Okay, I think I may have found my January favorite read (even though the book is not due to be released until April 2023). I devoured this book quickly this evening and enjoyed every minute of it.

Thanks to melting permafrost, a dangerous pathogen of unknown origin is unleashed causing changes within the human population. Not everyone is being affected but those that are showing signs of Zombie-like behavior. The only difference is that they act and look like any normal human. It is just their appetite has changed and thanks to the government, they have the ability to eat synthetic-like human organs instead of killing other humans for their flesh.

Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine are affected by this change and are trying to live normal lives and even deciding to go to Desert Bloom, a music festival in the desert. But something is happening. Their friend, Val, goes feral; even worse, there are even worse-looking Zombie-like figures walking around. The girls have to not only find out what is going on but save their friend from becoming one of those awful-looking Zombie creatures.

This was a really fun and weird read. I loved the characters, especially the girls and I was rooting for Zoey and Celeste to admit their feelings for each other finally. The relationship (both friendship and romance) was truly genuine. I liked how Zoe and Celeste's romance wasn't so insta but given a chance to bloom even in the face of all that danger.

And the girls' interlocking friendship was wonderful. Even though they shared similar pasts, they had something to not only bond over but it allowed them to lean on each other. Even when Val went feral, they didn't stop to think about the dangers it could bring upon themselves, rather they went in guns blazing to save her. This is a ghoulfriends' goal.

This was definitely my first taste of Zombie books in so long and this will be one of my favorites for the new year. I really hope to see more of these characters later on. I would like to see a story (even though we received glimpses of it) about this unknown pathogen. It sounds really interesting and the effects must be completely devastating to the entire population.

This arc was provided by the author and her publishing company. The opinions of this book are my own.

This was the perfect book to get me out of the reading rut I’ve been stuck in for the past month. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC. My only complaint about this book is that it wasn’t longer; I devoured (see what I did there?) it in one day! I’m rating the book 4 stars, but if I were asked to rate the cover I’d give it all the stars because it is everything!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC. All opinions are my own.

Wow, what a unique and unexpected read! Zombie apocalypse x global plague x Coachella = this book and it is a fun ride.

Some pieces are a bit predictable as is usual with YA but genuinely enjoyed this and especially loved the diversity of characters represented within it.

Seal of approval!

When Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine feel good enough to go to a music festival, they had no idea they were in for a threat against everything that makes them who they are. The group of best friends survived a pandemic, but not the one you’re thinking about. They survived Hollowing, which caused a percentage of the human population to become zombies, or ghouls as people like to call them. In their case, they’re among the many who became Hollowed. Now that it’s finally safe enough to resume everyday life thanks to SynFlesh, they’ve received permission to visit a music festival. Unfortunately for them, someone is poisoning as many Hollowed folks as they can at the festival, and it’s causing them to go feral.

I love zombies, so I knew I had to read this the second I read the synopsis. We follow a group of friends who were brought together after the Hollowing, which turned them into flesh eating zombies. Because the Hollowed aren’t dead and are able to resume their lives as usual thanks to SynFlesh, a synthetic meat just for Hollowed folks, people began to call them ghouls. Life is going as well as it can for the four friends, so they decide to celebrate graduating high school by going to a music festival.

Because I love zombie stories, I also love when these stories step outside of the usual zombie box. In this case, Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine are friends facing a world against them because they were infected by the mysterious pathogen that made them one of the many Hollowed. They live with what they did when they were first feral, as many Hollowed folks killed and consumed people. Many of the chapters begin with a flashback to one of these four character’s memories from that time, either from what they remember while they were feral, or what life was like when they first returned home. I think I might’ve liked this book more if it took place during this time, as these were the most well-thought out and interesting parts of the book.

That said, I think the book is good for what it is, a young adult paranormal novel. We spend a lot of time bouncing back and forth between each of these friends, and watch them get to the bottom of the mess that is someone poisoning them, causing them to go feral at levels Hollowed folks has never gone before. At its core, this is a book about friendship, and the lengths people are willing to go to help and save the people they care about. There’s also a little bit of mystery, since they put on their amateur sleuth hats, determined to get to the bottom of what is going on. If you’re expecting a traditional horror novel, this won’t be the book for you, but I think it’s worth a read if you’re a big fan of all things zombie.

It’s also worth noting that there is a page devoted to content warnings right before the first chapter. It’s really nice to see more and more books list whether or not there is something that may trigger someone, whether it’s at the top of each chapter or somewhere after the title page. I think the list in this book is probably the most comprehensive one I’ve seen so far.

This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham has a fantastic premise. In a post zombie world, where those who were turned are monitored and able to eat artificially created human meat to control their hunger, why not enjoy a musical festival in the desert? We join four high school aged friends (Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine) on a last hurrah before the separate and head off to college or whatever else they've planned for life.

The book begins with a very inclusive list of content warnings, and this inclusivity is well and thoughtfully integrated throughout the rest of the book. The narrative is told through both flashbacks of the Hollowing, when the zombie plague spread across the world, and the story arc of the four friends attendance of the festival. While we learn of the times of trouble with quarantines and establishing safeguards, the book is largely focused on post apocalypse life.

Those who contracted the illness during the Hollowing, can become feral if they are not able to eat meat. Their hands grow claws and their faces and mouths change. All of this has led to them being described pejoratively as "ghouls."

It's a great concept, but for this reader, who does not read much in the way of young adult, it did not connect. As we learn the pasts of our four main characters they fall into traditional high school roles (the troubled loaner, the athlete, the pretty/popular one). Though Cottingham's writing moves them beyond just these roles incorporating different socioeconomic viewpoints. And of course there is a love triangle, betrayal and second guessing of emotions and thoughts.

Without getting into major plot points and spoilers, the central conflict of the book left me confused how it was able to reach the point it did. A little too reliant on lax safeguards and coincidence.

Kind of obsessed with this one! I would classify this as...funny humor? Which doesn't really exist for YA! I've read a few in the adult genre (like by Grady Hendrix) but nothing comes to mind for teens. This book is awesome on so many levels and features a sapphic cast of characters and the novel takes place over a long weekend where these teens music festival in the desert (like Coachella). Then all hell breaks loose it's up to them to save the day! It's a bit campy but I like it.

This Delicious Death was the gory zombie sapphic book of my dreams! I loved it and it reminded me a lot of Mira Grant's Newsflesh series only with queer teens and a bit of Fyre fest mixed in.

Honestly, what more do you need to know?
It's got cutesy romance, but also flesh eating zombies, influencers, and a music festival.

Read it for a good time, but maybe not while you're eating lunch.

I really enjoyed this book. It takes place over a long weekend when a group of friends go to a Coachella like music festival in the desert. Soon all hell breaks loose and our friend group have to try and save the day.

I really liked how fleshed out the author made the characters. She took the time to include descriptions and back stories for each girl before the Hollowing.

I binged this in a few days because I had to know what happened next.

The author went a little overboard with the trigger warnings at the beginning but I guess better be safe then sorry.

This book is about a group of girl friends who venture to the middle of a desert for a music festival and when things go from bad to worse, they must put the fun on hold and get to the bottom of the impending doom before it's too late. The icing on top of the cake? The girls are also cannibals who were turned a few years previous in a major apocalyptic event that changed the world forever.

I really enjoyed this book because of the ‘aftermath’ POV but also because of the fantastic LGBTQ+ representation. This queer friendly book was a fun read and something I would love to see more of. I enjoyed the dynamic between the friend group and the history behind the girls becoming friends; I thought the author did a really great job with making each character unique and giving them the opportunity to shine in their scenes.

I did feel that the ending was a bit rushed and I wish it were smoothed out a bit. The climax seemed like it could have used a few more ‘monster’ interactions or just bad guy stuff in general. The ending was pretty spooky in general, but I wished there was more of it.

This is the type of story I have not read before. I really enjoyed the idea of reading about the aftermath of the apocalypse not the apocalypse itself. The characters are really well written and fun. I think I will buy this book when it finally gets published.

It was such a fun, spooky and enjoyable read.

Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

This was a good story, although the characters felt juvenile to me. However, this works and makes sense, as it is a YA book. I enjoyed the book overall and would definitely recommend the book to people who don't mind gore in their stories.

This Delicious Death follows our friend group of Zoey, Celeste, Jasmine, and Valeria as they pack up their things and set off to a highly anticipated music festival out of town. The only problem is the girls are ghouls - as in cannibalistic ghouls who were infected with a virus 'The Hollowing' that infected a chunk of the worlds population that randomly turned people into cannibals and take on monster like characteristics. So there's that. As if being a teenager with hormones isn't hard enough you have to worry about eating your family if you don't consume enough SynFlesh (the world's answer to feeding the ghouls - synthetic human flesh).

So, the girls pack up their car with their best summer clothes, and of course the coolers of Synflesh and are off to enjoy the sun and music, but of course this is a thriller-horror story so all does not go to plan. Everything is fine until people are ending up dead showing signs of being killed by a ghoul (something strictly forbidden and treated as murder), and the girls find evidence that there are people at the festival who are drugging ghouls to turn them feral for whatever reason. After one of the girls is drugged and begins to show signs of turning feral and unable to hide their true nature as a ghoul its up to the other girls to unravel the mystery of what is happening and who is behind it all before its too late.

This was a fun and quick read! The core four girls were written with care and their dynamic as a group and separately worked well with the story. I think the author's writing really shined with the flashbacks of each girl when they transitioned into a ghoul during the Hollowing and getting each of their perspectives of that traumatic time and the period after along with the prejudice and judgement based on the fact that they were ghouls. It was a nice touch of social commentary about being Other in a crowd and having to hide it from even those who say they love you no matter what.

The horror imagery was fantastic! The gore elements were not tempered at all and were beautifully painted - which you would hope for in a story about a group of girls who eat people and turn into ghouls, right? It had some nicely plotted moments of mystery and suspense while the girls investigated the festival trying to save their friend from impending doom. I was not expecting to have the sweetest little queer romance and many forms of LGBT+ representation in a story like this, but it was incorporated beautifully and in a way that not only worked well with the story but elevated it.

If I had to point out something I wasn't keen on it would be the overall pacing of the story. It started perfectly fine with the set up of the world and establishing the friendship between the girls, but somewhere in the middle it kind of got lost and very rushed and I think the plot suffered for it. I would have liked to have a little more information of the world and the actual ghoul inducing virus as it was only touch upon so briefly. That's just me though! I always want more world building when it comes to post apocalyptic stories! If this is just a stand alone self contained story then what was revealed is probably more than suffice for readers. The ending felt very rushed and underwhelming in most of the parts and lost most the steam that the beginning of the story had set up so nicely. It needed just a little more time to really set up the ending properly in a way that didn't feel like it was going 100 miles an hour when the rest of the story before was taking its sweet time to get to places.

Overall, it was a fun read! It's nothing groundbreaking in the horror genre, but it succeeds in telling the story it set out to tell and gives you enough twist and turn moments to keep you interested until the end! I enjoyed the author's voice in the moments with the flashbacks of the girls during the Hollowing, and the dynamic between the girls and the beautiful moments that showed their friendship during the worst moments of their lives.

I would also say beware of trigger warnings going into this book! there are...a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

this book reminded me a lot of Tokyo ghoul mixed with Not Even Bones and I really enjoyed the plot of the story! I think the idea of a hollowing turning people into cannibals was really done well especially with not just making it another zombie book! I also really liked the friendships and the lgbtq rep within this book! I finished this book within a day!

I thought This Delicious Death was cute but there was nothing that really made it standout for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this digital ARC.

I devoured This Delicious Death in one sitting, which is a fitting pun for this YA horror-thriller-romance-road trip feast of a book.

Four best friends, infected years ago by the Hollow virus, are cannibals whose zombie-like urges are held in check by supplies of synthetic flesh. They're cleared to go to a music fest in the desert, when Val gets dosed with the strange new drug that unleashes her hunger, and ghouls all over the valley start losing control.

Meanwhile, the guys from one of the bands playing have started hanging out with the girls, who have to hide their Hollowness, which becomes harder after Val eats the bassist. Oops!

Tracking down the real culprit takes each girl's skills, and brings back memories of the beginning of the Hollow infection and how the inner circles of each girl were infected.

Murder, drugs, monsters, teen angst, budding romances - this ride or die squad has one hell of a week!

Recommend for acquisition for high school library.

Ginger Nuts reviewed Kayla Cottingham’s debut My Dearest Darkest, an entertaining supernatural thriller set in a posh boarding school, and her follow up This Delicious Death is satisfyingly different from its predecessor. Once again we have a tightknit group of older teenage girls who are in their final days of high school (but they come across as much older) who head out on a road-trip to attend a desert music festival. The dynamics of this part of the novel played out as a blend of teen drama and comedy, with an LGBTQIA+ storyline and a snarky first-person narrative from one of the girls, Zoey. However, the second major plot was significantly more off-beat and one wonders whether it deserved something more substantial than a group of teens fooling around at a musical festival, who get caught up in some trouble.

Partly told through convincing flashback, we find out that three years earlier the melting of the atmosphere, causing a small percentage of people to undergo a transformation that became known as the Hollowing (the word ‘zombie’ is used only twice in the novel). Those impacted slowly became intolerant to normal food and were only able to gain sustenance by consuming the flesh of other human beings. Those who went without flesh quickly became feral, turning on their friends and family. However, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy the hunger of those impacted by the Hollowing. As a result, humanity slowly began to return to normal, albeit with lasting fear and distrust for the people they'd pejoratively dubbed ghouls. The main characters (Zoey, Celeste, Valeria and Jasmine) are Hollows and have accepted they have to eat SynFlesh to survive. However, things take a turn for the worse when Val goes feral and ends up killing and eating a boy from one of the bands they watched. This Delicious Death was an odd blend of comedy, teen drama, romance, and horror thriller which although the tone misfired was a quirky imaginative tale that had LGBTQIA+ storylines flowing naturally with the cannibalism! AGE RANGE 13/14+

I was sucked in immediately and it instantly reminded me of Jennifers Body the movie. It was very cheesy and corny just like the movie in the best possible way. The very casual cannibalism cracked me up. I really liked this. It was a fun read in between my usual fantasy!!!!

DNF @ 30%

Horror is coming back to YA and I am so stoked. So I try to get my hands on all the new horror releases coming out. I do have bad reading relationships about books that happen during music festivals. Just ask Lord of the Fly Fest... I decided to give this one a try because how could a book about cannibals be so bad?

I was wrong and should have stuck to my rule about books that take place during a music fest. This was horrible. The characters were so dry that I thought I was in the desert dying of thirst. They were also highly annoying and self-centered. I'm just done.

I really liked this! i read it in two days, and I thought I wouldn't like the zombie apocalypse vibe but I really did.

DNF 40%
Couldn’t get into it. Often my issue with YA. The stories never suck you in. You’re just thrown in this world and expected to already be into the characters and setting. The characters never seem to have much personality. It’s very tell not show. Zoey spends so much time getting flustered by Celeste and not enough time being her own person. The only interesting thing is the backstory to how the friend group became Hollows. That’s where some of their pst experiences makeup who they are as a character. Wish that wasn’t only showed in the past though.