Week 14 Review: The Summer I Ate the Rich

From Goodreads:

Just add garlic, lemon, and a dash of the one percent.

This smart, biting novel, which features multicast narration, explores what happens when a Haitian American girl uses her previously hidden zombie abilities to exact revenge on the wealthy elites who've caused her family pain.

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.

Written by the storytelling duo Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, The Summer I Ate the Rich is a modern-day fable inspired by Haitian zombie lore that scrutinizes the socioeconomic and racial inequity that is the foundation of our society. Just like Brielle's clients, it will have you What's for dinner?

My Review:
This was such a fantastic read! The concept set up in the synopsis was really intriguing, and I had to see where the story was going to go! I really enjoyed getting to know Brielle and her story! That we got little inserts from her sisters.

This story dealt with two main things, Brielle's story, as a Haitian American with an immigrant mother on the edge of poverty dealing with a insurance not paying for her  mom's medical care, who wants to be a chef, and she's a zombie. Then there's the story of her mother, of her first husband, and then Brielle's father, as told by her sisters. At first, it was to show how these characters got to where they were, in America, how Brielle is a zombie/zonbi. But it became a pretty important part of the story at the end! 

Her relationship with the rich was interesting, spending all this time so close to them, but definitely not being a part of them, and a definite feel of her being judged lesser because she's not rich. Then she gets a phone connected to the uber-rich, uses it to donate to charity, which gets her pulled into working for that company. Which gets her closer in orbit to Preston Banks, a part of the latest generation of the Banks family who her mom worked for, whose father's money she was donating. Yeah, that was so delightful!  

The title is a bit misleading, because Brielle isn't the one eating the rich. Instead, she's taking it from the dead rich, cooking it, and serving it to the living rich. Which is on about the same level as if she'd been the one eating it, but from a different area. But it was still a fantastic story, and so satisfying to read, especially that ending, seeing her prosper! 

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read more by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite!

Authors: Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite 
Read: April 1st 2025 
Source: NetGalley  
Reason Why: Love their writing, and it's a SAC 2025 Book! 
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Expected Publication: April 22nd 2025

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars