Publishers Weekly
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Sisters and previous collaborators Maika and Maritza Moulite (One of the Good Ones) lean on Haitian folklore to examine class and racial inequality in this biting novel. While 17-year-old Haitian American Miami native Brielle dreams of being a chef, her primary focus is supporting her immigrant mother. Due to a workplace accident four years ago, her mother experiences chronic pain. Brielle, meanwhile, struggles to pay for her medication, developed by the affluent Banks family for whom she works. But their medical and financial challenges aren’t the only things Brielle finds difficult to manage: Brielle, born a zombie, craves human flesh, an appetite that strains her relationship with her mother. When the Banks patriarch offers Brielle an internship at his company, she readily accepts. Upon uncovering the inequities between her world and the Banks’, however, she utilizes her taboo zombie powers to devise a sinister plan to benefit her family. Her schemes are complicated by a romance with a member of the Banks family, and by the mystery behind her affliction and its ties to her ancestors’ history. Though the pacing and plot structure feel stilted, Brielle’s fluidly rendered narration and the novel’s ambitious premise result in a captivating look at one immigrant family’s experience via a fantasy lens. Ages 14–up. (Apr.)

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Brielle Petitfour is hungry—for success, naturally. She’s been working hard to turn her passion for cooking into a distinguished, profitable venture, hoping to finally give her ailing, selfless mother the life she rightfully deserves. For power, too: working at a restaurant catering to the uber-rich, she’s been around it long enough to know how many doors it could open for her and her struggling family. And, of course, being part zombie, she’s hungry for flesh, but she’s far too ambitious to let that particular urge dictate her life. All these cravings come together one fateful summer when Brielle finds herself thrust into la haute société, the world she’s only ever glimpsed from the outside. Inside the belly of the beast, she finds something incredibly sinister and resolves to take it down, one lurid dish at a time. Infused with Haitian folklore, The Summer I Ate the Rich is a visceral exploration of class and race that will leave you craving justice. Serve alongside Jamison Shea's I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me (2023).

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A 17-year-old girl loves to cook—but she might just make you eat the rich, literally. Brielle Petitfour dreams of becoming a renowned chef, serving up food from her Haitian culture to Miami’s upper crust via her elite supper club. But she’s also a zombie—or a zonbi, as they’re known in Creole. Brielle’s immigrant mother suffers chronic pain from an injury sustained while working for the white Banks family, the same people whose company makes the medicine she needs to keep her pain at bay. But now Mummy’s insurance is refusing to cover it. Then Brielle is offered a summer fellowship—with generous family health insurance benefits—by the outrageously wealthy and greedy Bankses, who make this proposal in order to smooth over a situation involving Brielle that’s a potential “PR nightmare.” Brielle accepts: She can help her mother and, with her zombie gifts, maybe even get revenge. Creole phrases and Haitian folklore are woven into the story, adding to the atmosphere. Brielle’s five sisters back in Haiti serve as a sort of Greek chorus, and their interspersed chapters fill in the rich backstory. The authors have a lot of important things to say about generational wealth, racism, capitalism, and class, but the rules of Brielle’s monstrous zombie powers remain unclear, and the many themes that are explored limit the deeper development of Brielle as a character. A unique if unevenly executed take on the zombie genre. (authors’ note)(Horror. 14-18) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

School Library Journal
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Gr 9 Up—Brielle Petitfour, 17, loves to cook, and she is the daughter of a single mother who immigrated from Haiti to the U.S. Unfortunately, their lives do not reflect the "American Dream." Instead, Brielle's mother works a job as a caretaker for one of the world's wealthiest families; it doesn't pay enough to cover household bills and the treatment Brielle's mother needs for her chronic illness. On top of that, a series of unfortunate events leads to Brielle's mother losing her job, which jeopardizes Brielle's aspirations of becoming a culinary chef. Instead, Brielle uses her cooking skills to earn some extra money by catering to the wealthy families in central Miami. At the same time, she uses her Haitian heritage to enact revenge on those same families who left her, her family, and other poor families behind to suffer while they live the high life. Readers will understand where the protagonist is coming from, but they will realize that she is being rewarded for her questionable actions even after she gets caught. Inspired by Haitian zombie lore, this plot-driven novel is more of a clumsy revenge thriller than a horror narrative. VERDICT What starts off as a strong commentary about immigration, socioeconomic status, and healthcare in the U.S. falls flat by the conclusion.—Lois Young

School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 9 Up—So many narrative threads get tangled into 17-year-old Haitian American Brielle Petifour's hungry zombie coming-of-age—racism, socioeconomic divides, generational entitlement, broken healthcare—and haute cannibalism. Brielle's mother's American Dream has devolved into an excruciating nightmare—she can't even afford the pain meds manufactured by her billionaire employer. While waiting for Mummy at the Banks mansion, Brielle witnesses the hit-and-run of the Banks patriarch, which she happens to record on her antiquated phone. A convoluted path conveniently leads to a Banks Corps internship, where Brielle falls for heir-apparent Preston. Meanwhile, Brielle feeds her culinary dreams by catering to the insatiable appetites of the über-rich on weekends. Of course, there's more, and chameleonic Sewak impressively takes full control, adding and dropping accents, decades, genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds with seamless ease. She's aided by Brielle's quintuply voiced "very own Greek Haitian chorus judging their ungrateful, Americanized sister from afar." VERDICT Despite uneven wobbles, Sewak's distinctly elevating performance will impel listeners to the final track.