Hello there! Welcome back!
April is a pretty arc packed month. Before it started I had a total of 5 I got a head start with finishing Boys with Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell. So heading into April, I have Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker, How To Seal Your Fate by Kristen Perrin, and Bearer of Bad News by Elisabeth Dini.
When I came across the synopsis on NetGalley I was obsessed. A Ya Horror about a Hatian American Girl getting revenge on rich assholes with her zombi powers.. What else could you possibly want? I thought it would be this vast revenge story of carnage and comeuppance and existential crisis because ya know, that’s a feeling as a black woman I feel all the time.
In this 400 page novel we’re introduced to Brielle Petitfour and her mother, and the muses, her sisters stuck in Haiti. Brielle was born with zombi powers, a haitian zombi is different from an american zombie. A Hatian zombi is like a stronger representation of existential dread and she gains new forms as we go through the novel.
Brielle witnesses a hit and run at her mother’s super rich employers of the person she was a care aid for, and this propels our characters into the plot, the Meat and potatoes of the story if you will. She’s discovered a way to get everything they deserve and the revenge I was so hoping for in a way that was a lot less horror than I was expecting.
Page 2 is spoiler filled so please do not read any further if you do not want my unfiltered opinion.
I enjoyed my time with Brielle and her family as she figured out just what kind of person she wanted to be. I loved all the cheesiness of the chosen references and the coming of ageness of the novel. While I didn’t get what I wanted the novel wasn’t bad in the slightest, I wound up giving it a score of 🥕🥕🥕🥕 and I would recommend it for people who want to read something scary but not gory.
The Summer I Ate The Rich releases on the 22nd of April go check it out for sure.
Until Next Time,
Gabs
Storygraph | Facebook | Bookstagram | Youtube | Bookstore | Bookclub
Bubblegum Universe 