No one ate the rich. There were no horror elements to this book. I agree that this is definitely a young adult book. But, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be jazzed up with the horror

(3.5 rounded up!)

I really liked this book! I wouldn't call it a horror because nothing particularly horrifying happened, but it was still fun and enjoyable. I liked Brielle's character a lot, and I loved seeing her relationship grow with her mum. My favorite part of the book was probably the scenes relating to her mother in general, especially with the intermissions— having the sisters act like a Greek chorus was such an awesome touch, and I loved the backstory provided there. I also liked the descriptions and how they illuminated the story. In particular, the descriptions of food really showed how passionate Brielle was, and the descriptions of wealth helped illuminate the class divides in Miami.

I think the end happened a little too suddenly (especially with Franki's defeat and the marriage), and some aspects felt introduced out of nowhere— I would have loved to see more about the Banks Company's fraud before the end of Act 2, for example. I also think we could've spent a lot more time on each thing— it would have made a great series, personally! Finally, I wish we could have seen more of the relationship between Preston and Brielle after they both found out each other's secrets, as well as more insight into what Brielle's power meant— that felt way too sudden.

Overall, a fun read. Thank you, Netgalley & the Moulites, for the ARC!

Overall, this was a very enjoyable read. I enjoyed Brielle's descriptions of the cuisine she prepared. I liked the commentary on rich vs. Poor and the tie-ins with Valentine's lack of access to her medication due to lack of Healthcare. I enjoyed the author's depictions of the muses and I also really enjoyed Theo and Chad.

However, I felt Brielle's confrontation with Franki was anticlimactic, and her powers were never fully explained. I also felt the motivations behind her marriage with Preston after she confronts him with the video were nebulous and not clear to the reader. Her relationship and feelings about Preston seemed murky and never fully realized. Their romance felt very one dimensional and made me question if she actually cared for him or if he was just a means to an end. I also actually wanted more horror aspects to the book.

In conclusion, while I enjoyed the book, I felt the ending wasn't truly satisfying.

The Summer I Ate the Rich is about the legacy of slavery in Haiti, Haitian mythology, mind control, dreams of culturally showcased culinary excellence, the exclusivity of moderm medical devices, Miami uber-rich big pharma with hot sons, and the dangers of not knowing what's in your food. I think. It seemed to suffer from an identity crisis, jumping around between these themes, trying to be too much. The majority of this book is an unlikely YA romance that is not helped by the 17 year old first-person narrator. This is very far from horror, and the revenge plot feels like a subplot. This seems much more like a Cinderella retelling if Cinderella was actually a sociopath instead of anything aligning with the Eat the Rich movement.
I really like the cover. The audiobook narrators did a great job, though the Greek Chorus of sisters was a bit confusing via audio.
Thanks to NetGalley, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, and Macmillan Young Listeners for the ARC to review.

Having previously read the Moulite sisters, I was excited to see where they would take this particular story. They are so good at giving us very relevant stories, but with a twist. And this one comes in the form of zombies! Or zonbi in the case of this particular book.

The Summer I Ate the Rich is about a Haitian mother and daughter who live in Florida working for the wealthy. As many immigrants to the US, they came for a better life, but there is always a disparity between the classes and the Moulites show how this works in Brielle's life. Brielle is a teen that loves to cook and has a little side gig cooking for the wealthy. She has a penchant for meat, but likes to serve her customers something a little more unique. With her intentions clear, her dinner club is a hit and her customers are soon lining up. Thank goodness, because her mother suddenly loses her job, but Brielle comes up with a way to help her. After "assisting" a wealthy man and donating his money, Brielle is offered a summer internship which ends up helping her mother and also has her rubbing elbows with the rich in a way she never did before.

I liked the idea of this book and the way it started. I really wish the authors would've dove a little deeper into the horror aspect and gave us more of the zonbi life Brielle was living. Brielle is such a strong character and gave us just enough to keep me interested. The beginning was strong, but fell off when it became more of a love story between two people from different social classes. But I give the writers credit for the way they depicted the rich and the working class and adding conversation about racial inequality along with big Pharma and the way that affects the different social classes. It seems oh so relevant to the life we are living now. I just wish they would've leaned more into the thriller/horror aspect, along with the social topics, because they gave us a taste (no pun intended) and it could've been so much more.

Overall, this book had a great concept and I really liked many aspects of it, but my expectations were higher than what was delivered. It works well for a YA, but still could've been stronger. I liked the Haitian American culture that was included from the mother and Brielle's sisters, but give me more zonbi!! 3.5 stars

The book opens up with the FMC, Brielle Petitfour, cooking sheep brains - as we find out she is a Zonbi (No, not your typical zombies that you know from movies and tv shows). Brielle, a high school student, works at a restaurant to help her ill mother pay the pills. The family immigrated from Haiti to Miami, but Brielle's father passed away years ago and her mother deals with severe back pain. Brielle's dream is to be a chef, but when her mother catches her doing a surprise supper club tasting on the ferry, she continues to lecture her about how cooking isn't reliable income and she didn't come here for her to be a chef. When Brielle is waiting for her mother to finish work at the Banks house, she sees the eldest Mr Banks run over and killed by a white car. Her mother ends up losing her job at the Banks home as she was the caretaker of Mr Banks, and is no longer needed now that he has died. In a parting way, Brielle ends up getting more supper club jobs after someone on the ferry wants to hire her for a dinner party for her rich friends, but Brielle must learn to manage this and her new internship at the Banks family business. What is the key to Brielle's success? Human flesh.

This book had the potential to be amazing. The plot was fascinating and it was interesting to see Haiti culture, learn more about Haitians version of zombies. The plot for the most part had be really invested throughout the story except for when the sections where the sisters (the muses) would go on tangents - I personally thought this added nothing to the book and really broke up the book in a not good way. The other thing I thought was bad was the whole wedding plot lol it makes sense in a liability sort of way, but we have to remember these are high schoolers. Crazy.

I gave this book 100+ pages to pull me in, but it just didn't manage to do it's job. I think the authors were a little...confused about what tone they wanted overall, because it seemed to waffle between quirky satire and a more serious "issues" book. The zombie lore also didn't seem to make much sense, which was especially disappointing seeing as it was based on actual zonbi lore. I also think a book that promises cannibalism should probably include some of it by the 25% mark. I was also expecting more dead people, and I didn't really get that either. I'm sure there are going to be quite a few people who end up enjoying this one, but I have too many things to read to justify struggling though a horror novel that isn't scary, doesn't make a lot of sense magic-wise, and I find lacking as a whole.

While I don't think I would necessarily classify this book as horror, I actually thoroughly enjoyed this read. I loved the main characters, and the way the character history was told was very unique (through the voices of the "muses"). There was a bit that felt rushed towards the end, but overall I had fun with this one. Good, light-hearted, horror adjacent book.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Summer I Ate the Rich focuses on a Haitian-American girl and how she is affected by both racial inequality and struggles with wealth. Her mom suffers from chronic pain and Brielle, the main character, does everything that she can to help her mother—including “eating the rich.”

I did expect this book to lean more on the horror side, especially with the first scene where we are introduced to Brielle and learn about her life as a zonbi. The “zonbi” aspect of the story being rich in Haitian culture made up for the lack of horror within the book, in my opinion. I enjoyed how the author incorporated this into the story. I wish that the zonbi storyline had been nestled into the culinary storyline more, as well.

The characters were really enjoyable and felt well rounded. The moments with Brielle and Marcello were my favorites, but I even found myself rooting for Preston, though I definitely shouldn’t have been. The mixed media of the sisters’ dialogue flowed well with the story.

I felt as if I was reading three different books that were melded into one. I definitely felt as though this story could’ve been a few short novellas or even a longer novel, broken up into three clear sections. This book did have the Act structure, but they felt too rushed and too short in my opinion.

The ending of the book felt out of nowhere to me, though I understand why it occurred. I didn’t view the characters in this way, though, so it took me out of the story.

Overall, I found this story enjoyable, but not as much as I would’ve if I hadn’t gone in with the preconceived notion that this would be a horror novel, which was pushed further with the first chapter of the novel vs the rest of it. This book is a very solid magical realism story, though, despite its story map being all over the place.

Well, this wasn't as gruesome as the opening paragraphs made it seem like it would be, which was a mercy, to be honest. I thought this was a fun story; you definitely have to be willing to just accept the premise and go with what's happening. I really liked how all the zombie stuff was handled, actually, and I appreciated having a zombie book that gets to the actual roots of the practice. What I found harder to swallow (pun intended?) was how easy it was for our MC to get the access she got to the rich. And while it was an interesting way to provide backstory, I got really tired really fast of the interludes with the sisters. And I quickly got annoyed at the use of creole without translations--a little is fine, but too much and it starts to feel like a badly written fantasy novel. But those are my only critiques, and they are minor.

Overall, if you want a truly original take on a zombie story, you should enjoy this! It's definitely fun, and it's very, very satisfying for anyone looking for a good anti-capitalist story to go with their supernatural/paranormal reading.

The Summer I Ate The Rich is a wickedly sharp satirical YA horror that must be on your summer TBR.

This is eat the rich done right. It has a deep seated anger that it actually allows its central protagonist to delve into. This is a dark and brutal read at times with an unflinching look at ableism, classism, racism and particularly the US healthcare industry. It reminds you that a capitalist society sees you as just another body, so why should Brielle not do the same. There is an edge of dark humour to proceedings that balances that scarcely contained fury. The scenes where Brielle does get to unleash are a much needed catharsis. I love narratives that examine the inner world of the privileged and how this can be unpicked. This is a strong offering of that – offering a uniquely twisted peek into this elite world. There is just so much to love here.

Brielle has such an arresting voice. Right from the first few pages, you are hooked. It is such an interesting take that infuses the pages with Haitian mythology. The horror is on full display with both our realm and that of the supernatural. It is all about power and control with certain acts of violence pushing across this. I really enjoyed Brielle as a protagonist with her fierce determination, smart wits and secretly deeply caring heart. She ultimately will do whatever it takes to help her family thrive and she relishes in it. For me, this was such a refreshing change – to have someone fully own their capabilities and power unashamedly. There is plenty of muddly morality here but you root for Brielle through it all.

The Summer I Ate The Rich is a fantastic YA offering from two authors you should keep a firm eye on – rich characterisation and a story that pulls you in and will not let you go. One to devour.

Unfortunately I didn't really care for this. There were bits of it there were too unrealistic for me that really took me out of the story. I wish it had more horror elements. I think that some people will really like it, but it just wasn't for me.

When I came across the synopsis on NetGalley, I was obsessed. A Ya Horror about a Hatian American Girl getting revenge on rich assholes with her zombi powers.. What else could you possibly want? I thought it would be this vast revenge story of carnage and comeuppance and existential crisis because, ya know, that's a feeling as a black woman I feel all the time.

In this 400-page novel, we're introduced to Brielle Petitfour and her mother, as well as the muses; her sisters stuck in Haiti. Brielle was born with zombi powers, a haitian zombi is different from an american zombie. A Hatian zombi is like a stronger representation of existential dread, and she gains new forms as we go through the novel.

Brielle witnesses a hit and run at her mother's super rich employers of the person she was a care aid for, and this propels our characters into the plot, the Meat and potatoes of the story if you will. She's discovered a way to get everything they deserve and the revenge I was so hoping for in a way that was a lot less horror than I was expecting.

I enjoyed my time with Brielle and her family as she figured out just what kind of person she wanted to be. I loved all the cheesiness of the chosen references and the coming of ageness of the novel. While I didn't get what I wanted the novel wasn't bad in the slightest, I wound up giving it a score of 🥕🥕🥕🥕 and I would recommend it for people who want to read something scary but not gory.

Buckle up y'all cuz I'm boutta ramble lol. Prefacing this by saying I did receive this as an arc but my review is my own and I speak the truth. And boy am I about to speak it pft

Sooo I had very mixed feelings about this book. Some parts? I LOVED. Other parts? ...meh. But Im a certified sipper of haterade, let me tell you the good stuff first! (THIS WILL HAVE SPOILERS, YOUVE BEEN WARNED!!)

This book was so soul crushingly realistic. The authors did such a good job of creating such an oppressive atmosphere. The subtle and not-so-subtle racism was done so perfectly, the heartbreaking circumstances of Brielle's family was just EUGH MY HEART. I loved it, I thought it was done so well. The fucking anger burning inside this teenager watching her mother work herself to the bone, chef's kiss. The amount of emotion that was put behind those scenes/details was so deep. I also loved that Marcello and Brielle actually had a friendship. He did not feel like a token gay best friend character, and I loved that. The cooking was also surprisingly fun, I didn't know 90% of the dishes but I liked it.

The first part was a little tough to get through. This book is VERY ya, and I had to adjust to that lol. But once I was in, I was IN baby. I had my jaw dropped at one liners, I cackled a bit, and my anxiety was sky high once she started her plans. The "Im feeling generous" line drop had me kicking my feet in a "OH GOD WTF HAPPENS NEXT" way. Very well done.

Unfortunately, I now have to speak about the bad stuff. Which, to be fair, there isn't that much of lol. I'm being a tad dramatic. First off, I feel like the title is very misleading. Brielle never ate the rich (in a literal sense) but she did feed the rich to the rich. I was expecting some zombie gore vengeance and I got uhhh not that lol. Speaking of zombie, I did not enjoy that part either.. I know, I know! That was a huge part of the book. But it felt so random and weird. It did not blend well into the realism of this book. And it wasn't mentioned that much to make it worthwhile. I often forgot Brielle was a zombie/zonbi. It didn't really make sense to me, and I think that's because very little time was spent fleshing (haha) that part out. I feel like this could have benefited a lot with some explanations on Brielle and her powers and everything. Like they had this power to influence others but I kinda didn't understand it.. at all. I also did not like that Brielle's story ended in her marrying a rich boy. Like come on. I would have LOVED for her to take life by storm by herself, without the money, and tear down society in her vengeance and anger. But alas I do recognize that it isn't very realistic. Money is everything in this world, and without it? You have very little power. I just felt like her marrying that boy was the complete opposite of the "eat the rich" message that this book was trying to convey. Or who knows, maybe I'm dumb and misunderstood the whole thing LMAO

Overall, I did have a fun time reading this book. I don't regret it. So if you are interested in reading this, DO IT! >:)

ARC REVIEW, thank you so much to Maika Moulite; Maritza Moulite, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and NetGalley for this ARC. My review is not influenced by receiving an ARC. This is an honest review!

5 stars

A Haitian-American teen girl uses her zonbi, zombie, abilities to make it even with the people who constantly screw her, her mother, and everyone else over. Brielle is a skilled cook; cooking is her passion, but it isn't sustainable with her mother's medical bills and rent. What better way to make the rich pay for what they do than to make them into cannibals without their knowledge? 

This book focuses on the folklore of Haitian zombies, racial inequality, colonization, the American healthcare system, and economic inequality. I love the writing style; I love getting Brielle's point of view mixed with conversations from her sisters. I adore how the Haitian culture and folklore mixed into the story; I learned so much and can't wait to research more into it. The microaggressions really pissed me off. I hate how enduring that is a part of so many people's day-to-day lives.

I love how the figurative speech of eating the rich is used both in the sense of beating them at their own game and cannibalism. This whole book is really timely to everything that is happening in the United States.  This book was thought-provoking, something fresh that I didn't know I wanted until I had it, and it was overall very exciting.

I love this book so much! I love our protagonist. I love the way we learned about her "condition" and I loved her mother. The ending was perfect too! It was all around good.

The Summer I Ate the Rich had a great premise that I was excited for, and with a stunning cover and eye catching title, I really had high expectations for it.

What worked for me was the integration of cultures, cuisine, and Brielle's sisters. However, it felt like there was too much the novel was trying to say, and messages were getting conflicted. There were so many exciting things happening, but each storyline was getting muddled together, rather than forming a super cohesive story.

I enjoyed it and look forward to recommending it!

THE SUMMER I ATE THE RICH is chock full of emotional, tough topics, ranging from the colonization of Haiti to healthcare in America. At times it felt a little too overstuffed and storylines didn't have enough space to fully grow, but I adored Brielle and her family, especially her close relationship with her mother.

This has been one of my most anticipated books since I heard they were writing again. So when I saw Netgalley was dropping the audio, I had to read it immediately. I have to say, this is one of the best covers I’ve ever seen.

Ok so although I loved the zombie bits, I wanted more? And like more scary? I guess I wanted more gore and more “scary” since it was a horror book. Alas, the horror is because it has a zombie in it. Because the amount of times she actually unhinged her jaw to eat someone was 0. The amount of times she unhinged her jaw to ALMOST eat someone was 2. It was a bit disappointing for sure. Especially with the way it opened. I JUST KNEW we were about to get all the weirdness lol And then there’s the fact that she doesn’t actually eat the rich? She does something else which is equally weird, but like, if this is what we’re going to call it? Idk it was too much of a gray area for me. However, I did learn something about the zombie lore that I thought was cool. I had never heard that in Haitian folklore, zombies, or “zombi” in Haitian Creole, are reanimated corpses controlled by a bokor, a Voodoo sorcerer, often used as forced labor or to carry out nefarious tasks, stemming from anxieties about slavery and the loss of personal autonomy. But with that being said, we don’t actually get any idea of her abilities or anything. We get glimpses when she has to run or eat, but nothing concrete. She does have a part when she meets the final boss and but that’s to find out the controller. And well, yeah that’s a whole other ball game lol

I LOVED the way they did “eat the rich” in this tho. It was I’m sorry to say I was appalled that they didn’t show any aftermath? What happened to them? She just controlled them? They didn’t get sick? I would have thought they would have with all the chemicals in those things. Idk it didn’t add up. There should have been some kind of something? Even if she had to go back and do some quick mind control. But girl, whatever got you through it lol

I did like the class issues were portrayed. Since this is a YA novel I know it might have been hard to find a balance in explaining it. And with this coming right after Luigi Mangione, I thought this was crazy timing. But it begs the question, what would you do in this situation? ESPECIALLY with the terrible character that is involved.

But the way the plot twists all lined up was what made me gasp throughout the entire book. Idk how they got everything all lined up like that, but Lordt! They HAD to have like planned and plotted this down to the very last bit. Because how in the world did they not mix up anything? I am hella impressed because what in the world. I read this like a week and a half ago, and here I am STILL thinking about it.

So basically, even if you’re not impressed with the horror or the zombie parts. I’m hoping you still get swept away by the plot like I was. And if not, you still have this bad a$$ cover to look at lol

"You're going to have to stomach a lot more than that if we're going to get through this together."

That line alone had me uncomfortably anticipating this book. Unfortunately that was the most disturbing line, and it was at the end of the first chapter.

I expected some sort of Dexter/Hannibal/Sweeney Todd story. She's an underprivileged Haitian zonbi, and I was looking forward to this "eating of the rich", but that didn't really happen. She collected some fingers from corpses (in a morgue, so you'd expect the mortician to notice that three bodies all have missing fingers, but apparently not) and fed those to clients.

And then there's the ending, which worked out so well for her for absolutely no reason.

The writing was good and I liked the side characters, but this just wasn't what I was expecting or wanted from this book.