5★

I saw many great review for this book before picking it up, so was already expecting it to be good. But this still manages to surprise me. I loved it.

I read this as a audiobook + physical book at the same time - aka immersive read - and I’d definitely recommend doing that. The audio was great and the narrator did a very good job.

The writing was really good. Sometimes it was funny and made me laugh, other times it was pretty sad.

Cora was an amazing character to follow. I pretty much instantly liked her. And her friends - but not really but also kinda maybe a little bit - were such fun characters. I could read just about them. The banter, the chemistry they had with each other. I really enjoyed all of them. And their job being what it was, crime scene cleaners, was a cherry on top.

The story was pretty touching and sad. It’s set during Covid so it might not be for everyone, but I personally didn’t mind. I also liked the added Chinese folklore and the sprinkle of serial killer on top.

Simply said, this book had everything I might like and it definitely delivered.

I’d definitely recommend for any horror lover.

It’s March 2020 and Chinese American Cora Zeng and her half sister Delilah have ventured out in New York at the height of the pandemic to find toilet roll.
At the mostly-deserted Subway station, a white man in a mask grabs Delilah’s arm, spits out ‘Bat Eater’ and pushes her into the path of an incoming train, decapitating her.
The book starts as a harrowing read and doesn’t let up from then on in.

A few months later and we see Cora at work as a crime scene cleaner. She seems to be mainly cleaning up the corpses of Asian women, which at first, she thinks is just coincidental, but then becomes far too systematic and regular to be anything other than a crazed Chinese-hating serial killer, whose calling card is leaving live bats at the murder scenes.
Cora is a germophobe (which makes her choice of work a strange choice in some ways, but then obvious in others). But she is also suffering from trauma, mental health issues, abandonment issues and the huge raft of issues surrounding what it must be like to be a young Asian woman in America - particularly at the onset of the COVID pandemic.

I repeat, a seriously harrowing read. But more than that, it’s a pretty terrifying read both for the real horrors in the world and the supernatural horrors. And it also manages to have dark humour too.

The Chinese Folklore of ‘Hungry Ghosts’ is a big part of the book. At times it’s hard to tell if it’s Cora’s traumatised imagination or a real phenomenon. (Although Hungry Ghosts seem very helpful in solving crimes!).Poor Cora - the horrors really do constantly torment her in so many ways.

Cora’s friendship with her co-workers Yifei and Harvey is just beautiful to read and for me, is the most uplifting part of the book.

Definitely one of the best books in 2025. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the chance to read the ARC.

This book was quite outside my comfort zone and it was definitely a challenging read at times, but it was absolutely brilliant and I loved it.

The way that the author interlaced the very real horror of racism with supernatural elements was outstanding and deeply unsettling.
The book was hard to put down and yet I sometimes had to because I was overwhelmed with the contents in the best way.

It was gruesome and grueling in a way I didn't expect it to be but it was all done so well.

I loved the main character and how her story was told. Even though my living reality is very far from the FMC's, I felt deeply connected to her and her emotions. You can tell that this was a personal story for the author.

Overall, this book was painful and it made me feel a lot of negative emotions, including anger at the ignorance of other people, but I loved it and highly recommend it, but check trigger warnings first as it gets rather dark.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I absolutely loved this. The development of the story and the timeframe of it being set during Covid really framed this story. The dynamic between the characters was so interesting and the ideas explored in the story were unique.

**🦇 BAT EATER** by Kylie Lee Baker tells the story of June, a young Asian woman in the U.S. trying to get by as a crime scene cleaner — a job that confronts her with death on a daily basis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian racism escalates: June is spat at, harassed, her friends are attacked. But what she discovers at work (remember, she's a crime scene cleaner) is even more terrifying — more and more young Asian women are being brutally murdered, yet the news remains completely silent.

As June digs deeper, she uncovers disturbing patterns — and a supernatural threat that may be more connected to her than she's ready to admit. 👀

This book really got to me. It's not only a dark, atmospheric horror story, but also a sharp, unflinching commentary on reality. The everyday racism June experiences is portrayed so raw and unapologetically that it hurts — and the fact that her very existence is in danger while the world looks away makes it all the more suffocating.

Kylie Lee Baker masterfully weaves social issues (including tons of insights into Asian culture) into horror in a way that kept me thinking about the book long after I finished it. A must-read — even for those who don’t usually go for horror! 🤌🏻

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)
Dark, bold, and utterly original. Kylie Lee Baker crafts a beautifully horrifying world where power and pain go hand-in-hand. Lushly written and deeply mythological, this is fantasy at its fiercest—gripping from first page to last.

Dark, disturbing, scary with an undercurrent of black humour. It kept me on the edge and some parts made me feel really afraid as they were so near reality and you had not a lot o ffilter.
Well written and good storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The main protagonist is Cora, an Asian-American woman of mixed heritage. She recently suffered the loss of her sister Delilah after a hate crime and has severe PTSD. To pay her bills she takes on a cleaning job, which soon becomes a crime scene cleaning job. While at the job she notices a pattern of Asian women being murdered violently. Cora is at sea without Delilah and is on her own for the first time. She is struggling with her beliefs (Chinese religious customs and Christianity), this duality makes her unsure of herself, especially when she starts to sense a weird presence. Due to previous experiences, she is afraid of seeking help and its implications. This book is a great conversation starter, tackling Asian hate during the pandemic, the experiences of people of mixed-race, mental health and how intolerance can lead to violence. I would highly recommend to lovers of horror.

I received this ebook ARC from NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for a free and honest review

cora zeng, a young chinese american woman, is living with her half-sister in new york city when covid-19 hits and turns her world upside down. laid off from their jobs, her sister decides she wants to go and live with their dad in china for a while. or at least, that was her plan. she unfortunately never made it to china, having been pushed by a white man into the path of a train— right in front of cora.

riddled with anxiety, her ocd at an all time high, and struggling to make rent payments, cora ends up taking a job as a crime scene cleaner. she can’t help but notice an alarming amount of the crime scenes they are called to are for asians, and what is with all the bats? someone is killing these people and cora and her friends are determined to get word of this out there.

what follows is an incredible story of grief, faith and resilience in the face of insurmountable turmoil. baker is an incredible writer. the way she was able to weave such strong supernatural elements into a tale that started off so grounded in reality was so well done.

this book has it all, you will be scared at times and grossed out at others. highly recommend.

‘Father Thomas points to several empty spaces in the walls, where there is only gaping darkness instead of doors. “For the children they never had,” Father Thomas says, his voice low. “Imagine if all of us built crypts for our dreams.”

I have NEVER in my life related to a character like I did Cora Zeng. Think of that what you may but my god I honestly found myself nodding and agreeing with some of her thoughts and found myself thinking yep, exactly.

Cora Zeng is a germaphobe with OCD who works as part of a crime scene clean up crew during the 2020 COVID pandemic and she's being haunted by hungry ghosts.
After a devastating even Cora finds herself adrift in life, the pandemic changed everyones world but the death of Delilah brought Cora's world crashing down around her. The sisters bond gave the impression they were twins, they had a complex relationship but the bond and the love they held for each other was undeniable but it did have the feel of one of those obsessive girl friendships.

Cora suffers with mental health issues which have only gotten worse since the death of her sister, now the lines of reality are becoming blurred and she can't quite figure out what's real and what's not.. although the bite marks on the coffee table definitely weren't there yesterday.

With the help of her clean up crew mates, Cora tries to figure out how to get her sister to stop haunting her.. but the hauntings aren't the only thing that's going on. with each clean up the crew are sent to it's clear someone is killing Asian women in gruesome and terrifying ways. There's a serial killer on the loose and no Asian woman is safe, the prejudice and blatant racism towards to Asian community is another level of horror added to an already horrific tale but it is also a slap in the face of reality and shows once again that humans are the really horror of this world.

This book had so many layers, from Cora's mental illness to Hungry ghosts, living in a global pandemic a city rife with hostility and racism topped off with a serial killer? this book consumed me and had me white knuckling my Kindle. The author created the heavy and claustrophobic atmosphere of the unknown during the pandemic reminding us of how people really were unhinged hoarding toilet paper and the like it brought 2020 crashing back around me.

This is an exceptional horror book and narrative of Asian racism that I recommend to everyone- provided you can handle the gore. It's so unbelievably gory and terrifying at the same time it will have you cringing but also the friendship between the crew was the shining light of this story brining a hint of laughter and a smile in the darkness.

The twists had be SHOOK and I could not believe somethings that happened, my heart was broken and I did not see some of the events of this book coming what so ever.

Beautifully written, impactful and terrifying Iv'e struggled reading anything since I finished it.

What could be a more fitting read than a horror novel filled with death and fear, inspired by the author’s own experience of the 21st century's largest pandemic – COVID-19? Drawing from the devastation of the outbreak and its related societal aspects, Baker has crafted an impressive and spine-chilling story that radiates unease.

The book follows Cora Zeng, who tragically loses her sister in a train accident. A mysterious stranger pushes the girl in front of an oncoming train, leaving chaos in its wake. Just before the fatal moment, two ominous words echo through the station: “Bat eater.” As Cora struggles to move on, she finds work at an Asian-owned cleaning company. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, the firm’s primary business shifts to cleaning up crime scenes. Once the forensic team has taken their photos and evidence, and the bodies have been removed, it’s Cora’s job—along with her team—to scrub away everything that remains.
However - it soon becomes clear that the victims are predominantly Asian women, and at every crime scene, there’s a bat left behind. Is there a serial killer on the loose? Or is something far more sinister at play?

Yet the terror isn’t confined to the city’s streets—Cora begins to sense that even her home is no longer a safe haven. At first, she suspects memory lapses. But when she discovers a hole gnawed into the couch and bite marks on the dining table, her doubts evaporate. Whoever—or whatever—is behind this, is no human.

How do you escape something that moves through walls, glides like the wind, and never makes a sound? How do you save your own skin when faced with a hungry ghost that shows no mercy?

This haunting story is a truly unsettling read that will send chills down your spine. While the book’s opening delivers a lightning bolt of action, the following 100+ pages adopt a slower pace. However, don't be deterred—the meticulous descriptions and rich backstory allow readers to understand Cora’s mindset, her family’s complex history, and their cultural traditions surrounding death and the afterlife.

Around the 200-page mark, the novel shifts gears into an adrenaline-fueled race against time, resembling a heart-pounding thriller where survival hangs by a thread. If you can endure the slower start (which some might find atmospheric rather than sluggish), the final act will more than reward your patience.

One of the novel's greatest strengths lies in its terrifyingly realistic social commentary. The pandemic not only brought sickness but also unveiled the ugliest sides of humanity—xenophobia, scapegoating, and unchecked hatred. In Baker’s world, life is cheap, and vigilante justice becomes the new norm.

Chilling, thought-provoking, and painfully relevant—Bat Eaters is a book that lingers long after the last page is turned. If you’re seeking a horror novel that blends the supernatural with unsettling reality, this one will haunt your dreams.

This is such a great horror story. but when you look past the guts and gore, ghost and bats you realise that the real horror here is the systemic discrimination, the horrors of the Covid 19 pandemic and the racism faced by Asian people when this was classified as the 'China disease'. I wouldn't say i 'enjoyed' this one - the imagery doesn't hold back on it's gruesomeness and the story is quite stressful., but i loved reading a horror based in Asian cultural beliefs and i think the underlying message of this book is an important one.

It feels odd that 5 years later the Covid 19 pandemic has been turned into fiction. It was a great book to read and the emotions that were portrayed through the book were easy to transport yourself back too (albeit a bit scary and surreal) but it’s fantastic accounts have been produced like this!

4.5 stars!
Very thought provoking - the racism the characters face breaks your heart. The cruelty done to the victims makes you feel sick that those humans exist.
Really well written, fast paced and harrowing story

A gory horror novel following a girl with mysophobia working as a crime scene cleaner after watching the brutal death of her sister. This mixed with a murder mystery story trying to find a serial killer, and tackling racism toward Asian Americans during the covid pandemic.

I absolutely loved this novel. The last half I devoured in an evening!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Genre: Horror
Tropes: Murder Mystery

‘The thing about hungry ghosts is they don’t care if you believe in them.’

‘She’s still Chinese and no one will let her forget it.’

‘They were never supposed to be her friends, but they didn’t give Cora a choice.’

There are many fears in Cora’s life, these are raised tenfold when a deeply traumatic event happens. Cora feels lost and alone, in a world where the Covid pandemic is at the forefront of the media, covering up all the other despicable things that are happening around her. Whilst at her crime scene cleaning job Cora & her co-workers start to see a pattern in the scenes… Bats…

A politicly charged and suspenseful horror story. This book had me in chokehold, I couldn’t put it down! It’s also relatively short, so basically you have NO excuse not to read it!

The underlying themes are hard hitting and incredibly effective, the writing also allows you to seep into the mind of Cora & understand exactly how she is feeling. Initially I was unsure how I felt reading about a Covid theme, but I actually felt quite seen with how the pandemic has affected Cora & her behaviours. I think it’s safe to say it’s affected most of us in one way or another.

The last third of the book, I felt like I losing my mind (Cora I feel you girl), WTF.
It’s one of those books that leaves you thinking about it long after you finish it.
I wish I could say more, but I’m at a loss for words.

PS. I also really appreciated the author’s note as the end 🫶🏻

I started reading the book because I'd read and loved the author's previous book for young adults, Scarlet Alchemist, a fantasy book. I was surprised by the radical change of genre: this book is very gory and has a lot of descriptions that make you feel like you're right there in the story – I've even been scared. The story is written from Cora's point of view, but she's a narrator we can't trust because she doesn't even trust herself, which makes the whole book shrouded in mystery, which I loved. I also loved the part of the book about Chinese culture with the ghosts, but I was a bit disappointed by the ending.
The book deals with some very complex issues, such as racism in the USA during the pandemic, the identity problems of an interracial main character who is trying to connect with her two cultures, childhood abandonment, mental illness, and childhood abuse.

Thank you Netgalley, Kylie Lee Baker and Hodder & Stoughton for the eArc of Bat Eater.

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner in China Town and dealing with the Pandemic. More so, while walking home, witnesses her sister being pushed under a passing train. While dealing with the Trauma of losing her sister, Cora comes to the conclusion that someone maybe targeting Asian people and having a close call herself.

This book. tackles the darkness of trauma, the claustrophobic manner of a pandemic and systemic racism. Not just on a general basis but also through the origins of this virus and being the accusations of asian people being " Bat Eaters" Even though there are some elects of dark and funny humour. This book taps into the psyche. I loved Kylie's writing style in which she is building dread, paranoia, sleuthing skills, all while dealing with Cora's job, which, in fact would affect anyone's mental health after a while.

The pacing of the book is medium which ebbs and flows but doesn't sputter out. Both the character and world building around China then made it easy to envisage where Cora was,

I also listened to the audio version of this book which was done by Natalie Naudus who suited the pacing and the ominousness of this book.

4 Stars

Wow oh wow, this book. It’s dark. It’s vicious and vengeful.

It’s so so brilliant.

This book really put me through my paces! There’s so many twists and turns, reveals, and so much gore! It’s gruesome. I was really impressed with how this book put me on my toes and shook me to my core…I was mildly (a lot) afraid to read this with the lights out because I began to think something weird was staring at me from the shadows…(turns out it was one of my cats).

The writing in this is so vivid and evocative and Baker does an excellent job at crafting an atmosphere of paranoia and fear and grief and anger. Everything was so tangible. It all really hit extra hard knowing that a lot of suffering due to racism that Cora went through is what a lot of Chinese/Asian people experienced and do still experience because of Covid.

I couldn’t believe, maybe stupidly, the amount of death in this. No one, and I mean, no one was safe. It was so unsettling but it really added to the brutality of the situation and the world.

I think Baker did something really excellent here.

Also, as someone with OCD, specifically contamination OCD, I related a lot to Cora and so seen. There’s a passage at the beginning of the book that echoes thoughts and sentiments similar to what I was having during the lockdowns that it startled me (in a good way).

The only reason this isn’t a five stars is because the ending felt a bit too disjointed and messy for me. I know I had to suspend my disbelief a lot anyways due to the paranormal and supernatural elements of the novel, but I feel like a lot of things were glossed over for convenience and to make it easier to wrap the book up which is a shame.
.

I wasn't too sure what to expect from Bat Eater as the blurb was pretty open ended on whether it would be crime-leaning or horror, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was in fact a hybrid of the two genres, on one hand we have Cora and her crime-scene cleaner friends trying to unpick the murders of several Asian women all who appear to be found with bats corpses present in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and on the other we have the supernatural in the format of 'The Hungry Ghost' a spectre that has clung to Cora and is drawn from Chinese mythology, I don't want to say too much as I fear I might spoil the plot, but if you enjoy thrillers that will leave you questioning how everything is entwined (almost Christiesque at times with the red herrings), the supernatural a la the ring, with the combination of social commentary albeit an uncomfortable truth of how sinophobia became a massive issue during the pandemic then this book is as must read.

Thank you Netgalley & Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC.