A lush house in California is the setting for several wealthy people and the games they play. Lyla thought she had it all when she married the wealthy Graham, but then she found out her new husband and his mother, who lives in part of the sprawling complex of houses atop a hill, have a sick game they play - choosing a tenant for the property below them literally and then tormenting them until they either kill themselves or run away screaming into the night. Lyla is in trouble because she actually befriended and warned the last tenant, so she is the one who is supposed to be playing the "game" this time - against Demi, a wealthy woman in her own right, just not as wealthy as them. Except...who is living at the house isn't Demi. And the story behind that involves homelessness, overdoses, opportunists and much more. As everyone begins to face off, the danger is just increasing.

A twisted thriller, there are plenty of psychopaths to go around in this book, as all the major characters appear to be one. Which one will win? You'll have to read to find out.

Even after reading the synopsis you don’t really know what you’re getting into with this book. Everyone is a little mad and everyone is hiding something. I loved the self awareness of Lyla, how she knew she was wrong and bad and on the wrong side but she just kept trying to make it the life she always wanted. And on the other Demi knows she can’t last in her current state which but she hasn’t been found out so she’s comfortable. Neither women’s characteristics are doing them any favors in getting what they want. Which is exactly what Lyla’s Huss and Graham and his mother Margo want. Because what fun is it to play with someone’s life if they’re in on it?
The writing was so eerie and dramatic that I couldn’t stop reading. There wasn’t any huge reveal or big twist but the little ones really added up for me. Such a creepy story and if you think about it in terms of rich people getting away with murder then totally plausible as well.

Graham, and Margo are so bored. And so rich. They can get away with anything, right? Graham's wife Lyla knows it and is pulled into Graham and Margo's insanely wicked game. She believes she can never get out alive. She knows too much.

"I stretch my lips in a smile. It hurts a little."

For the people in Brazier's book, being rich is 90% money and 10% artifice. So when a woman used to living by her wits on the street is unwittingly pulled into Lyla, Graham and Margo's game, they won't know what happened until the twisty end. Even when the game keeps on going.

You will love to hate the characters in Good Rich People. Not one of them is innocent; some just have more motivation for the evil they do. Picture a cross between Joe Goldberg (You) and Dexter. I almost feel guilty for liking this book, but it will definitely cease all craving for a "rich people" lifestyle. While this book was way over the top, the writing style was so entertaining I couldn't put it down!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this eccentric romp through the Los Angeles hillside!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My favorite kind of thriller!
Lyla married into Graham and his mother’s twisted rich world. When Lyla and Graham rent out their guest house, their tenants are in for the thrill of their lives - and not always in a good way.

Thank you to @netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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GOOD RICH PEOPLE is wrong in all the right ways. The story is so messed up and yet immaculately crafted with dark humor and piercing social commentary. Eliza Jane Brazier creates a world that drips with excess, but is never quite enough for the top .05%. Brilliantly twisted, the prose leaves me dizzy and every sentence leaves a delightfully bitter taste in my mouth.

Okay. This book will be on my mind for months. I'm thinking this book was somewhere in a 3.5-4 Star Rating for me.

This was like what would happen if Patrick Bateman and decided to settle down with a wife, while also deciding to live at home with his mom who is just as messed up as he is!

What an awful cast of characters. Every. Last. One. Of. Them. I found pretty much no redeeming qualities in any of them.

And yet I couldn't put this book down.

This book was insanely twisty and chaotic and kept me guessing right up to the end.

The book is multi pov and while each pov is very different it sometimes did come off as repetitive.

Clearly I am conflicted on this one but I think you will LOVE or HATE this book and don't think there will be much of an inbetween.

Thank you Berkley Pub and Netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange of an honest review.

Good Rich People
by Eliza Jane Brazier
Pub Date: January 25, 2022
Berkely Publishers

Lyla has always believed that life is a game she is destined to win, but her husband, Graham, takes the game to dangerous levels. The wealthy couple invites self-made success stories to live in their guesthouse and then conspires to ruin their lives. After all, there is nothing worse than a bootstrapper.

Demi has always felt like the odds were stacked against her. At the end of her rope, she seizes a risky opportunity to take over another person’s life and unwittingly becomes the subject of the upstairs couple’s wicked entertainment. But Demi has been struggling all her life, and she’s not about to go down without a fight.

In a twist that neither woman sees coming, the game quickly devolves into chaos and rockets toward an explosive conclusion.
I'm sorry I could not get into this book. I did not like the characters and I thought they were just mean. Thanks to Berkely and NetGalley for the ARC. This is not a book I can recommend.
3 star

3.5/5

After reading two of the authors books I think I can safely say her work is polarizing and I feel very similarly about her second book as I did her first, meaning there was some things I liked and others I didn’t. Middle of the road books are always the hardest for me to review, much less to recommend so I’ll do my best to explain what worked and what didn’t so you can decide for yourself.

Let’s start with what worked for me, there is something oddly unsettling about the authors writing, she really gets under my skin with her words and I love that. Being so hypnotized by her writing makes her books compulsive for me and this was no exception. I also like truly unlikable characters, even better if it’s rich people behaving badly, and Lyla and Grant were both wickedly fun to hate. I was all into this one until about halfway then I started to get a little bored, only then to be sucked back in again. And then the ending completely lost me as things went bat shit crazy off the rails and I just couldn’t get behind it. So lots of up and down, back and forth for me making this one just alright for me. But I know I’ll still be interested in the authors next book, like I said earlier there is something I really like about her odd storytelling and unique manner.

3 Stars
Oh, how I love a beautiful cover! This had it. it drew me in. The idea of this also caused me to click and want to read. This takes the idea of the Rich are Different to another level.

We have an immensely wealthy couple living on the grounds of the husband's mother. That should let you know something is a miss. This couple's home is below the major mansion. The couple's house is above a guesthouse for visitors...and this is the lure.

When you are bored and need amusement, it only stands to reason to come up with a game...a game to play with newly rich people who are not like you, born into the wealth. It is so much fun to ruin these impostors. That is the game this couple plays.

Unfortunately, this couple picks a newly infamous woman that will give as good as she gets...for she is nothing like she seems to them...she has her own secrets.

Let the games begin.

Special thanks to Berkeley Publishing Group and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my own opinion.

What a great book! I am giving this one 5 stars. I LOVED this book. Its so deliciously wicked. The characters were unlikable but are meant to be. I think I'd rather not say and readers should go into this book blind, as I did. I've seen better covers, although the cover is not bad, but I think the title is what grabbed me and I'm so glad it did. Finally, a book I can give all my 5 stars to.

Don't miss this one! Highly recommended!

This book was crazy weird! A woman and her husband live underneath his mother's house and his mother is filthy rich. They play games for fun but the games are mindf**k ones where the people that rent in the house, something awful happens to each person. You have to read more to find out. I really liked this book and it was unlike any book I've ever read.

Fabulous and twisty. One of the most wild rides I've read, dripping with satire and and cynical as its title.

This book was quite a pleasure to read. A unique take on the thriller genre. There are no likable character at play here. I really enjoyed the multiple POV and the satire (Ala Brett Easton Ellis).
The book started pretty well then hit a few chapters where it seemed to drag a bit, like nothing happens. Then finally it picks up and the ending leaves you wondering what’s really going on. I really look forward to reading more by this author!

Oh my gosh. I was not prepared for this to be SO. DANG. GOOD. To be completely honest, I mainly requested this title because of the amazing cover (which, can you blame me?!) and ended up absolutely LOVING the story. Good Rich People is going to be a major hit in 2022, mark my words! I don't want to say too much because I think this one is best going into blind, but it gets 5 stars from me. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Berkley for my advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. Can't wait for this one to hit the shelves in January!

Unfortunately, I started and stopped this book 3x and could not get into it. I could not connect with the character and I did not have any drive to pick up the book. I was intrigued briefly with the concept but it seemed all over the place with the POVs. This is a DNF for me at 20%

The first chapter of this book hooked me, and I really enjoyed it up until maybe the last 20% of the book, which fell a little flat for me. I also know there was a final twist, but I'm willing to admit that I was confused about what the twist was. Perhaps I wasn't playing close enough attention, but it was unclear to me.

This is a wild ride of a book full dark humor and satire that dissects the uber wealthy’s struggle with the mundane. Lyla and Graham are unhappily married and their only pleasure is derived from toying with whomever rents the space below them. Their latest target, Demi, is a successful businesswoman whom they are ready to make their pawn for their amusement. But Demi is not who she seems to be, and without spoiling anything, Lyla and Graham underestimate the person they are messing with. The web of entanglements continues to crescendo throughout this suspenseful page turner filled with greed and unlikable characters that you can’t help but follow. This is a book that explore class, wealth and social standing. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley for the advanced review copy.

Good Rich People is a quick, satirical thriller that was hard to put down--it's populated with unlikeable characters and makes for some deliciously uncomfortable reading. I found myself highlighting multiple passages in this darkly funny look at the rich. Lyla and her husband Graham are so wealthy that they are forever looking for ways to relieve their boredom; together with Graham's mother, Margot, they invent a dangerous game of preying on upwardly mobile young women with the intent to destroy. Their latest victim, Demi, gets more than she bargained for and may have some devious plans of her own. It's best to dive into this one without any plot spoilers, so stop reading this review and add this one to your winter TBR! Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the librarian preview.

Lyla is married to a wealthy man who, along with his mother, likes playing a game of befriending a successful person and then ruining them. This time it's her turn to play. Through a series of events, Demi, a homeless girl with no luck, finds herself living as their tenant and being Lyla's target. However, as Demi is impersonating someone else and Lyla is reluctant to play, the game gets turned on its head.

This was an exciting book, and I had a hard time putting it down. None of the characters were particularly likable, but their stories were compelling. They're very flawed people and make selfish decisions. The ending left too many loose ends to feel like a proper conclusion.

Review based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

Lyla and Graham are an enormously rich couple bored with life, so they play a game. They invite self-made successful people to live in their guesthouse as a way of sharing with those less fortunate. They then play games with the tenant’s reputation and life, bringing them to ruin. Regrettably, the last game didn’t end well, and this game with their new tenant, Demi, isn’t off to a good start. Demi has a secret which will destroy Lyla and Graham’s plan.

“Good Rich People” is a dark and twisty read with a heavy emphasis on it being dark. The beginning and the ending felt disjointed and that the jumping between time and narrator was confusing at points. I think there's a great story in here, but I think that the execution could have been a little better. It is difficult for me to get into a book where I don't like any of the characters and there was not a single likeable character in this story. The plot of “Good Rich People” is both original and a little crazy. I think the degree to which readers will enjoy this title will largely depend on their ability to suspend disbelief. The writing is solid and atmospheric and the tone is very dark. These are very bad people, behaving in atrocious ways, and the book will be a hit for those who enjoy black comedy and social satire. While I didn't find the story particularly believable, it did keep me turning the pages. Brazier has a unique way of writing. She describes settings and characters in a very sharp manner. The way she describes settings in the book is atmospheric, and extremely cinematic. She did an excellent job at exploring class, social status, and old vs new money. I do think that this would make a great psychological thriller film. Thanks to Netgalley, Berkeley Publishing Group and Eliza Jane Brazier for an e-ARC.