90/100 or 4.5 stars

This was a bloody good time! The art was amazing and the story was fun to follow. I will be checking out other graphic novels by McClaren in the future!

This might be a niche comparison, but Meat Eaters definitely gave me Teen Wolf vibes with fem! Stiles leading a werewolf pack of two comprised of Erica and Boyd—and I say that in the nicest way possible. I adored Teen Wolf and I absolutely loved reading this graphic novel. The art and colours are beautiful, and I always found myself particularly captivated by our Squishy’s eyes, she just pop’s off the page so much that it was hard to pull attention away from her; I’m always down for a supernatural story, but even more so for a supernatural story with found family and characters growing together to become and do more than they realize they’re capable of. Definitely a graphic novel worthy of being re-read more than once, I highly recommend it, and if there ever happens to be more, I’ll be right there, waiting for it!

Lo único que Ashley quería era mantener un perfil bajo hasta poder escapar del pequeño pueblo donde se sentía estancada. Pero tras despertar una noche cubierta de sangre (e irrevocablemente muerta), Ashley descubre que su plan infalible para escapar se ha esfumado y que algo en su interior ha cambiado. En esta visceral historia sobre los efectos del trauma y la ansiedad, morir es realmente duro. ¿Pero seguir adelante? Eso puede ser peor.

Este comic me gustó mucho mas de lo que esperaba, la trama es emocionante, las ilustraciones realmente complementan historia de forma genial, y los hombres lobo están retratados de una manera refrescante, y los personajes son sumamente agradables.

Gracias a NetGalley y Oni Press por el ARC.

Ashley, a 19 year old community college student with a mother who is constantly out of town, is thrust into a new life (death? undead?) when she wakes up one day undead, covered in blood. She discovers that there are other paranormal beings in her town - vampires, werewolves, etc. She befriends two werewolves, pretending to still be human and grows quite close to them. There is are two underlying mysteries: 1) what happened to Ashley and 2) what is killing animals in the forest.

I did really enjoy this graphic novel! I found the story compelling, although the character development is not particularly new. This is a solid read. The art style was really well done. I did want maybe something a little more from this though, and I cannot quite put my finger on what. The story moves pretty quick and maybe I wish there could have been a little bit more development and exploration of the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press for the eARC!

This is a new direction for more supernatural graphic novels. I really enjoyed my time reading this and am already excited to see if the author will publish a sequel. Ashley finds herself having to navigate a whole new supernatural underbelly because she died and came back as a ghoul. Which her transformation was really well illustrated. I am genuinely impressed by the books plots, illustrations as well as the cover. I will be purchasing this title when it releases a physical copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Meat Eaters focuses on Ashley, a small-town community college student who wakes up in the forest one morning as a ...ghoul? I think? And soon becomes involved with the local community of vampires, werewolves, and other "creepies" as she struggles to adjust to her new life (and diet). Meanwhile, animals (and perhaps people) are going missing in the woods and turning up dead.

It's a classic recipe for paranormal horror, and I wouldn't say Meat Eaters breaks any wildly original new ground in its first installment, but it's a satisfying and solid read nonetheless. I found Ashley's aimless introversion relatable, and enjoyed her dynamic with her two new werewolf buddies. I also enjoyed the incorporation of extremely 2020s things like true crime and bear spray bought on Amazon.

Meat Eaters' biggest strength is its art, which is (pardon my pun) a feast. The juxtaposition of beautiful backgrounds with grungy and distinctive character design and splashes of gore is really working. No notes!

Meat Eaters follows Ashley as she wakes up in the woods covered in blood and finds herself thrown into a world of supernatural beings, including herself. As Ashley discovers she is a zombie, just not as you expect!

The story flowed so well, and the artwork was simply beautiful! I loved the colour choices throughout, and the character design. I will 100% pick up the next in the series.

This is such a well-contained graphic novel and the art style is gorgeous.

Ashley Moore wakes up dead and her plans of keeping her head down and escaping her small town are ruined when she realises that there are other things than her and the local wolf pack lurking in the woods.

I adore the worldbuilding shown in this novel in a very constrained number of pages. Fake heartbeats constructed by toy speakers from the vampires, a found family (both delightful and toxic) from the local wolf pack, and a ghoul that gets to be terrifying and solid instead of boilerplate decaying and flimsy.

It tackles trauma through the narrative from Ashley confronting what happened to her to her inadvertent charges (same age) werewolves Motley and Harrison learning to be independent. It was such a delightful subplot and I couldn’t put it down.

I initially passed on this because I am vegetarian. But I love monsters, especially zombies and werewolves, and creepy stuff! I am very glad I took a second, harder look and decided to go for it. It was entertaining to read and I like the artists style and have enjoyed some of her previous works. This one is no exception and I am looking forward to the next volume.

Dying is hard, and 19 year old Ashley finds out the hard way as she wakes covered in blood, without a heartbeat and craving raw flesh.

This is a gory graphic novel about the monsters lurking in the dark (and within ourselves) and the world that lives just beneath our own, filled with ghouls and monsters alike. There's some mystery that runs throughout as Ashley tries to figure out this new world that's revealing itself to her, come to terms with how she died, as well as processing what it means to be undead and all of the complicated, messy feelings that come with it.

There was also a strong thread of found family that I loved, and Motley & Harrison were just fantastic. I really enjoyed the dynamic of the group and how their friendships grew. Ashley herself was a super relateable main character (even if she is undead) especially if you've ever been that awkward teenager/person that never quite fits in anywhere and you often feel like you're trying to be 'normal' and 'like everyone else,' although you never really feel that you are.

Let's take a moment to talk about the art because the illustrator really brought the whole story to life! I loved their unique art-style; it felt super fresh and it just worked for the characters and the story, giving cosy but also gruesome.

If you like a bit of gore with your found family vibes and some humour sprinkled throughout - you're gonna eat this up!

Oh god. I love them all so dearly. A fun, gorey supernatural comic with an adorable found family, an interesting bag of lore, and an overcoming of trauma that makes it all feel warm and cozy. The art and visuals are spectacular, the story is well-paced, and the characters are beautiful and interesting. I absolutely loved this and hope to see more.

“All of this will be better in the morning.”
*Cut to morning*
“It did not get better.”

This was a quick read and an overall enjoyable graphic novel. Sweet and a bit gory, it definitely left me wanting more. Also it is not specifically stated but very much implied during a conversation between the characters that the MC is aroace so bonus points for that!! I don’t know if this author plans to release any more books in this series, but if so, I will definitely pick them up!

Thank you to Netgalley and Oni press for the eARC!

I absolutely loved this I could not stop reading it!!!! The emotions and the suspense was everything along with the heartfelt touches to it proving friendships really mean everything.

Calling this adorable feels weird, but hey, I'm a weird person. I love blood and gore, that's what drew me to this initially, and I absolutely loved it. Like most graphic novels, it's a fast read (I think I finished it in under an hour), but I don't think anything was really lost. This was a masterful use of medium as well, in particular with the, like, flashback-memory moments.

The pros: Well, like I said, the use of medium is fantastic. I love you comics. But also the characters are so fun, I love them all. Ashley, of course, is fantastic, I love her sort of begrudging kindness. Motley and Harrison are peak siblings. Gus and Dmitri are great little side characters. I love everybody! And I love the worldbuilding, the supernatural elements being slipped in, all of it. The art is also absolutely beautiful. I think my favorite thing is the analogy, however - this idea of becoming "a creepy" and having a missing piece, trying to regain it, especially after a traumatic event like Ashley's had. It works as a metaphor in many ways, and I think the delivery of it was graceful and impactful.

The cons: I don't have many. It goes by fast, so I wish it was longer, but that's just comics for you. I wish there was a little more expansion on the vampire side of things, and ghouls in general. And while I know it's kind of negating the purpose, I would've liked a tiny bit more information on the circumstances around Ashley's death. I just still felt a little lost about it by the end, which I'm sure was purposeful, so that may just be me.

Overall, I had a great time and I loved it!! Fantastic work!!

Can you imagine one day waking up and discovering you are dead? That is exactly the nightmare Ashley wakes up to in Meat Eaters, a young adult graphic novel where she then proceeds with life--or more precisely called, her new afterlife. Before this moment, Ashley had planned on leaving her life behind, escaping the monotony of her town, but we are instead left wondering what led to her sudden demise and why can't she remember the moments before it. There is a diverse cast of "others" who seem to embrace their own differences and Ashley's friendship, thinking she is a human with the help of a fake heartbeat, leading to her own transformation.

The themes of trauma and emotional withdrawal were strong throughout the book, with no question that what happened to Ashley was violent and unwelcome. I found myself feeling for Ashley's predicament and it made me question how some of us avoid such an end while others are left damaged or dead. While never explicitly spelled out, I found the answers we were provided to be moving and empowering. I mean, haven't we all wanted to lash out as well at the people harming us? The horror and gore involved was a great way to center this story, improving upon attempts on film and in other books to address this common societal problem.

Unfortunately, there were some issues with plot jumping. At times I would switch to the next page and be confused about why the story was abruptly different and was concerned I had accidentally skipped pages. It would be greatly improved with smoothing over of those jumps by adding more story or by introducing chapter breaks. While a chapter title line wouldn't necessarily correct the story jumps, it would at least signal to the reader that the story was shifting direction.

Thanks to Netgalley and Oni Press for the ARC.

Now, I might be a little biased cause I like most of the things McClaren puts out.
But this one I LOVED! It's such a good take on the zombie genre, with very human (haha I know) characters with plausible reactions to the messed up things. I cracked when Ashley breaks the fourth wall and the way she handles the whole undead thing is both great and sad. The cast is amazing, with different types of people and the world feels alive even if it's not a lot of characters presented.
It is gory and beautiful and hilarious, I found myself laughing out loud lots of times, only to slip right back into the sinister vibe on the next page.

This was surprisingly sweet. I didn’t expect the found family vibes whatsoever, so when werewolves and vampires showed up in the story, I was surprised. I thought this was going to just be a zombie story.

After getting assaulted in the woods, which we see in snippets of flashbacks, Ashley wakes up with blood all around her and no heartbeat. She isn’t sure what’s going on, but when she runs into a couple of vampires at the gas station, they tell her about a bar she can go to get information about being newly undead. That’s where she meets Bess who tells her that she’s a ghoul.

Haunted by what happened to her, she refuses to remember how she died, even though it can give her information on how she transformed into the being she’s become. Inside that bar full of the undead is where she sees two classmates, Motley and Harrison.

But they aren’t “biters” or ghouls; they’re werewolves. And after fighting and scaring off their pack leader, Ashley becomes the new one. The only problem is… they think she’s still human.

I am assuming based on the character’s wording, but I think Ashley is asexual. If so, YASSSSSSSSS, representation. If I am batting at the air here, shame on me. But I may just be projecting. Hopefully we get more story so that I can find out more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC.

I had this review pending for a while, but better late than never right? Honestly, the ending really left me thinking... could there be a sequel? Because it definitely has potential. Especially with that open ending and the group that came together, I think they truly deserve more development. At first, I wasn’t fully convinced, tbh. It all felt a bit... odd (but that's part of the plot and the summary so... ).But little by little, it started to make sense why specially the werewolf characters are the way they are.

Now, let’s talk about the main character, Ashley, wow those “numb” moments really hit hard. I think those were my favorite parts, actually. On the other hand, some of the action scenes felt a bit... rushed. They were full of detail, sure, but there was something a bit too “plot armor" (I had to look at this expressionbecause I was not sure how to say in English lol) about them that took away from the impact a little. Buuuut, in general it was interesting.

Without a heartbeat and with a disturbing craving for fresh—preferably bloody—meat, Ashley finds herself privy to a world that exists just beneath our own: a world of ghouls and monsters and things that go bump-in-the-night. Despite her desire to be left alone—and to not think about the night of her death at all—Ashley is slowly drawn into the realm of the unusual, getting advice from ancient vampires, dodging angry pack leaders, and becoming the reluctant big sister to werewolves Motley and Harrison. 
A surprisingly amusing graphic novel about ghouls, vampires, and werewolves.  Judging by the cover I was expecting a very gory and gruesome comic with little to any moral value (the best kind), instead I found a story that explores what may be hiding in all of us. Is there anyone who hasn't thought "this isn't what I wanted to be"?  Imagine if what you were inside was a monster, an undead being who craved flesh when all you wanted was a Pop-tart?
The story is well written and compelling. The art is absolutely fantastic.
I hope the story continues because I need to know what happens to Ashley, Motley, and Harrison.
Highly recommended  Expected publishing date July 8, 2025

Thanks to @netgalley and Oni Press for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

As the cover does suggest, there is some blood and gore in this. Not a lot, certainly not enough I can put it as a selling point but enough that I do feel I need to warn anyone that has that as a trigger. Mostly some animal death imagery but we do see human bodies as well.

Anyway, I love this take on a revenant that needs to eat flesh and such, it works well with the overall story about how trauma can change your life in ways you didn't want. Ashley is a smart, snarky, likely aroace introvert that I found delightful as a ghoulish protagonist, and there were neat little world building tidbits (heartbeat sound boxes used by vampires to pass as the still living? werewolves snarking that they're not five year olds that lose control with the full moon? unicorns are real?!)

There is also a brief liar revealed/third act break that didn't bother me, it was done well, but I know for some those are just hard no-gos.