Aftertaste is one of those books that feel as though you've stepped into someone's life, e.g., Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, The Midnight Library, etc. It's immersive as it spans decades of Kostya's life, transcending traditional genres and form. Author Daria Lavelle moves seamlessly between New York City's very real food scene and the fantastical world of hungry ghosts, crafting both into a love story of its own.

Aftertaste is a haunting exploration of grief, love and the magic of food — quite literally a literary feast. It's a must-read and will likely be one of the best literary fiction books 2025.

✨4.5/5 — Rounded to 5 for review purposes

Thanks to the author, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy in exchange for my review.

This was a very refreshing read. I didn’t quite connect with Kostya but I felt his pain and the story was enjoyable and was not bogged down with the heaviness of grief. If you like shows like The Bear you’ll like this book. Thank you Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for the eARC!

4⭐️ I enjoyed devouring this immersive supernatural story. It’s a tale of life, loss, grief, food, and love.

I know how much food is involved with families and friends, our best memories from the beginning. Who wouldn’t love to eat a favorite meal with a loved one that’s passed on that they can’t seem to let go? Konstatin “Kostya” grieves the loss of his father since age 10. He’s hit with exquisite “aftertastes” of food at random times. Only when the beautiful Maura comes into his life does he realize what a gift he has. Or is it?

Great characters, interesting plot, ghosts, tender love story, and lots of food!!!! I read this one quickly! Heartbreaking ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC in exchange for my honest review

The premise of the story is interesting. Kostya starts off as a dishwasher and slowly gets more responsibilities learning to cook at a high-end restaurant. He realizes that he can taste things on his palate and then prepare the item that reunites—briefly—the dead with the living. It’s not always something flavorful that conjures the memory so strong this connection happens, sometimes it’s a food item that’s burned or cheaply sugary. There are glimmers of moments I found interesting, but mostly I was bored. Maybe because there is so much detail about back-of-the-house upscale dining, maybe because I didn’t identify with Kostya, or maybe because I didn’t *feel* anything at anytime for anyone.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES MAY 20, 2025.

A GHOST STORY THAT ALSO MOONLIGHTS AS A LOVE STORY THAT SPANS TIME? OKAY.

I left this book on my TBR for so long thinking that I wouldn’t fall in love with it. Guys. this book. This book is something else. We’ve got a pained, brooding main that tastes the dead. I love ghost stories and this one is so well done. The feelings, the pain, the tortured souls we meet in the book are so well written and in a book that completely spins its own world upside down, the ending is something else. This one is for our Garth stein lovers, our fans of the dead, the believers in the veil. oooh. So so good.

What a perfect speculative fiction read!

Konstantin is a 10-year old Ukrainian immigrant living in New York City with his parents, when tragedy strikes and he loses his father. In his grief, he starts experiencing "aftertastes", the ability to taste the favorite meals of the deceased. And not just taste - he can recall every ingredient in detail, even if it's nothing he's every ate before. Once he grows up, he starts experimenting with cooking under the lead of his best friend and roommate. As he correctly recreates an "aftertaste", he finds that he can bring back a spirit from the dead - but only for the length of the meal.

I was very impressed with this debut - it was well paced, the characters felt authentic, the story was moving and original. A definite recommend from me!

This book’s premise had me hooked immediately—a chef that can taste the flavors of a meal he’s never had and help bring back a deceased loved one so you can share one last meal with them—so original, fresh, and unique!

Though this story deals with grief, it never felt heavy-handed. It’s darkly funny, has a unique voice, and the food descriptions were so delectable that they had my mouth watering!

I’ll admit that the last 20% lost me a little bit. It got a bit too campy, and some of the details of the conflict got a bit too convoluted for me.

Overall this was a very enjoyable read—definitely nothing like I’ve ever read before!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for this ARC!

If you are a foodie and enjoy the restaurant scene you will love this dark comedy with ghosts, romance and fantasy all mixed in.
Kostya is a man haunted through his life tasting the foods that the dead are hungry for. He loses his father and is obsessed by the desire to recreate a special meal to have one last chance to connect with him.
I loved the way the author uses food to describe his grief, pain and love for his family, and friends. I felt hungry reading this book and was more than satisfied with how everything tied together. I highly recommend this interesting and unique book!
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a top contender for my favorite book of the year and it's only April. This is one of those powerful books where you can clearly tell that the author is either extremely passionate and has a deep appreciation of food and/or has done a TON of research. There is such a startling difference in the quality of a well written and researched book like this that makes it immediately stand out among others.

The book follows Konstantin, who moved with his mother and father to New York from Ukraine as a boy, then loses his father at a young age. Trauma and guilt and regret follow Konstantin through his life because he never got to apologize for saying hateful things to his father before he died unexpectedly. After his father died, Konstantin starts tasting foods. Not just flavors, but actual foods where he can identify the ingredients. As Konstantin becomes an adult, he ignores these experiences until one day an unruly customer comes into the bar he where he is working, angry and devastated about his dead wife, but then a taste hits Konstantin's throat and knows exactly what drink to make this customer. One sip, and the man's wife appears from thin air and they get to say all the things they wish they said to each other before she died. From that moment, Konstantin is on a mission to help others have one last drink/meal with their loved ones and use his talent for good. Throughout this journey, Konstantin is encouraged by friends, becomes a chef, experiences more unbearable loss, finds the love of his life, Maura (who also has her own ghost baggage), and eventually discovers that his gift might be doing more harm than good. The living, it turns out, by holding onto their losses (and having that last meal with them), also keep the dead from moving on. This goes unnoticed by everyone except Maura, until the veil between the afterlife and the living world becomes dangerously thin...

This book initially reminded me of Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, but I quickly discovered that while the idea is similar, the concept is expanded considerably in Aftertaste. The idea here goes beyond just meeting with the dead. It's so unique that to say its just a book about a man tasting phantom foods inserted into his mouth by ghosts (clairgustance, apparently!) would be wildly incorrect. It is also SO much more. It's about grief, letting go, making peace, human connection, family, friendships, love, romance, and making your way in the world. It's also an exploration of the senses and the power our sense of taste and how it can connect us to memories (the savory, sour sweet, bitter and salty kind), to the past, and to our loved ones. It's brilliantly written, vivid in description, funny in moments, deeply moving, and full of nuance and layers. It's also extremely quotable. I've never highlighted so much on my Kindle.

That being said, there were a few instances (that I'm willing to overlook but seemed worth mentioning in the interest of transparency) where it felt a bit... heavy on the cheese. The use of Gen Z terms worked sometimes, but often it felt a bit forced, like it didn't always match with vibe of of the book. My particular ick was that the word "Hangry" was used repeatedly as a core ghost-related emotion and it made me cringe more than a few times.

The ending absolutely gutted me BUT despite my emotions, it was an ending that was fitting for the book, given the setup leading up to it.

I've already recommended this book to so many people and I can't wait until it comes out. I will be buying it and I bet it would also be a fantastic audiobook.

I also think this book made me into a foodie? I'm weirdly craving chicken liver, sauteed onions, fresh dill garlic, and a squeeze of lemon...

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC!!!

After losing his father at a young age, Konstantine discovers he has a gift with the dead, where he's able to taste a meal that is tied to a specific ghost's memory. Through this, he is able to connect spirits to their loved ones for a final goodbye by recreating their dish of choice. This story is a love letter to food, to the dead, and dealing with the consequences of your own actions.

The entire premise of this book had me so intrigued. It had so many things I love about a story: food, New York City, and magical realism. While I believe this has its definite pros, it seemed to fall a little short for me. At times I felt like the story dragged. It wasn't necessarily repetitive, but every so often I found myself saying I get it....next.... and wasn't exactly sure why. I think the way there are multiple themes occurring throughout leaves room for desire, as we weren't getting in depth looks into any one situation, but a skimming of multiple across the board.

Konstantine's and Maura's love story, while sweet, felt somewhat insta-love, and could have been expanded upon more. The same could be said with the Afterlife and the ghosts throughout. The way the story wraps up wasn't confusing to me overall, but the rules between food and ghosts could have been a bit more fleshed out to make sense throughout.

One thing I really liked about this was the ending and how it was not so much happy or sad, but a combination. It's what-could-have-been meets I-found-my-purpose. It leaves room for more to be desired while also being "realistic" (I say lightly, as most of this story is overall just unrealistic). My favorite part of this book was the prose and the overall execution of Lavelle's writing. You can feel the amount of care she put into bringing each individual recipe to life and the love for food and what it brings into personal relationships pours off the page. I enjoyed this book overall, and even though it might not be my favorite I can confidently say that the way Lavelle writes is enough for me to pick up another of hers in the future.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle is a beautifully crafted novel that will continue to linger in my mind long after the final page. With an evocative blend of rich sensory details and deep emotional resonance, the story explores themes of memory, longing, grief, and personal transformation. Lavelle’s prose is both delicate and powerful, immersing the reader in a world where flavors, scents, and past regrets intertwine. The characters feel vividly real, shaped by their desires and past mistakes, making their journey both compelling and deeply relatable. Aftertaste is a novel to savor, perfect for those who appreciate introspective, atmospheric storytelling.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reader copy! All thoughts are my own:

Konstantin is able to taste the favorite foods of ghosts. The flavors of meals he's never eaten appear as an aftertaste in his mouth as a sign that a spirit is present. Konstantin decides to act on this secret and opens a restaurant in order to reunite people with their deceased loved ones.

This was such a unique idea that was executed pretty well. I think for a large portion of the book (like 60% of it), it was a bit monotonous for me. A lot of the early parts of the book are really just Konstantin learning about the ability and trying to figure it out, which is important, but I think could've been told in a more direct way that wasn't 50-60% of the book.

Nonetheless, the prodigious end of this book made up for much of the first half for me.

A very unique blend of culinary arts, romance and paranormal. This is a very touching and emotional book.

Unfortunately, I don't think I was the right audience for this book. I had a hard time with some of the character development and holes in the plot. I appreciate the opportunity to read

Such an interesting concept executed with skill, the pace was delicious (pun intented) making for a bingeable and eye catching story. It explores that quintessential relation between memories and food. In it, Konstantin Duhovny discovers his ability to contact dead people by cooking the last meal they ate, its morbid and different and as dark as it sounds. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The storyline was very good. For me it did drag from maybe 25%-55% where I felt so much was going on and it was a little all over the place. But once it picked back up it really picked back up. But if you think about it, wouldn’t you want to have a meal with a loved one just to get closure? I know I absolutely will. Hearing how Konstsantine had this “talent” and what he can really do I know I would have signed up real quick. Living in NYC my whole life it was very relatable in the way of being able to picture most of the locations they mention. I did though feel bad for Konstsantine because his life was a big struggle and so many hurdles to push through. Part of me felt bad for him but then I wanted to shake him at the same time. For me he was a love/hate character. But definitely loved him in the end.

What a beautiful concept, Connecting with one in the afterlife through a culinary experience. In someway, it’s actually something we do when we pass down recipes and share meals that were inspired by loved ones who have passed on. Which is why it made this book sound so intriguing. Although I’m not a huge fan of stories that pertain elements of the supernatural , I thought this was one I could possibly enjoy. And I did. But I also thought I would find it more of an emotional read, and was literally prepared with a box of tissues at hand just in case. However they were never needed. Which with a story like this I would have loved to have a little more intensity It did make me quite hungry though. 😊

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I took my sweet time with Aftertaste, or should I say savory?

This was a fascinating novel for me both on a content and a craft level. Some interesting deviations in form and POV. Sentence level writing is beautiful and funny.

Deeply situated in the New York food scene (of which I am willfully ignorant), Ukrainian culture? (also ignorant), and the sense of taste (have not had mine returned to me post 2019 COVID…RIP right?) this is a sensory experience…with ghosts.

I genuinely enjoyed myself. There are a few things I could be nit picky about I think (what are “intelligent features”…what does that mean? Be specific,) this was a spooky and fun and also surprisingly poignant read.

The ghost aspect of this book was also immaculate. An imaginative take on an over(well?)done trope. The ending? Woof. Brought this from a solid 4 star read to a 4.5 for me easily. Really just, incredible.

Okay no more puns. This was a fun read. An author with a great voice. Someone give this book the cover it deserves….

“Aftertaste” blends coming-of-age, grief, horror, magical realism, romance, and culinary drama, creating a unique but genre-spanning story. The novel explores intriguing themes—how our inability to move on might hold others back, and how food serves as a bridge to memory rather than just sustenance. While the concept is compelling, I found myself wishing for a deeper dive into some of its themes, particularly the emotional weight of sharing one last meal with a loved one. The opening, however, is undeniably powerful and deeply affecting.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC and the opportunity to review the book before being published on 5/20/25.

This is a love story. Plain and simple. Presented in a unique way but with a concept we all know - food, tastes, flavors have the ability to transport us back to another time and place. Making and serving food to someone is an act of love (even if the food itself may not be a gourmet meal).

If you’re a foodie, like ghosts stories and maybe a bit of love, this is your book. Toward the end there is a page where Konanstain has a list of the 5 flavors: savory, sour, sweet, bitter, salty and the things that he classifies into each one. And it’s beautiful because while sweet may be sugar, it’s also “your name in my mouth”. Come on!

The writing is beautiful, lyrical and well thought out. This is a novel I think I’ll have to read more than once because aside from the main story, I’m certain I missed some of the nuanced culinary writing.