Bigger Monsters

By: Eliza Andrews

Narrated by: Elizabeth Saydah

Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Who would you be during the zombie apocalypse - the hunter or the hunted?

Some zombie apocalypse stories are full of fighting and gore and dramatic battles and narrow escapes. If that’s the kind of zombie tale you’re looking for, look elsewhere because this is not that story.

This is a zombie apocalypse story about the choices we’re faced with when trying to survive. Specifically, it’s about Willow (just call her Will), her dysfunctional mother, and the fiancé who recently cheated on her. When the three of them stumble across a post-apocalyptic vegan hippie commune in the mountains of North Carolina, they think they’ve found a true utopia. (Well, except for the veganism. And all the hippies.)

The community takes them in without realizing that Will and her companions are harboring a dark secret - a secret Will, her mom, and her fiancé will do almost anything to keep hidden.

But when Mother nature transforms their new utopia into a dystopia, Will and the community she’s with face some hard choices. Ultimately, no matter what the survivors each believe about themselves, they are reminded that the only real choice you can make in a zombie apocalypse is the choice between being the hunter or the hunted.

There’s not a lot in between.

Bigger Monsters is a little bit The Walking Dead, a little bit The L Word, and 100 percent a wild ride.

©2021 Eliza Andrews (P)2021 Eliza Andrews

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up

My wife and I listened to this on our last road trip and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Just a bit different, off the wall take on the zombie apocalypse. It's fun, engaging and full of both adventure and tongue in cheek humour. It's also so awesome to have lesbian characters and not have that (sexual orientation) as the focal point of the story. Some of the characters happen to be lesbian but it's not what defines or drives them.

It's survival of the fittest. A dog eat dog / zombie eats humans world and everyone is hungry!

Elizabeth Saydah did a fantastic job with the narration. Great tempo and inflection, she did a superb job of infusing the personality of the characters into each voice.

I should have known

I should have known that a story of Eliza Andrews is not what you expect. It's not about zombies (thankfully as I'm really not interested on them) but more how people deal with an end-of-the-world situation.
I'm sure it was prompted by the pandemic, a kind of what if scenario. Funny at first, dark later on.
Very good and very well narrated (as always).

Oooo! I did not see that coming!

Drop in on a small group of post apocalyptic survivors having a very bad day facing off against some zombies! Add a little relationship tension and some unsavory survival tactics and you get to find who the real monsters are. This book brings you face to face with your own ideals and how you may find yourself throwing them all away to protect yourself and those you care for. What a psychological trip!

Had me in the first half (spoilerish)

This book reminded me of and brought back similar frustrations i experienced as a child reading some of RL Stine's Fearstreet books because a twist which takes place after the midway point of the book and feels out of character and purely for shock value especially after being in the character's head and pov and their being no hints to trace to the twist after its revealed.

Kinda reminds me of the season of Game of Thrones or M Night and the twists for shock value thrown into their stories. Felt kinda cheep but I did appreciate the cliffhanger of a moral dilemma at the very end.

I've read most of the author's other books and this one is probably my least favorite but that's saying a lot because I'd still reccomend it and the author's Soldier of Dorsa series is one of my favorite queer series

People are monsters and this story is no different

This is a zombie apocalypse story. There are no good endings here. The main character gains the reader’s sympathy only to reveal they’re no better than the living dead, or worse. If you want a hopeful story with determination through adversity and hardship, read The Grapes of Wrath. This story ain’t it.