Do you want to know why this was such a great horror story? It’s because It’s because not only was it Asian folklore horror, but it was simultaneously a thriller murder mystery, a tale during the real life horror era of Covid, and the horrid nature of the heart of humanity and its judgment of those who are different. It had all the elements I want in a true horror tale, but was extremely engaging because of the thriller mystery as well. When you throw in the horror of humanity itself in a time where everyone was scared and hurting, you get added depth and characters that are hard not to care about. I was gifted an ALC of this audio book by NetGalley and the publisher, and this opinion is my own.

thank you for the arc!
i listened to the audiobook as i read it and that really added a layer of depth to the story. hearing the emotions in the narrator’s voices through the dialogue was great. i also really enjoyed the audiobook because with it being in 3rd person pov, it’s like im listening to a true crime podcast or show and that really drew me into the story. i just felt like some of the scenes were repetitive but overall it was enjoyable. the horror and thriller was beautifully done.

This was dark, poignant, and multi layered. This was deeply scary in more than one way and I appreciated every part of this uncomfortable book. This book had me shocked many times!

I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed. I'm either reading the wrong kind of horror or I'm really hard to impress. Maybe even both. I really liked the idea of what this was about, but I was bored most of the time. 
Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, post witnessing her sister's murder. This takes place during Covid. I get the importance of social commentary. The pandemic was horrific for so many reasons. It was awful. 
​In my opinion, the story was just OK. I kept waiting for things to happen, and I don't know why I expected it to be scary. 
I'm also convinced that if it's an Evernight subscription box book that it will end up being terrible. So far, that has been my experience. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book is nothing short of a masterpiece. It angered and scared the living heck out of me, dragging me back to one of the darkest periods of my life: the COVID-19 pandemic. But while I was safely holed up at home with my family, many others were not so lucky. People were dying, and Asian communities were being subjected to horrific racism and blame for the pandemic. This story serves as a stark, gut-wrenching reminder of that time, woven together with the chilling elements of Chinese folk religion and the terrifying legend of hungry ghosts.

When I say this book had me on edge, experiencing every big emotion imaginable, I’m not exaggerating. There was a point where I genuinely thought I would DNF because of how heavy it got—but I’m so glad I pushed through. As someone who enjoys horror, I can tell you: this story does not hold back. Our main character, Cora Zeng, witnesses her sister’s murder at a subway station by a masked man who calls her a “bat eater”. She also spends her days cleaning up crime scenes splattered with entrails and brain matter. In fact, Cora is called repeatedly to crime scenes involving East Asian women, where the supposed serial killer leaves behind bats as a chilling signature. If that alone doesn’t sound creepy, add in the lurking hungry ghosts that stalk Cora and devour people alive.

Cora’s fragile mental state—shaped by her traumatic past and time spent in an asylum—makes it hard to separate reality from hallucination. Every turn of the page leaves you questioning what’s real and what’s part of Cora’s unraveling mind. This book is absolutely not for the faint of heart.

One final piece of advice: if you can, listen to the audiobook. Natalie Naudus’s performance is absolutely spectacular, adding an extra layer of intensity to an already haunting story. Just don’t make the mistake of listening before bedtime—you’ve been warned.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the ARC!!

[arc review]
Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing an arc, and to Harlequin Audio for providing an advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng releases April 29, 2025

Kylie Lee Baker’s first foray into horror with a pandemic setting offers nuanced social commentary surrounding anti-Asian hate crimes, which saw a rise during COVID-19.

After witnessing the traumatic death of her sister, our 24-year-old protagonist goes from being an art major to a crime scene cleaner.
Alongside her two coworkers, Cora navigates the perilous world of hate crimes, hungry ghosts, her own inner trauma, and a serial killer whose calling card is bats.

Cora’s type of OCD, the way she viewed her place in this world, and her biracial identity were all so deeply relatable to me, and I think that trifecta was a huge reason as to why I was so invested in this story.

Natalie Naudus is a superb narrator, and her diction of Yifei’s dialogue expertly brought Baker’s darkly funny undertones to life.

At this point, I’m convinced that KLB is incapable of writing a bad book!

I really enjoyed Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng! It’s such a different kind of horror story. Cora works for her friend’s uncle’s crime scene cleaning business in NYC, just trying to survive after losing her sister to a hate crime during the early days of COVID-19. After her sister’s death — where she was cruelly called a "bat eater" — something changes, and spirits start clinging to Cora.

But it’s not constant. It's more like the spirits nudge her toward certain people, leading her deeper into the mystery of who was really responsible for her sister’s death. The haunting parts were creepy without being overwhelming, and I loved how it blended grief, anger, and a slow-burn mystery into the horror.

Even though it’s written from a BIPOC experience, I felt completely comfortable and connected while reading it. The writing was strong, and Cora’s story really stuck with me after. If you like horror with a real emotional core and a little bit of mystery to it, this one’s definitely worth picking up!

This (at times gory) murder mystery/horror story sees Cora, an Asian American crime scene cleaner getting caught up in a series of grisly serial killer like murders that seem to be connected to her sister's violent death. Set in NYC during the pandemic, the book tackles anti-Asian racism, grief, mental health, killer cannibalistic ghosts and more. It was also good on audio narrated by Natalie Naudus and pairs well with books like The eyes are the best part by Monika Kim. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Gritty and gory, a tale of identity and belonging with teeth. I enjoyed the no holds barred horror and the unforgiving pace of the narrative as well as the battering taken by our MC. The look into culture and racism was part of the tension and it never let up. This is a meat grinder of a read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

I love those moments when I just started a new book and immediately knew it was going to be amazing just from the first few pages. And HOLY SHIT, what a wild ride it turned out to be. The way that first chapter ended???

Set in New York during the Hungry Ghost Festival, right in the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic….the story follows Cora Zeng, a crime scene cleaner struggling with contamination obsessions, grief for her sister who died in a hate crime, and the painful complexities of their multiracial family dynamic. The atmosphere is dark, gritty, and gloriously gory. Some scenes genuinely caught me off guard with how brutal they were. One scene in the second half genuinely made me put the book down for a few hours.
I loved the eerie mystery throughout and the deep cultural roots in every part of the story. And I honestly wasn't prepared for how attached I'd become to the little found family that slowly forms around Cora. Their messy, tender dynamic added so much heart and warmth to this otherwise disturbing story.

This book also didn’t shy away from highlighting some of the deeply disturbing realities Chinese and other Asian people faced during Covid. The hate crimes, cruel slurs, mistreatment, fetishization, dehumanization of Asian people, Asian women in particular. It was devastating to read but so important to acknowledge and highlight. It still enrages me that so many of those crimes were never solved, and the sheer amount of unchecked racism people unleashed during that time was (and is) horrifying.

Without giving too much away (because trust me, you want to experience it yourself), if you're looking for a slow, creepy, eerily unsettling horror that gradually unravels into full blown chaos and with a dash of dark humor and found family feels. This is the read for you. Also, shoutout to the audiobook, the narration was really phenomenal!

Thank you @The Hive and @Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

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

Set during the pandemic this novel follows Cora Zeng after she witnesses her sister’s death. A short time after she is working as a crime scene cleaner. This is set against the commentary of what those of Chinese descent dealt with during this time and often these are the victims that Cora and her coworkers are cleaning up after. Meanwhile dealing with her job, hate crimes and the pandemic, Cora is also being followed by a hungry ghost.

This is a thrill ride of a book with seriously scary moments right out of horror films like The Ring, The Grudge or Shutter. The ghosts are just as much the element of horror in this book as how those of Asian descent were treated. This book focuses on those who are of Chinese descent but those of us who lived through the pandemic know that that hate ran rampant through out so many communities. There are lots of twists and turns in this book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I loved the mix of Chinese lore and even a little humor thrown to make this such an engaging read.

I listened to this one as an advanced audio copy of this book, (though i also have this one as a special edition from the January Evernight box) and the narrator is perfect. It was so well done and I enjoyed the production very much. I will admit I don’t usually listen to the author’s note but this one had me nearly in tears thinking about how the world is now and how much has happened since the pandemic. Just the hopefulness we had that everything would return to normal in two weeks to the state of the world now.

This is a horror story and a heavy read but worth every moment. I found it hard to put down and I highly recommend this read.

4.5 stars.

According to a Pew Research Center 2022-2023 survey, since the pandemic started, one-third of Asian American adults personally know another Asian in the US who was harassed or assaulted because of their race. According to the FBI, anti-Asian hate crime incidents increased from 279 incidents in 2020 to 746 incidents in 2021.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng had a really slow start, but I knew that my close bookish friends loved it, particularly for its depiction of racism, so I was determined to pull through and see what the hype was about.

I'm glad I did because this was such a great insight into the Asian American experience during the pandemic, particularly with East Asians and Southeast Asians. Even though this was a fiction novel, Cora's experiences with racism felt so real, especially if you were caught up on news stories about anti-Asian hate crimes in the US. Or if you've personally experienced an anti-Asian hate crime, or know someone who did.

There are specific scenes and situations in the book that dealt head on with anti-Asian racism, and reading them gave me such a visceral reaction that I preferred reading the highly detailed descriptions of the various ghosts that haunt Cora and their ghastly violence instead. Those scenes ended up being my favorite parts anyway. Asian ghosts will always remind me of my upbringing in Southeast Asia, so this book became a little horror-filled trip down memory lane.

This would've been a perfect five star read for me if the first third wasn't so slow. I was actually starting to get bored because nothing was happening. I think the setup could've been shorter and the supernatural/horror elements could've been introduced earlier. This story is a bit of a slow burn imo, but the pace does pick up when more supernatural/horror elements get introduced.

Natalie Naudus's narration will always be my favorite. And the way she narrated the ending? Absolute perfection. 100/10 stars.

Thank you to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for this arc.

This audiobook and book were absolutely delightful. The character casting was PERFECT for Cora Zeng, and I think the narrator conveyed the heavy themes in this book with the wit and sharpness that Kylie Lee Baker intended. I have already been recommending this book to everyone I know in audio format and I know for a fact a few friends have preordered it!

I appreciated the commentary on both anti-Asian hate, Sinophobia, and the general state of capitalism and how it exacerbated racial biases. This book is simply a masterpiece and I can’t wait to get Kylie Lee Baker to sign my hard copy!

(2.75 stars)
First I need to admit that this is not my typical genre; this book was definitely outside my comfort zone. But I was interested to give it a try based on the publisher’s blurb: Asian-heritage women being attacked and murdered in New York City during the early days of the COVID pandemic.

It starts off strong with the scene at the subway station, but gradually lost my interest/grossed me out until I nearly DNF’d it. I’m glad that I decided to keep going with it because the later chapters were pretty strong.

Bat Eater And Other Names For Cora Zeng (great title!) is not for the faint of heart. There are multiple gory deaths and ghostly encounters, as well as icky details from crime scene cleanups, which is how Cora supports herself. Along the way, it highlights anti-Asian racism/hate, which rose to a crescendo during COVID. It also taught me about the tradition of the Hungry Ghost Festival.

I bounced between reading and listening to the audio version. Natalie Naudus did a beautiful job with the narration.

Thank you to MIRA and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Wow.
I generally avoid any books that deal with covid but this one needs to be read. The story within this book needs to be heard. I still can’t believe how much hate this world has to offer. Will it ever end? I have no idea, but I’m so glad people are telling their stories and opening our eyes to it. Please read this heartbreaking book.

The audiobook is fantastic. The emotions the narrator puts into the characters is so fitting.
4/5 Stars

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an audiobook of this novel!
I truly never would've finished without it.
The audiobook is great, btw. Don't let anything I'm about to say keep you from it if you so desire.
Okay, so let me be completely honest...
I've already written one too long 2 star review this week and I'm tired, so I'm going to keep this as brief as I can. I think I can boil my laundry list of issues with this book down to one thing:
Every single thing in this book felt convenient to me. Convenience leads to predictability. Predictability pisses me off. The End. There's no need for me to tear it down further.
On a more positive note....the only one I seem to have... The gore is pretty descriptive. I could picture everything so vividly, so if you're looking for that, here you go.

Okay, first of all—wow. I'm not sure I've ever read a horror novel that managed to wreck me emotionally and also have me side-eyeing every shadow in my house at the same time. This book is absolutely terrifying, but it's also deeply moving, heartbreaking, angry in all the right ways, and so, so layered. It's not just a ghost story (though it's a damn good one)—it's a story about grief, identity, trauma, and what it means to carry both cultural history and personal loss in a world that keeps trying to erase or blame you for its troubles.
 
Let me start by saying this: I generally avoid COVID books and TV shows. The pandemic still feels too fresh, and I'm not ready to relive it. But in this case, it's not a backdrop or a gimmick. It's integral to the story. The racism and violence that surged during that time—especially toward East Asian communities—drives much of what Cora is experiencing, and it's what gives the book its name. "Bat eater," if you recall the ignorant slurs hurled at people during the early pandemic, hits hard here. It's the last thing Cora hears the man who pushed her sister to her death say, and it becomes an echo that haunts her throughout the book.
 
Cora is a character who you instantly root for. She's a crime scene cleaner—which, if you're already picturing the gore, yes, it's as gnarly as it sounds. But she's also carrying this impossible weight: the unresolved murder of her sister Delilah, the absence of justice, and the constant fear that she might be next—mainly because the crime scenes she cleans are after the deaths of Asian women. She's shut down, emotionally numb, and surrounded by death, both professionally and personally. But what I love about her is that she's never portrayed as weak or pitiful. She's angry. She's scared. She's determined. She's real.
 
The supporting cast? Also fantastic. I fell a little in love with her coworkers Yifei and Harvey—two fellow crime scene cleaners who bring a kind of dark humor and unexpected warmth to the story. And Auntie Zeng! She was such a vibrant, grounding presence. Her efforts to bring Cora into the Hungry Ghost Festival traditions added a layer of cultural depth that I really appreciated. The novel doesn't just use Hungry Ghost Month as a spooky setting—it teaches you about it. There's such richness in the way Baker incorporates Chinese traditions, mythology, and beliefs about the dead, and it's all done respectfully and with nuance.
 
Now let's talk horror. The scares in this book? Legit. Like, Ju-On (The Grudge) levels of creeping dread. There's a slack-jawed shadow that keeps showing up around Cora, and it honestly had me reading with all the lights on. The horror isn't just jump scares, though—it's psychological. It's personal. The ghosts don't just haunt the characters; they represent what's been left unsaid, undone, unresolved. There's also this slow-building feeling that something is targeting Cora specifically—and Baker keeps that tension taut throughout.
 
What pushed this to a full five-star read for me, though, was how emotionally invested I was. That first scene with Delilah? Absolutely gutted me. And the grief that pulses through the rest of the novel never lets up. Cora's heartbreak is palpable, and Baker doesn't let you look away from it. But—here's the thing—it's not hopeless. There are moments of connection, moments of healing, even if they're fragile and fleeting.
 
This is one of those books I need to see as a movie. But not a glossy, Hollywoodified version. I want the gritty, atmospheric, tense, and gloomy vibe that comes from Korean and Japanese horror. Think dim lighting, claustrophobic apartments, shadows that move wrong, and tension you can't shake. It would seriously work so well as a film.
 
I did a tandem read (physical and audiobook), and the narrator - Natalie Naudus - does a fantastic job of voicing the characters and perfectly hits all of the beats. If you're more into audiobooks, I definitely recommend this one.
 
Final verdict? If you're looking for a horror novel that will do more than just scare you—one that will make you feel something and think deeply about the cultural weight of fear and grief—this is an absolute must-read. It's raw, it's bold, it's beautifully written, and it's unforgettable. It's one I will definitely come back to.

Cora Zeng has an interesting job that is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. For someone who is a chronic germaphobe, being a crime scene cleaner is one of the last things one would think is her job. Blood doesn't bother her ever since she saw the gruesome death of a close relative who was murdered right before her eyes, and the killer was never caught. This story is set during the height of the pandemic, so people's faces are covered, making it difficult to accurately describe someone if you can't see their face, and the police don't seem to care. One thing about the man she will never forget is what he called them before shoving her loved one to their death. "Bat-eater."

Cora lives a solitary life, other than her coworkers forcing their company upon her, otherwise, she is alone with her manic cleansing because she has a fear of catching the virus. The one that is causing some angry white people to look down upon and attack anyone who looks Asian. They don't care if you grew up in America; they spit at you, call you a bat-eater, and tell you to go back to your deceased country because all Asians are to blame for the virus. Since the death of her relative, more and more unexplained, gruesome killings are happening in Chinatown, specifically of women, and something might be targeting Cora herself, and it's not human.

I'm having a difficult time deciding on what to rate this book. I think it had an important message, a paranormal presentation, and some horror and thriller aspects, which I enjoy, but it was slow at the start and took a bit of building the story to get into. I try to give my best effort for any ARC I decide to read to fairly rate it, and especially try to avoid a DNF if it is slower than what I typically read. Parts of this were a flashback to a time when we all were in the same boat. Trapped at home, supplies limited, people are angry, looking for answers, and pointing fingers. Our lives were turned upside down. This story had some realness to it, but also had a paranormal aspect to shake up the scary factor because a serial killer on the loose isn't enough.

My takeaway after reading this, most importantly, is that this story focused on the discrimination against Chinese Americans over the tragic impact of the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak and how badly they were treated, which in my mind was horrific. Unless you are of Asian descent, though, what happened to them during this time we cannot completely understand, and this book sheds some light on it. I am truly disappointed in the human race for all of that. Also, the paranoia of someone who is so frightened to become ill that they go to the extreme to stay away from people when they can and treat their body and where they live like a hospital surgical room. OCD to the extreme comes to mind, describing the FMC.

In this day and age, we should not be treating other human beings in such a way, but apparently, time doesn't erase prejudice and hate crimes against innocent people. Anti-Asian hate crime was highlighted, but that isn't the only hate crimes that still happen daily in the US and around the world. We can only hope that this behavior will end sooner rather than later.

Thank you for the ALC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 Stars

Thank you NetGalley & Harlequin Audio for providing an advanced listener copy for me. I feel honored to have been able to consume this book before its publication date. Also thank you Kylie for writing this book.

I went into this book pretty much blind. I saw the author advertise her book on tik tok, saw the eye catching cover, and read the intriguing title. I knew this was a horror book & I absolutely love horror media. The first chapter to this pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the story. No one is safe. Whether that be from Covid itself or from racist white men. No one is safe.

This book is for the girls who never felt right, girls who sulk in their siblings shadow, the girls who have such warped minds, and the girls who have been exposed to the disgusting nature of men. This book became a murder mystery but it is so much more than that. It so much more than a book about "who did it," and really became a story about discovering yourself, maneuvering grief, and finding peace within the chaos that is ourselves. Covid is such a pivotal part of our lives now; we have lived through it. Cora's experience brought a different perspective to those trying times & unfortunately her story isn't unique. I remember the news reports about the hate crimes & how it was just swept under the rug.

I also LOVE LOVE LOVE how the author portrayed contamination OCD with Cora's character. The characters as a whole I felt like were written well. In most 300ish pages of horror/thriller novels you often are there for the story not really the characters. I was here for Cora and her friends.

I will be reading more work by Kylie Lee Baker.

The way I DEVOURED this one!

In short, Bat Eater is a story of horror, humor, and social commentary on Asian American racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is loss and grief alongside violence and gore. There is mental health/anxiety rep and found family. And there are ghosts seemingly at every turn 😂 (poor Cora).

This was so well written. I was immediately drawn in and audibly gasped by the end of CHAPTER ONE. If this at all sounds like something you’d enjoy, I absolutely recommend picking it up.

I listened to the audiobook and I absolutely loved the narrator and the emotion she put into telling the story!

Thank you so much to The Hive, HTP, and Harlequin Audio for an ARC/ALC in exchange for my honest review!