Kayla Cottingham writes FUN horror, even though her novels don't shy away from dealing with intense issues like homophobia and other forms of hatred, violence, and discrimination. I loved the dynamic between the main 4 girls here, and I appreciated the world and the parallels between their 'plague' and many real-life analogues that could be drawn. The perfect summer read!

A delicious YA that was witty and an absolute fun read. Loved the representation. A super quick novel that left me laughing but with a slightly upset stomachs.
Thank you Netgalley for this arc

Thought this was a really fun YA read.
Loved the representation for LGBTQ+, loved the whole concept and the funny tones. The characters were likable even if the romance did feel rushed but I see that as a normal thing in young adult novels!
Cute read, 3.5 stars!
Thanks to the publisher to the ARC!

I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing about it. If I read the description I don’t know if I would have picked it up but I really loved it! It was a fun read that kept me entertained throughout. I flew through it and really enjoyed my entire time reading it. I think some people may be dissuaded from it because they think it’s super scary or disturbing but it really wasn’t! I also loved the ties of the pandemic in the book to Covid! It was so interesting and made me think about society and how they would handle a situation like that. I overall really enjoyed the book and would recommended it to people who would be into a sort of sci-fi story set in present day society.

for a YA book, this was pretty damn good. the queer representation is amazing, and it is an easy, quick read.

the hollowing took place a few years ago, when a virus ripped through the world and turned some human beings into ghouls who must eat human flesh to survive. zoey and her best friend celeste have always had a hint of romance between them, but they work better as friends. when zoey, celeste, and the other girls go to a music festival for the weekend, shit starts to go haywire with the hollowed.

flashbacks at the beginning of each chapter gradually lead you into understanding the events leading up to this gore filled weekend. there are great details here on how the ghouls survive on synthetic meat. if i was younger, i would have been all over this book. this is the kind of queer/trans representation we need.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review.
The cover of the book grabbed me since I love horror/thrillers. This was quite different than my usual thought I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was a quick read too! It does have lots of trigger warnings which was great for the author to do at the beginning of the book so if anyone has concerns they can decide whether to read it or not. Definitely recommend to any horror lovers out there!!

Thank you NetGalley , Kayla Cottingham and sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to read an advanced readers copy of “This Delicious Death” due to be published April 25 2023.

Two years ago a small number of the population underwent a transformation known as the Hollowing. Those affected could only survive if they consumed human flesh. Four friends want to live out graduation on a high note so they go to a music festival and one of the friends become feral and kills someone. Soon more music guests start disappearing was it Val? Or is someone hunting the Hallows? Must read on to find out.

It was a super fun , sad and romantic read that I’ll remember for a long time. Highly recommend this one !

The idea behind this book is genius and super interesting. The only feedback I have is that the romance felt a little rushed towards the end of the book. I would have liked more from Zoey and Celeste in the end.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this fresh take on the Zombie genre that felt fresh in the age of covid and queer teens feeling "other". Zoey and her friends were a found family of girls that found each other when no one wanted them around. The singular thing I would critique was I thought the reveal of who and why the band was causing the Ghouls to go crazy could have been more fleshed out in the end.

Val/Jasmine spin-off when?

Not what I was expecting at all. I was expecting more of the prequel to this book and I was thrown in to so many details at once

Would have loved the lead up

[Digital ARC provided via NetGalley]

I got the email about this ARC being available and skimmed the description, only seeing what sounded like something zombieish, and since it's Zombruary (my favourite reading month) knew I was going to have to grab it immediately.

There's a long list of content warnings at the very beginning, and I suggest you heed them. There is gore. A lot of it. Not in, like, a gratuitous way, but when you're talking about people eating other people, shit will likely get at least a little bit messy. Which this did. In a good way!

Our main POV character is 18y/o Zoey, a newly graduated "disaster bi," who's heading out to the desert for a long weekend with her fellow flesh-eating friends for a Coachella analogue.

Zoey and her pals were infected two years ago during the Hollowing, an event that left a significant percentage of the population with a hankering for the flesh of their friends and families, but it's mostly under control with the creation of synthetic human organs.

Until it isn't. And suddenly the fun girls'weekend isn't so fun for the ghouls, or anyone else attending the festival.

This Delicious Death moved along at a brisk pace, and I was never really bored; Ieven told one of my kids that I really thought they'd like this, too.

Unfortunately, the ending was a little too brisk. It kind of felt like I was still just noodling along for more than ¾ of the book, and then BAM it was over and resolved and all tied up in a neat little bow. It was also telegraphed V E R Y early on what was going to happen and who was at fault.

I did still enjoy it, though, and have every intention of reading Kayla Cottingham's debut novel, as well as whatever else they write in the future. I also know a handful of people I'll be personally recommending this to.

Will you like it? If a super gay comedy horror mystery sounds like your jam, then yes! Get this for your summer reading immediately.

A bloody master piece that was fantastic in a terrifying way. I enjoyed reading this book, as much as a cannibal enjoys eating. It was a ride full of horror, mystery and that hint of romance. Definitely would recommend this book.

UGH THIS WAS SO GOOD. I was watching The Last of Us and craving a zombie book when I remembered my e-arc of this and flew through it. The world building around this zombie pandemic was very impressively well-explained for such a short book, I loved the little mini mixed-media elements.

The queer rep in this book is amazing, Bisexual main character, trans love interest, and lots more queer side characters! Great pining and romance.

AND THE ZOMBIE STUFF! Truly satisfied my craving (ha) and Kayla Cottingham is now officially an auto-buy author!

4.5 Glam Ghoul stars!

Who knew cannibalism could be so fun!?

A couple years after “The Hollowing” (aka the ghoul apocalypse), Zoey and her friends Celeste, Jasmine, and Valeria, are packing up their synflesh and hitting the road, heading to their first music festival since they developed a taste for humans.

Things are going well, until Valeria goes full on feral and eats a guy. Then, like true ride or dies, the girls dump the body and get into Nancy Drew mode to figure out what caused Valeria to get hangry and chow down.

While investigating they stumble upon evidence that someone is purposely making ghouls turn feral and hear rumors that other festival attendees and staff are going missing. Now they must find the culprit before things turn into a whole new kind of Fyre Fest.

The representation was fabulous.
The characters were all multi-layered and not two dimensional.
The dialogue was snarky.
The plot was twisty.
The setting was unique and gave me some nostalgia from my Bonnaroo days.
What more could you want!?

This was hilarious, sapphic, campy, gory, and adorable all at once and I suggest everyone go read it!

Check it out, when it hits shelves, 4/25/23!
A big thanks to the Publisher & NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Euphoria minus drugs plus the apocalypse. A group of four teenagers who became cannibals after a virus swept the human race are trying to get back to normal life. With their synthetic human organs for food in hand, they make their way to the desert for a music festival. Suddenly one of the friends goes feral and the group tries to figure out why. This one was action packed and I loved it.

I really liked the characters and their relationships. Kept me guessing. I did enjoy the whole world and it reminded me of the pandemic meets zombies in a fun and fresh way. I would recommend this YA novel. It’s a fun read.

I was kindly gifted this ARC by @sourcebooksfire through @netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Firstly, I liked that this book had flash backs which set the story up and explained how the pandemic started which turned some people into ghouls. I think I would’ve preferred if the book was sectioned in two parts, before and after pandemic or when it first started and then current time, as I felt sometimes it was a bit jumpy going back and forth constantly with flashbacks. I am still quite new to the horror genre, so this did make me a little freaked out at some points so I think if you are new to the genre this is a good entry point. I LOVED the LGBTQIA+ representation especially as the book is aimed at YA! Overall, I enjoyed some bits of the book but felt others dragged so overall I rate it:

3⭐️

This Delicious Death was a very fun spooky read. It was gory, a little funny and downright crazy at times. If you're into modern zombies (in this case ghouls) attending a music festival (think Coachella) with a bit of love interest thrown in then you'll love this book. I appreciated the very unique concept of this book and enjoyed the premise a lot. the main character, Zoey was intriguing and reminded me of myself in High School. I also loved Celeste but the other two girls tended to be a little infuriating for me at times. Some of the execution and plot fell a little flat for me. I found there to be a bit of fluff in the beginning and not a whole lot of explanation of some important plot points. I also found the love triangle situation to be pretty out of place for a thriller about zombies (reminded me of warm bodies but not as clearly a love story). I also still don't really get the whole villain part of the storyline, it just didn't feel fully believable. Overall, this is a fun read. Id recommend it as a palate cleanser type book where you can just get lost in a modern zombie world for a few hundred pages.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley of allowing me to read this ARC

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this ARC!

Let me start off by saying... I love a good cannibalisms moment. We just don't get enough of those.

This was a cutie lil queer cannibalism, zombie music festival weekend. We have girls flirting with boys in bands. We have girls flirting with girls. We have girls eating boys in bands. Overall, tons of fun and excitement.

This one was interesting to say the least. It isn't a book I'll pick up again, but I enjoyed reading it the first time! I'm interested to see what else Kayla Cottingham puts out.