Thank you to Netgalley for this arc. This book was not what I expected, but I really enjoyed it. Brielle dreams of being a chef, but her mom is ill and she loses her job so Brielle uses her cooking skills to cook for the rich, they love her food, but their not ready to find out the secret ingredient in her food is human flesh.

3.5 stars

I enjoy these two, so I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into this newest effort. The zombie lore is a real treat, though there are other elements that did not come together as nicely for me as in previous reads by the same duo.

Brielle is all the way over it. She has hopes and dreams but lacks the means through which to achieve them, and there are some particularly unusual aspects of her identity that make her upward mobility seem even less likely. She also has a mother who is overwhelmed by medical situations and constant, related reminders, and she has a healthy level of spite for those, well, who mostly deserve it. When she comes up with a payback plan, it's a good one.

The zombie aspect of this is as fun as I'd hoped. Less fun? For me, there are challenges with the pacing, the character growth, and the unusual plot points (and I'm actually not including the zombie part here - that, to me, seemed totally reasonable. Some of the relationships and outcomes, though? Hmmm). This is still a fascinating concept and a read I'll recommend based on how successful that part is.

I'm looking forward to more from these authors.

I thought this book had a very strong premise. I've been fascinated by "sentient" zombies since iZombie and Brielle is a charming protagonist for the genre. The themes of privilege and oppression run deep through this book, and in those moments the writing shines as you can tell how deeply felt these issues are for the author. That being said, there are some parts that just do not mesh well as part of the larger narrative. Brielle takes body parts from corpses at her friends family funeral home and no one notices? Not just bits of skin or hair, but entire fingers. And she doesn't stop to think about the consequences for Marcello's family if this is ever discovered. And to my understanding, she ground all the parts into dust, so how did the tooth show up? And what will prevent it from happening again as she embarks on her plans for the future? Preston and Brielle's relationship was cute, but the ending feels very rushed and I don't really understand why their marriage was necessary to the plan. If it's about money or access, Brielle can maintain those things as his girlfriend without being his wife. I also thought Brielle's inability to express her emotions would come into play more particularly with how black people are typically seen as standoffish if we do not display "appropriate" enthusiasm as compared to our white peers. But it is only mentioned in passing throughout the book. That being said, overall I think the book brings up important topics and I'm glad it was written.

I will admit that my review may be influenced by what I expected this book to be. Based on the premise, I anticipated Brielle’s zonbi / zombie nature to have a greater influence on actively “eating the rich”. However, this influence showed up in a much different way in this novel on Brielle’s selected victims. While there were many aspects that I enjoyed about “The Summer I Ate the Rich”, there were a few areas in which this read fell flat for me. Primarily, almost every conflict resolution felt very rushed and most were not satisfying - particularly the one centered around Franki. Again, based on the title and the premise, I expected more of a horror element and more consumption of rich people. Now, time for what I enjoyed. The folklore aspect and the casting of Brielle’s sisters as the Muses were intriguing, although I would’ve liked to see a bit more explaining about zonbis and how they’re made, as well as Brielle’s method to influencing people with her intentions. The discussion of how the fabulously wealthy may elect to squander their riches and success rather than providing aid to those truly in need in this novel is well-placed, drives the story appropriately, and unfortunately highlights the struggles that may people face across the world. This will make a great addition to YA options, it just fell a little flat for me.

Brielle is doing everything she can to succeed. The world is stacked against her, however. She dreams of cooking. That is the career path that makes her happy, and when she kicks off a supper club popup with her best friend, she makes some eager customers. She’s got a job in a restaurant, and if she can get her idea off the ground, she might just make it. However, there are financial hurtles, prejudices, familial expectations … and a Haitian curse to overcome.

That last one is the most important, it would seem. Brielle is a zombi, though not one of the shambling ghouls that caught the American attention through films by George A. Romero and later imitators. Hers is a curse of servitude, a connection to land and people, and hunger.

Brielle’s mother is an immigrant from Haiti, whose husband has passed. Mummy has chronic pain and little ability to pay for the expensive medications. Her pain medication dispensing pump’s monitor often starts chiming away when it runs out of medicine to distribute. She takes care of an older, wealthy white man whose family can’t be bothered. She is estranged from the daughters she had with her first husband, a bokor named Franki, and she misses them dearly. She keeps pushing her daughter to go into a respectable business, to be a respectable American woman … but that’s not what Brielle wants. A clash is imminent.

Brielle’s opportunity to make a difference comes in the form of a new phone on Mummy’s employer’s plan. Through it, Brielle gets some text messages intended for one of Mummy’s employer’s billionaire sons, Silas Banks. In a moment of puckish anarchy, she responds to these messages, agreeing to multimillion dollar donations to worthy causes in Banks’ name. The charities are over the moon, and when they ask about Banks’ change of heart, Brielle replies, “I’m feeling generous.”

Of course she is found out. But instead of prosecuting her, Banks offers her an internship. It’s a way to make more money than she ever has, a way to get her mom on insurance coverage, and a way to see how the other half lives. Sadly, it’s also a way for Banks to have slow, ugly revenge through passive-aggressive manager Ainsley. Instead of getting invited to sit at the table with other interns, she is the gopher, going for coffee, getting tasked with jobs in the middle of the night due in the morning, and otherwise used and abused.

This all changes when Brielle catches the attention of Silas Banks’ son Preston. He’s the billionaire scion who has everything he could ever want, is privileged out the wazoo, but he takes a fancy to her. Is it all part of some long-term shame plan? Is he the key to everlasting happiness? Well, all that depends on whether Brielle’s fate leans more toward dark fantasy or romance. Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite pen a moving look at a young woman battling prejudices and curses to have her happily ever after with The Summer I Ate the Rich.

Not gonna lie. I’m conflicted about this one. The back cover copy suggests this will be a smart and fierce horror novel that explores socioeconomic and racial inequality that is the foundation of our times. Only about half of that is true. The socioeconomic and racial inequality side of things fuels a good portion of the story here. Folks who use the word “woke” as a pejorative will pretty much find that part horrifying to their sensibilities and ideologies. The rest of us, who are looking for a smart horror novel with no shortage of biting social satire will … be utterly baffled. The satiric edge is there. The Moulites have assembled the materials for a pretty great story about the hardships faced by immigrant families and first-generation American citizens. There are big feelings that work: dread, hope, affection, uncertainty, love. It’s a provocative story about despairs and triumphs, a YA spin on the sorts of material found in a book like Kelly Yang’s middle grade novel Front Desk.

Sadly, the supernatural elements are the least developed parts of the book, winding up the least interesting aspects and ultimately unimportant to the story itself. There is a perfectly serviceable narrative of a young woman trying to overcome prejudice, trying to make a difference, and taking the opportunity to do so (while exploring big feelings along the way). The supernatural angle shows up in the plot often as a convenience for the character (she gets a bit of control over people via her uncanny powers and unsavory recipes) and for the authors (the hunger side can provide some wonderful setbacks and trouble). But if it was completely stripped out, the essential story would not change.

And while the story is billed as a horror novel, it really is not. There are some dark moments along Brielle’s journey. However, they are ultimately overturned and the power of the right relationships. There’s a grossout in the opening chapter and a warning that more will follow … but instead of going that route, we are given a story about inequity and prejudice, some of which is infuriating as hell, but never quite fear inducing. We have zero doubts that Brielle will succeed, and the stakes are never that dear.

And for a novel with a title like The Summer I Ate the Rich, there is a distinct lack of rich people being eaten on the page. Instead, Brielle is more often feeding their appetites, and she is ultimately poised with the question of becoming what she despises (a wealthy person) or staying true to the path society has put her upon. So, anyone coming to this book looking for a fierce supernatural work with actual feats of cannibalism, well hate to tell you that the book will be a disappointment. It’s nothing like what the publisher is trying to sell it as. I can’t help but count myself among the dissatisfied readers who expected a novel that dove into the deep end and instead found the horrors to be shallow fare indeed.

That said, the Moulites have penned a wonderfully engaging contemporary story about one woman struggling against overwhelming odds to find her dreams. Fans of romance with occasional dark edges (and a macabre sense of humor) will find plenty to enjoy with Brielle and the characters she interacts with.

I honestly only read about 40% of this book. Not enough zombies and not enough actually eating the rich. I admit this is likely my fault for expecting this to be a different book than it actually was. It sounded like it would be a fun zombie horror about a Haitian American teen but it feels much more contemporary and her being a zombie barely affects the plot. If that was removed from the story, it would honestly make very little difference. I think teens might still like it because the main character reads very much like a real teen girl to me. But it just didn’t work for me and I found that I didn’t care one bit about what was happening in the story.

While I think at times the writing in this book was beautiful and poetic, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Between the title, cover and description I was prepared to be horrified and although this was a well done story of class and racial inequity, it just didn't meet the definition of horror in my opinion.
The first chapter eluded that you'd better not be squeamish when in reality any eating of people and Brielle's zombie/ zonbi powers were never well developed and more of an afterthought. I kept reading in hopes that the ending would produce at least one great scene, but that never materialized.

This YA horror is about what happens when a Haitian American girl uses her zonbi abilities to exact revenge on the wealthy elites who've caused her family pain. The zonbi inclusion, especially the bits set in Haiti that show the cultural significance of zonbis (very different than the widely known Americanized versions) were fascinating. This will also appeal to those who have experience dealing with or having a family member who deals with chronic pain.

I enjoyed this book but I felt like at times things weren't matching up like they should. The main thing that I enjoyed was learning about Haitian Zonbis. Anything that is teaching me about another culture, is always an easy like for me. Outside of that, the story had a lot of plot holes, you get introduced to a lot of things and never hear about it again. Also, the ending was odd and didn't match up to the synopsis or the rest of the book. Honestly, I wanted Brielle to be a bit more sinister, and the story a little darker. But the book was good for what it was.

I love how the author brought Out the characters and the story came together I hated how her mom was treated but she got those rich people back and they didn’t even know it lol !! This is my first young adult book and it won’t be my last I’m sure that the your and the adults will devour this book it’s a fast and easy read

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: I really wanted to like The Summer I Ate the Rich. The writing is good and doesn't feel too YA which is something I've been struggling with in YA books recently. My main problem with this book is I feel a little misled by the synopsis. There is a lot of body horror however this wasn't really about eating the rich. Sure there is a lot of commentary on the wealth inequality but it still felt pretty distant from that at times. The plot lines became very disjointed and ended up not really making a lot of sense for the story. I do appreciate what the authors set out to do and I think some may gravitate toward this.

This was a fun read with some beautifully and disgustingly visceral imagery around food, but it irenoically cannot delve any deeper than the superificial skin of the issues taken up - could have realy used some fleshing out.
I'm always torn when it comes to judging these YA books. On the one hand, I am fully aware that not every book can or should provide some deep, novel, exciting, etc. insight into these well-trodden topics, especially to someone who has read similar books extensively; the target audience is high schooler and college students, not PhDs in social sciences. But on the other hand, I do feel lke we can do a little better, go a little deeper, do something that feels less like the TikTok social analysis bullet points of the week.

There is a good balance within the aspects of this story. You are never getting too much or too little of any part of it with the breaks in-between chapters. This story also creates a very relatable experience for many who may or may not be in the same situation. It is not so otherworldly that you can't imagine any of this just being fantasy. This is the kind of story we need in this day and age.

I just want to say thank you for allowing me to read this book. I already am a fan of Love Haiti,From Alaine is already one of my favorites so I know this one was going to be enjoyed.

I have enjoyed both One of the Good ones and Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by authors Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, so I was excited to receive this ARC for The Summer I Ate the Rich. The story follows Brielle, a Haitian-American teen living in Miami. Her mom is living with chronic pain due to an injury suffered on the job, and her employers are among the richest people in the country, those who make the pain medication that Brielle's mother cannot afford. Brielle meanwhile loves to cook and, unsurprisingly for a "zombie," she loves fresh meat. Her goal is to start supper clubs and cook for a living. Due to some events, she ends up working for the company owned by her mom's employer, and his grandson, Preston, ends up falling for her. Though some "Greek muses," Brielle's half-sisters who live in Haiti, you also learn more back story about Brielle's mom, her first husband, how Brielle became a Zombie, and how her mom came to America. This story is a critique of socioeconomics, race, and colonialism. The authors explore the zombie concept from its Haitian origins with a twist of the American legends. This is not a horror story in the sense of "zombies eating brains," so Brielle's powers float beneath the surface for most of the book. That being said, the story comes together in the end tying all the parts together. Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for this ARC.

Good, interesting concept and story but some things just didn't work, like the ending felt like a different book in vibe and tone. Felt like it losts its intensity.

I really wanted to enjoy this book more). The idea of blending American Zombie lore with Haitian Zonbi traditions sounded incredibly compelling. Plus, the concept of a strong Haitian-American protagonist taking on the ultra-wealthy and serving up justice was such a fantastic premise.

Unfortunately, the story didn’t quite live up to those expectations. The horror elements felt underwhelming, and the “eating the rich” theme came across more like a prank on the wealthy, culminating in an unexpected and somewhat distracting romance with one of them. For me, this plot twist felt out of place and derailed the narrative.

Additionally, we don’t see Brielle, the protagonist, grapple with her Zombie/Zonbi nature in a meaningful way, nor do we get much clarity about her abilities. This lack of explanation made parts of the story confusing—particularly the dynamic with her mother and why she feared Brielle so much.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for this ARC!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a ride this was. There are some amazing food descriptions that made me so hungry. I had several IRL gasping moments that left me reading more and more to see what happened next. Very much a YA horror in the writing style but that made it very fun to me. I was hyped to see it take place in Miami as I grew up nearby. Reallyyyy love an "unlikeable" female protagonist, her undead qualities and bluntness were so great to read and the tidbits about her growing up as part zombie were some of my favorite vignettes. Appreciated all the new stuff I learned about Haitian folklore through this as well. Fun read!

This book follows Brielle, a zombie, as she works on an island full of rich inhabitants. It delves into important topics about class, wealth disparity, privilege, and is very timely in this regard. However, this one was not for me. It is definitely leaning on the VERY young YA side. While the title is A++++, the book just didn't live up to that for me. I think it will find its niche within YA, however I do think there are stronger YA horror titles.

This is a really odd book that I enjoyed the more I got into it. It begins with Brielle, a zombie who--along with her mother--immigrated from Haiti and is now a chef at a supper club. But beyond a horror story, it reveals truths about wealth, privilege, and many of the things that we Westerners think of as "entitlement" so if you can get beyond the horror story, it's a treatise on so much more about society and all its inequities.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!