“𝔐𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔭𝔢𝔬𝔭𝔩𝔢 𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔲𝔫𝔰. 𝔊𝔲𝔫𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔶 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔪𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔬𝔫𝔞𝔩, 𝔞 𝔮𝔲𝔦𝔢𝔱 𝔠𝔩𝔦𝔠𝔨 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔞𝔠𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔰 𝔞 𝔯𝔬𝔬𝔪, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔵𝔭𝔩𝔬𝔡𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔢'𝔰 𝔟𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔬𝔲𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪. ℑ𝔫 𝔞 𝔴𝔞𝔶, ℭ𝔬𝔯𝔞 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔨 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔡. ℑ𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔡, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔨 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔢𝔶𝔢𝔰, 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔞 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔭𝔰𝔢 𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰, 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔰𝔠𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔞𝔯𝔪𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔭𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔥𝔞𝔦𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔠𝔯𝔶 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔟𝔢𝔤. 𝔅𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔦𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔨𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔢, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔳𝔢 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔟𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢. ℑ𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔶.”

Published: 07/01/25

Genre: Horror

Page count: 304

Format read: 📖

Other books read by this author: None

Set in New York during the COVID pandemic, 𝐁𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 & 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐙𝐞𝐧𝐠 is a horror story in a myriad of different ways. 

In the wake of a family tragedy, Cora Zeng takes a job as a crime scene cleaner; her compulsive scouring just as suited to blood & brains as the germs that Cora sees everywhere she looks. Despite her efforts to keep them at bay, her colleagues soon become both her co-conspirators in the hunt for a serial killer, & her fellow ghostbusters, as Cora finds herself haunted by her past in more ways than one.

The writing is beautiful & immediately transports you back to the days of empty streets, masks, the struggle to purchase basic essentials due to panic buying, & the ever-present fear seeping into every facet of everyday life. I adored the characters, particularly Cora & her friends, & her ferocious Auntie Zeng. The book was fast-paced & I genuinely struggled to get enough of the story, though I was left reeling by the end from the absolute rollercoaster of emotions that Kylie Lee Baker puts us through. 

The book deals so well with themes of trauma, racism, religion, the rise of the far right, policing, child abuse, & mental health issues, leaving us questioning which we fear more: the supernatural, or the plethora of cruelties one human being is capable of inflicting on another.