I was really excited for this book because my husband is a chef. Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. The main character has a special gift but treats it as an annoyance. His constant obsession with love interest is cringy bordering on creepy!
I really wanted to like this

This was such a unique story. I was intrigued at the start. It had strong magical realism vibes. It started to lose me along the way as it got darker and more complicated. Kostya’s grief and ambitions were so entwined that it felt like an impending disaster at so many points. That said, it was compelling and well written. I look forward to the author’s next book!

What a fantastic, unique story! I am obsessed with this book and will be thinking about it for a very long time. Beautifully written, well paced, diverse characters with hard hitting topics sprinkled with bits of humor. 10/10 must read!

This was, beyond a doubt, my favorite read of 2025! Genre-defying and moving, Aftertaste not only delivers on every single one of its promises --ghost story, love story, culinary delight--but does so with style. From the first page, I fell in love with Lavelle's evocative writing style and her close third person POV of Kostantin "Kostya" Duhovny. Kostya lost his father at a young age and has been tasting the ghosts of the dead ever since; the "aftertastes" come to him at random times, haunting him until one night, he decides to act on these aftertastes. After resurrecting a man's partner during the time it took to sip a mixed drink, Kostya realizes that his aftertastes can help give others the closure with their dead that he never got with his father.

I had so many feelings while reading this, but above all else, I had such a deep admiration for Lavelle as an author. It's so rare to find a debut so perfectly crafted that reading it feels effortless, and you see none of the seams of its construction, but that's what I felt here. Even the parts that gave me pause (specifically the first person narrator in part 2 describing the "Konstatin Duhovny Culinary Experience") were beautifully explained in the end. Everything here was so thoughtfully done and Lavelle's love of food is so apparent throughout. Reading this was a MEAL. In the end, like with a good meal, I was so satisfied. I laughed, I cried (a lot), and I hungered.

And can I just say that I LOVE the way Lavelle's characters move between worlds? Not just the literal between worlds of the living and the dead, but the way we go from Michelin starred restaurants to love interest Maura's underground version of New York. I love the way Lavelle crafted each world with so much care that they came to life on the page. But above all else, I loved Kostya. He feels so fully realized, and his love for Maura works in a way that I really wasn't expecting (their first meeting gave me LOTS of worries about the manic pixie dream girl trope, but Lavelle subverts this in a really exciting way with the bond between Maura, (un)dead sister Everleigh, and Kostya).

While at times, I was reminded of some of my favorite media--The Bear, in particular, during the time Kostya works for a Michelin starred restaurant--Aftertaste is wholly original. It's cinematic, too - someone please adopt this into a limited series, I am begging you. Honestly, I have so many big thoughts about this book, but my main one is that I very rarely find a book living up to its hype. This one does.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster, and Daria Lavelle for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This book! THIS BOOK!
This was an absolute FEAST of a book. We meet Kostya as a child, haunted by ghosts only he senses and he senses then by tasting their favorite foods. His family struggles after the unexpected death of his father and Kostya has learned to keep these aftertastes to himself. He moves from job to job, he makes a friend, he falls in and out of relationships, but everything changes when he decides to try to recreate one of his aftertastes for someone, with astounding and life changing results.

Aftertaste takes on a journey with Kostya, as he hones his culinary skills at the highest level and uses those skills to bring back lost loves ones by cooking their favorite/most meaningful meals to reunite them with those who miss them most and give them all some closure.

There is an immediacy and poignancy to the narrative voice. The entire way this novel is written felt very fresh, unique and immediately immersive. There is a secondary POV interspersed that is fascinating.

Secondary characters are fleshed out, fully realized and vital to the story line. They feel and act real, propelling the plot and providing a unique insight into Kostya himself.

The culinary descriptions are incredible! The meals and details of taste and scent and preparation and lush and immersive. You can feel the heat of the kitchen, smell the herbs and spices, imagine the taste combinations. Truly this was a unique book in so many ways.

The story is a romance, a ghost story, a haunting, a paean to grief and love, a heart wrenching story of one man and the lives he touches and those he loves.

I have not stopped thinking about this book since I finished it and have been raving about it to everyone I see. Truly a glorious tale of love and grief and food and connection. Highest recommendation. I cannot believe this is a debut. It is stunning.

If you knew you could sit down to one of Konstatin Duhovny’s meals and have one last meal with your beloved, would you do it? Kostantin, Kostya, is haunted by the aftertastes of meals he’s never eaten. The first ever meal he tasted was after his dad died when he was ten. It was the exact dish that his mother would make for his dad, and if Kostya could recreate it maybe he could have that last conversation with his Dad. And finally put to rest the ghosts haunting him.

This was a hard book for me to get into, mostly I think because I could not like the main character. I absolutely loved the concept of being able to “taste the dead” and felt a tentative connection to the MC as part of the dead dad’s club. But the mess that is the MC’s life and all the years of moping and drifting felt like a play for sympathy that fell flat. Kostya was not a well defined MC for me, with the supporting characters and ghosts being more layered. It left me wanting more from the character. This is a very plot driven book.

The use of the tour guide segments to break up the big jumps in Kostya’s timeline was effective, if not inspired. I could take or leave these types of transitions. And again, the host of the tour was a more likeable character than our MC was. The overall pacing worked mostly because of these breaks that allowed hops forward in the timeline.

While I am no chef, I know enough of them that I give Aftertaste a big kudo for the attention to detail that went into the culinary world. The touches of culinary delight, the depth and breadth of how the dishes and the kitchen scenes are described were pure delight. Yes, it was essential to describe the dishes that Kostya was getting as aftertastes, but these descriptions went above and beyond. If the author ever wrote a cookbook with these recipes, I’d totally buy it for the cooks in my life.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of Aftertaste.

This book was such an interesting concept. Points for creativity and doing something so very different. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Kostya is haunted by the memory of the last words he said in anger to his father. A haunting memory that manifests on his tastebuds through the flavors of his father’s favorite dish. Kostya soon finds himself capable of raising the dead through the love of food shared between people and their deceased loved ones.

Despite warnings by a psychic that he is messing with a power he doesn’t understand, Kostya decides this is his calling and he is determined to open a restaurant that grants people one last meal with their loved ones - a final grief meal of closure. Little does Kostya realize the cost to the dead in order to participate, and the impact to the already thin veil between life and death.

The kitchen and cooking side of this book is reminiscent of The Bear (the tv show, not the book) with the complicated dynamics of running a restaurant - kitchen, family, and money - wrought with the woes of risk, last minute runs, and the mob. The ghost side is a little more Ghosts (sitcom) turned Ghostbusters. Can’t forget the love story - a bit of the corpse bride? Maybe that’s going too far.

I enjoyed the concept but found myself lacking investment in the characters, and the love story fell flat and too secondary to later become so important. Definitely fun!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle. This foodie-fiction novel really hit the spot, it was warm, flavorful, and packed with charm. Lavelle’s writing feels fresh and fun, like swapping recipes and life stories with a friend over coffee. I loved how food brought the characters together and how the small-town setting added cozy appeal. The romance felt sweet and believable, and the themes of family and self-discovery gave it heart. If there’s a drawback, it might be that some story beats were a bit predictable, but honestly, I didn’t mind; it’s that comfort read kind of predictable. If you’re craving a light, feel-good story with delicious recipes woven in, Aftertaste is a total treat.

Kostya has been getting “aftertastes” from ghost since the death of his father when he was ten. After accidentally bringing back a ghost with a cocktail, Kostya learns how to cook and sets out to take the culinary world by storm, both here and in the afterlife. He falls in love with a woman, who knows that what he is doing has dangerous repercussions. Will she be able to stop him in time?

This is a beautiful story. The first third is just raw grief and handles grief with care and compassion. As someone who has dealt with unpleasant grief, I found myself sucked in.

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Woww I loved this! What a cool book!

Aftertaste is a tender exploration of love and grief, life and death, and human emotion. It is a unique look at how we deal with grief, how we all long to have our late loved ones back, even for just one more conversation, to know they're okay, for one quick meal, one last hug for closure.

The themes are heavy but written with tenderness and grace. There are even several funny moments that made me laugh, and as I was reading on my kobo, I underlined and annotated a simple "LOL" next to some lines.

I was hooked on this story from the first page, and didn't want to put it down until the last. I read it on a plane, and if I wasn't interrupted with a meal, I may have finished it in that one sitting,

Aftertaste is beautiful, sad, intense, thought-provoking, raw, heartbreaking, moving, and unique. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.

CW: death, death of parent, grief, disordered eating, suicide, suicide attempt

Beautifully strange, deeply moving, and utterly unforgettable. Right away when I opened the first chapter I was hooked! I've never read a book like this. Aftertaste is a ghost story like no other, equal parts love letter to food, meditation on grief, and darkly funny journey through loss. I devoured every page. The concept is wildly original, and the emotions linger long after the last bite. A must-read for fans of the weird, the tender, and the delicious.

I absolutely adored this novel. Unique, haunting, and endearing, this book will stick with me for years to come. It had me hooked right from the beginning, and I did not want to put it down. I highly recommend having a stash of Reese’s cups on hand before you jump in!

QOTD: Recommend a book you read in June or PT: The ghosts are coming and…

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨

𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚
by Daria Lavelle
400 pages
Out Now!

Thank you to the author and @simonandschuster for this ARC copy.

This definitely lived up to the hype on Bookstagram.

sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs:

Konstantin Duhovny is a haunted man. His father died when he was ten, and ghosts have been hovering around him ever since. Kostya can’t exactly see the ghosts, but he can taste their favorite foods. Flavors of meals he’s never eaten will flood his mouth,a sign that a spirit is present. Kostya has kept these aftertastes a secret for most of his life, but one night, he decides to act on what he’s tasting. And everything changes.

Kostya discovers that he can reunite people with their deceased loved ones—at least for the length of time it takes them to eat a dish that he’s prepared. He thinks his life’s purpose might be to offer closure to grieving strangers, and sets out to learn all he can by entering a particularly fiery ring of Hell: the New York culinary scene. But as his kitchen skills catch up with his ambitions, Kostya is too blind to see the catastrophe looming in the Afterlife. And the one person who knows Kostya must be stopped also happens to be falling in love with him.

Set in the bustling world of New York restaurants and teeming with mouthwatering food writing, Aftertaste is a whirlwind romance, a heart-wrenching look at love and loss, and a ghost story about all the ways we hunger—and how far we’d go to find satisfaction.

𝑀𝓎 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈
The writing was excellent and the description of food made my mouth water every time. The use of hunger as a metaphor for the longing and craving for much more than food wove this well done narrative together. I liked ths structure of alternating between the dual points of view from the paranormal to reality and really fell in love with these characters. I’ve already mentioned some readalikes in my update reel but the food and restaurant scenes made me reminisce about the novel Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler, with a dose of the movie Ghost. Overall, a delicious & magical read. #arcreview #books #currentlyreadi̇ng

2.5 out of 5 stars

On paper, this book is a dream come true. As a die-hard foodie and a lover of all things ghostly, the promise of a story that blends gourmet cooking with a supernatural twist had me excited. I expected to be devouring every page, but instead I found myself skimming and waiting for the next good part.

The main character, Konstantin was not someone worthy of this cool power. He came off as kind of a jerk and I just didn’t connect with him.

The writing style was too flowery for me. While I can see how some readers might enjoy it, I didn’t think it matched the story. That said, there were definitely some strong moments that kept me reading. Lavelle’s knowledge of cooking really shines through, and her descriptions of food were the highlights, I could read those all day.

2.5 out of 5 stars

I feel like the odd one out because I do not like this book. The ghosts are the most interesting part of the story, and there are not nearly enough of them. Instead of an exciting tale about ghosts and their connection to food, we follow the unlikeable Konstantin and his ill-advised journey to make dishes that will briefly bring back the dead. It is an interesting take on a person who is connected to the dead. I wanted to say communicate, but he does not really talk to them in any way. The overall idea of the book is fascinating, but I cannot get over how much I do not care for the main character.

Konstantin Duhovny (Kostya) can taste the favorite foods of ghosts. When a new flavor hits his mouth, he knows that a spirit is nearby. He then discovers that he can reunite people with their lost loved ones through those favorite foods. In order to accomplish his goals of making the food of the dead, he has to improve his skills in the heated culinary scene in New York. Along the way, he meets new people (good and bad), falls in love, and completely ignores all the warning about the dangers of inviting the dead back to the land of the living.

I had high hopes for this book, I really did. It has an exciting premise, and I was curious to see how the story played out. I found myself disappointed the whole way through. The characters never interested me, and I did not care about Kostya’s journey in the New York culinary scene. Also, I quickly became irritated with Kostya as he dismissed any warning given to him about his actions. This character did not have any redeeming qualities.

Even though I disliked the main character, some parts of the book entertained me. I enjoyed the spirits themselves, and the interludes between Kostya’s story were fun. However, these small moments could not make up for the rest of the book. I will not deny that the story touched on important subjects and had a meaningful message, but that also could not save the book.

Although the book had decent writing and an interesting plot, the unlikable characters stood out more than the meat of the story. A book can have the most exciting story ever written, but if the characters fall flat, then the book is no good in my opinion. I cannot recommend this book based on my experience reading it, but many others loved it, and it may be worth a try if the subject interests you.

Aftertaste is a genre-bending debut that blends culinary magic, ghostly intrigue, and tender romance. It chronicles Konstantin "Kostya" Duhovny, a dishwasher in NYC who possesses clairgustance-the strange ability to taste the favorite foods of the dead. This gift launches him into the haute dining world and eventually leads him to open a restaurant where patrons experience one last meal with their departed loved ones.

Hmm I have mixed feelings.

I love how this book was incredibly unique. Associating food with life and death is so interesting. I appreciated a lot of what this book had to offer. The descriptions of the food were amazing. There were parts where I was extremely interested but it got a little weird. I think ultimately it was trying to be a lot of different things all at once so it was hard to follow at times. The beginning was great. I loved it. I think the romance and everything after was where it kind of lost me.
I am still so grateful to have read this because it was an interesting concept! Even though it wasn’t entirely for me, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys magical realism and the culinary world.
Now I want to go get some Reese’s cups.

Lush and sensory, this novel explores grief, family, and healing through the lens of food. The emotional beats landed well, though the plot occasionally wandered. Still, Lavelle’s prose was rich and full of heart. A lovely debut.

Thank you NetGalley for the ebook arc. I definitely enjoyed this book waaay more than I thought I would at a 4.5. He can taste people’s deceased loved ones in the form a their favorite meal, and when he makes the meal while the person is eating the meal they can commune with the dead. The story follows him as he tries and fails to harness his supernatural gift. After losing his friend in a kitchen fire he decides to go all out and use his gift to help other people heal after losing a loved one. The story is full of twist and turns and love interests

In 'Aftertaste' Daria Lavelle imagines a world where a man can taste the food memories of ghosts and uses this ability to help give people closure after loosing their loved ones. But what is the cost of this gift- both for the living and for the dead? This is a story about how we greave and what we'd do for one last chance to say goodbye. It's a very visceral novel- the descriptions are so strong that you can feel the weight of the ghosts and taste the food on your tongue. This is not a cozy ghost story- it's heavy and haunting and beautiful. If 'Aftertaste' shows us what a feast a debut novel can be, I can't wait to taste the second course.