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!

Absolutely loved everything about this book. The voice, the setting, the monsters were all excellent, and I devoured it compulsively from start to finish. Looking forward to reading more by Kayla Cottingham.

This was a very interesting read. I definitely don't read zombie type books often but this was a very interesting take on zombies. The main friend group was very diverse and I really enjoyed how they shared about who they are without making it the whole story. The hardest part is with listening to the audio book you don't always notice when it would switch back and forth on the time periods.
I enjoyed the mystery aspect and i definitely didnt see some of the things coming. It's definitely a book you should check out. 3.5/5

Everything Kayla Cottingham writes will skyrocket to the top of my favourites list, and This Delicious Death is much the same. I loved the concept and the execution was perfection. Forever recommending everything she writes because each story has drawn me in and I've loved them each to my core.

This is a story about how the other half lives.

This was such an interesting take on a well visited sub genre- the closest thing I can think to compare it to is The Santa Clarita Diet. The flash backs to the “activating event” were interesting & I loved the music festival element. I wish there was more bc it felt short & I wanted to know more about basically every aspect!

Thank you so much @netgalley & @sourcebooksfire for the copy

This was a quick read and great for a casual weekend or vacation read. The cover definitely drew me in and I love how it made me laugh out loud.

This was a quick read that I wanted a little something more from. I'm not sure what is and it very well just be a personal preference. It was fine. Good humor for most of it and plenty of action and suspense to keep the story moving. Great for a casual read.

This review is based on an arc.

Teenagers meets music festival meets zombies, what more could you ask for? The satirical aspect of this story kept me hooked and the gore kept me reading for more. I enjoyed a fresh modern take on zombies and the classic music festival mystery trope was satisfying.

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

This book explored a new take on zombies (or like this author and George A. Romero like to refer to them as ghouls). The group of friends in this novel are all ghouls and survived the ordeal of the Hallowing (when the whole world became infected by the ghoul disease) until scientists were able to figure out how to get ghouls back to being human if they were provided with human flesh (so the ghouls in this book devour a government approved SynFlesh a synthetic spin on human flesh). When this group of friends decides to go to a music fest in the Mojave Desert much like Coachella, they find themselves having to deal with some ghouls having gone rogue and having a buffet of humans at this overpopulated music festival. This was a fun book and I liked the Sapphic undertones, the gory horror scenes, and the friendship group. If you’re looking for a YA book with a new twist on the zombie virus, then you’ll find this one fitting!

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Kayla Cottingham's "This Delicious Death" offers an engaging narrative for readers in search of a gripping and adventurous story centered around self-discovery, friendship, and survival. With its distinctive combination of horror, mystery, and LGBTQIA+ themes, the book provides a unique and compelling reading experience, especially for its YA audience! I definitely recommend this one.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

This story needed more. I did enjoy it, but I feel like something was missing. I enjoyed the premise of it, but it seemed rushed. The romance was actually unnecessary, and I feel like it was a great idea lacking proper execution.

Utterly delicious. I had so much fun reading this, I couldn’t put it down. Adored the characters and the sapphic romance. A wonderful mesh of horror, love and fun.