I’ve been looking forward to reading this book since it was published, and it didn’t disappoint.
Bat Eater* is about Cora Zheng, a half Chinese, half white young woman living in NYC as the pandemic kicks off. She lives with her sister, Delilah, with whom she has a troubled relationship. Delilah is full Chinese, and they are half sisters, and Cora has been in her shadow their whole lives. The opening chapter kicks off the book appropriately with Delilah’s violent death on a subway station platform. A man in a mask pushes her in front of an oncoming train, calling her (and Cora) a bat eater as he does it.
*I refuse to use the American title, which I hate. Don’t ask me to justify this.
Months later, we connect back with Cora and she’s working as a crime scene cleaner, an in demand job in a pandemic, and even more so as Chinese women seem to be dying in droves, violently. Cora, along with two of her coworkers, start to think something else is going on. Things get very hungry ghosty and very, very bloody.
This is a gory book and not for those with a weak stomach, or for those who don’t want to read about the pandemic, or the anti-Asian racism it inflamed, and which the serial killer in this book is taking advantage of. I very much liked the visceral experience of this. It’s not getting five stars, though, because I had a hard time connected with Cora at first, as she feels like a non-entity. This was definitely by design, though, and when I inevitably re-read the book, it’s very possible I might up my rating to five stars. Oh, and also because something happened that I usually hate in horror books, and I would have preferred it not happen here, either: SPOILERS Not just one, but both of her coworkers end up dead, and she is effectively the Final Girl. And I mean, I don’t read slashers for a reason, and this isn’t a slasher, so it was just a bummer to have that blossoming friendship yanked out from under Cora. I could have dealt with one of them dying, but not both END SPOILERS.
The ending was fantastic. Highly recommend this one.
r/Fantasy BINGO 2025: Author of Color (Hard Mode: a horror novel by an author of color)
CBR BINGO: Work (Cora is a crime scene cleaner and we are with her at her job quite a bit)
