Welcome back!

So nice to see you again! With April coming to an end, I managed to slide in another arc just in time! Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng was an an arc I received through Netgalley, published by Mira Books, and written by Kylie Lee Baker. This is the first novel from Baker I’ve read and honestly wish I’d done a bit more research before requesting this arc.

My arc did not have a cover, or trigger warnings, but I hope they include them in the finished copy. The content in this YA Horror is rough. It takes place during the pandemic, and features a Chinese American Protagonist. It was full of the racism, sexism and fetishization that asian’s faced during that time frame.

I gasped so many times while reading and took so many mental health breaks. I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to complete the novel or if I was going to have to DNF. I was so angry for Cora the entire novel (Poor Boy Wonder) I was screaming at the racist characters the whole novel. There were so many times I felt like if I was in this novel I would have gone to jail. Straight to jail, when I was finished, they’d have to build a new jail for me. I was so angry for her.

In this Ya Horror, we follow our main gal Cora Zeng, she is a crime scene cleaner in New York during the Pandemic. She mostly keeps to herself, stays masked up and tries to avoid people in general. She’s lost her older sister, Delilah in such an agregious way, and its clear that she hasn’t really recovered. It’s clear to her that the police are not doing everything they could to either solve the murder of her sister or to protect other Asians during this time.

Her crew, Harvey and Yinghzhe, work as Crime Scene Cleaners for Harvey’s uncle and the scenes they’re sent to clean are disgustingly fresh. Fragments of bone and brain matter, dead bats and more. As we progress through the novel, Cora and her friends begin to see a pattern not only with the victims that they’re cleaning up after but also the level of carnage.

In addition to the possibility that there’s a serial killer running about her city, she is seeing ghosts. Things are missing from her apartment even though she’s positive that they were there before she left. This novel is an exploration of not only where Cora thinks she belongs but also of the culture she has never felt a part of.

This novel is being pitched as a horror following her life and ghosts and whether she’s being haunted but soon the characters realize that hungry ghosts are the very least of their problems. About 35% I decided to hunker down and finish the novel and I was not disappointed. I cried a few times, I yelled more and gasped even more often. I gave this novel 🥕🥕🥕🥕.75 and will recommend. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zen by Kylie Lee Baker will be available everywhere on Tuesday, April 29th and please make sure you get yourself a copy.

Until Next Time,

Gabs

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