It’s summertime and college is just on the horizon. A group of unlikely friends is setting off on a mini road trip to a music festival in the middle of the desert. It’s just what they need after the last three years of being monitored and unable to venture far from their small community. But why are they being monitored? What’s with the cooler packed to the brim with human organs? And what exactly is The Hollowing?
If you enjoy:
💀 Supernatural creatures
❤️ Friends to lovers
🏳️‍🌈 LGBT+ stories (Trans love interest!)
🦠 Ancient germs that turn people into monsters 👀
📖 Page turners…
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
This was one hell of a ride.
I am not one for annotating books usually, but I started highlighting and taking notes on page one of this story. This author took the whole concept of “hook them from the beginning” and ran with it.
The story follows a group of friends; Zoey, Celest, Valeria, and Jasmine but is largely told from Zoey’s perspective. However, the beginning of each chapter weaves in flashbacks, back story, and other POVs that do an amazing job of tying the story together as a whole.
The author takes you on a suspenseful, bloody tale that I didn’t find predictable at all which was a nice treat for me. The whole concept was something new and very refreshing.
This is a very queer-friendly story with a cast of very diverse characters. I love this, love the representation. My one issue is that at one point in the story, characters were solely described by their race, followed by their sexuality/ gender identity – a little strange.
The lack of character description was my only real issue with this book. Not a huge deal, but I will also note that we don’t know much about what our main characters look like other than race, sexuality, and clothing choices.
Overall, this book is full of twisty, bloody, summertime madness. Think Jennifer from Jennifer’s body goes to Coachella.
*This book was provided for by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This Delicious Death is gruesomely delightful and a very unique twist on ghouls (in this case a virus that makes people cannibals and they turn feral if they can't their nom noms). It's different and fun, and I loved every minute of it.

Don’t get me wrong my favorite romance is LGBT and it is my all-time favorite it is so good anyway I just wanted to state my opinion. Despite that I love this book it was so much fun and I am definitely going to be reading more from this author in the future whether she writes about lesbians trans or heterosexual goals or whatever! I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review. Zoe Celeste Jasmine and Val were so excited to go to the music festival in the desert it was the first festival since the hollowing and they were ready for fun. The hollowing happened two years before when a contagion was released as the icebergs melted it gave people an insatiable urge for human flesh and although some didn’t live through it before friends did and now that everything was getting back to normal they were ready to party. They stopped at a hotel on the way to the festival and this is where they met the band Val was excited to meet the boys that Zoe was just over it in anyway she started finding herself being very attracted to her best friend Celeste… Something she desperately tried to keep under wraps. Not only was Zoe not in the mood to party with these guys but when they started talking about ghouls as if they weren’t “normal“ Zoe knew her night was over and quickly went to the room. Unfortunately this would not be the last run in with the guys Val totally loved the music and definitely wanted to see them play. It was on the first night of the festival however the Zoe and Celeste knew this wasn’t going to be there average concert event. They found out someone was putting something in partygoers drinks and they would also meet the Gooals 2.0 . After the hollowing people tried their best to get back to normal they synthesize human flesh so the goals wouldn’t attack friends and family members or random strangers and they got on with the business of living. So the random reports of the concert of people being kidnapped in partiers seeing strange looking ghouls was just at the beginning and the girls wanted to get to the bottom of it. Did the investigation would take them to an abandoned science research laboratory a run-in with hunters in much much more. I have never read a sad fake novel before and I must say I absolutely loved this book. I love that we got each girls backstory and that even though they were your average girls and this isn’t your average story the plot was written in a serious mode in one I could definitely get behind. I found this book so interesting and although I’m not gonna lie I love Yale mysteries but I really am getting tired of every main character being trans or lesbian. I get it everyone needs to be represented so where are the heterosexuals I mean my daughter is a lesbian and so I have no problem reading books with LGBT aspects and characters but it seems every year book I read the main character is trans or lesbian

ARC REVIEW
I've been really into zombies at the minute, and this was no different. For one of my most anticipated reads of the year, it did not disappoint, and I'm so thankful to have received an ARC of it. I loved the queerness, the found family elements, the romance, the rep! And the mystery and horror elements throught. The perfect quick read when you need you need just a dash of zombie. The approach of a zombie like virus was very creative and unique. i loved the concept of synflesh and how the "ghouls" transform. Overall, it was a great read, and i read it in virtually one sitting.

First of all, I absolutely love the idea of the story. It was unique, it was gruesome, and I really had no idea where it was going or how it was going to end. It was a lot of fun! I would absolutely read more books with this unique ghoul-centric world.

However, my biggest gripe with it is it was too short of a book for having four main characters. Going into the book, it was very hard for me to feel hooked, because it felt like I was stepping into an already established friend group and I was the newcomer. They all had their romantic interests and friendships already defined, with no backstory up front. The book did offer backstory as the story went on via flashbacks, but it took a long time and over half the book to actually understand the characters and their histories. And by that time the book was in the latter half and ending too soon.

I think this book would have benefited by either being longer, or doing more of the character history at the beginning of the story.

By the time the book ended though, I loved the story and I loved the characters and I wish I could read more about them and their lives as ghouls!

I am not sure, what to say - I am still in a horrified daze...

However, as a YA horror novel it hits all the right spots for millenials...
People become cannibals through a virus, and a whole music concert in the desert becomes a questionable food-fest for ghouls...
And once the synthetic meat runs out...

Sorry - that's all I can say about this book right now.

I know, it's not much I have to say about this - but I wouldn't even know, where to start...too much going on.

This book was absolutely awesome. It’s centered around four queer women (gay, bi, and trans are all represented) who became quite different when the world went through The Hallowing. Now, post-Hallowing, they can live a mostly normal life — as long as they eat their SynFlesh, that is.

When they go to a music festival, however, something goes wrong and the entire festival becomes a bloody mess. What happens? You’ll have to read the book to find out. :)

If reading a book with some graphic depictions of human flesh and organs isn’t a no go for you, then I highly recommend reading This Delicious Death. It has queer characters — including an influencer (which has been a part of several books I’ve recently read), very dark humor, and a ton of gore. It also perfectly encapsulates the queer experience — there are people who don’t like them just because of who they are. Fortunately, each of these people is cast in a not-so-great light.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

First things first, the book was camp! This delicious death was a dark comedy sapphic horror novel set in a post pandemic world where some people are left with cannibalistic urges referred to as Hollows. The main characters are 4 young girls freshly graduated from high school on their way to a music festival, who quickly realize someone is drugging Hollows and turning them feral.
I have to give points for originality. this book was so unique and a good twist on a typical coming of age story. I’d give it 5 stars alone for creativity.
The biggest problem this book had for me was rushing. With 4 main characters all getting their own backstories, multiple romance subplots, trying to establish the world it’s set in, and the primary murder mystery plot this book never had room to breathe. It felt like things were constantly being thrown in to keep the reader on their toes and instead i wished things were more fleshed out. The epilogue was so abrupt and everything wrapped up far too neatly for the sheer amount of plot lines we were given. Also a couple of the pop culture references were well placed, but most made me cringe.
Regardless of pacing problems, it was a fun sapphic coming of age story, with great character dynamics and an original plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the Advanced Readers Copy of This Delicious Death. The synopsis was intriguing, so I was happy when I was approved to read this book. I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

Just as an FYI, there were several content warnings at the beginning of this book, including but limited to alcohol consumption by minors, cannibalism, drug use and drugging, gun violence, murder, parental neglect, suicidal ideation, and transphobia. According to the publishers and NetGalley, this book is considered to be in the following genres: Young Adult, Horror, and LGBTQIAP+.

At first, this book was a bit slow to start, but it did start to pick up pace, and I ended up enjoying the storyline for the most part. When I first started reading This Delicious Death, it reminded me a little of the television show Santa Clarita Diet starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. Although there was quite a bit of mystery and horror in the book, it did include some lighter scenes and romance. I don't really have any complaints about this book.

Even though horror is one of my favorite genres, This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham wasn't my cup of tea. Well written, I think many teens will enjoy the storyline, and I'm glad there is a book that is inclusive of the LGBTQIAP+ community. Children need books that represent a variety of things and people who might be like them. Four out of five stars.

Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine are the four unlikely high school friends who bonded after they all turned into flesh eating ghouls after an event called The Hollowing. The four friends have all gotten their flesh eating urges under control by eating a synthetic flesh product and they decide that they are ready for a vacation and head to a music festival. They are all having a great time and everything seems to be going according to plans until one of the girls begins turning feral and starts eating human flesh again. The four must work together to solve the mystery behind why some ghouls are acting feral. This was a cute young adult story and I really liked how unique it was.

Humanity had a rough few months during the Hollowing, when a pathogen unleashed from the melting permafrost turned a fraction of humanity into mindless, ravenous ghouls. The invention of synthethic human flesh allowed the afflicted to regain their sanity and their lives, to the extent that teen ghouls Zoey, Celeste, Val, and Jasmine are allowed to attend an awesome music festival so long as they pack plenty of fake meat and check in regularly. When ghouls inexplicably turn feral, the hip desert venue turns into a bloodbath. Decent amounts of gore and a rather sweet queer romance, but the mystery aspect didn't hold up.

Jennifer's Body meets the sapphic best friends to lovers version of Riverdale you all desperately need in your life. This book consumed me - pun intended. Need I say more?

This book was fun! The characters are well written, as in there is 4 teenages girls and they don't feel like all the same. The story was entertaining enough, without being ground breaking. The ending felt a bit rushed though. I would recommend this book to people who want a fast paced read with some gore-ish element without it being heavy.

iI will, forever and always, be Kayla Cottingham's number one fan. My Dearest Darkest was the first horror book I ever read and it made me fall in love with the genre, This Delicious Death I loved just as much if not more, it took all the body horror and gorey descriptions from My Dearest Darkest and added humor elements and a music festival which made it impossible to put down and turned it into a book that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves queer YA horror, whether you're a massive fan of the genre or are just getting into it, I can guarantee you'll love this book.

Ghouls just wanna have fun!

YA, but for sure can be enjoyed by science fiction, mystery, or any fiction readers with an open mind and a great thirst for a unique read. It was fast paced, with strong female leads, and had fantastic representation without feeling political. I loved how natural the story flowed for something that had so much packed into a quick read. It's modern take on what would happen in a zombie apocalypse if it happened today, was much more realistic than stories I've read in the past.

I highly recommend this one for many reasons, but mostly because its something a little different. Gobble this one up, it really is delicious! ;) Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC, and give my honest opinion.

This was just a lot of fun! A different spin on the usual "brain-eating zombies' tale. Is it high-art? No, not at all. Is it an entertaining way to spend an afternoon at the beach? Most definitely.

Four best friends, who all also happen to be ghouls, take a road trip to a music festival in the desert. After surviving a catastrophic disease (The Hollowing) all four ended up only being able to eat fresh/bloody meat. Other than that little fact, they can live pretty normal lives among the normal folks. The author packs in one of each of everything: a white girl who is a popular/gorgeous blogger with a myriad of followers and is trans; a white girl who is average-looking, wants to be a journalist and is bi-sexual; a Latino girl who is a gorgeous head-cheerleader and straight; an African-American girl who is gorgeous, athletic and lesbian. Did we miss anything? The men/boys in the story are all hateful schemers, for the most part. Things go badly at the festival, then things get worse, then the girls save the day and each other. Pretty standard formula.

Again, not great literature by any means, but if you are over 15 (due to mentions of cannibalism, suicide and a few other things) and have a few hours to kill, this is an amusing diversion.

This cover sold me on the book synopsis unseen. A bloody hand holding a blood-stained cooler? Oh yeah, sign me up. Kayla Cottingham did not disappoint.

This Delicious Death is a young adult diverse horror story with laughs, zombies, music, and first love. I don’t think I have a favorite character and that includes the voice of the story Zoey. Zoey may tell the main part of the story, but each of the girls play a central part of the whole. It wouldn’t be delicious without them.

The Hollow affected all of them differently. They all live within their own truths and the consequences impact everyone.

I love zombie stories. Hooked on them actually. This new trend of cli-fi, I’m not sure I am a fan of and this is not to say that zombie fiction hasn’t been a result of climate change before. I’m just not a fan of the “preachie” overtone. I am done with this part of cli-fi especially since I have always been a tree hugger.

Cottingham gives us a decent mystery. I kinda didn’t guess the culprit. Well…now sugar, I don’t want to give anything away. Let’s just say, there was one surprise in the mix I didn’t see. This doesn’t mean the mystery along the way isn’t fun. Nor is the bonding the girls go through or the trips down memory lane as to how we got where we are. The romance isn’t bad either.

This Delicious Death is a quick read. I actually want a sequel. I think this crew of ladies can do more and I would love to see it and them.

So did I judge a book by its cover? Yep! I found this cover completely lovely and didn’t even read the description. Now was this technically my kind of book, maybe. After starting it and having to read and reread the concept it took me a while to grasp what I was reading. It was fast paced and while I wasn’t completely on board I did enjoy it. For fans of a more post apocalyptic book, this is for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free e-book advanced reading copy for me. This review is my honest opinion.

What’s with all the books about cannibalism coming out recently? It’s a fascinating trend with interesting psychological and metaphorical considerations. Also, there’s a long list for the content warning at the beginning of this book, with much more than just the cannibalism; I would advise readers to carefully consider any potential triggers/concerns and take the list seriously before delving into the rest of the pages.

I recommend this book to fans of young adult horror with queer/lesbian representation. The writing is great, the characters are interesting, the plot is intriguing, and it doesn’t fail to deliver horrific moments. My personal preference would be to rely less on flashbacks, but it’s not really a minus for the book; I know plenty of readers that love how flashbacks reveal more about the past and the characters. Sometimes I just fear writers, especially YA authors, may rely on flashbacks a little too much.

I got an email when this book came available and the cover alone sold me on it. I decided to go in blind which was hilarious because the opening of the book had me going wait a minute… what’s in the cooler? Is that code? It made it that much better. I enjoyed the dynamic of the four friends, they were all so different but their friendship made sense.

There was one bit that made me laugh out loud and immediately messaged my bestie because we enjoy dark humor. I’m like this should be sad but I’m laughing.

The overall premise of the story is interesting because I personally always feel like we are on the brink of something like this happening since people can’t leave well enough alone. Makes more sense how it all came to be.

I do feel like the turn around by the scientists was rather fast though, almost like it was something they had already been working on.

The book jumps back and forth from the past and present, which sometimes I get annoyed with because I’ll be all into s we hats happening right then and there and then it’s like haha you have to wait let me tell you what happened when the hollowing took to Val!

Overall I enjoyed the read, I can very easily see this being adapted into a limited series on Netflix.