this book fed my soul and stir so many emotions i was keeping to myself. it was a haunting, exquisite exploration of grief, love, and the sensory magic of food. this was a literary feast that leaves an unforgettable imprint.

Konstantin Duhovny is a man burdened by ghosts—not just metaphorically, but literally. he doesn’t see spirits; he tastes them. the lingering flavors of the meals they cherished in life flood his senses, an intimate and melancholic reminder of their presence. When Kostya realizes he can reunite the living with their lost loved ones through the power of his cooking, he embarks on a journey that is as beautiful as it is dangerous. his path leads him into the inferno of the New York culinary world, where ambition, passion, and grief simmer in equal measure. But what begins as a gift to the grieving soon turns into something more ominous, and as he teeters on the edge of his abilities, love finds its way into his life—at the worst possible moment.

this is one of the best storytelling i have ever read, a perfect blend of dark comedy and romance. every page pulses with life, every meal described so vividly that you can almost taste it. the writing was so lush, evoking not just the flavors of food but the textures of longing, of heartbreak, of the aching need to hold on to the past. Kostya is a protagonist both deeply flawed and deeply human, and his journey is one of self-discovery, loss, and the universal hunger for connection.

this novel doesn’t just tell a story; it makes you feel it in your bones. it explores the way we grieve, the way we heal, and the way we find love even in the most unexpected places. the ghosts in this novel are not just echoes of the past—they are reminders of the love we carry, the flavors that stay with us, and the memories that never truly fade.

this book is for anyone who has ever longed for one more moment with someone they’ve lost, for anyone who finds solace in the ritual of a shared meal, for anyone who believes that love, whether in life or beyond can be the most powerful force of all. this story is to be savored, devoured, and remembered. a masterpiece of emotion, storytelling, and sensory wonder, it is one of the most beautiful books i've read in a long time.

what an experience this was. a must-read definitely. predicting that this will be one of the best literary fiction for 2025.

thank you Simon & Schuster & the lovely Daria Lavelle for giving me this copy last year. i cannot wait for this book to come out so i can brag about it to everyone.

pub date: May 20, 2025

Run don't walk to pre-order your copy of Aftertaste, releasing May 20, 2025!

SPOILER-FREE SYNOPSIS:
Konstantin "Kostya" Duhovny has been living with a secret for most of his life. When Kostya was 10 years old, his father died suddenly. Ever since, flavors of foods he's never tasted before flood his mouth whenever a spirit is present. One evening when he gets an aftertaste of a cocktail he's never drunk before, and he makes it for a mourning stranger, he realizes that he can bring a departed loved one back for the duration of one meal (or one drink) to offer closure for those who are grieving. When he finds his calling in helping both the living and the departed, he learns everything he can in the New York culinary scene, but messing with the Afterlife has its repercussions.

Aftertaste is officially in my top 3 favorite novels of all time. 🥹

I DEVOURED this novel and I have a feeling I'll be thinking about this novel for a very long time - maybe forever. Aftertaste had me hooked from the author's note. What a unique, beautiful, and moving ode to food and the memories attached to our sense of taste. Lavelle possesses the ability to provoke strong emotions (I teared up so many times) and to draw such vivid details in the form of clever and genius culinary similes and metaphors. It was extra fun to have this book take place in the iconic culinary scene of NYC - an area I visit so frequently with my husband. Lavelle has an impeccable gift for writing, and if this debut novel is any indication, I'll be reading every single thing she writes in the future.

Thank you SO much to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC!

Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: literary fiction, speculative fiction, magic realism, fantasy
Trigger warnings: grief, suicide, social ideations

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/brendiboo
Instagram: www.instagram.com/bookishbrendiboo

This was such a new interesting read for me. I really enjoyed these characters and all of the food references. Thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy. My opinions are my own.

Aftertaste is a unique blend of the paranormal, love, and grief. Kostya, our MC, finds that he can reunite people with their deceased loved ones for the length it take them to prepare a beloved dish. I feel many readers can and will relate to the fact we often have very strong and nostalgic feelings we attach to food. I wonder how many of us would be willing to try Kostya's method just to spend one more moment with a lost loved one? Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me this ARC. You can check this out when it publishes May 20, 2025.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I thought the story was pretty slow for the first half but the pacing was much better the second half. I really enjoyed the who concept of tasting ghosts. I like how Kostya is an imperfect and flawed character. His success in the restaurant world is driven by grief and childhood trauma. And honestly the end was not quite how I expected it. It's refreshing to read a story every once in a while that isn't a neat perfect, fairy tale happy ending.
For the most part I enjoyed the author's writing style. The ghost interludes were confusing and hard to follow. It took me a few of them to figure out what was going on. That said, you can't help but picture the food or what to make it yourself the way the author describes it.
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle is a novel that asks: What if grief had a flavor? What if love did? What if ghosts weren’t just whispering memories but full-course meals haunting your senses? This book is rich. Not just in its writing, but in how it layers grief, love, and sensory experience. It’s lush, devastating, and deeply weird in the best way. You’ll want to savor it—preferably with a well-paired glass of wine.

a delectable book full of flavors, both bitter and sweet. the characters have just the right flavor profiles. a book I would devour again. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Where to start? This story was a huge detour from my normal genres, but as a food lover I thought I would give it a try. The story itself is very unique in that our MC can sense ghosts, but only by way of their favorite food from when they were alive which floods his mouth when they are near. That connection evolves over time and he uses it bring closure to others who have lost loved ones.

While I am a fan of food, I struggled a bit with some of the descriptions. The book is worth the read since it is such an original concept and I am grateful to have been able to obtain a ARC. My only other feedback is that while the story had lots of interesting facets, it did seem to drag a bit in places.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for this early review copy. I tried to enjoy this, but it just isn't for me. I think it has an audience though, and as far as I read, the writing was skillful!

DNF @ 25%

3.8/5 Rounded up
When I saw the tagline TJ Klune meets The Bear I had to read this. It had a really cool synopsis and concept and it showed. The main character Kostya has been able to sense ghost since he was young by way of their favor foods and although he's been trying to suppress that side of him he turns it into a way for people to reunite with their loved ones and get closure. It's a story with a bit of magical surrealism and some whimsy and the underlying theme of grief and how people deal with it. As someone that works in the food industry I loved everything about the food imagery and how Kostya visualized and brought every dish to life despite not having had taste some of the foods/drinks himself. The story felt a bit long and heavy at times but overall I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

I liked the concept, and the details were amazing. I did find it a little too wordy in parts, and didn’t really connect with the main character. Overall, a decent read with a unique idea!

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle
Received as an arc.
Kostya was a boy who never got in after his parents left the Ukraine to come to the usa.
His father died young and his mother tailspin into a deep depression.
Kostya barely got by. But he felt he had an odd feeling of what dead people ate.
He went nowhere in life until one night he had to sub as a bartender and a depressed man came in after a recent loss of his wife. Kostya made him his wife’s favorite drink, despite not knowing or asking. She appeared and until the man consumed she was there.
He tried to replicate other meals and failed.
He meets a tarot palm reader that senses it but warms him.
He lucks out with no skills to get in a high end restaurant where he dabbled but failed. A big night he lets the real orders fail to make his father’s dish.
He eventually sets out to make the meal and meet the woman who predicted the dangers that he’s smitten with
4⭐️

Thank you Netgalley for this arc. This was a different type of book than I've ever read before. The main character in this book lost his father when he was a kid, and ever since he's been haunted by ghosts that he can't see. Even though he can't see them, he has the ability to taste their last meal. I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I guess you could say it's sort of like magical realism.

I love the premise of Aftertaste, but this book was not for me. Having owned a restaurant and worked as a chef I usually love culinary fiction. This was a little too rough, the descriptions of food ranged from icky to delicious. Perhaps I should have been warned by the the comparisons to The Bear which I had a similar response to. If you love that show this might be the book for you.

Kostya has a unique gift. He cant exactly see ghosts, but he can taste their favorite foods. He discovers he can reunite people with their deceased loved ones by creating their favorite dish.

I appreciated that this book was truly unique. So many memories are tied to food and this book was flooded with vivid descriptions of all sorts of cuisines. I also liked that this was set in the high stakes culinary world of New York.

Ultimately I think this could have been shorter/edited. There was a definite lull in the middle. I also just dont LOVE magical realism but that is a me problem. 3.5/5

Kostya has a gift of communicating with the dead, but in a unique way - he can taste their favorite meal.

This is one of the most fascinating premises for a book that I’ve ever read. The author’s writing is lovely, poetic, descriptive (especially of the food!), and absolutely mesmerizing. It completely drew me in and was surprisingly emotional.

Instant classic? I think so!

Thanks for the opportunity to read!

This was a very unique premise for a book! I’ve never read anything else quite like it. We meet the mc as a young boy having just lost his father. He has a “gift” so to say, of connecting with the dead through their taste for food. I really Found myself not enjoying the good descriptions and didn’t realize that’s something that would bother me going into the book. The storyline was okay, somewhat forgettable to me. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Aftertaste is a brilliant, heartwarming concept. A man can taste, in his mouth, the best meals a ghost ate while alive. It allows them to share a meal that he prepared with a loved one. He lost his dear father and discovered his superpower after tasting a meal his father had as a boy in Kyiv Ukraine. It takes you down the path of several departed people and their unfinished business.

Read if you like
-stories about Ukrainian immigrants
-culinary business, running a restaurant and chef language, like The Bear
-Before the Coffee Gets Cold

The writing style seemed pretty "stream of consciousness" and the character development was almost poetry-like. I did find much of it a bit hard to follow, I don't know much about chef lingo although I liked the main character and how he chose to use his gift. My favorite was about a nun who had recently lost a fellow-nun and will give bonus points for reference to Ghostbusters "There is no Dana only Zuul."

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC. Book to be published May 20, 2025.

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle is a delightful mix of magical realism, romance, and mouthwatering culinary arts. I've never had so many food cravings while reading a book before! The author truly outdoes themselves with the vivid food descriptions.

The story follows Konstantin Duhovny, who lost his father when he was 10 years old. Ever since then, he has been able to taste a ghost's favorite food when they are nearby. This unique idea gets even more intriguing when we learn that when Konstya makes the meal he tastes for the ghost's loved one, they will appear for the time it takes to eat the food. This ability allows him to create dishes he's never made before. The story immersed me in the NYC culinary scene. The writing is absolutely mouthwatering at times.

The narrative also explores themes of grieving and closure. As the story progresses, We discover the dangers that come along with this extraordinary ability. The romance with Maura balanced the other elements of the story well, adding depth to the plot.

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

3.5 stars. I went into Aftertaste not knowing quite what to expect, and while the story itself was unique and beautifully written, it wasn’t exactly my usual cup of tea. That said, I can absolutely see why so many readers will fall in love with this book.

The premise is incredibly original—a chef who can reunite people with their lost loved ones for one final meal. 🍽️👻 The blend of culinary artistry, magical realism, and emotional depth makes for a fascinating read. Kostya’s journey through the intense, high-stakes world of fine dining in NYC, while grappling with his ability to connect the living and the dead, is full of rich sensory details that practically make you taste the food on the page.

The writing is lyrical and immersive, and the themes of love, loss, and longing hit hard. However, the pacing dragged a little for me in places, and as someone who doesn’t usually gravitate toward romance-heavy literary fiction with magical realism, it didn’t fully click as a favorite.

That being said, if you love emotional, food-centric stories with a touch of the supernatural—think Under the Whispering Door meets Sweetbitter—this book is absolutely worth a read. I’d recommend it to fans of poignant, beautifully descriptive fiction that explores grief in a unique way.

📚 Verdict: A gorgeously written, thought-provoking novel that wasn’t quite my genre, but still an engaging and memorable read. Fans of lush prose, food writing, and magical realism will love it!