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A review by reaperreads
Eat the Rich by Sarah Gailey
4.0
I'm so glad I chose this for the graphic novel Summerween prompt! At first I thought I was going to read Uzumaki, but that was way too long to accomplish in a one-week readathon. (I got four other books to read, y'all.)
There were two major plots in this story: one psychological, one romantic. The psychological focused on the inner turmoil of our protagonist as she struggles to become accustomed to her boyfriend's family's strange traditions. The romantic focused on whether he is indeed the person she wants to spend the rest of her life with.
I think the psychological aspect, which is obviously where all the horror goodness takes place, was the strongest. It's what kept me turning pages, and I think it most clearly relates to the capitalist metaphor Sarah Gailey was intending to accomplish here. It was easy to predict the ending thanks to the title Eat the Rich, but the bloody twists and cognitive dissonance and, frankly, worldbuilding made the predictability a non-issue.
The romantic aspect also felt telegraphed a bit, especially with the introduction of a love triangle, but I still felt invested in Jo's liberation not only from traditional (read: capitalist) values but also from traditional (read: heteronormative) romance. (You know, especially since traditional/heteronormative romance is sold to queer people by traditional/capitalist values.)
From the start, Jo seemed to be entering an unspoken, obscured contract in several aspects of her life. Education leads to a dream career, and marriage leads to a dream safety net. We've heard these stories. Hell, I'm probably taking my $100k in student loan debt to my grave. What's interesting about the way this is written for Jo, however, is that her relationship with Astor was constantly the thing keeping her metaphorical pen poised above the dotted line. Because of this, there were several moments in the story that legitimately made me wonder, "Is the pen about to hit the paper?"
Overall, this was a fun read. It satisfied the Class Animus Gremlin that likes to throw wild garden parties in my brain sometimes. It didn't add to my understanding of Capitalism Bad, but it was a cute thrill ride for this queer horror fan.
For fans of: The Menu (2022...remember how we all thought that was going to be about cannibalism?), Hannibal (NBC), The Final Girl Support Group, My Heart is a Chainsaw, The Salt Grows Heavy
There were two major plots in this story: one psychological, one romantic. The psychological focused on the inner turmoil of our protagonist as she struggles to become accustomed to her boyfriend's family's strange traditions. The romantic focused on whether he is indeed the person she wants to spend the rest of her life with.
I think the psychological aspect, which is obviously where all the horror goodness takes place, was the strongest. It's what kept me turning pages, and I think it most clearly relates to the capitalist metaphor Sarah Gailey was intending to accomplish here. It was easy to predict the ending thanks to the title Eat the Rich, but the bloody twists and cognitive dissonance and, frankly, worldbuilding made the predictability a non-issue.
The romantic aspect also felt telegraphed a bit, especially with the introduction of a love triangle, but I still felt invested in Jo's liberation not only from traditional (read: capitalist) values but also from traditional (read: heteronormative) romance. (You know, especially since traditional/heteronormative romance is sold to queer people by traditional/capitalist values.)
From the start, Jo seemed to be entering an unspoken, obscured contract in several aspects of her life. Education leads to a dream career, and marriage leads to a dream safety net. We've heard these stories. Hell, I'm probably taking my $100k in student loan debt to my grave. What's interesting about the way this is written for Jo, however, is that her relationship with Astor was constantly the thing keeping her metaphorical pen poised above the dotted line. Because of this, there were several moments in the story that legitimately made me wonder, "Is the pen about to hit the paper?"
Overall, this was a fun read. It satisfied the Class Animus Gremlin that likes to throw wild garden parties in my brain sometimes. It didn't add to my understanding of Capitalism Bad, but it was a cute thrill ride for this queer horror fan.
For fans of: The Menu (2022...remember how we all thought that was going to be about cannibalism?), Hannibal (NBC), The Final Girl Support Group, My Heart is a Chainsaw, The Salt Grows Heavy