Saphhic ya horror? Yup, sign me up. Trans rep? YES. This was a really great, fast paced book that left me guessing and horrified all in the same breath.

I loved the friends to lovers romance thrown into the Coachella gone wrong setting. Flesh eating besties was not something I thought I'd enjoy but I loved how close all of these young women are. They all came together when the worst happened to each.

I like that we had flashbacks throughout the story to get the backstory on all of the characters as well as the setting/time period. This post pandemic storyline was a bit much considering we're in the same situation now, but at least we aren't eating synthetic human flesh...

Anyway, I think the story ended too soon because by the time it ended I was wishing for more and sad it was over. I loved it a lot, and my library has a copy already. Can't wait for patrons to give it a go!

This Delicious Death was a lot of fun to read and I would recommend this to horror fans and newbies alike. This would be a great novel to start with if you're new to horror!

Years after The Hollowing, a viral event that turned some humans into zombie like creatures, life has somewhat returned back to normal for Zoey and her group of friends who all happen to be Hollow People/Ghouls. Thanks to the invention of synthetic organ meat Hollow people have been reintegrated to society and events such as music festivals have resumed. Zoey and her friends pack up their cooler full of fake meat and hit the road for Desert Bloom (basically Coachella). When they arrive, it doesn't take long to realize that something isn't right. Soon bodies begin to pile up and it appears someone may be targeting the ghouls.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great blend of light horror, humor, and friendship. There was excellent lgbtq+ representation and each of the four main characters felt original and fleshed out. I loved getting to see the backstory and how the events of The Hollowing shaped each of the girls. I think this would make a really fun movie or limited tv show ala Pretty Little Liars/Cruel Summer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for a review copy.

This is a fun, quintessentially-YA horror-ish novel featuring queer cannibals attending a desert music festival.

Zoey, Celeste, Jasmine, and Valeria are all typical high school friends. They like to hang out, attend music festivals, and take picture for Instagram. They also happen to be ghouls -- survivors of a virus that turns the infected into cannibals with an hunger that can only be satiated by human flesh. They each committed horrific acts during the peak of the Hollowing (the onset of the pandemic), but the government has pardoned these acts and provides SynFlesh, a synthetic version of human flesh, that keeps all ghouls fed and able to participate in normal life again.

The girls decide to attend music festival in the desert, armed with a cooler of SynFlesh and a schedule of bands they want to see. Though there are always concerns about discrimation against ghouls, they are prepared to keep things under wraps and have a good time.

Until one of them ends up going feral (that's the term they use) and eating another festival attendee.

The girls are convinced that this is no accident, and that someone has put something in the water/air to trigger ghouls to go feral. The girls are on a mission to figure out who, how, and why this is going on and their investigations uncover some secrets that they didn't see coming.

This Delicious Death is a a bit campy/fun/light, so it is perfect for anyone wanting YA horror that isn't too serious or dark. I love the darker stuff with deeper themes, so this one didn't quite hit the 4+ star rating sweet spot for me. But it was still a fun read and a story that I would ABSOLUTELY watch if it were a TV show (like Yellowjackets!). I did like the Cottingham touched on the trauma all of these girls have from their experiences in the Hollowing and as ghouls -- though they have killed people while feral, their humanity struggles with these memories of acts committed when they weren't entirely in control of their urges and instincts. They don't enjoy killing or the biases society has against them out of fear.

Please do note that this story is queer, which is always a delight. Zoey is bisexual and Celeste is trans, and it is clear that both girls have feelings for each other that maaaaaay just be brought to light as they face dangerous situations together. It's a small part of the story, but I do love finding genre fiction with queer characters and storylines.

Overall, I ended up giving this one 3.5 stars. It's fun, it's unique, it's queer and I know I'll be recomming it to my high school students often!

This was a fast paced paranormal/sci fi novel. Imagine if a potential side effect of a pandemic was becoming a ghoul. Add in some thriller aspects, found family and hints of romance (LBQTQ+ rep too!) and I was invested. I did figure out who was behind the dastardly plot fairly quickly, but it was still a good read!

Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine are just four friends from the same town going to a music festival in the middle of the desert. They also happen to be ghouls. With coolers packed full of synthetic meat, nothing can stop them. Until people start disappearing from the festival, and all signs point to ghouls as the culprits. And when one of them starts not being able to control their urges? They will do anything for each other, including figuring out what is happening to their friend that is causing them to lose control.

A sapphic YA horror that takes place at a music festival? I'm here for it.

This story follows four friends who bite off more than they can chew when they meet the members of a band on the way to a huge music festival in the desert of Southern CA. All four friends are ghouls aka "Hallowed people" who have assimilated back into society now that synthetic human meat has been made available.

I enjoyed the character building, back stories and flashbacks to "The Hallowing". The friends have very different personalities (punk, sporty, cheerleader, influencer/mua) but are bonded together after facing the stigma of being cannibals.

Tropes include found family, isolated places, & friends to lovers. The MCs (Zoey & Celeste) are both LGBTQ+ and my personal hero is Celeste's mom Wendy.

I was provided with an advanced reader copy of This Delicious Death by NetGalley and the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire in return for an honest review. I appreciate the opportunity to read this fun and exciting story.

Following along with Zoey, Celeste, Jasmine, and Valeria as they take a journey to what brings a 3-day long grunge festival, to me, was full of anticipation and excitement in the beginning. We learned that the four young characters were all victims of what is known as 'The Hollowing' which happened a few years previously, turning them into creatures that are known as ghouls throughout the story. Fortunately, the world was able to move on and create ways for 'Hollowed' individuals to live alongside the rest of the world, peacefully, without fear or worry of any outbreak or disastrous event happening.

However, once the girls arrive in the desert valley, they start noticing strange things happening. A face hidden in the depths of a cave. People whispering. People missing. Their lives are turned upside down in an instant when a feral ghoul attack happens to someone they've met. Now they have to decide who to trust, and how to fix the mistakes that keep happening.

This was an enjoyable read. I loved how each character was built up well within the story. I loved the representation of a diverse group and the stories of how all things aren't as they seem. This was a really great read, and I'll be passing it on to my teenager to indulge as well. I'm excited about the release so we can add this physical copy to our bookshelves!

I don't read horror much at all so wasn't sure I would like this. It grossed me out initially and I almost had to stop reading but once I just went with it, it was a lot more fun. With that being said, I'm not sure I would pick up a book involving gore and cannibalism again. I'm too squeamish. But despite that, the story is fun and I liked the main characters. I mostly picked this up for the music festival setting and vibes. I liked the LGBTQ+ rep and the friends to lovers trope. I wanted a bit more on the Hollowing and its origins. Overall, a fast-paced campy read that I enjoyed.

This is such a fun book.
Yeah moment's were a little gross but it honestly just made the story that little bit more funny.
Will definitely be reading again around Halloween just for fun lol

This novel was so much fun! It was funny, and gross, and funny some more! The pacing was great, the characters were fun, and I laughed out loud more times than I remember. I would definitely read more from this author!

I loved that the author kept the novel comedic but also disgusting. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this as well as telling my boss all about it and grossing her out! Great Read!

Such a fun read! What happens after the zombie apocalypse when those who were affected go back to a new normal? How can people live a normal life after they have taken lives? And can those around them forgive them for something they had no control over?

ıllıllı ᴛʜɪs ᴅᴇʟɪᴄɪᴏᴜs ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ıllıllı

ʙʏ ᴋᴀʏʟᴀ ᴄᴏᴛᴛɪɴɢʜᴀᴍ

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

💀💀💀☠️
3.75/5

This is a YA horror book. For me I found it easy to predict, which is something I don’t enjoy.

This story takes place during a pandemic. This pandemic leaves some people craving flesh. It follows four friends, who are ghouls living in Southern California.

They decide to go to a music festival as their last big event before they graduate. People start to disappear at the festival, and the friends figure why.

This is a fun read, I just personally like to be kept guessing. Still would recommend

Note: I received a free ARC of "This Delicious Death" by Kayla Cottingham from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"This Delicious Death" is a modern take on a zombie story where a virus(?) or something caused an event known as the Hollowing where a certain percentage of the population survived but became flesh eating monsters. Fortunately scientists discovered that they could survive pretty easily on SynFlesh, a synthetic human meat.

Three years later a group of four ghouls have decided to go on an after graduation trip to a music festival, packing all of the essentials (which now must include a large cooler of SynFlesh) as the world finally begins to return to normal with such big events.

At this point the ghouls are closely monitored via apps. We find out that the general population's view is pretty mixed on the subject. Some people seem to think that the ghouls are pretty well in hand while others want them to be segregated and kept away from humans.

But then, at one of the parties, something happens. One of the girls is given a drink and ends up eating a boy. They find out she's not the only one to have gone feral and they work together to track down what's causing the sudden change in the previously controlled ghouls.

This book was fine. I did think the author did a good job of representation and the four ghouls were pretty well rounded characters and easy enough to tell apart. Where the story fell apart for me is that I wanted the science and motivations of the "bad guys" to make more sense. It didn't. At all.

The Hollowing wasn't explained very well, just "it happened and here's how everyone is doing now." The bad guys were making incredibly stupid decisions that didn't make sense. You watched someone become a ghoul and brutally murder someone so you want MORE ghouls to go feral and kill more people? What? Why? And then the ending...dude was literally dying and still wanting his stupid revenge. I did not like that part.

So, as I said before, it was fine. I liked the main characters but thought the plot was lacking substance and sense.

A fun horror reminiscent of Jennifer’s Body if only it didn’t take itself so seriously. I think we’ll probably be seeing a lot of horrors taking place in the aftermath of some pandemic (I’m not talking apocalyptic, but in a world where we’ve been through it and come out the other side, though not completely unscathed). This one does just that as it takes place right after society is starting to re-emerge after the Hollowing, a virus that makes people hunger for human flesh. The Hollowing left many dead, “hollow,” or in some way touched by its horrors. The novel uses flashbacks to describe each characters time during the Hollowing. In the present time of the novel, we see the “hollow” people, despite being able to renter society thanks to modern science and the invention of synthetic flesh, are immediately othered by society. To me, the authors treatment of the othering of the hollow people is a pretty obvious allegory for the treatment of members of LGBTQ+, but I could be looking too far into. With that being said, there is great trans and bisexual representation in the two main characters, but in this world, these characters sexuality are not so tightly wound to their identity, nor does it affect their daily lives. The author saves all that talk when discussing what it’s like for them to be hollowed, but for me at least, the message was still clear. The gore was great. I would have liked some more tongue in cheek humor or camp, but I was still entertained and would recommend to horror fans that don’t mind gore and don’t really want to be scared.

A solid 4 stars. This book has some of my favorite themes in it..pandemic, zombie style or in this case “ghouls”. I loved that there was a diverse cast of characters in this “Coachella” gone wrong storyline. It gives me some Veronica Mars meets izombie vibes. This book is definitely classified as YA but still throughly enjoyable!

Based in Southern California, ‘This Delicious Death’ follows 4 teens to a music festival in the middle of the desert. Coincidentally this is the first major outing for Zoey, Celeste, Valeria & Jasmine since The Hollowing, a mass airborne pathogen outbreak event caused by melting arctic permafrost that turns some humans feral and cannibalistic. Friends and Family are turned into Predators vs Prey, but Scientists are soon able to create a synthetic version of human meat called ‘SynFlesh’ to sustain those that have been affected, who are now dubbed ghouls. All 4 girls are ghouls and after 2 grueling years, are ready to do something semi-normal. Armed with their festival gear and cooler of synflesh, they head out for some much needed R & R. Unfortunately, the weekend of fun is soon derailed when Valeria ghouls-out and kills a fellow festival goer, right after consuming a meal of synflesh, which is not supposed to happen due to the appetite suppressing nature of the meat. They quickly realize that people are being drugged. The ghouls are being targeted and everyone else at the festival is in danger. It’s a race against time as the girls try desperately to figure out what is going on and who is behind it, before Valeria (and a few unfortunate others) is completely transformed into an unrecognizable creature and the rest of the festival is devoured.

I haven't read anything like this before and I rather loved it. There were quite a lot of tropes to enjoy and being right after our own pandemic it was relatable and easy to pretend that it wouldn't be much of a stretch to happen IRL. Lots of detail, the characters and settings were well described. I enjoyed the back and forth between the current events and how things went down for each main character during the hollowing. Character development was on point. I did feel like the end was wrapped up super quick but I can't think of how I would do it differently. I do hope there is a sequel and would recommend this title to all fans in favor of a Young Adult Mystery with a healthy dash of LGBTQ. 4 Stars.

<!> An enormous Thank You to NetGalley, Sourcefire Books, and Kayla Cottingham for allowing me the opportunity to read this title in exchange for my honest review. <!>

It is marketed as YA, MCs are teens, but it's an excellent horror and it was an exciting ride.
A dystopia background, well developed characters, the right sense of dread and doom.
The author is a good storyteller and this story kept me hooked and turning pages.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Definitely an interesting and unique story that I felt I hadn’t see before. Basically “what if we went to Coachella but we have a hankering for human flesh?”

Thank you to Kayla Cottingham, Sourcebooks Fire, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of a digital advanced reviewer copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book takes place after a pandemic, The Hollowing, that resulted some of the population to transform into flesh-craving ghouls. It follows four best friends: Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine who are ghouls that live in Southern California. After the pandemic, ghouls were quarantined but with the introduction of synthetic flesh, ghouls were reintegrated into society. The best friends attend a music festival, since they all became ghouls, to celebrate. But someone at the music festival tampers with the food and all the ghouls go feral. Valeria is found eating a boy.

This book was the queer, best friends, and cannibal love story that I so desperately wanted. It is a great YA read that is written in the form of storytelling through character flashbacks. This book did not fall short of the gore. It was a completely different type of read than I would normally pick up and I am glad that I did.

What did I just read, a YA Zombie Fantasy story!!!

This Delicious Death was weird, at times silly and horrifically gross. These kids were eating humans after a virus turns individuals into bloody thirsty zombies. The LGBTQ+ cast were concise in the personalities, and knew the "who" they were in the world. The story building was clearly unique and relevant.

Imagine if Coachella was invaded by bloody thirsty ghouls and teenagers. If you want to know what happens, then this book is for you.

Thank you Sourcebooks Fire for the complimentary copy.