When nineteen year old Ashley wakes up in the woods covered in blood... the last thing she expects is to find out she's undead... and now needs live meat, has no heart beat... oh and is fully coming face to face with the paranormal community in her town. Ashley has no idea what happened to her and why she's become a zombie but she soon finds herself meeting werewolves, vampires, and so many other creatures in her town. Then there's the issue of her trying to figure out what happened to her and when the truth comes out... can she accept it? This was a really interesting graphic novel and story that deals with trauma and anxiety and Ashley's journey was a a fantastic read. I definitely had fun reading this one and would highly recommend it!

Release Date: July 8, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Oni Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Ashley Moore wakes up in the forest one day, only to discover that she is dead and probably shouldn't have woken up at all. With no idea how this happened or how she got there, she manages to stumble home. From there, she has to figure out how to live whilst being undead. This graphic novel was honestly super interesting! Ashley already had an entire plan laid out for herself: keep her head down, get into college, and get the hell out of her dinky hometown. Becoming undead completely flips this plan on its head and leaves her scrambling. Watching Ashley trying to navigate her new life was interesting and very gory. She slowly gets involved with the community of supernatural beings who live in her hometown and gets some help along the way. I enjoyed the mystery of how she died being prevalent in the background of the story for the entire novel, and that you finally get all of the answers neatly done at the very end. I also ADORED the art style! The expressions were done wonderfully, and the gore was legitimately disturbing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Meat Eaters was an awesome mix of horror and dark humor, found family, and a creepy-cute art style that had me hooked from the first page.

A short read, but packed with lots of emotions and I loved the underlying themes of mental health, of struggling with ptsd and/or depression.

A fun story, perfectly gory and creepy and unexpectedly compelling.

Oh, now this was such a treat! Going in blind based purely on the striking cover art was definitely the right choice for me; I was put right into Ashley's shoes of stumbling into the story, seeking answers and piecing things together bit by bit. But where our protagonist is (rightfully) terrified of her newfound circumstances, I was electrified the whole way through. The way McClaren renders blood and gore is visceral and tactile without compromising the cartoony simplicity of the art style. I was particularly taken with the backgrounds and environmental details! Plot-wise, this book offers just enough to get the gears turning while leaving plenty still on the table for the reader to speculate about. The characters are easy to understand and communicate their vibe at a glance, which is a must when telling a complete story in a single volume, but that isn't to say they lacked depth! The way this cast comes together and relates to one another, how all of us might on some level feel like we don't have "it," was a big highlight for me. All told, a short, sweet, spooky way to spend an evening that gives you plenty to chew on! The only thing I could ask for is more, more, more!

A Ghoulish Story Full of Heart (and GORE)!

Meat Eaters is a heart-warming story guaranteed to pull at your emotions. It is full of found family, healing, and finding yourself. I think that Meredith McClaren has crafted a genuinely beautiful story, and the illustrations help to bring this story to another level. Readers can dive into this story with little to no understanding of the world because discovering the twists and turns as they are revealed makes this universe come to life. There is a secret underground paranormal world right behind closed doors and it just was such a vibrant take on the classic vampires, werewolves, and witches (oh my!). You absolutely should be tuning into this graphic novel because the final message is sure to warm your heart and be something you won't forget!

My thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for an advance copy of this graphic novel that tells of a young woman whose life was changed in a night, not just her plans, but her health and diet, and the strange underworld she finds all around, as she searches for what happened to her.

I am old enough to remember a time, to quote a song, when I was young and my eyes shone like the sun. The world seemed fresh, new and not the chaotic mess it was too become, and the hellscape it is today. I had plans, lots of them, but to quote another song from the same band, plans came to naught, or half a page of scribbled lines. Life happens. Good or bad. The same happens to the lead character in this graphic novel, though her problems are far larger than what I had to deal with. At least I had a normal body temperature, and didn't have a morbid taste for blood and flesh. Meat Eaters by Meredith McClaren is a story of horror, dealing with trauma, discovering what you still are, and blood, lots of blood.

Ashley Moore is nineteen, going to community college and has a lot of dreams for the future. Most of these dreams involve getting the heck out of her small town. Until the night Ashley wakes up in the woods, scratches all over her with no idea how Ashley got there or what happened. Things go from bad to horrific as she discovers that her favorite breakfast foods taste like ash. Thinking illness, Ashley takes her temperature and finds that it is 70 degrees. Worse upon worse, she has a need for blood, which doesn't sound good. Soon Ashley realizes she is not alone, she is undead and possibly a ghoul, and her small town seems to be a locus for other undead creatures, including vampires, werewolves and more. Of course there are cliques, and rivals, and even darker forces on the periphery. The more Ashley learns the more she is determined to find out what happened to her that night, the night when everything changed.

A story with quite a lot going on, told in a way that is both funny, and sad in equal doses. Ashley is a character readers can't help but like, and as things go from bad to tolerable, one feels for her. We can all imagine the rug of life being pulled out from under our feet, and watching Ashley struggle and start to thrive is really rewarding. The story is funny like I said, but dark and bloody. Nothing gratuitous, it really is there to drive the story. The art is really quite good, a mix of realism and comic that helps the story and softens some of the real blows that come in this story.

I was surprised how much I cared about what was going on. Guess I am not as burnt out as I thought. I enjoyed this tale quite a bit, and would like to see more by Meredith McClaren. Perfect read for those who like a sense of humanity and empathy in their horror. Which might sound odd, but those elements really make a story strong. And this one has this in spades. A very fun, rewarding read.

This was an amazing comic book.

The story follows Ashley—how she becomes a ghoul, discovers that wolves and vampires are real, and tries to adapt to everything changing around her. But beneath the monsters and the chaos, this is really a story about the friends we find in unlikely places, and the ways people show up for each other even when the world is falling apart.

On a deeper level, Meat Eaters is about what happens to us after trauma—how we heal, how we break, and how we cope (or don’t). It’s about surviving, even when you’re not sure you want to. And in a world filled with ghouls, vampires, and werewolves, it’s the humans who end up being the real monsters. (Honestly? Not surprising.)

I especially loved how Ashley, after everything she’s been through, becomes the most indestructible and feared creature—not by losing herself, but by fighting through the worst parts of herself: the anxiety, the depression, the crushing grief.

McClaren handles trauma with such honesty, but also with a great sense of humor that never feels out of place. Because survival isn’t clean—after everything, somehow, life keeps handing us these strange little moments of joy and ridiculousness. It’s messy, and ridiculous, and painful, and sometimes absurdly funny—and that’s what makes it real.

Gorgeous art, a great story and fun characters, I was expecting the monster drama, but not the emotional gut punch that comes with it. Meat Eaters is a book about surviving trauma and figuring out who you are on the other side - and who your family is.

This is another graphic novel from Oni Press and I love when they put something out for review as I’m rarely disappointed.

Ashley wakes up dead with no recollection of how it happened, and that’s just the start of her problems.

First thoughts are ‘am I a zombie’ but she still has her brains without an exclusive desire to eat brains.

The art style throughout is really strong and fun, supporting and expanding a really sharp story of those that dwell in the shadows.

There are a couple of bits of dialogue I really hope aren’t changed in the finished book, one is “It’s not that I have anything against people. I can play nice. I’ve worked retail.” We all feel that one.

Vampires, werewolves, and so much more which you just have to discover for yourself, I didn’t get it right…

“Relax. It’s mostly horse. How dangerous can it be?“

We follow Ashley and her clan, yes she becomes the leader of a werewolf clan, as they negotiate the world of darkness and the intrinsic of community college and late teen life.

Absolutely loved this and will be one I buy in hard copy when it comes out in July.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Meat Eaters was a blast! The dynamic between the trio was fantastic, and I really connected with their interactions. I haven't looked into whether it's a standalone novel or the start of a series, but honestly, I think it works wonderfully as both. While there's definitely potential for further adventures and exploration of this world, the story feels complete and satisfying on its own. The ending leaves you with a sense of closure, but also a lingering curiosity about the broader world and its monstrous inhabitants. I'd love to see more of this world, perhaps delving deeper into the lore of the monsters, exploring their origins, motivations, and the diverse range of creatures that inhabit this unique setting. Maybe a spin-off focusing on a different group of characters or even a prequel showing how the trio first came together would be amazing! The possibilities are endless!