THE SUMMER I ATE THE RICH is a brilliant story that centres class inequality and how race and migration intersects with those disparities, but with a horrific twist you will not see coming! It delves into the meaning of "eat the rich" in such a satisfying way. I loved how the author threads Haitian folklore through this story to give us such a unique but also rich narrative, particularly in terms of how it doesn't shy away from the reality of peoples' lives (in this case, our protagonist, Brielle) and the relationship and feelings of duty and responsibility between family members. If you're looking for a horror novel that feels like a new take on the genre, dramatic and interesting and full of twists and turns, this is the one for you!

Whilst not a traditional zombie horror, The Summer I Ate the Rich still built a great atmosphere. As a Haitian Zombie, Brielle discovers she can control people's moods by feeding them human flesh, and she quickly uses this to her advantage, deciding to make the top 1% help those they ruin for their own gain! We follow Brielle over a summer timeframe as she discovers more about herself and how far she is willing to go to set the world to rights. Fun, fast-paced, and a strong debut in the YA Horror genre.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! The title had me hooked but it did admittedly take me a while to get through The Summer I Ate the Rich. I was already interested by the concept and it was well executed throughout.

I really liked the characters and their development and the twists were so enjoyable!

I cannot wait to read more from Maika and Maritza!

Thank you Netgalley, Hachette Children's Group | Hodder Children's Books and Maika Moulite for the eArc of The Summer I Ate the Rich.

I really enjoyed this YA book, It has a lot packed into the plot line. The differences between rich white people and class discrimination. Both psychical and mental health, family bonds and just a smidge of cannabilism.

Our MFC Brielle Petitfour loves to cook and wants to climb the ladder to success. Having to prove herself to a family of privileged white rich people and trying to get herself and her Mother into a good health insurance. Things take a turn that Brielle didn't account for. Or did she?

I loved who Brielle was, both character and her background inspired by Zombie Haitian folklore. It made for an interesting premise that worked really well. I do understand this was a YA book but I do wish we got to experience more of Brielle's culinary recipes involving her victims. But that's probably because I like a bit of gore! Saying that, I felt it was well balanced out, just enough detail to set the imagination going.

Ashley De La Rosa, Fedna Jacquet, Khaya Fraites, Melinda Sewak, Mieko Gavia, Zuri Washington also narrated this book and with the multi POV, it worked very well.

4 stars

The Summer I Ate the Rich was a mixed bag for me. There wasn't enough eating of the rich but I did find the social commentary on the American healthcare system and immigrants relevant & engaging.

I found the sisters as Muses delivering the backstory interesting. It did affect the pace but I feel it allowed me to digest the information better.

All in all, I give it 3 & a half stars. It wasn't for me but it wasn't bad.

The Summer I Ate The Rich is such an absolutely unique story and concept! I love that this is so drawn from the authors’ culture and real life experience - it just makes the book feel more precious.

Its such an interesting premise and such a fantastic execution! My only complaint is that I want MORE!

Brielle is such an enchanting character, and this book as a whole has me enthralled! This is such a fascinating story, and the writing itself is perfect.

An exhilarating book that explores themes of social justice and female rage, in the vein of "Woman, Eating" by Claire Kohda and "The Eyes are the Best Part" by Monika Kim — with the added distinction of interrogating the zombie as a new figure of resistance. I had the pleasure of citing this novel as a key example of contemporary variations on the motif of cannibalism — a site of struggle for racialized and marginalized people — in this interview for a french magazine : Laure Coromines, « La revanche cannibale », Society, no 255, 7 mai-21 mai 2025, p. 20-21.

A Haitian-American teenage girl who has a chronically ill mother and a part-time job in a restaurant, dreams of being a chef. She also happens to be a zombie.
I loved the ideas in this book. A teen, Brielle, battling against the inequalities between the mega rich and the poor, and the unethical nature of pharmaceutical companies. All while blending in Haitian mythology, and with chronic pain representation.
I understand this is YA and I'm not the target audience, but this was not my issue with the book. I just felt like it was trying to do too much in the amount of pages it had and ultimately it felt rushed and at times oddly paced.

I very much enjoyed this book overall, being quite different in genre than what I usually read, (classified in horror) so I wasn't sure what to expect. But the cover and the concept immediately drew me in, after a short read of the synopsis I was intrigued by the combination of taking down rich billionaires, Haitian culture, the culinary industry and complex family dynamics.
However, I will say that 'Horror' isn't an accurate description of this book, it leans heavily toward the YA genre and does very well as a book when you view it as such but if you're a hardcore horror reader this might be a bit light for you! For myself, I found it suited me quite well, allowing me to dip my toes into horror with some of the violent/scenes with quite horrific imagery.
I love books that allow there to be a discussion and awareness of political/current world problems. This book dives deeply into the issues with US immigration systems & how there can be many factors that will affect healthcare and access to certain parts of life, I think this was done so incredibly well within this book and it's good to see this in a YA book as well.
Again, this book being marketed as horror & 'bone chilling' I don't necessarily agree with and also was quite shocked at the love theme involved in this book? It took me slightly by surprise and did honestly throw me off slightly so a little confused at this turn in the book, as I feel this levelled with the amount of 'horrific' moments there were.
Overall I would recommend this book for folks who enjoy reading about things they might not have read before, for example some Haitian lore, also if readers are fans of the 'Eat the rich movement' since this book is quite literally perfect for it and does definitely deliver on this front. An enjoyable and relatively straightforward book to read and would definitely try some of these authors other works.

This was a case of being drawn in by a title and cover and it not living up to it's promise. Sadly this book didn't work for me and after showing real potential with the opening chapter it failed to continue that high and really didn't engage me.

Based on the premise and opening chapter I was hoping for a gory, cannabalism storyline with literal eating of the rich but unfortunately my expectations weren't met and I worry that other readers will feel the same way.

A case of reader beware - this may not be the story you're expecting but as always with any book I will say that just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean it won't work for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Children's Group | Hodder Children's Books for a digital review copy of "The Summer I Ate the Rich" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

One of the best books I have read in a long time.

The inclusion of the sisters as the muses from Hercules is a great addition and their commentary throughout the book kept the pace and storytelling at a perfect level. The version of 'zombie' we are presented with could have been off putting as its so different to the typical western version yet between the characters, the muses and the perfect storytelling, this book was incredible from start to finish.

A must read for everyone, not just a certain demographic.

This was a surprising read for me. When you start to understand, yes it is disturbing. But I think this book is just another level of the horror genre. I really enjoyed the drama and twists. The zombie twist was interesting and original in its own way. Overall, for me it felt quite a bit long. It is possible multiple things will be cut but it was a lot for me. But extra points for originality and for making me forget the zombie twist happening behind the scenes.

This book is chef’s kiss —literally. A Haitian American zombie girl secretly feeding the rich their own kind? Yes, please. Brielle is fierce, flawed, and full of righteous anger, serving revenge (and human flesh) to the elite who’ve ruined her family.

It’s not full-on horror—more a sharp, satirical thriller with Haitian folklore and biting social commentary. The food descriptions will make you hungry (ironically), and the take-downs of wealth inequality are so satisfying.

Wish the zombie element was pushed further and the ending less rushed, but overall? Deliciously dark fun. 4/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Summer I Ate the Rich, but I ended up really enjoying how it blends coming-of-age drama with sharp social critique and just a hint of the supernatural. Brielle is a strong lead—grounded, relatable, and clearly shaped by the pressure of balancing school, her dreams of being a chef, and caring for her sick mom.

The zombie element, drawn from Haitian folklore, is more symbolic than horror-driven, and it works well as a commentary on inequality and exploitation, especially when Brielle gets pulled into the world of the ultra-rich Banks family. The writing is engaging and smart without trying too hard, and while the romance subplot didn’t quite land for me, the cultural depth and originality more than made up for it.

It’s the kind of book that sticks with you for the ideas it raises just as much as the story it tells.

It was interesting to learn about the Haitian Zombie folklore, I enjoyed the story overall and read it quickly.

Was unsure going into this and stayed unsure whilst trying to get into it. I ended up DNF-ing at 35% of the way through. I couldn’t get into the story and was finding more reasons not to read it than to carry on.

The opening was interesting and gave me hope for a really gory , cannibalism plotline. But after that; it seemed to be a bit too lacklustre for me. And also, she doesn’t each the rich, I feel somewhat like the title and the synopsis misleads you quite a bit. I was expecting a different kind of story which also put me off quite a bit.

I wouldn’t ever say don’t read a book, so please don’t take my review as a reason not to read it. Just please be open minded to the fact it’s not necessarily exactly what it reads on the covers.

Sooooo I don't want to give too much away as I truly believe this book will be even more impactful and will catch your attention without knowing too much. What I will say is that there is focus on Haitian "Zonbi" folklore as you follow Brielle who is a Zonbi as she finds her way into the world of the rich and financially wealthy.

Haitian Zonbi's are different to your Americanized zombies that you often see in TV shows and films such as The Walking Dead and Zombieland. The Haitian Zonbi's are seen as symbolism for the horrors of slavery and oppression that extends even beyond the grave. There are elements of Voodoo and Necromancy that control people instead of zombies simply just craving brains. It's really interesting and I will certainly be looking into it more!

From here on there will be spoilers! So click below for a big ramble of my thoughts and feelings.
SPOILERS BELOW
[ One of the most prominent topics is class and the wealth divide. I thought this portrayed brilliantly! And I love how the world of the rich was seen through Brielle's eyes and constantly put into perspective so that the reader didn't forget how miniscule an offering of something means to someone with all that money compared to it being what gives and takes a life to the average person. Because sometimes I found my brain trying to empathise with certain characters like "oh maybe they are trying, but their situation is just different?" but then you are reminded that absolutely NOT, because while many of the rich characters were born with a silver spoon in their mouth they have actively chosen to ignore the needs of other people and keep within their "wealth bubble".

I also think that the representation of racism within these wealthy communities was done really well. In particular the office scene where Ainsley asks Brielle to narrow down candidates and then proceeds to cut anyone who isn't white. Ainsley as a person? ew ew eewwww! And unfortunately I think that there are a lot of Ainsley's in the world and workplace. I truly appreciated Brielle for being forward with her questioning of Ainsley and Ainsley's answer along the lines of "we have you why would we need anyone else?" really says it all. This book explored micro-aggressions as well as full frontal racism that I truly believe so often goes unchecked in such communities that act as "bubbles" which are usually not diverse in nature and so these people who still hold very horrific and extremely "outdated" (for use of a better word I cannot think of) views continue to carry on as they always have because they simply do not care to be challenged. And if they are challenged in ANY situation they can often fall back on their wealth which I also think was depicted well with Silas immediately buying his way out of jail. (hide spoiler)]

For a good chunk of this book I truly thought I was going to give it 5 stars, however the ending felt rushed. I would much rather the book be a bit longer to truly capture and explore the bigger events in the last 40%. I did read this as an arc however and so some of it may be different in the final publication. I would also not really class this as horror but it definitely had horror elements that I would have loved if they were pushed or explored a little further, but I also understand this is for a YA audience.

Overall this was an extremely captivating read with characters that I became deeply invested in and just wanted more of them! The exploration of Haitian Zonbi's is something I've not personally seen explored in YA and I will definitely be recommending this!

The title drew me in. I was a little disappointed that the title didn't accurately describe this book... I had high expectations. Does that mean it's bad? No! But don't expect an unforgettable book.

Full of spooky twists and turns, but not so dark it kept me up at night. The perfect balance! I enjoyed the way the scenery and atmosphere was built up.

This was fun. I do have to admit I wanted more Zombie and less drama, but it felt like an episode of The OC, with a zombie. It was a quick read, with likeable (or love to hate) characters that built out the story well. Also I love The OC so that might have swayed my opinion slightly!

I had a good time with it, and would definitely read more from this author.

✩✩✩