Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Soon, she will learn . . . you can’t just ignore hungry ghosts.”

I was not expecting quite so much gore in this book (when they said it was gory, they meant gory) but WOW. This book is now burned into my brain for so many reasons! Such a powerful read set during the pandemic, one I don’t recommend you read right before you go to sleep like I did multiple times… I’m so happy to be sharing my review for Bat Eater!

About the book

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner. But the bloody messes don’t bother her, not when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister being pushed in front of a train.

But the killer was never caught, and Cora is still haunted by his last words: bat eater.

These days, nobody can reach Cora: not her aunt who wants her to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, not her weird colleagues, and especially not the slack-jawed shadow lurking around her doorframe. After all, it can’t be real – can it?

After a series of unexplained killings in Chinatown, Cora believes that someone might be targeting East Asian women, and something might be targeting Cora herself.

The beginning

It’s April 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and sisters Cora and Delilah are waiting at a deserted train platform for a train that may or may not come. As two Chinese girls in America, we instantly see the disgusting racist remarks made, how of course they are to blame for the whole world falling apart. I found the opening to the book really powerful and instantly thought provoking, effortlessly taking me back to one of the most horrific times in my history. And the ending to this chapter couldn’t be further from what I expected; Cora witnesses her sister being pushed in front of an oncoming train. It was so shocking, so gory, so graphic. I was floored by the description and how it made me feel, and I can’t remember ever feeling like that about a book before. This incident leaves Cora Zeng alone, without her sister, in an uncertain new world that felt like the end of everything. Some time after, Cora takes up a job as a crime scene cleaner, and even though this sounded pretty fascinating to me at first, it really was just as grim as it sounded, too. The things she sees in her work are things that no one should ever have to see. And it gets weirder.

“It’s strange how hate and love can so quietly exist at the same time. They are moon phases, one silently growing until one day all that’s left is darkness.”

There’s blood and brains and bone to clean up at every crime scene she works. Afterwards, she never feels completely clean, no matter how much she washes and scrubs everything away. I could really see Cora. I could feel her numbness, her anxiety, her phobias. We meet her colleagues, Yifei and Harvey, who were actually quite witty and interesting people. But it soon becomes clear that there is a strange pattern at these crime scenes. Asian women are being targeted, and at every crime scene; a bat. This certainly isn’t a coincidence. And, yes, things get even weirder than that. I loved learning about the Hungry Ghosts, the dash of paranormal perfectly nestled into those elements of horror that kept me up at night. Cora keeps seeing strange things, hallucinations, making her feel like she’s slowly going insane. Was this a result of the trauma she’d experienced? Or were these ghostly figures, these strange occurrences real, something that would forever torment her? The ‘ghosts’ she sees are truly awful, the things of nightmares. The descriptions so haunting and terrifying. (Why do I read this book before I go to sleep?!) These ghosts, man. I can’t stop thinking about them!

The middle

Cora understands that her hungry ghost is Delilah, which is both eerie as hell and incredibly sad. Her colleagues suggest trying to bury all of her in an attempt to appease her ghost. Which isn’t the easiest thing to do when you get blasted by an oncoming train. However, this wasn’t a successful attempt. As time goes on, Cora understands that Delilah seems to be helping her, even though she cannot stand to look at that thin neck, how she curves at an unnatural angle to fit in the doorframe, her skeletal hand gripping at her skin. But I loved the idea of her sister-turned-hungry-ghost assisting her, like she’s still Delilah somehow, eating the contents of her fridge and cupboards. The author really made me feel so much as I made my way through this book, something that’s really hard to describe. I felt the intense horror, but with this fear came such a contrasting, heartwarming feeling, knowing her sister is close by and trying to help her, to show her things. Alongside this, there was also such a deep, profound sadness that Delilah is stuck in this state, unable to truly, fully rest.

“And now, with Cora’s mouth loose from the alcohol, she tells them both. About Delilah. About the hungry ghost. She is sure that by the end of it they’ll call to have her put away, but as tears burn her face, she can’t seem to care, because at least then someone will watch her sleep, keep the lights on.”

As much as I loved the author’s writing, the idea of the hungry ghosts, the feel of them, I kept finding myself wanting more than what the book was giving me at this stage. It felt as though there was a lot of waiting around for something to happen, and there were a few chapters that really dragged, felt really repetitive, or made me wonder what the point was. I hated feeling that bit of boredom in the middle because it’s such a beautifully written book. Thankfully though, the book did redeem itself in multiple ways and I was back to feeling so in awe and creeped out in equal measure. One of Cora’s colleagues, Harvey, tries to help Cora get rid of her ghost, but his actions have consequences neither of them expected. He accidentally summons more ghosts. More grabbing hands, more needle-thin necks. The description of multiple ghosts genuinely made me feel ill. The author perfectly makes each scene stand out, whether it’s filling us with terror and a sense of dread, or making our hearts hurt from how unfair life was for Cora, for what she’d lost and how she had to live.

The end

The book will definitely ramp up every feeling you have towards the end. It gets even more gory and horrific than I could have ever predicted, but I couldn’t look away. It was so intensely captivating, the detail and descriptions so terrifyingly beautiful, but if you’re a bit squeamish, you might struggle here! There are so many shocking scenes. Could this serial killer, the one targeting Asian women, be setting their sights on Cora next? On Yifei? There is such a brilliant contrast here, where Yifei tells Cora about her childhood, the sadness and pain she had to endure. I was floored with emotion and I wasn’t expecting any of it from a book this dark. It was so powerful and even brought a tear to my eye! The pacing is faster here but it really works. After a hungry ghost feast goes very wrong, I wondered if they’d done all they can to satisfy Delilah. Or was the worst yet to come? I wasn’t sure I was mentally prepared for everything I was about to experience here. I couldn’t predict the outcome for Cora, but I hoped she’d soon be able to live life without looking over her shoulder.

“Many people think that death is the end. The ending of pain, of hate, of love. But these things are not so easy to erase.”

The twists?! Excuse me, but I did not have brilliant sneaky twists on my bingo card for book like this one. Completely unexpected and brilliantly executed! The ending chapters really build momentum and had me reading and reading and reading. There are more gory, shocking deaths, information and description that certainly isn’t for the faint hearted. And not only this, but the way racism is explored, the way the pandemic is depicted through the author’s stunning words is something I think will always stay with me. There was tension, fear, and a deep sense of uncertainly layered in those ending scenes, but there is also a note of hope, a sign of some form of ending to all of this, a feeling of newness and starting again. It was such a brilliant ending that I can’t quite get out of my brain. It’s satisfying, but also leaves things on a very interesting note which I really appreciated! I haven’t read any horror for a while, but this one was brilliant – and it’s also so, so much more than just a gory horror book. I really think everyone needs to read this one!

Overall thoughts

Bat Eater impressed and surprised me right from the start. It’s not only an epic horror story with brilliant paranormal elements, but it’s witty, it’s surprisingly poignant and it feels strangely realistic. But it’s also such an important book in my eyes. It explores the anti-Asian racism throughout the pandemic, it dives deep into Chinese culture. It’s stunningly written and will shock you at every turn. But my god, it’s the goriest book I think I’ve ever read and I couldn’t look away! After Cora witnesses her sister being pushed in front of an oncoming train, she begins to be haunted by a hungry ghost (and believe me, hungry ghosts are pretty terrifying, it turns out…) The author’s description of everything was so mind-blowingly good. Aside from a lull in the middle, I was so gripped. Harrowing, dark and horrifying, but also eye-opening and surprisingly thought-provoking. A must read, if you can handle the gore!

Huge thanks to the author, Kylie Lee Baker and the brilliant team at Hodder Books for sending a copy my way! You can grab your own copy of Bat Eater (or Bat Eater And Other Names For Cora Zeng if you’re in the US) right now on Amazon, or wherever you buy your books. Make sure you’re following the author over on Instagram and X/Twitter for more updates!

Looking for book reviews?

If you’re in need of reviews for your own book, do get in touch to get on my submissions list! All the information you need is on my book reviews page. If you enjoyed this review and would like to support my blog, you can buy me a coffee 😊