Oh wow this blew me away. They say horror is at its scariest when it’s closest to reality. And wow this is absolute nightmare fuel. Has some really important themes, and on multiple occasions my jaw dropped and I needed to take quick break. The best horror is traumatising and stays with you, I think this book might send a couple of people into therapy. Touché

Absolutely loved this dark and unsettling new novel from Kylie Lee Baker!

I was scared to turn out the lights, and look into the dark places in my house whilst reading this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reading copy of this. I will be recommending this to al those that love reading the unsettling.

Superb and scary, this was a real treat of a horror. I really enjoyed Cora as a main character, she was a little annoying but her fears were real. The explicit details of the crime scene clean up and murderers were horrific and added to the overall feeling of dread throughout this novel. Baker managed to weave the real racism of Covid with the horror of ghosts and create a truly terrifying story about guilt, regret and anger. This was so entertaining to read!

Bat Eater follows Cora Zeng who is a crime scene cleaner during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cora doesn’t get bothered by the brutality of the crime scenes as she saw her sister pushed in front of a train at the start of the pandemic and the perpetrator whispered bat eater. The killer is never caught and Cora is barely keeping it together. Strange things start happening and Cora realises all the recent cleanups have been East Asian women.

I’m giving this 3.5 stars. It had a lot of important commentary particularly on identity - what it means to be an Asian woman with a Chinese father but a white mother. Also commentary on being Asian during the pandemic and the way East Asian people were blamed and hated over something they had no control over. The first chapter was very shocking and really makes you think. It set the tone of the book very well. However I found the writing to be quite robotic and removed.

4.5 This went so much further than I was expecting and is so much more than a horror story!

I don’t typically enjoy overly gruesome or gory writing because I’ve seldom seen it done in a way that’s not totally gratuitous; while this book has some truly stomach-churning imagery, that’s not what it pins its flag to overall and I think that really worked for me. I was truly surprised at how emotive this story was especially with the themes around sisterhood, grief, racism, existing as an immigrant, existing as a woman, friendship, and family. There’s supernatural happenings, a mystery, and thriller elements too.

The characters were a good group to spend time with. I liked Cora and felt Deliah come to life as a character through her memories. Harvey and Yifei were interesting, complex people that added something really special - I particularly liked the group dynamic that the crime scene cleaners had together and their little slice of found family. Auntie Z was wonderful and I enjoyed spending time with her too. Of all the characters, I found Yifei the most compelling: she was smart, capable, but relatably exhausted by the world.

The writing was top-notch with excellent uses of descriptive language. The hungry ghosts theme added so much to the story. The sense of place and time were excellent. There was something so claustrophobic about NYC in the pandemic. Cora’s fears, anxieties, and experience navigating the different stages of the pandemic were terrifyingly relatable. Cora’s experience as an Asian during this period was painful, infuriating, and upsetting. Baker is deeply skilled at portraying the experience of trying to exist in a hostile place which makes for very difficult, but wholly necessary, reading. I’ve noticed that I haven’t enjoyed stories set in the pandemic but I think it’s because what I’ve encountered has been mostly people whining about lockdowns; in this book, I could relate to Cora’s fear, her apprehension about loosening restrictions, the abuse she received for wearing a mask, everything she felt when she got sick… I found Cora’s experience refreshing compared to other books that use this setting.

As I was reading, this book reminded me of Black Water Sister (another excellent read!) but darker and more gruesome.

If you’re looking for a horror that goes further and deeper exploring timely and important themes around racism, sexism, family, friendship and further intersectionalities, look no further! If you’re interested in these themes but not as sold on horror, I’d still recommend it - it has a lot of important things to say - but go in knowing there’s a lot of violent, gruesome, and gory imagery. Read the Author’s Note at the end too!

I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted through NetGalley. Thank you so much, Hodder & Stoughton!

I'm going to have a hard time portraying my thoughts on this book in a spoiler free manner so just bare with this jumble of thoughts!
This book was absolutely INCREDIBLE. It grasped onto me and didn't let me go, I'm still not convinced it has let me go. We spend the book in the mind of Cora Zeng, a Chinese American, who lives in NYC during the Covid-19 pandemic. The first chapter starts off relatable, no toilet paper to be found, nobody on the streets etc. and then it just takes a complete turn and you know, you're in for a ride. There is a lot of horror in this book in terms of gore and hungry ghosts but also, the horror of realising the topics discussed within this book are some peoples reality.
I loved Cora and I could relate to her anxieties around catching the virus and realising the unknown is the worst part. I did want to give her a little shake at time and tell her to pull herself together but you know what? She was doing her best.
The authors note at the end is definitely worth a read.

i wanted to take my time reading “bat eater” so i could savor every little word: but i was unable to stop myself from reading and, like the ghosts in this book, completely devoured it.

it’s gory, it’s angry, it’s sad, it’s pessimistic. it’s completely terrifying because it's real and all of that /did/ happen.
the author did a great job in transporting me back to those times, making a shiver run down my spine and unease sit heavy in my stomach. i was angry and frustrated and i could see myself and others i quarantined with so much in cora’s actions, in her fear and in her distrust, in her OCD and the anger that kept growing and growing as the world kept going while everything felt like it should be burning down to the ground.

i can’t wait to get a physical copy of this book. i’ll definitely be recommending this to others!

a big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing this arc.