Thank you so much for accepting my request. I’d heard of this book through TikTok and was excited to read it when it came out so I’m grateful I got it early.

I really liked this book. I’m not a huge fan of COVID being in the media I consume but it had an integral part in the story and was done well. Cora was a complicated character and her development was interesting to read.

I will be getting the Evernight illumicrate special edition of this book in January.

4.5 stars

Holy crap, this would make a great movie. I'm not going to lie, I was skeptical AF going in. I feel like every author ever had a pandemic book they needed to get out of their system, and at this point I think I've read them all. I'm so over covid inspired horror. Even if you're feeling the same way, give this one a try. This isn't covid inspired horror, this is the horror that was living through covid; a specific slice of horror that not all of us saw - or if we did, were able to look away or turn off the TV when it came up. But Bat Eater is also so much more. It's a profound story of absence, of loss and despair.

The use of traditional Chinese traditions and folklore around ghosts was brilliant. The author has an excellent sense of pacing, and knew exactly how to slowly ratchet the tension up until it was hard to read and breath at the same time.

Abandoned by her mother, and left behind by a father who has returned to China to marry again, Cora clings to her half-sister, Delilah. Delilah is the only constant in her life. The only one who will always be there. Until she's not. A train hurtles into the subway station and Delilah's head explodes, ripped from her body in a shower of gore. The man who pushed her is gone. Cora is alone. But hungry ghosts are never quiet.

Literally the only reason this isn't a full five stars for me is that I have an unending hatred for "Where Are They Now"-style epilogues and this one was especially, needlessly milquetoast. Without the epilogue? Chef's kiss!

"Because a bat eater is the kind of person that white men want to hurt, the kind of person who tangles their fear and hate together and elicits their rage, the kind of person who scares them. And Cora knows all too well that you can’t fear someone who has no power over you."

Words can't accurately describe how good this book was but I'll try my very best to articulate it.

Bat Eater is a dark, gritty and gory exploration of grief, loss and Sinophobia (illogical hate towards people of Chinese descent and their culture).

Kylie Lee Baker has done a phenomenal job of creating a story that is relevant, engaging and gut-wrenchingly REAL.

Cora Zeng is living in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic and is trying to deal with the aftermath of a horrific event in her life - someone pushing her sister, Delilah, in front of a train. As the world has turned upside-down, she's now working as part of a crime scene clean-up crew to make ends meet. The bloody messes don't bother her as much as the germs and she's obsessive about being clean at all times.

Since the loss of her sister, she's struggling to differentiate what's real and what's not and things are made worse when her Aunt warns her to prepare for The Hungry Ghost Festival - where the gates of hell open and ghosts come out to feast. Food starts to go missing from her fridge, there's bite marks on her furniture and she's starting see Delilah's ghost. On top of that, bats are appearing at the crime scenes she's cleaning up and Cora can't help but wonder if everything is connected.

As someone who doesn't usually seek horror books, I was drawn in by the cover (the UK version) and the crime elements of the synopsis. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed it and how NECESSARY it was that this book was told through a horror/paranormal lens because it added so much more to the story than if it had just been a literary fiction novel.

The most terrifying part of the story for me wasn't the ghosts or the gore, but the fact that the revelation near the end wasn't something paranormal or mystical, it was just a fact. That some people will only ever see others as less than themselves and will never see them as human beings. That the people who commit these very real crimes do not see their victims as anything more than objects and destroying them to an unrecognisable state shows how little they care for the sanctity of their body or the preciousness of their lives.

Kylie Lee Baker's words are sharp and direct but so powerful and I truly hope that this book doesn't get swept under the rug. It's a story that needs to be told, devoured and digested so that victims of this crime aren't ever forgotten; they deserve to be seen and remembered, not left to haunt the living as hungry ghosts.

I absolutely devoured this book! It was everything I wanted in a horror book and more.

Flawed but likable characters
Ghosts with unfinished business
Real life horror issues racism and COVID
Real life beliefs (Hungry ghost month)
A serial killer/murder mystery

Honestly this book had it all, the issues surrounding COVID and the racism towards people with an Asian background during this time added such a tense real world horror element that was just so well done, it showed the struggles many people went through during this time but also how many people had to deal with the pandemic and abuse on top! I was worried for Cora throughout the whole book but I didn't find her pathetic. She is a traumatised woman with people around her telling her she is worthless and not worth having around, but she was brave and loyal to her friends and I just loved her, flaws and all. As for secondary characters Harvey and Yifei were brilliant, they added a lightness to the story but they had their own troubles and personalities that were fun to discover. As for the ghost part of the book I did not want to turn my lights off, I could imagine the ghosts so vividly and I could see this being a horror movie too! And again taken from real life the hungry ghost month happens in August so I think I have found a new yearly horror read outside of October! I could go on forever about how much I love this book but I don't want to give any spoilers!

Overall the pace of this book was brilliant, the story flowed nicely and there were no dull moments I felt I wanted to skip over. There are gory moments but they are vital to the story not just for shock value. If horror fans want to start 2025 with a bang I would get this book when it comes out on the 7th January 2025, I will be getting this for my bookshelf as it will be one I want to revisit every year!

Bat Eater has to be one of the best, most horrifying books I've read in a long while. It's visceral, intense and filled with so many layers, you never quite know what the true horror of the story is.

2020, the start of the pandemic, a time when being East Asian meant being blamed for something completely out of your control. Enter Cora Zeng, a Chinese American crime scene cleaner, the only job she could get after her sister was pushed in front of a train by someone who accused her of being a bat eater. She pushes all her feelings to the side, trying to become better, become what everyone wants her to be, so she disregards the fresh bite marks on her furniture, her food going missing, and absolutely ignores her Aunt's advice about the upcoming Hungry Ghost Festival. Instead Cora spends her days cleaning up the mess left by only the most horrific of crimes, starting to notice that the majority of her clean ups have been East Asian women, and when Cora and her co-workers start finding mutilated bats at the crime scenes, they know something is horribly wrong.

I can't tell you just how good this book was, other than to say that it scared the shit out of me and I still read it in every free moment I had... even before I went to bed. This may not seem like a lot, but as a self confessed wimp, a book like this would have firmly remained a daylight only kinda read for me, but I had to read it, I had to find out what happened, because it's not just scary, it's thought-provoking, it's intense and it's wholly gripping. Baker asks the readers to sit firmly in Cora's shoes through the story, not an easy task, and see everything, the pandemic, the murders and the ghosts, through her unique eyes. It's a story that contains so many different layers of Horror. On the surface there is the pandemic, an event that affected the whole world, and also one where anyone who looked like Cora, anyone who could pass as East Asian, suffered an extra level of terror thanks to being blamed for bringing it on.

Underneath that we a murder mystery. East Asian women being brutally murdered throughout the city and bats being left at the crime scene. Cora and her coworkers know that it isn't a coincidence, and they also know that the police are not willing to name it what it is, a serial killing, claiming that the different styles of death don't fit with a serial killer. And the final layer, the ghost story if you will. Cora may have ignored her Aunt's advice regarding the Hungry Ghost Festival, but once her food starts going missing, and she starts finding teeth marks in her furniture, she knows that Delilah has come back, hungry for more than food. She isn't happy that her murder is still unsolved, and wants Cora to bring justice to the person who killed her.

All of these get woven together to create one of the most unique and visceral horrors stories I've ever read. You might think that there are a lot of moving pieces, and there are, but Baker makes it work, and that is because every single one of these horrors is something that Cora can feel, all are something that link to her East Asian heritage, and it is that that links all the parts together. Cora herself is someone who we learn deals with her own kind of horrors on a daily basis. Mixed heritage, she have never felt truly American or Chinese, never felt she was enough for either side of her family. Growing up abandoned by her father, and with a mother who gave Cora's college fund to a cult, the only person she has ever been able to rely on was Delilah, and even they had a complicated relationship, one we learn about throughout the story. All of this, as well as Cora's lingering feelings of guilt and abandonment, evolve into some mental issues, including OCD.

There are some truly well placed twists in this book, and plenty of white knuckle moments. It's not a happy story, it's dark and depressing in parts, but there is also some light. In the friendships we see Cora tentatively make, even in the return of Delilah in a way, even if she is a ghost. Bakers writing style really drags you into the story like it's the gates of hell itself. Atmospheric to the max, she puts a grey light over the city that never sleeps, showing that horrors that live there, and I enjoyed how the city itself almost became it's own kind of character.

When I say this is one of the best books I've read, I'm not lying, but it's absolutely not for the faint of heart. It's gore-filled, chilled me to the bone in places and there are some truly WTF moments that shook me to the core. But it also incredibly emotional and made me cry more than once, something that I didn't expect at all. Fair warning though, it's filled with triggers & graphic scenes that I would definitely be wary of before reading. But all of these things made it feel more realistic, more true to the time and the place, an NYC that is slowly changing as people try to make their way through the pandemic to the light at the other side. It's one of those books I'm going to be thrusting at people, because not only is it brilliantly written, but it's am important story that needed to be told, and boy did Baker tell it well.

Thinking of the Covid pandemic with all the testing and masks and everyone panic buying toilet rolls, it feels like another lifetime ago. I sometimes wonder if it actually happened at all!

In general, I don’t really like reading books set in the pandemic as it still feels a little too fresh, but when I saw the synopsis of Bat Eater I knew I had to pick it up. Focusing on the hate the Chinese population received from the ‘China Virus’, this novel is part horror, part crime thriller and I was hooked throughout!

The first thing I noticed when reading this book is how beautiful the prose is, it was simply a joy to read. The opening chapter set in the train station introduces you well to Cora and her sister Delilah and their complex relationship, before throwing in a shocking curveball which grabbed me instantly. This book does deal with a lot of sometimes disgusting and gory subjects (Cora is a crime scene cleaner after all), and the writing does such a good job of describing everything vividly and making you feel like you are truly there in the moment.

After the first chapter, the book leaps forward in time, focusing on Cora’s new job of a crime scene cleaner, where she starts discovering that a serial killer with a hatred towards the Asian population may be on the loose. This part of the book focuses on the friendships she has with her colleagues as they try and get someone to believe them or care about the killings. It’s truly sad in places and the hate that is pictured feels sadly believable in the context of the pandemic.

The book is also interspersed with Cora being haunted by hungry ghosts. I love a bit of horror, and this is done so well - the depiction of these apparitions is genuinely chilling and I was a little apprehensive reading with the lights off. This also brought into focus Chinese folklore as well, which I didn’t know much about but was very interested to learn.

Overall, Bat Eater is a fantastic book and a Kindig Gem for 2025. It’s part horror, part crime thriller - instantly gripping and so well written. Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up

I thoroughly enjoyed this mixture of Chinese folk horror, serial killer thriller, and highlighting of anti-Asian racism in America today. It was punchy, gory, quirky and pretty harrowing too.

The serial killer part of it was probably the bit I was least interested in, but it was also the glue that brought the whole thing together so I can’t be too harsh on it overall. As the tale went on it felt like it was struggling for air, but I did like the somewhat messy resolution of it.

The Chinese folk horror was terrific. I’d never heard of the concept of hungry ghosts before but am now thoroughly haunted by them. The idea of hideous, elongated, weird things that can literally bite your head off really got under my skin…the dinner party scene was especially delicious.

But, it was the racism thread that was most cutting here - even giving the book its name. I felt angry reading it, then upset at how accurate it was, then angry again that it is even happening at all. Setting this story during the pandemic was a very smart move to highlight the anti-Asian racism captured here, but let’s not pretend it has all gone away since. I thought the author’s note at the end was also very worthwhile - a mic drop moment at the end of a banging story.

Overall, this was impressive and fresh. For a debut, even more so. Sickening gore, heart-stopping dread and heartbreaking realism in the everyday horror of racism that it captures. An excellent read!

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the advanced copy. Ebook is due out on 7 January, with the physical version following in April.

I'm not usually one for horror stories but the subject matter seemed so interesting being such recent history that I wanted to give it a try. The gore was really gory in parts and as much as I wanted to stop reading I just couldn't. It was such an interesting perspective and I really felt for Cora. The writing was intense and immersive and despite not being a fan of horror I will definitely be picking up another of Kylie Lee Bakers books.

4,25⭐️

Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker is a fast-paced social horror thriller.

Let’s start by saying that this book has one of the best and most disturbing first chapters that I’ve ever read.

The entire cast of characters felt incredibly realistic, with their relationships well-developed, particularly Cora’s relationship with her sister.

I also appreciated how the story blended the various plots—the supernatural and the murder mystery—while incorporating social commentary and offering a clear view of the senseless racism faced by the Chinese community during the pandemic.

It was the first book I’ve read by Kylie Lee Baker but I’ll definitely check out some of her other works.



I recommend checking out the TW before reading the books since it deals with some pretty heavy themes

TW: Mental illness, Grief, Murder, Blood, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic (COVID-19), Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Body horror, Child abuse, Car accident, Animal cruelty and death (bats), Sexism, Racial slurs, Violence

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC.

First of all i’d like to thank netgalley and the publisher for granting me a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I was a big fan of the scarlet alchemist by the same author, so when I saw this up on netgalley I just hit the request button and hoped for the best. My hopes were answered and here we are!

But holy sh*t, where do I even start? I’ve been trying to write this review for the past hour now, but I can’t seem to formulate my feelings into thoughts, so i’m sorry if my review doesn’t make any sense.

I loved this. I was already drawn in by the premise and oh boy, did the actual story end up delivering. This was such a good analysis of covid and the impact it truly had on the Asian community. Just really showed how people were kind of pushed to the brink of survival, which caused them to take out their fears on the first and easiest scapegoat they could find.

Kind of ironic how a book that was filled with gory detailed crime scenes and hungry ghosts whose teeth were almost begging to sink into you, is that it’s scariest part ended up being that all of the murders and hatecrimes that were commited in this story could’ve been real life. I could’ve heard about it on the news and would’ve been horrified, yet not surprised. Covid definitely brought out the worst in a lot of people and i’m glad the author was able to portray this so well.

I was truly flabbergasted by the big reveal. Not to get into spoilers but ??? My mouth literally dropped open. Didn’t see it coming at all, but after lots of thinking it (sadly) makes the most sense plotwise.

Love how the ending was just very realistic. Almost my exact definition of a bittersweet end. Was it truly a good ending? No not really. But I think it was enough for Cora

4.5/5 stars!

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Net Galley for a free eARC of "Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng" by Kylie Lee Baker.
An excellently crafted Horror Thriller that has some extremely important social commentary.
This is such a relevant portrait of the true horrors from our world, of the hate and discrimination suffered by the Asian- Americans during the pandemic.
My reading experience felt both traumatic and captivating with its chilling supernatural elements.
The main character Cora Zeng, being of mixed race was the best choice to see inside both perspective: the white Americans and the Chinese. She always felt somewhere in between, trying to find where she belongs.
After three years in which the Thriller genre rarely resonated with me as a reader, Kylie Lee barker came along an proved me that I have not seen quite the full spectrum.
I would highly recommend this novel to all fans of Horror Thriller.

This book was terrifying. I couldn’t sleep last night after reading it and I didn’t want to turn my back on the shadows. Highly recommend.

I read a lot of horror and I’m continually pushing the boundaries to find something that can freak me out. This succeeded. Cora, the main character, is just facing threats from so many angles, it makes this book feel claustrophobic. She’s a crime scene cleaner who notices a worrying trend of murdered Asian women with bats left at the crime scene. This is set during the covid pandemic and anti-Asian sentiment is rife where she lives in New York, with people calling her a ‘bat-eater’ and treating her absolutely disgustingly. Along with these worrying murders, a pandemic and the fear, ignorance and malice of people in the city, she also witnesses supernatural occurrences.

This book manages to pack so much in, it’s so clever, often sad, at times horrifically violent and totally and utterly compelling. The writing is just so sharp. Everything is essential. We really get the most frustrating and complete look inside Cora’s psyche. Understanding her constant fear, her need to clean constantly, her feeling split between different cultures, her confusion over her identity. A tragic event causes her to lose her anchor to this world and we watch her unravel. Whilst also seeing the power of friendship to give her hope.

I couldn’t stop thinking about this book after I finished it. It is completely gripping and brilliant.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced copy of Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker; a horror novel set in pandemic New York, delving into the heightened hate East Asians faced during 2020. Combining visceral horror with razor-sharp social commentary, this book doesn’t hold back.

This was a gripping read that actually made my heart beat faster—something horror books rarely do for me. The writing style was vivid and unflinching; just when you think you’re safe, the author yanks the rug out from under you and plunges you into the next nightmare. It’s intense, haunting, and unforgettable.

I highly recommend Bat Eater to fans of unsettling, thought-provoking horror that cuts deep into societal issues. I’m already adding Kylie Lee Baker’s other works to my reading list.

Really struggled with this one, sadly was a DNF for me :( just couldn’t get into it. However that may be more of a reflection on me and my ability to focus when I’m not immediately drawn in!
I liked the premise but just wasn’t one I’d reach for again

On an evening in March 2020, Cora and her sister Delilah wait for their train after taking a journey to buy some (much coveted) toilet paper when a white man grabs Delilah and pushes her onto the tracks. Cora witnesses Delilah’s brutal death, and hears the two words uttered by her murderer before the act: “bat eater.” Cora later becomes a crime scene cleaner in the height of COVID, and begins to notice a commonality between the deaths–they’re all Asian women, and they’ve all been murdered. To make matters worse, Cora believes she’s being haunted by Delilah, who has become a hungry ghost intent on presenting her with clues connecting the deaths.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I think it speaks to important issues in a frank manner, but its overly didactic approach did it a disservice. On one hand, shocking depictions of racism often get the point across, especially for a particular audience, however I wished there was a mix of heavy handed and nuanced. I think this would’ve allowed the reader to connect their own experiences of witnessing overt Anti-Asian racism and hate crimes in their own communities that began escalating in 2020, for the opportunity for the message to actually stick, if that makes sense. Instead, we got Cora literally yelling about how racism was wrong and exhausting…often that does not have the intended lasting impact.

There was one nuanced element to Cora’s characterization–I appreciated how her intense germaphobia was depicted through her habits and anxieties and I related to her in that regard. Otherwise she was a wet blanket, who allowed others to take the fall while she hardly took action to unpack the events unfolding before her. She was honest about her lack of identity and reliance on Delilah for guidance, but it became tiresome as she doubled down on relinquishing her agency and how she was still looking to her sister to lead even though she was gone. She was simply flat and uninteresting, outshined by the minor characters Yifei, Harvey, and Auntie Zeng.

3.25⭐️.

Bat Eater was an inventive and discombobulating story that burrows under your skin.

This is a book that you will not forget for a long time. It is arresting and completely draws you into Cora’s fractured world. Her life has been shattered by COVID and the murder of her sister – a hate crime that speaks to the rise of Sinophobia seen throughout the pandemic. It is a truly detestable and ugly horror that is grounded in the monsters of our reality. That opening scene is a real gut punch and sets the tone appropriately. Baker spends a lot of time ruminating on grief and the way you never really ‘get over it’, you just learn to live with its weight on your shoulders. The particular trauma around Cora’s grief is amplified by the sickening circumstances. In this book the horror is both human and not. It holds up a dark mirror to the realities of our society that are often brushed aside. There is a particular scene that reverberates in my mind over and over again. It is the big revelation scene that the book builds towards, but it is cleverly done to undercut your expectations in a way that is even more terrifying. No spoilers here, but it is masterfully done.

The book pivots between a murder mystery style investigation that dominates Cora’s life and the more supernatural elements at play. Both are haunting and well paced, building up suspense and tension with each page. You get a deeper sense of just how miserable Cora is, how isolated and unseen. Then these extra visions and the unsettling spat of crimes she works at come in, twisting the knife further. Baker also explores the police incompetence necessary for this cyclical violence to keep going. It is a power system holding the expected power structures up and anything that challenges this is squashed. Sadly it rings true to life.

Bat Eater uses the lens of horror to reflect on the monstrosity of humanity with wonderfully written sequences that will haunt your nightmares.

Wow... Just, wow. This was such a surprising book.

Set in 2020, the story follows Chinese American Cora Zeng after an event that changes her forever. She becomes a crime scene cleaner after that and her life is dominated by anxiety and fear. She's obsessed with cleanliness not just because of her personal trauma, but also because of COVID.

In her work, they start noticing a pattern: all the victims are Asian women, and bats are left at the crime scenes. It soon becomes clear a serial killer is targeting Asian women and no one's doing anything about it. On top of all that, Cora starts getting haunted by a "hungry ghost," and things simply start unraveling for her.

This book combines mystery, horror, and social commentary so well. I couldn't stop reading.

Yes, this is a COVID book, but it's not just about the pandemic, it's also about grief, loss, Asian racism, white supremacy, violence, dehumanization, desensitization, and how broken the system is. It's gorey, bleak, sad, enraging, and, unfortunately, real. But there's also beauty, strength, and culture.

It's also beautifully written and hard-hitting. I highlighted so many lines and felt so much for the characters and the Asian community they represent. This story provides a lot of perspective and though it's a tough read, it's a relevant one cause even if the pandemic is over (?) racism and white supremacy prevail, so uplifting stories about marginalized communities will always be important.

I have always been a huge horror and thriller film buff, yet I don’t often delve into books within those genres. When I discovered that Kylie Lee Baker was releasing a new horror novel, I immediately added it to my reading list. Having been captivated by her Scarlet Alchemist Duo earlier this year, which was truly outstanding, was so excited to get another book so soon. With Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, Baker has firmly established herself as an auto-buy / read Author for me!

This story unfolds through the eyes of our main character, Cora Zeng, as she navigates her trauma and sorrow after witnessing her sister, Delilah, be pushed in front of a train in a hate crime. Just before this horrific act, the assailant whispers "Bat Eater" and vanishes without a trace. After a brief time jump, we find Cora employed as a Crime Scene Cleaner, meticulously cleaning up the violence and bloodshed left behind by her fellow New Yorkers. As she continues her work, Cora begins to recognise a troubling pattern: Chinese people, particularly women, are being targeted by a notorious serial killer who leaves bats as his signature.

Cora grapples with her circumstances in a city where indifference seems to reign, all while coping with the loss of her sister, whom she always felt overshadowed by. Additionally, she struggles with her own cleanliness and germ-related anxieties in the face of a Global Pandemic. Cora's family issues extend beyond her sister's death, revealing a strained relationship with both her parents: a mother involved in a cult and a father who has remarried and relocated to China. We also meet two aunts; one who brings Cora to church on Sundays and another who tries to help her fend off Hungry Ghosts and spirits.

With limited family support when Cora begins to see spirits and ghosts, she reaches out to her two colleagues, Yifei and Harvey, who quickly become her friends. The connection among these three characters evoked a whirlwind of emotions for me, and it was undoubtedly one of my favourite elements of the book. Each character was uniquely different, and it warmed my heart to see Cora proven wrong; instead of rejecting her or labelling her as crazy, they believed in her and offered their love and friendship. They each shared snippets of their own lives and personal traumas, deepening their bond.

The stark and authentic portrayal of racism, alongside the appalling Sinophobia during a global pandemic, seamlessly blended with ghostly elements and a chilling murder mystery, was executed flawlessly. This book struck a deep chord, as the real-life issues intermingling with the ghostly narrative felt even more horrifying than the presence of the hungry ghosts themselves. I found myself in tears through the last three chapters, and I sobbed while reading the author's note. I urge anyone who picks up this book not to overlook the final pages, as they truly enhance the overall narrative that Kylie conveyed.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I'm always very happy about an ARC and being able to give it a review! <3

The cover (the one with the face and the bat) is so beautiful and the blurb was also very appealing.

Unfortunately, the first half dragged on a lot, which made it a bit harder to stay with the book.

I thought it was good that the book also addressed how much Asian people were insulted and hated because of Corona. They were insulted and blamed badly back then.

But I still didn't find it exciting. Cora was very monotonous and it just dragged on too long.

I went into this book thinking it was a murder thriller, with Cora going on the hunt for who killed her sister Delilah and many other Asian women, leaving dead and living but mutilated bats by the corpses (plus calling them bat eater). Which is definitely awful enough to be horror (and sadly that kind of hate was and is so real towards Asian Americans as well as other races) but then it actually takes a bit of a turn after Delilah's murder and when Cora starts working as a murder scene cleaner (that is definitely not for the weak of stomach!) and adds in a nice supernatural touch as it mostly happens during the month when ghosts come back hungry for life.

I will not Cora weak, she is amazing, able to to still function and work after being a witness to Delilah's death and so even if she has germaphobia (which would make the pandemic time especially hard), I really liked her and the small group she had in Harvey and Yifei (fellow murder cleaners) and how they helped each other and tried to figure out who was doing all the killing of Asian women. There are shocking moments, a lot of bodily gore, and descriptions of gruesome deaths but also love, friendships, and family that can be relied on no matter what (I love Auntie Zeng with all he traditions that she tries to teach Cora).

So yes, this book is very dark and bleak but with good moments too, and has a very valuable lesson in sheep mentality and how bad Sinophobia ideas can blaze out quickly, leaving so many victims in its wake but someone (in this case Cora) can make a difference when they stand up against the bullies and killers. It was a good story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book.