Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng - Review
- TheLittLibrarian
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
I received a digital copy from HTP Books and an audio copy from Harlequin Audio via Net Galley. All reviews are my own.
This is my first Kylie Lee Baker book, and I've been dying to get into some of her catalog. I've heard nothing but good things about her writing; some of her work is already on my ever-growing TBR list. It just so happens that I got approved to check out Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, and let me tell you, this book turned out to be bigger than the premise ever issued!
"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. 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 door frame. After all, it can't be real—can it? After a series of unexplained killings in Chinatown, Cora believes someone might be targeting East Asian women, and something might be targeting Cora herself."
I experienced this book via audio with one of my favorite narrators, Natalie Naudus, setting the scenes. It was an 8-hour and 47-minute listen that I do not regret. I'm sorry, I may be biased, but I don't think Naudus has ever participated in a bad book. She knows how to pick her work!
Cora Zeng's story takes place during COVID in Chinatown, New York, after a dramatic travesty transpires in front of her eyes. From there, we follow her life as an OCD-ish, germaphobe, crime scene cleaner (I know, right), trying to navigate through a Pandemic, racism, and a haunting.
BEAONFCZ was a well-crafted book. I had no idea where the story was going until we reached the end. Way to keep a girl on her toes! BEAONFCZ is classified as horror, but it brings out the fear in more ways than one. You have a ghost story, real-life pandemic activities, and the racism that follows behind it. And it all meshes well together. Usually, when I read stories with multi-topic themes, authors focus more on one topic than another. But Baker was able to use every bullet point to her heart's content while making it flow with entertainment vigor.
I want to talk about the horror element in this book real quick. Hungry ghosts were a new myth to me, but from watching ghost movies and shows, I know you may never know who is haunting you. If we were to turn BEAONFCZ into a film, the elements Baker sets up in the story alone will make you feel eerie. The gore, the unexplained, and even the sacrifices made will tingle your nerves from the root.
One thing that bothered me (and this is purely a me thing) is that I couldn't figure out if this were a present-day timeline or a dystopian aftermath of the effects of long-term COVID. I for sure thought this story was leading towards a 28 Weeks Later theme. But the tale also reminded me that people tend to get a little arachic when life-threatening situations happen, and the need to blame something or someone comes into play. Other than my inability to figure out the story's time setting, BEAONFCZ was good!
Overall, I rated this book 3.5 stars. I love Asian horror, but I will say that this book was not meant for me. I highly appreciated Baker's note at the end of the story, which made me give her cool points. This story was purely written for Asians dealing with ill-advised words from our current President, stating that COVID is a "Kung Flu" disease. It reminded me of the time of 9/11, when all Muslims were randomly attacked in the aftermath. When there's a crisis, you can always point out the ignorant amongst them. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is the perfect definition of the fear in humans that brings out the stupid. I'll be reading more from Ms. Baker in the future!
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is available now!
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