If you like a creepy start, this is the book for you. I almost couldn’t finish this because it was so descriptive! For horror/thriller readers! Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen in exchange for a review.

The Summer I Ate the Rich was such a delight, and the audio narration made it even more enjoyable. The cast brought the characters to life with perfect energy and emotion, making the humor and drama land effortlessly. I loved how the story balanced wit and heart, and the performances made me feel fully immersed in the world the authors created. It was funny, sharp, and utterly engaging from start to finish.

4.5⭐️

What an interesting premise! I was initially drawn into this title by the cover of the book. The narrators were absolutely wonderful and really displayed the emotion of each character. I was invested in Brielle’s story and that of her family. The novel was also a great commentary on class inequalities, greed, and the working poor.

TW/CW: Language, blood, violence, misogyny, classism, death of parent, drinking, anxiety, cannibalism, toxic family relationships

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Brielle Petitfour loves to cook. But with a chronically sick mother and bills to pay, becoming a chef isn’t exactly a realistic career path.When Brielle’s mom suddenly loses her job, Brielle steps in and uses her culinary skills to earn some extra money. The rich families who love her cooking praise her use of unique flavors and textures, which keep everyone guessing what’s in Brielle’s dishes. The secret ingredient? Human flesh.
Release Date: April 22nd, 2025
Genre: YA Horror
Pages: 400
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Parts about Brielle being a zombie

What I Didn't Like:
1. Boring
2. Story switches storyline

Final Thoughts:
I read 100 pages of this and it was so different from what I thought I was getting. I thought I was getting this zombie Hannibal story of a girl cooking humans like she's Sweety Todd. That's not what I got here. It turns into the story of girl (yes - a zombie) that gets a new phone that is weirdly linked to her mother's bosses sons phone. She gets a text asking about donating money and doubles it. Then she somehow - - without not knowing this dudes bank account to donate money to other things. Why would these charities just have his bank account on hand for them to just take a donation from? Also I imagine it takes more than a text to allow a company to take 10 million dollars from an account. I withdrawal or deposit $100 to my bank and I'm getting a text and an email. I'll never be a millionaire but pulling out this money can't be that easy.

Characters are dry and boring. Brielle just feels like a normal person. It's hit over head time and time again how she has no emotions or cares about others but we are never shown this.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love a good underdog story and even better when it's a story about rich people getting served their due, in this case being fed human flesh though went a step too far for my comfort level. While I've enjoyed books by this author duo in the past, this particular one just wasn't for me. I would recommend it for fans of YA horror though. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I was pretty disappointed with this book. It seemed like it was going to be so interesting. Kinda Sweeney Todd inspired zombie cooking humans and feeding them to other humans but no. It was very boring. Nothing exciting happened. The main character being a zombie wasn’t referenced as much as I would have liked and that was disappointing.

The Summer She Feed The Rich A Dead Billionaire's Teeth To Perform Magick.

I recieved an ARC of #TheSummerIAteTheRich from #Netgalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for my honest review.

I came to this book after a long reading slump (see my comments on Where Shadows Meet) and was hoping for something truly interesting to help fuel my interest in reading again. What I got was a light magical-realism YA that read like a Free-form TV vampire show (but with magic and zonbi instead). Luckily for me, I love those shows even if they don't always have the best plot or writing.

The Summer I Ate the Rich held enough of my attention to get through it in a reasonable amount of time. Once I made it enough into the audio to bite into the story, it took me about 3 days to complete - a reasonable amount of time. The narration made it a lot easier to follow and added a bit of flair with multiple narrators for the different family members. It brought in accents and pronunciation of words I likely wouldn't have been able to hear in my own head had I been physically reading (there's both French and Haitian Creole in this book). This was a fun element that I think did a lot for the story.

The story itself fell a bit flat to me though. I liked the premise but being marketed as a YA I think made the story lose something it needed. It didn't go far enough, the problems were fixed far too easily with little real resistance, and ultimately I think the story readers were sold on in the synopsis was not exactly what they were given. That last point isn't on the authors, it's on the publisher. Reading through a lot of reviews it seems the let down (much like my own) comes down to not meeting the expectation that was set by that synopsis - which is a shame.

Maybe if you have a young reader who is into magical realism and urban fantasy, they may like this book. It provides a look at class and race relations in the US that's important for young adults to have perspective on -- especially when considering the current Healthcare crisis in the states. Is it the best book for that? No. But it's written with an influence of a real lived experience and that is a powerful driver.

Such an interesting and unique novel and I am so glad I got the opportunity to ARC read this/ALC(listen to it on audio).

Goodreads review

While I would have liked to see the whole "I ate the rich" part a little bit more, this overall message and tone of this book was fantastic. I also, for some reason, didn't realize this was a YA book. I've been reading a lot of YA books with heavy messages/themes lately, and I'm rather enjoying this trend.

Oh my god!!! Ive never read a book like this and it was phenonal. I dont want to gvie any spoilers but you will prob need to read it twice to get the things you miss the first time around

This is a Haitian zombie novel. However, there’s not really any zombie action. This is more about the myth of what a zombie could be and how it causes strife in a family when a daughter is born as a zombie. Except for a few parts where our main character tastes and you find teeth in somebody else’s food there is not much zombie action. This is more a mother daughter story about finding their way back to each other and living past expectations that come at birth. This book starts when our main character witnesses a car accident that kills the matriarch of an extremely rich family. Her mother happens to work for this extremely rich family, and things move on from there. This book was an interesting listen. It’s not what I thought it would be at all. And I don’t think the title really goes with the book. The title is more about the politics of eating the rich, and how our main character lives up to those politics. Once again, this novel was interesting. I am glad I’ve read it but it’s not one that will be on my top 10 list at the end of the year.

But when do we eat the rich?

The Summer I Ate the Rich was advertised as a YA horror that involves zombies, cannibalism, and taking down the rich and elite. Unfortunately, I didn't really get any of those things. I think the summary of this book did it a disservice because it didn't accurately describe the plot at all. I think this book was a social horror that focused on what it feels like to be a marginalized group among the privileged elite. I would not consider it gory or scary. I believe if they added more detail as to what Brielle was doing to the food she cooked, then it would have strengthened the magical aspect of the story. Instead, it was more about the social and power dynamic between Brielle and those around her.

I enjoyed the audiobook and the multiple narrators. However, the sisters/muses were confusing and really took me out of the story. They provided a third person view of Brielle's choices, but otherwise didn't connect to the overall story. I may have just totally missed their purpose.

I like the Haitian lore and the authors' note at the end to help explain some of their inspiration.

Beautiful, breathtaking enticing and wonderful in glad to have read this and miss the way reading this for the first time made me feel, thankyou for this chance and this world

A super fascinating and unique YA that left me hooked from the start!

This felt like it captured Gen Z zeitgeist, it was socially engaged, creative, thrilling, and diverse. I found this to be captivating and I didn't know what to expect. The sisters as a chorus of sorts also felt really interesting and caught my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Summer I Ate the Rich is a sharp, fast-paced read that blends anti-capitalist bite with cultural richness and a dash of dark humor. Maika and Maritza Moulite have crafted a story that’s both fun and thought-provoking, with a compelling main character and a cast of memorable side characters.

One of the standout elements is the exploration of Haitian culture and folklore, especially the origins of the zombie myth—which, surprisingly, I hadn’t known until now. The vivid descriptions of food and cooking throughout the book are mouthwatering, making me want to seek out Haitian cuisine ASAP.

While the book tackles serious themes, including generational trauma and class disparity, it also delivers a heartfelt mother-daughter narrative that anchors the story beautifully. There’s a romance subplot, too—low-stakes and messy in the best way—but it never overshadows the book’s central message.

If you’re looking for a summer read that’s rich in culture, character, and critique (with just a hint of cannibalism), this one’s for you.

The Summer I Ate the Rich was a mixed bag experience for me. I'm not even sure how best to explain my thoughts and feelings on this one, but let's give it a whirl, shall we?

In this story we follow Brielle, a Haitian-American girl, living in the Miami area with her Mom. Brielle has big dreams of becoming a world-renowned chef. Her Mom works in a domestic-capacity for an extremely wealthy family. It's not easy work and she's also dealing with a chronic illness that leaves her dealing with constant pain, and a lot of medical bills, but she does her best to provide for them. Unsurprisingly, Brielle spends a lot of her time and energy trying to help her Mom, worrying about her, and trying to make sure she gets the care she needs.

After her Mom's job is no longer there, Brielle has to step up in a big way; using her culinary skills to support them. Brielle's menu items are far from mainstream, and she keeps the rich families eating her food guessing about what exactly is titillating their taste-buds.

The short answer: human flesh.

I'll be the first to admit, a lot of this story flew over my head. I enjoyed Brielle, and followed along quite well in the beginning, but then it got to a point where my eyes sort of glazed over. I understand and appreciate the important topics these authors touch upon in this story, and I think their own inspiration for writing it is compelling ((be sure to read the <i>Author's Note</i> at the end)), however, a lot of it lost me, NGL.

The synopsis mentions it being a modern-day fable, and that is quite apt. In addition to Brielle's perspective, we also get these sections, they might have been called Intermissions, or Interludes, but they are told in a very whimsical-style by beings I believe were supposed to be Brielle's 'sisters'. Those sections were a complete wash for me. They were so jarring in comparison to Brielle's perspective, and they were taking me out of the story every time.

In the audiobook, they also had different narrators, which was great, I love multiple narrators, but these sections, the Muses, all I could picture was the singing ladies from Disney's animated movie, Hercules. And I guess for me, that felt more out of place and distracting than I think the author's intended. I'm sure this is just me, I'm most likely missing a very real reference, or connection, to some greater story, or folklore, but I still need to be honest about my experience.

At the end of the day, I was hoping this would be much darker and clear in its execution than it turned out to be. I was into it at times, but then it would veer off and leave me spinning my wheels, wondering what was happening. Nevertheless, I would recommend it for any Reader who feels the synopsis sounds intriguing. It's definitely worth giving it a shot, and I would be interested in reading more from these authors.

Thank you to the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, as well as Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.

There's def a good story here. I appreciated the themes and risks the authors explored and took, however it just wasn't suited to my tastes, and I do rate based on my overall experience in comparison to other books of the same genre.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I enjoyed this more than I thought! I wasn't sure what to think as I don't typically read books about zombies but this was interesting and the main character was fun to read. I would look at more by this author!

This was a new and interesting take on the zombie genre. Normally zombie stories are something I would steer clear from but this was really enjoyable. Brielle Petitfour is an young Haitian American with a passion for cooking. When she witnesses a hit and run of the elderly man her mother cares for she takes the opportunity to use the information she has to make a go at a culinary business. No one would guess what her secret ingredient is but as the summer goes on more and more things start to unravel for Brielle.

This was a suspenseful and engaging read from start to finish.

I enjoyed the concept but I thought the magic system could have been better explained and the ending was unsatisfying

3.25

A decent book, but not what it markets itself as.
The only horror comes more from the racism and socioeconomic injustices.

I think I'd have enjoyed it more if I'd gone in with the right intentions; or if the book had kept the same tone it started with.