Let's Talk Books

About 6 months ago, give or take, a friend and I had a conversation about horror fiction. I had just read Anna Bogutskya’s Feeding the Monster, and was once again fascinated by horror, and seeking media to feed that hunger. Yet I found myself repeatedly disappointed. Nothing, I told my friend, went far enough. Nothing was sufficiently gory whilst maintaining both readability, and literary style. No book had it all. Nothing I could find was beautiful and horrifying, terror filled and perfectly paced. I didn’t even want to mention films, which were trope filled or blood-drenched. No, I would have to be dissatisfied for ever. And then Bat Eater.

I requested this book because it sounded fascinating, I am a huge fan of the ghost story (I very nearly did a PhD on them, alas life) and I am an even bigger proponent of reading diversely, diving into new points of view, understanding the world, and, perhaps most importantly, of totally excellent covers. Bat Eater ticked all of those boxes. I was delighted by request got approved, and began reading this right away. It took me some time to get through thr first few chapters. It was intense, compelling, gory and creeping, and (I realised quite quickly) it would require my full attention. I hit pause, finished out my last few essays for the year (postgrads are not for the weak of heart, or short of time) and wrapped up the other books I had on the go, and then I tried again. I devoured this, racing through it in record time, pouring over it, staying up late to finish it, and then sitting with it for a few days. Letting it settle into me.

Bat Eater goes far enough. It goes further. It is the perfect balance of style, suspense, and character. This novel is unlike anything I have ever read before, because it is the horror novel I have been dreaming of when reading others. Something which never sacrifices commentary for the sake of gore, nor shies away from character development for the sake of the plot, or vice versa. To share the details of this book, any plot element really, would be to detract from its impact, so instead I will say this: Baker has penned some of the most sympathetic, genuine, engaging and loveable characters I have ever encountered, she has also penned some of the most brutal, soulless and (horrifically) mundane characters I have ever read of, and she has held them all together in a plot that is as fast and sharp as it is carefully plotted and suspenseful. 

This novel is described in many places as being wickedly funny, and it absolutely is. I was pleasantly surprised by the banter and sharp sudden humour throughout. I was equally delighted by Cora’s caustic wit, even if it is largely internal, and the way in which she viewed the world. The juxtaposition throughout of the modern and the traditional also added elements of humour, which added to the sense of unreality in places. This is a horror novel that is not funny in spite of itself, but which melds humour throughout, intensifying both through that juxtaposition.

I would mention here, because it is worth mentioning, that there are elements of this novel which will be deeply distressing to some. It is a horror novel, so no surprise, but it is one that is rooted in racism, specifically in Asian hate. We all know that Covid resulted in a significant uptick in hate crimes against people of broadly East Asian heritage, and it is against that backdrop that Baker writes this novel. I am a white woman, and my experience of reading this can only be through that lens. My responses will be, unconsciously, tempered by my whiteness, and I cannot say with any authority whether or not this is triggering more than it is cathartic, or representative more than it is sensational. What I will say, is that I found this to be a novel that cares for and explores the bothness of Cora Zeng, a woman who is both Chinese and American, and the way her cultures intersect, and fail to intersect. This novel also explores OCD in depth, another thing that some may find difficult to read, and touches on various incidents of child abuse / neglect.

I am hugely grateful to have been given a galley of this in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars.