Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zheng has to be one of my most anticipated releases. I’ve been a fan of Kylie Lee Baker for years now and I’m so excited for this adult horror debut! It makes total sense if you’ve been following along! Keep reading this book review of Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zheng for my full thoughts.
Summary
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.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zheng was phenomenal. It’s not only about the violence and hatred towards East Asians during the pandemic, it’s also about choosing who we will become. As someone who experienced the way looks changed, the fear settling into my bones when I dared to go out, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zheng was always going to be emotional. It made my blood boil as it felt simultaneously in the ‘past’ and yet still too near.
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Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zheng begins with the idea of loss and solidifies into a world of hungry ghosts and voices screaming from the past. It’s full of suspense on the next inhale. The promise of violence in the air and the waiting silence between heartbeats. Kylie Lee Baker’s adult book pays homage to the ghosts, the spirits, and the powers in our lives which remain, who have never left. It’s not afraid to bring the horror. And yet throughout it all, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zheng asks whether we become what they say we are, that if we do, they lose their power over us.
That fear and power are connected. And if we let fear win, we give up our power. Find Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zheng on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.