by Natalie Naudus

About the book 👇🏽

Cora Zeng 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.

So the bloody messes don’t really bother Cora—she’s more bothered by the germs on the subway railing, the bare hands of a stranger, the hidden viruses in every corner, and the bite marks on her coffee table. Of course, ever since Delilah was killed in front of her, Cora can’t be sure what's real and what’s in her head.

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.

🦇My thoughts:

I knew it!! I knew I was going to love this book, and I did. When I saw that Aardvark had it as a selection I immediately snagged it then went to listen to the audiobook! This was 100% audiobook listen and it did not disappoint. The narrator was incredible, didn’t skip a beat, and kept me hanging onto every word. The social commentary on this one along with Cora’s character as whole was top tier. Ugh this story was relentless and did not hold back and truthfully one I haven’t stopped thinking about since I finished it earlier this month. If you are a horror fan and like to feel uncomfortable when reading you need to give this one a read/listen!! It will stick with you for a long time and it hits shelves TOMORROW 4/29/25!

Happy reading 📖🎧🦇🩸

4.5 rounded up
*Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for early copy for review*

WOW this was so good and gory!

Such a great exploration of grief that mixes the injustice of Asian hate during 2020 for the corona virus with Chinese spiritualism. The inner workings of our main character had me wondering what was real and what was just in her head. The writing was compelling which was aided by Natalie Naudus's performance in the audiobook.

I would recommend to anyone who likes speculative/psychological books, books dealing with racial injustice, and books that are hunting a serial killer.

I was provided both an ARC and ALC of this book via Netgalley and the team at Harlequin, all opinions are my own.

This book was strange, and unlike anything we've seen from Kylie Lee Baker before. I try to avoid fiction based around the COVID pandemic, mainly because it is a time that I'd rather forget rather than something I want to relive. This however uses very real social horrors and reframes them into a very creative horror novel to tackle how terrible humanity can be.

Cora is struggling in New York as the pandemic hits. As an Asian woman, specifically a Chinese American woman, she faces discrimination and hatefulness as news breaks that the virus that impacted the world originated in China. She is having a hard time finding work, and when her sister is violently murdered in front of her her life is changed forever. She eventually finds work as a crime-scene cleaner, which isn't the most glamourous job, but it pays the bills. She doesn't mind as she likes things to be clean. She along with her two cleaning partners discover that there seems to be a trend in Asian women being violently murdered. They may have uncovered a serial killer, and as they clean more scenes the closer they get to the killer.

Did I mention Cora has a ghost in her apartment? Baker always does a good job weaving mythology into her novels, and this is no different. Cora's Auntie Zeng keeps tabs on her and always makes sure she follows Chinese traditions and takes care of herself. As the Hungry Ghost Festival approaches Auntie Zeng insists that Cora take proper precautions to prevent being haunted. Cora doesn't heed her warnings, and finds herself with a very hungry supernatural companion.

I really loved how the supernatural element and the thriller came together. At first I wasn't sure how they were linked, but the author did a great job bringing everything together. This does get gory at times, but it isn't all gore all the time. If you are at all squeamish, you may want to skip this or skip those parts. Cora was such a unique character, and I'm so glad we got to go on this weird journey with her. Through Cora we get to relive one of the most horrible times in recent history, but for me we get to walk in the shoes of someone who experience vastly differed from my own, but in this case it has a supernatural horror twist. We get to understand her obsession with cleanliness, solve a murder, make friends, and learn about the supernatural all in one book. This was a rollercoaster ride that I'm so glad I got to experience.

Overall this was a really great horror novel. It tackles social issues and packs a punch when it comes to the horror elements. There is the right amount of gore and tension. You also come to care about the characters. I really enjoyed it!

✨ Review ✨ Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker; Narrated by Natalie Naudus

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Harlequin Audio, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

After her sister suddenly dies, Cora Zeng begins seeing ghosts, and they seem to be trying to communicate with her. This is particularly awkward because her job is as a crime scene cleaner, which is even more horrifying to be happening during COVID.

As a serial killer style mystery unravels around Cora, she seeks to understand the ghosts while also trying to figure out how to get them to go away. She thinks her sister is reappearing to her and she wants her to be free from her. Overall, the book brilliantly weaves in Chinese folklore / beliefs around ghosts and the Hungry Ghost Festival.

This book, however, doesn't flinch. The violence and ghosts are gory, and the book shows the rampant and horrifying racism faced by Chinese and Asian American people during COVID across the U.S. She uncovers terrible violence against East Asian women in particular.

Despite all the seriousness, the book brought a touch of lightheartedness - through the relationships between Cora and her friends, the work of crime scene cleaning, and the general ghostiness of the book.

🎧 The audiobook was so engrossing - I stayed up late one night just binging it. I loved how the narrator brought the story to life and brought out all the creepiness that filled the book.

(check out trigger warnings around gore, violence against East Asian women, serial killing, COVID-19, germphobia, etc. if these are issues for you).

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
Genre: horror, mystery/thriller
Setting: New York City during the COVID era
Length: 8 hours 46 minutes
Reminds me of: Stephen Graham Jones, Nat Cassidy
Pub Date: April 29, 2025

Read this if you like:
⭕️ ghost stories
⭕️ family drama
⭕️ gory horror and mysteries
⭕️ Chinese folklore and traditions