I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. 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: Horror, Young adult
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Can a story about teen cannibals be fun? Why yes it can, in Kayla Cottingham’s latest, a fast-paced horror tale with humor and heart.
“When my parents asked if I wanted a Mini Cooper for graduation, I didn’t think ahead to whether or not it would have enough trunk space to accommodate my cooler full of organs.”
I have to admit it was the cover of This Delicious Death that grabbed my attention, and I’m happy to say I had a lot of fun reading this book. Kayla Cottingham starts her story off with a long list of trigger warnings—25 to be exact!—so do be aware going in. I found the cannibalism and gore to be perfectly acceptable for this kind of story, but readers who aren’t into graphic violence and horror should probably stay away.
The story takes place two years after a dangerous pathogen was released into the population. Many people got sick and suffered from flu-like symptoms, but most recovered. Those who didn’t found themselves unable to eat regular food. Instead, they developed a craving for human flesh, and with no way to subdue this craving, there were many casualties in those first weeks and months. The event became known as the Hollowing, and people started calling the infected “ghouls.” But scientists developed a type of synthetic human flesh called SynFlesh, and little by little, ghouls were able to reintegrate back into society and live (mostly) normal lives.
Zoey, Celeste, Valeria and Jasmine are all high school seniors and best friends—and they’re also ghouls. As a final fling before they all go their separate ways in the Fall, the girls decide to take a road trip to Desert Bloom, a music festival being held in a remote part of the Mojave Desert (think Coachella). At first everything goes smoothly. The girls meet the members of a band called No Flash Photography and have fun hanging out with them. But Val disappears one night, and when the others finally find her, she’s hunched over the dead body of Kaiden, one of the band members. Despite eating only SynFlesh, Val has lost control and killed someone, and now the others have to figure out what to do.
I won’t go any further into the story, so you can discover what happens for yourself, but I will say that Cottingham does a nice job of combining horror and mystery, as the four girls try to figure out why Val went feral, who might be responsible, and how they can stop more festival-goers from dying. This is a fast-paced story with likable characters and lots of diversity (more on that later), and the author also uses flashbacks to show what the characters went through at the beginning of the Hollowing. I thought the flashbacks in particular were very effective at adding lots of layers to not only the four main characters, but to the side characters as well. Each one has their own tragic backstory, because hey, the Hollowing was sort of a zombie apocalypse! For example, one of the band members (who turns out to be a ghoul) killed and ate his sister, and Zoey lost her close relationship with her parents because they were so afraid of her.
The Hollowing was a great idea and deliciously gorey. I certainly wouldn’t want to be a ghoul myself, though. Although it appears ghouls are treated well, they still aren’t considered equals to non-ghouls, and it was heartbreaking to see what they have to go through. All the girls are monitored closely by a government agency that tracks their movements (they have to report that they’re going to Desert Bloom). There’s also an app called HollowLife that the girls use to report what they eat, when they eat it. And of course there’s a stigma around being a ghoul, and ghouls try to hide who they are if possible. The government is trying to control them so there aren’t any “accidents,” but of course it doesn’t always work.
Cottingham tempers the gorey parts with plenty of humor, and her dialog is especially good. The set-up is absurd anyway, and she makes the most of it with witty dialog and ridiculous situations all of which make the story lots of fun.
I loved the inclusion of a trans character. Celeste is trans, and she’s also a big social media influencer. I really liked the idea that her followers know she’s trans, and they appreciate her for who she is (they do not know that she’s a ghoul, however). In fact, there’s lots of diversity in this story, including Zoey who is bi—she crushes on both Celeste and Cole, one of the No Flash Photography band members. There are a few hints that one of the other girls is bi as well. There’s a low-key but sweet romance between Zoey and Celeste, and I liked the way it played out at the end of the story. But really, the reason to read This Delicious Death is for the ghoul-action and the way the girls change whenever they feed. It was so much fun!
As for negatives, I wish the author had done more with the music festival setting. I didn’t really “feel” the concert vibe when the girls get to Desert Bloom, and for some reason the festival felt almost deserted, when it should have been teeming with life and noise. I also laughed when the author revealed that three of the girls are headed to NYU, Yale and USC—statistically that would be highly unlikely. But these were really my only complaints. I think This Delicious Death would be perfect for the screen, either as a movie or a Netflix show, and there’s plenty of fun to be had for both teens and adult readers alike.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
This is certainly a very *different* kind of story, but I’m intrigued…
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…DESCENDANT MACHINE (Continuance #2), by Gareth Powell
Definitely different!
I recently read this and have to admit, totally agree with your thoughts. I though the ghoul concept was too good to pass up and the author did a wonderful job creating something unique. I also enjoyed some of the humor in the book. I read the author’s last book and enjoyed it too so I’m anxious to see what she releases next.
This is my first book by her and I’d definitely read more. Glad you enjoyed it too!
This one is not for me but glad you enjoyed it.
Stormi recently posted…eARC Review of The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency
Definitely not for you;-)
A book about teen cannibals wouldn’t exactly be first on my TBR but the story does have some great aspects to the story. And I agree that it would make a pretty great Netflix show, it certainly has the vibes!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Book Blitz: Fae Heir by Lucia Ashta + Amazon GC Giveaway (INT)
I think it would be a fun TV show!
This sounds like fun! I’ll have to think about whether I’m up for the gore, but have a feeling I’m going to want to read this one1
It was, and the gore won’t be for everyone, but there’s a lot more to the story:-)
Love your review!! I just finished this book on Monday and had the same thoughts 🙂
Thanks Jolie! It was fun, right?
I can see why that cover drew you in. And ghouls! I think this is something I would really enjoy.
Lynn 😀
It was fun, and pretty good for YA;-)
25 trigger warnings. Seems like this book if for people that have more of a niche teats’ in horror. I’ll be checking this book out.
Snapdragon recently posted…Full Metal Alchemist
It’s definitely geared towards horror fans:-)
This definitely sounds like one that would make a good screen adaptation (which would give the chance to look away at the gory bits if you wanted to :D)
Pages and Tea recently posted…Book Review: Cards on the Table (Hercule Poirot #15) by Agatha Christie
Ha ha I’d probably look away too:-)
This sounds like so much fun – thank you for your excellent review, Tammy! I really like the inclusion of a trans character and the premise sounds like it’s been well thought-out. And yay for humour around a zombie-type story:)).
It was fun, and bonus points to the author for lots of diversity:-)
I ended up really enjoying this as well! I think your thoughts on the music festival were probably some of the same things I thought. While I loved the story itself, maybe some of that and a bit more with some other setting things needed to be in there to make it a full 5 stars for me. I just posted my review of this one as well!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…ARC Review: This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham
I’m heading over to check out your review!
Funny the timing of reading this review and the mention of not having enough trunk space for the organs. We saw a car go by yesterday with rear wheels seemingly angled outward and wondered if there might be something heavy in that trunk. 🙂
I am not sure cannibalism would be my cup of tea but I am happy that you loved that book!
Probably not for me, but interesting blend of ideas! I tend to think cannibal stories need to be more “realistic” (like Alma Katsu’s The Hunger for example) to really creep me out though.
I was curious about your thoughts on this one! And I am glad you enjoyed it so much!! I think that, sooner or later I’ll try it for myself!