3.75/5

Listen. I love me a dystopian/end of the world/pandemic read. This one was just that.

I really like the premise of the book but some parts seemed drug out when I really wanted antes them to get to the point. Books like this should be quick paced and keeping you guessing.

I found much to admire and enjoy here, and although I ultimately didn't really enjoy the book, I think it was a case of 'it's not you, it's me'.

A group of four friends, who are teenage zombies (think more of iZombie, and not The Walking Dead), who are going to a music festival for the first time on their own before they go to college. It's the first time any of them have traveled alone like this and they are excited for the freedom and the ability to spend time together.
However, because it's a music festival things don't go exactly how they expected. As people start to go missing, and one of the girls is acting weird they realize something else is going on and they need to figure it out.

Overall this book was fun. I ended up reading most of it in one evening, and stayed up to finish it. The characters were so fun, and I loved seeing all of the different POVs when it came to how the hollowing started and what they went through. The banter between the characters was so nice and felt real for a change, they were supportive of one another, it was just a good group of friends which we don't always see in books.
Now of the more mysterious side of it, I was not expecting that. I didn't really know what to expect but it wasn't that. The mystery part of it was a bit shocking because I was not expecting that person to be involved in it, and to have such inside knowledge on what was happening and why.

This was a fun and quick book to read during the spooky season.

I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this and this was fun! Great representation, great relationships, fun banter. I liked the flashbacks to everyone's POVs of the Hollowing and shortly after. No explanation of why the Hollowing happened though. But a fun, creepy zombie horror!

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

This is the teenage zombie thriller I never knew I needed. But the zombies are like the ones in Disney's Zombies franchise, perfectly docile as long as they have access to fabricated organs, otherwise known as synflesh. And much like the first movie, not everyone is on board with zombies being integrated with humans.

Our female teenage zombie protagonists are spending a weekend at a music festival in the desert. Everything was going fine until it wasn't and they have to figure out what's going on before it's too late.

This story gripped me from the beginning. I was intrigued by the zombie mechanics, and the romantic tension building between two of them. It was a lot of will they or won't they, and I never felt sure which way they would go. This book reminded me of how much I enjoyed YA thrillers, and for that reason it gets 4.9732 out of 5 stars.

I think the POVs were just a bit too young for me, so I found a lot of the dialogue unnatural, like checking boxes off of a social progress to-do list, instead of genuine character-building. It’s a gory, completely unserious exploration of “other-ism.” The romance elements and personal drama seemed contrived and dragged the pacing down, and the plot suffered from an inconsistent focus. But the last 20% really hit the gas.

This book is very gory, and includes a warning from the author, so if that's not your jam, I would avoid this. I enjoyed this read quite a bit!

I loved the romance! they understood each and could be themselves together. The chemistry between them was amazing! I also loved the slow-burn and the sexual tension between the main characters. There were several scenes that made me blush and smile so much. The writing is beautiful and descriptive. I honestly felt like I was living in the world with the characters. I felt so many emotions while reading this book, I cried, I laughed and I smiled. This book will stay in my heart for a long time.

Review is at end of the video

This was my favorite book of the year at the time I finished it. I was buddy reading it so I didn't get to finish it as soon as I wanted to, but I DEVOURED the first half. Second half was good for the most part, I think I just had some issues with the main characters beating around the bush lol. Just kiss already.

This book brought me back to my high school years of Twilight. This book had me entertained and attention throughout. It was the perfect roadtrip listen. It does have trigger warnings and is YA book. This had so much adventure and thrill of what was going to happen. I absolutely enjoyed the ending so much!

Would I recommend? Yes, if you like sci-fi paranormal and are okay with the triggers you may enjoy this one!

Full of ghouls, gore and queer representation, “This Delicious Death” was a darkly humorous take on zombies and how to deal with prejudice.

It follows four best friends at a music festival in the desert. Their first big outing since they’ve begun craving human flesh and their last before graduation. They’re ghouls who have been reintegrated into society following the creation of synthetic human meat (SynFlesh). On the first night of the festival, Val ends up killing and eating a member of an indie band. Something has been causing some of the ghouls to go feral, and the friends are hell bent on figuring out what is going on before the human festival goers become the ghouls next meal.

Possibly my favorite dystopian novel of 2023, this book was campy, sapphic and the quick pace of the plot kept me reading through in one sitting.

This Delicious Death had a super interesting concept, and I had a fun time with it overall. It kept my attention for the most part, but I never really felt an itch to pick it up and keep reading after each time I put it down. It was certainly a unique, dystopian way to write about the pandemic, and I liked that it diverted from some of the other COVID books published since 2020. I loved the shifts between the past and the present and how we followed each character back when the Hollowing was happening. Was it my favorite book? Unfortunately not, but it was campy and sapphic and horror-filled!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham.

Was finally able to get to this book and I absolutely loved it! I have to make sure to get a physical copy because it was great! Thank you for letting me read and review it!

For better or worse, I am a mood reader! And this book was not for me at the time I started reading it but I will definitely be checking it out again at some point.

Wow, This Delicious Death was such an original story and I very much enjoyed it. The characters were all interesting and diverse, the storyline was really a social commentary on bigotry and classism.

The horror in the story manifested itself as a virus that impacted some and not others - quarantines took place, people died, and those with the virus continued to be ostracized by the greater community. This was a really great horror read post-COVID with many parallels between our world and the world in the book.

I appreciated seeing each MCs backstory into their experience with the virus and the familial impacts for each character. Families broken apart, unsupportive parents, incredibly supportive parents, siblings taking care of one another. Again, great social commentary with an incredibly haunting horror story. I’d love to see this as a mini series.

Kayla Cottingham puts a delightfully ghoulish spin on the horror-comedy genre with her debut novel "This Delicious Death." Set in a world still reeling from a pandemic that turned a portion of humanity into flesh-craving "ghouls," the story follows four young women hoping to enjoy one last banger music festival before adulthood. But the desert party descends into bloody chaos when someone starts spiking the ghouls' synthetic meat supply, sending them into a feral feeding frenzy.
From its ingenious premise to its playful blend of scares and humor, "This Delicious Death" is an absolute riot. Cottingham makes you quickly invest in her endearing core quartet of friends as they go from coeds just wanting to cut loose to reluctant final girls battling a sadistic plot. The high-stakes narrative racing against the ticking clock ratchets up the deliciously bonkers tension.
However, it's Cottingham's razor-sharp social commentary, unfolding amidst the carnal revelry, that separates this novel from mere splatterpunk pastiche. Deftly satirizing our own society's tenuous relationship with morality, technology, and "Otherness," she uses the ghouls' plight as a cutting metaphor for the fragility of civilization when humanity turns a blind eye to oppression.
A pulpy, giddily gory romp on the surface, "This Delicious Death" is also a surprisingly biting and intelligent horror novel for the modern age. With a unique voice and boundless imagination, Cottingham is an author to ravenously devour.

In a California ravaged by a climate-induced pandemic, victims of the Hollowing, a strange pathogen, struggle with their newfound cravings for human flesh. Zoey, Celeste, Jasmine, and Valeria, all afflicted with the Hollowing, embark on a journey to the Desert Bloom music festival, where they encounter No Flash Photography, a band led by Eli, who harbors anti-Hollow sentiments. Amidst the festival's chaos, Val's uncontrollable hunger leads to a deadly encounter, sparking a quest for justice as the friends uncover a sinister plot to drug and manipulate Hollows. Through gripping horror and astute social commentary, this diverse and queer-centered narrative explores themes of scapegoating, alienation, and self-acceptance, making it a compelling read for fans of zombie tales and those seeking thought-provoking storytelling.

An engaging read that I thoroughly enjoyed! Highly recommend and will purchase several physical and digital copies for library collections. Thank you!!

This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham was not for me, personally. I am still thankful that I got to read this! I did love the cover art :)

I LOVED THIS BOOK! This is probably Top 5 of all books I received an eARC for from NetGalley. I told everyone about this book, recommended it to all my friends, and will be purchasing this as soon as I am able for my shelf. It was charming, engaging, interesting, suspenseful, and overall just a nice read!