Eat Your Heart Out is a funny but edge of your seat story about a group of teens who are forced to go to a "Fat Camp" by their rich parents. However, not long after they arrive, they realize something is very wrong with this camp as their fellow campers begin turning into crazed zombies with an insatiable hunger that they will do anything to satisfy. With the power out and no cellphones or landlines available to them, this ragtag group of teens will have to work together is they are going to survive.
So I literally just finished "Eat You Heart Out" by Kelly Devos. All I knew going into this book was that is was a satirical story about a group of kids who get sent to a "fat camp" by their wealthy parents and they end up facing a zombie hoard that starts eating everyone at camp.
I expected some gore, some humor, and even potentially some light romance. I mean, look at that cover.
The valentine pink background and all the pastels did not prepare me for how sad and tense this book made me feel at times.
This story dealt with guilt, fat shaming, dysfunctional families, sacrifice, and so much more. It really had all the feels.
The overall story is great and I truly enjoyed all the characters. This story is written in first person from the perspective of six teens who find themselves at Camp Featherlite. Five of the teens have been sent there to begin "their weight loss journey" and the sixth teen took the job as a camp counselor out of desperation as he needed money to pay for his college tuition.
Each chapter starts with the first and last name of the character who is narrating that section of the story. It did get hard for me at times to keep track of which character was narrating. I would have to flip back to the beginning of the chapter to reference which character's mind I was currently in. However, this style did allow me a much deeper look into each characters' motivations, their backstory, and their internal response to the situation the found themselves in. Kudos to the author for creating six realistic characters that all had some form of character arc or development throughout the book. No static characters here.
I also enjoyed how the story connected to horror movies by highlighting the stereotypical roles that usually appear in these types of films. Allision, the movie buff of the group, pointed out the connection between these stereotypical roles and their own ragtag group pretty early on in the story. There was Action Girl, the Courageous Captain, the Jerk, the Outcast, the Nerd, and the Basketcase. But who was who? This lead to a lot of speculation on my part on who would survive and who would be zombie food, and I was very invested in finding out if the characters stuck to their "assigned rolls".
My favorite part was probably when "action girl" was beating off zombies with a yellow oar. That was epic!
I loved that the heroes of the story weren't your typical "All-American" teens, but just regular kids put into an impossible situation and forced to do what ever they have to in order to survive.
Makes sense why that scene made it on the cover as well.
This story was fast paced, action packed, and at times humorous and surprisingly emotional as the characters faced challenge after challenge and the loss of their camp mates and their friends.
Teaser: The tension was ramped up even more when one of six teens reveals a secret that raises the stakes for the rest of the group and creates an even greater sense of urgency for the characters to get help as fast as they can.
I highly recommend this book if you are looking for something to read that is different from so many of the other YA books out there. There is great character development, a powerful social commentary on the way "fat" people are viewed or portrayed by society, and strong messages about that way we treat people who are different than ourselves. Definitely put this one of your TBR list.
