This Delicious Death

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on April 25, 2023
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Horror
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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From the author of the New York Times bestselling My Dearest Darkest comes another incredible sapphic horror. When four best friends with a hunger for human flesh attend a music festival in the desert they discover a murderous plot to expose and vilify the girls and everyone like them. This summer is going to get gory.

Two years ago, a small percentage of population underwent a transformation known as the Hollowing. Those affected were only able to survive by consuming human flesh. The people who went without quickly became feral, turning on their friends and family. Luckily, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy their hunger. As a result, humanity slowly began to return to normal.

Cut to Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine, four hollow girls living in Southern California. As a last hurrah before graduation they decide to attend a musical festival in the heart of the desert. They have a cooler filled with seltzer, vodka, and Synflesh... and are ready to party.

But on the first night of the festival Val goes feral and ends up killing and eating a boy in one of the bands. As other festival guests start disappearing around them the girls soon discover someone is targeting people like them. And if they can't figure out how to stop it, and soon, no one at the festival is getting out alive.

This was fun! I thought that I had read books featuring just about every supernatural being out there but once I saw this book I realized that I had yet to pick up a book with main characters that were ghouls. I have read a book or two where ghouls are worked into this story but this was my first experience reading one where the ghoul took center stage and I must say that it was a very entertaining read. I am so glad that I took a chance and decided to give this book a try.

Zoey, Celeste, Jasmine, and Valeria became ghouls after the Hollowing swept the world. They can live a very normal life eating synthetic flesh and are excited to attend the first music festival since the Hollowing. Things don’t go according to plan and Val ends up eating a boy. The group soon learns that there is a more sinister plan in the works. I especially enjoyed the flashback scenes that gave the reader insight into how the change played out for each of the key characters.

I thought that the mystery in this story was very well done and I loved that the story kept me guessing until the end. I thought that the fact that the main characters were ghouls added a very interesting and original element to the story. I really liked all of the characters and appreciated the LGBTQ+ representation. The fact that there is a bit of romance worked into the story is just icing on the cake.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book to others. I found this book to be incredibly entertaining and almost impossible to put down once I started reading. I hope to read more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Sourcebooks Fire.

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