What if you could have one last meal with someone you’ve loved, someone you’ve lost?

Konstantin is haunted in more ways than one and in his search to find himself, he manages to find many others who are lost and simply looking for a way home. As he copes with the loss of his own father, he helps others work through their grief and find closure with loved ones in a very unique way - he brings the dead back to life for the length of one meal.

Daria’s writing is *stunning* and her story telling is so unbelievably unique that I found myself at a loss for words when trying to describe this book. It felt like a warm hug. I was pulled in so immediately, I connected to characters within a few sentences of meeting them and the overall premise? Wow. The idea of being able to taste meals that ghosts loved as a way of bridging the afterlife with the real world was beautiful and heartbreaking and raw.

Daria depicts emotions from happiness, fear, love, heartbreak, giving up, moving on, finding yourself, losing yourself, acceptance, and ultimately, sacrifice. She describes food in a way that brings it to life, gives it a story, and turns it into a character of its own. She had me hungry for more with each page. I loved the relationships we were able to experience, and how even the most fleeting of glimpses into the seemingly minute relationships living in the background of the overall story came forward and made an impact.

This was an ARC that I got a few chapters in and immediately realized I would be buying a copy of to satisfy my need to highlight, make notes, and ultimately display its beauty on my shelf. As someone who lost my own father, this is a book my heart needed and one that made me wish, against all warnings, that I could have one more meal with him.

Cool story! I loved the idea of the aftertastes and how Kostya thought he was helping. This was a book that I didn’t feel like I had ever read before. It was new and fresh and I really enjoyed the story. It was well written, and the characters were fully fleshed out. Great work!

4.5 ⭐ rounded up!

Aftertaste was unlike anything I've ever read before. Daria told us it was part love story, part ghost story, all food story, and that is the quintessential way to describe it. You can tell SO much love and care went into the food aspect of this book. That the author connects deeply with food as a medium for love and communication and memories. There were so many dishes described that I was foaming at the mouth to get a piece of. It also had me wondering what my aftertaste might be. Who it might bring back.

The exploration of grief was stunning and handled with such care. The first real aftertaste experience had me in tears and there was a shocking twist that had my jaw on the floor. I loved Maura and Kostya's burning hot and bright romance. The salt line really got me.

The mechanics of the actual afterlife/ghost experience was just something I don't think I fully comprehended and couldn't quite grasp, which is what deducted the half star. Otherwise, what an absolutely stellar debut and I'll be reading everything that Lavelle comes out with in the future!

Very different concept- I enjoyed this one! Kostya is haunted by the death of his father, and the pain of this death comes to him in the form of his father's favorite meal, liver and onions, which coats the back of his tongue in an "aftertaste". Years later, when bartending for an absent colleague, Kostya discovers he can bring back a dead person's spirit if he concocts the perfect recipe for the aftertaste. Kostya, in conjunction with his roommate and best friend, talented young chef. When Kostya discovers there are grave repercussions to his actions for the spirit world, he has already fallen in love with a young woman, who is very attuned to the spirit world since the death of her younger sister.

The loss of a loved one is heartbreaking. Grief takes over and some can't move on. Aftertaste trys to fix that with a final meal for closure. However, is the grief of loss being fixed can it be or will it make things worse for the deceased ghost if we can't let them move on. Daria Lavelle takes us on a journey of understanding death and teaches us that we must continue to live.

What a strange and lovely book this was. When 10-year-old Konstantin Duhovny’s father dies, Konstantin discovers a strange gift—he can taste meals ghosts around him are craving. And if he creates those meals, he can summon the ghosts back for as long as the meal lasts. This power feels like a gift he can share with the world, but there are forces at play he doesn’t understand.

It took me a while to get started with AFTERTASTE, but once I hit the second half of the book, I couldn’t put it down. The writing is cinematic, pulling the reader into multi-sensory scenes that linger past the words’ afterimage. This would be an interesting book to read in a book club, to contemplate what aftertaste you’d leave behind, if you’d want to be briefly resurrected, and if there has ever been a ghost from your past you can’t let go of.

The writing has a whimsical rhythm that reminded me of Marcus Zusak’s style. At times it felt a little too whimsical—the world-building was definitely fairy-tale like and at times left me with questions. But overall, this is a compelling read that will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced e-ready copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Wow…..Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle was more than I thought it would be! I’m a sucker for a good culinary book but adding in a layer of speculative fiction made this a very interesting read. When I first was the cover of the book, I was anticipating some sort of dark romance and I was very pleasantly surprised! Grief/death plays a huge role in this novel and at times I found it to be quite heavy. Regardless, this was a great novel and I loved how it reminds us the power of food related memories.

I thought this book was so interesting!
Stan was a man who lost his father young and then experienced a strange power of being able to know he's near through an After Taste. But it's not just his dad that reaches out to him this way. And as he gets older and learns he can actually bring these ghosts back by cooking these tastes, he doesn't truly know the consequences of doing so. Then he meets Maura and he feels a tension between the living and the dead, until she supports him in his pursuit of reuniting those with the ones they have loved and lost. As their love grows, so does the complexity of what they are causing to take place in the after life.
The way their stories intertwine so beautifully and intentionally was so well written. I really enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend it to anyone!

Thank you Net Galley, Simon & Schuster, and Daria Lavelle for an eARC of this story.

I was hooked from the beginning!!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

This book is unlike anything I've read before and I LOVED it!

"Aftertaste" is an extraordinary literary feast that left me utterly spellbound! This novel is a masterful blend of love, loss, and the culinary arts, weaving together elements of magical realism and dark comedy in a way that is both poignant and deliciously entertaining.

From the very first page, Konstantin Duhovny's journey captivated me. His unique ability to taste the favorite foods of the deceased is not just a quirky plot device; it serves as a profound metaphor for the connections we share with those we've lost. The way the author explores grief through the lens of food is nothing short of brilliant. Each dish Kostya prepares is infused with emotion, and the descriptions are so vivid that I could almost taste them myself!

The New York culinary scene is brought to life with such authenticity and vibrancy that I felt like I was right there in the bustling kitchens, experiencing the heat and chaos alongside Kostya. The stakes are high, and the tension builds beautifully as Kostya navigates his newfound purpose while grappling with his own ghosts—both literal and metaphorical.

What truly sets "Aftertaste" apart is its exploration of love in all its forms. The romance that blossoms amidst the chaos is tender and real, adding layers to Kostya's character and his journey. The interplay between his desire to help others find closure and his own need for connection is beautifully rendered, making for a deeply emotional read.

The writing is lyrical and evocative, with a rhythm that mirrors the ebb and flow of a busy kitchen. The humor is sharp and witty, providing a perfect counterbalance to the heavier themes of grief and longing. I found myself laughing out loud one moment and wiping away tears the next.

In "Aftertaste," the author has crafted a story that is not only a celebration of food but also a meditation on the human experience—our desires, our losses, and the lengths we go to find satisfaction. This book is a true gem that will resonate with anyone who has ever loved and lost. I cannot recommend it highly enough! Prepare to be enchanted, moved, and utterly hungry for more.

I’d give Aftertaste a solid 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4). It wasn’t bad by any means—there were parts I really liked—but it didn’t completely hook me either.

The writing is easy to get into, and the author does a good job of setting the scene and making the characters feel real. There’s a lot of emotion woven in, which I appreciated. That said, the story felt a little slow in places. There were moments that I was really into it, then others where I felt like not much was happening. Some of the character choices didn’t totally make sense to me, and I wished a few things were explored more.

Overall, it was an okay read—some highs, some lows. If you're into character-driven stories with emotional depth, it might click more for you than it did for me. Thank you, NetGalley!

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
Warning: this book will make your mouth water! It is the most unique book I have read this year. It is not perfect. There were moments I felt confused about where the story was going, times I was mad or completely blindsided by what happened. I even found myself wishing the characters would follow a more predictable “rainbows and butterflies” path. But that is not what this book does, and that is exactly what made me love it even more. 5🌟 for being memorable, creative, and one of the most immersive journeys I have been on in a while. Do not pick this up if you are looking for a happy go lucky read. Pick it up if you are ready to explore love, loss, grief, death, and how food ties it all together.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
🪄Magical realism
👻Paranormal
❤️‍🩹Grief and healing
🧂Found purpose
🍽️Food talk
❤️Love
💛Friendship
🗣️Multiple POVs

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: Death, Grief, Death of parent.

🧂𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🧂
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

💕Q U O T E : "𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔-𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓇, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒾𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇. 𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓋𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉. 𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝒶. 𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓈. 𝐿𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝓊𝒾𝓁𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝓈𝒶𝓁𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼—𝓁 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝓊𝒾𝓁𝒹 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊."

🙏 Thank you@SimonBooks #SimonBooksBuddy, and Daria Lavelle for the free eARC!💕

Absolutely wonderful, with equal parts heartbreak. A man who can taste a spirits last meal or a meal tied to a big memory comes face to face that he can conjure spirits, he finds he wants to find a recipe that can conjure his deceased dad. But unbeknownst to him, he doesn't realize he is setting a cycle of chaos for the afterlife, causing a ripple that is causing hangry spirits, who are starved for closure and freedom. I loved this read so much, I felt unbelievably hungry with each descriptor and my heart ached for the underlying themes. I will be thinking of this book forever.

Aftertaste is a completely new look at the age old theme of death. Within this story is Konstantin Duhovny who embarks on a journey of forgiveness through the sensation of an aftertaste of his father's famous dish. Everyone has memories based on food that is positive and negative but the idea of using food to heal your unsaid thoughts is wonderful.

The concept was really interesting and unique. A man (is he the only one ever to have this ability?) has the ability to taste a meal that a dead person and a living person had shared together and they get one last chance to get answers or say goodbye. But things are not all they seem and something could be happening on the other side. The book was not very fast-paced and was really slow in the middle but most of all I was disappointed with the ending.

Konstantin Duhovny loses his father when he's merely 10 years old. Within a year, he begins to experience sudden tastes in his mouth. This happens one night at a bar where he washes dishes. He makes the drink that haunts his mouth, and the ghost who delivered it appears when her husband drinks it. During a fortuitous experience with a fortune teller, Konstantin discovers his special ability is called clairgustance. The fortune teller warns him not to bring any more ghosts back, but Konstantin believes that he must bring them back to give them closure, including his own father. Of course, all hell breaks loose, and Konstantin and the fortune teller must figure out how to repair the damage. This novel is a rumination on grief and what we do to deal with it and how that affects us and those around us.

I thought that this was a really great read! At first, I must confess, I wasn't sure where the story was going, but I did enjoy reading about Konstantin's life, how he got immersed in the culinary scene, and the "aftertastes" that he tastes from the ghosts. As he stumbles through life trying to learn how to cook these dishes in order to bring closure to the ghosts of their loved ones. Maura, who has taken over her sister's tarot business, warns him away from messing with ghosts, but Konstantin feels compelled to help them find closure. His desire to do so is, in no small part, motivated by his desire to reconnect with his father, who passed when he was little after some unkind words. Despite initially having no cooking skills, Konstantin ends up as the executive chef to his own restaurant, DUH. The hook is that some of the dishes are so good, you'll end up seeing the ghost of your loved ones. The dishes are aftertastes from other ghosts who had the opportunity to meet Konstantin. The final conflict was amazing, and not something that I saw coming. I felt that the characters were well developed, and the story kept me wanting to read and figure out what happens. I've been telling my friends who are readers about this book, and I'm going to bring it up at our next book club!

The minute I heard about the concept of this book, I knew I needed to read it. It’s a mashup of food writing, magical realism, and a dash of the paranormal, resulting in an emotionally satisfying (and hunger-inducing) read. Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the complimentary advance copy!

When Kostya was 10 years old, his father died. His mother took to her bed for an extended period of time, leaving Kostya to deal with his grief on his own. One day, he gets a strange taste in his mouth, one he can’t quite define until he realizes it was the taste of his father’s favorite dish.

That moment sparked the discovery a special talent in Kostya. He has the ability to taste the favorite dish of a ghost. It isn’t until one night while working behind a bar that he decides to actually make what he’s tasting—in this case, it was a bespoke cocktail—and he is shocked by what happens then.

While he never had any desire to cook, the discovery of his unique ability inspires him. He decides to try and use cooking to reunite a grieving person with someone they’ve lost, by making a dish that was important to the deceased. It doesn’t always work, but Kostya hopes he’ll be able to summon his father’s ghost, as he has never stopped missing him.

Kostya winds up working in the world of NYC restaurants, but of course, he can’t reveal the true reason for pursuing this career track. Yet in his zeal to help others, he doesn’t realize he’s opening the door to trouble in the Afterlife.

This book is emotional, fun, and thought-provoking. It’s also incredibly timely for me, as last week marked the 11th anniversary of my dad’s passing. At times the pace dragged a bit, but I really enjoyed it. And boy, was I hungry afterward!

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for this advanced copy to enjoy and the opportunity to review.
Aftertaste is a genre-defying novel that combines the sensory pleasures of culinary fiction with the emotional resonance of magical realism. Lavelle’s well written words and inventive storytelling create a narrative that is both heartwarming and haunting, leaving readers with a lingering sense of reflection on love, loss, and the connections that transcend death. It’s a compelling read for those who appreciate stories that engage both the heart and the senses. 

Mixing The Bear (tv show) with NYC food scene, romance, and longing for loved ones who have passed, Aftertaste showcases Koysta’s unique ability to taste a favorite dish of the dead when meeting their living person that tethers them to this world. Bizarre things start to happen as Koysta gets closer to realizing his dream job and dream girl and making more connections to the afterlife. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy to give an honest review.