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.

I tried a few times to read this book, however couldn't get myself into the narrative as much as I hoped for. I DNF'ed around 10%. The writing style is incredibly descriptive and well written, just not for me. Maybe I'm not hungry enough to resonate with the culinary sense. Unsure but giving it three stars since I think this likely is just not a good fit for me as a reader vs it being anything about the book itself

AFTERTASTE was not for me. I truly wanted to like this one, but after reading about half of the book, I decided to put it down. I am sure this will find an audience. However, the writing and the characters didn't pull me in.

This is such an interesting concept. Kostya can "taste" ghosts. He gets an aftertaste of some kind of food creation and that leads to a reconnect with a loved one and the person they have lost. We all have those foods that take us back to someone special. He just doesn't realize what bringing back the dead will cause. There are always consequences to our actions. The one person he wants to bring back is his father.

He gets a restaurant and a girl and maybe life is looking up but it is only causing trouble. The ending is so incredibly sad and beautiful all in one. Wonderfully written and full of emotion, it is a very good book and one that takes you on quite a journey.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an advance copy for review.

“But letting go doesn’t mean you forget me. Just that you don’t let the memories hurt you anymore.”

Aftertaste follows Konstantin Duhovny, who after his father passed away at the age of ten, is haunted by spirits from the afterlife ever since. Rather than seeing or hearing these ghosts, Kostya is able to tastes their favorite meals. One night when he recreates one of these meals that graces his tongue, he quickly realizes he’s able to reconnect the living with their loved ones who have since passed.

Truly one of the most unique premises I’ve ever come across. Daria Lavelle was able to showcase something I personally have never seen before when it came to reconnecting someone with the dead. Utilizing her masterful writing, she was able to showcase grief with such a gentle hand and allow the reader to come as close to tasting each meal Kostya manages to cook up as possible.

While there were some moments that dragged on a bit longer than I would have liked, I do know that I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for gifting me a digital ARC of this debut novel by Daria Lavelle. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Konstantin is still haunted by his father's death when he was ten, made worse by the fact that they argued the last time they were together. Food was always important to Kostya and his dad, and since his death, Kostya can taste the favorite foods, down to the specific ingredients, of those who have died. One night, he acts on what he's tasting and everything changes.

Wow - this book is so intriguing and covers so many different genres, from speculative fiction, to horror, to romance, to the paranormal - and of course, food and drink. At its core, though, it is a book about grief and longing, and how food is wrapped up in all that. Who doesn't taste or smell a food and get instantly transported to the past and to a person? Is it a stretch to think that those smells could pass into other worlds as well? I loved the ghost story plot and it will make you think about the dangers of exploring the supernatural. Set in the food scene of NYC, this book is a feast all the way around, and is an amazing debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well that was just delightful. I wasn’t sure ghosts and seances and food and professional kitchens would really go well together but the author made it work. The breakdown and naming of the chapters was fun and quirky and intriguing. The only negative I’d say was that the first part felt like it had a much more somber deep tone while the rest of the book got was more playful, not necessarily bad but unexpected. I’m really pleased I got to read this one.