“A haunting story of pain and pleasure, and the power of food.

"What if you could have one last meal with someone you’ve loved, someone you’ve lost?Aftertaste is an epic love story, a dark comedy, and a wonderful adventure through food and grief.

" A food story to binge.
A ghost story to devour.
A love story to savor."

Konstantin Duhovny the main character, is a haunted man. His father dies when he was ten, 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 then 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 like 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 for him.

Set in the busy world of New York restaurants and chalked full with mouthwatering food writing, Aftertaste is a too die for 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."
A haunting story of pain and pleasure, and the power of food.

What if you could have one last meal with someone you’ve loved, someone you’ve lost? Combining the magic of Under the Whispering Door with the high-stakes culinary world of Sweetbitter, Aftertaste is an epic love story, a dark comedy, and a synesthetic adventure through food and grief.

A food story to binge.
A ghost story to devour.
A love story to savor.

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.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was definitely different but in a good way. I love how this book touches on food, romance, family and the after life all together wrapped up in one story. It sure caught my attention and I didn't want to put it down. Once it had me, it definitely had me! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Happy reading y'all! 😊

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle is an absolutely deliciously inventive read that lingers on the palate long after you finish. What struck me most was the sheer creativity behind Lavelle’s storytelling. The way she builds a world where food, taste, and the paranormal are intricately and hauntingly connected is nothing short of brilliant. Every flavor, every dish, and every bite carried emotional weight and hidden meaning, weaving together a narrative that felt both otherworldly and deeply human.

Lavelle doesn’t just describe food. You feel it. Taste becomes a conduit for memory, longing, and even fear, and I was captivated by how skillfully she infused that sensory experience into the plot. This isn’t just a story about food. It’s about how what we consume consumes us right back, how desire can haunt, and how flavors can evoke the most unexpected emotions.

Aftertaste is the kind of novel that stirs something deep inside you. It’s lush, evocative, and hauntingly original. If you’re looking for a read that will both move you and challenge the way you think about the everyday and the otherworldly, this one’s for you.

Well, this was certainly different. Konstantin can see ghosts. Kostya can taste the food that the ghosts loved. Sounds like a match made in heaven!

This was funny at times but also handled topics surrounding death and grief in a serious nature. I think it was very well written and I enjoyed that it was a fresh story that hasn't been done 100 times over.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC <3

Aftertaste is the fictional story of Konstantin Duhovny, a man who lost his father at a young age and went on to develop "clairgustance" (a new word!!) --- or the ability to perceive or taste things in the future. So, instead of visions of what's to come, he can taste food/meals associated with the dead. He spends years cooking meals and helping people reconnect with their loved ones, if only for a few bites. But, unknowingly, he's about to unleash hell.

What I liked:
-The premise was so fresh and well explored
-The idea of reconnecting with a deceased loved one, if only for one meal, makes you reflect on the people you've lost and what meal you'd love to share with them one last time. Very touching and heartbreaking.
-Konstantin was a perfectly imperfect character, and I enjoyed following along with his story and life.

What needed work:
- The part where basically all the dead burst through the veil and wreak havoc and kill a bunch of people (!!!) kind of felt a little out of place considering the tone of the book leading up to it.
- I did not totally get the ending? It felt convoluted. Like why did he have die? and why did it happen like that?

Overall, I would recommend this to others and enjoyed reading this.

As a NYC native, reading any mention of Brighton Beach has me like "woah!"

That aside - what an emotional, compelling story. As someone who spent the better part of this past year navigating the muddy waters of grief, I think this book came to me at just the right time... Such a unique concept, especially when so much of memory is rooted in the olfactory senses - scent is memory, and memory is a gift for those who are grieving.

Aftertaste sounded so intriguing, and the hype I saw on social media had me really excited to dive in. Unfortunately, it just didn’t land with me. The story felt overly long, and it almost tried to do too much with multiple genres meshed into one story in a way that didn’t fully come together for me.

That said, the writing itself was strong and lyrical, and I can absolutely see the author’s talent. This just wasn’t the right story for me.

Thank you NetGalley & Simon & Schuster for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a different kind of book! I wasn't sure what to expect and turned out to really like it. I had to get used to the writing style and pace, once I did though I was in 100%! Food, ghosts, romance, true love what more could you ask for? There is some tough subject matter so be warned. Well done Daria Lavelle! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Aftertaste by Darla Lavelle is a deliciously original novel that blends food, memory, and the afterlife into a touching, whimsical, and at times bittersweet story. What first drew me to the book was its compelling premise that food can be a bridge between the living and the dead. For many of us, food is steeped in memory. Certain tastes bring us instantly back to moments with loved ones: for me, it's umeboshi and tuna sashimi that remind me of my grandmother and pork chops that bring back my grandfather. Lavelle takes that universal truth and weaves it into a beautiful narrative of loss, healing, and connection.

The heart of the novel lies with Konstantin who possesses a rare and deeply meaningful gift of experiencing an “aftertaste.” This aftertaste is a vivid and emotional taste of a dish that held great importance to someone who has passed away. These aren’t meals he’s ever eaten (except with his own loved one), yet the flavors come to him fully formed. Once he tastes them, he’s able to recreate the dish and, in doing so, make contact with the spirit connected to it.

Using this ability, Konstantin sets out to help spirits and their loved ones find closure. He offers them a final meal together, a last chance to say what was left unsaid. But as the story unfolds, questions arise on what is really happening.

The book primarily takes place in the culinary world, filled with rich descriptions of food that are both mouthwatering and emotionally resonant. Through Konstantin’s journey, Lavelle explores themes of regret, grief and the healing power of food. Watching Konstantin grow as a chef but and as a person wrestling with his own past makes the story all the more compelling.

Aftertaste is a poignant, heartwarming read for anyone who has ever found comfort in a family recipe or wished for just one more shared meal with someone they've lost. It’s a moving meditation on how the flavors we remember can carry the ones we love, even after they’re gone.

Highly recommended for fans of magical realism, culinary fiction, and stories with a lot of heart.


Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this advanced digital copy.

Absolutely beautifully written. It did take me a while to get used to jumping back and forth between Kostya and Constantine but once I got it down the imagery and poetry of the way the scenes with the ghosts was written was so unbelievably moving.

This was an incredible debut of original storytelling resulting in a unique reading experience. The best I can put it into words makes for an unusual combination of genres: tragic romance and culinary ghost story. The author takes so many elements and blends them seamlessly into a tale of clairgustance (think clairvoyance but for taste). The themes of loss, grief, forgiveness, mental illness, friendship, remembrance, and the afterlife are blended together in the setting of the cutthroat world of NYC cuisine. I can't wait to read what she writes next!

I simply want to shout from the rooftops about how much I loved this book!! There is some absolutely gorgeous food writing in here, IMO. And the exploration of food and memory and grief in combination is quite moving. I am a sucker for a fun little narration mystery, which we get in spades here. I love to not know who is talking or when or where (not sarcasm)!!! Those sort of interstitial chapters were great. I really connected with and felt for both Kostya and Maura, and I hope you like this too when you read it ASAP.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for my copy of AFTERTASTE.

Wow what a book. This one instantly sucked me in. It's got ghosts, food and love. What else could you ask for? I miss these characters so much and will be thinking about them for a long time.

This book was an interesting twist of grief, food and culture woven within. I thought the story was well written. I liked the aspect of sharing a meal with someone you knew that is special to you. She wrote super vividly on the food parts and made me more interested than I thought I could be in a book I had little in common with.
I didn’t always connect with the main character of this book but overall I enjoyed the journey through.

Aftertaste was a great story that had me reflecting on what would I do if I had the chance to talk to someone I recently lost one last time. We meet Kostya, who after losing his Dad at a young age starts tasting ‘the dead’ – or their favorite meals. He learns to reconnect loved ones with their deceased but sadly learns that the laws of nature should not be messed with. This was a touching book that had me reflecting on my own experiences and the importance of loving and letting go. Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC.

If you’ve ever tasted something and instantly remembered a person, a place, a moment—Aftertaste is your kind of weird.

Daria Lavelle’s debut is one of those books that defies easy labels. It’s a ghost story, sure, but also a love story, a meditation on grief, and a deep dive into the chaotic poetry of restaurant kitchens. Oh, and it has killer food writing—no pun intended.

Konstantin “Kostya” Duhovny isn’t your average haunted soul. He doesn’t see ghosts. He tastes them. He’s plagued by sudden mouthfuls of meals he’s never eaten, the favorite foods of spirits lingering nearby. It’s bizarre, deeply original, and—somehow—it works. After a lifetime of silence, Kostya decides to act on the flavors that haunt him. He starts cooking. And from there, things spiral: grief therapy via five-course meals, spectral reunions over duck à l’orange, and a whole lot of emotional unraveling.

Lavelle is fearless with tone, shifting from tender to terrifying to laugh-out-loud funny, often within a single scene. One moment you’re swooning over a love interest with psychic baggage, the next you’re panicking about what happens when the afterlife gets hangry.

What’s wild is how much works. The characters are layered and strange and often kind of awful—in that compelling, “I don’t want to hang out with you, but I will absolutely read 400 pages about your existential spiral” way. Kostya in particular is a mess: charming, judgy, impulsive, and just self-aware enough to know he's in over his head. His friendship with Frankie, is one of the book’s most compelling threads, adding levity and pathos in equal measure.

And the food. Lavelle writes with a sensuality that borders on criminal. Even if you’ve never been near a Michelin star kitchen, you’ll feel the sizzle, the steam, the weight of memory in a sauce reduction. It’s less about appetite and more about soul hunger—a craving for connection, forgiveness, closure.

Bottom line? Aftertaste is completely unhinged in the best possible way. It’s about food and ghosts and love and grief and the terrifying idea that the only thing harder than letting go… is not knowing when to. Definitely one of my top reads this year.

If Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, Stephanie Danler’s Sweetbitter, and the movie Ghost had a baby, it would be this funny, weird, heartfelt, unputdownable novel. Konstantin has been haunted by grief since the death of his father at age 10, and ghosts connect with him in a strange way: through his palette. When a spirit is nearby, he gets an ‘aftertaste’ of a meal the deceased enjoyed when they were alive.
Directionless and adrift, he earns money washing dishes at a cocktail bar in the financial district when something extraordinary happens: he makes the aftertaste cocktail for the widowed husband of a spirit present in the bar. Thus begins a hero’s journey of the absurd, the living, and the dead. I loved this strange, fast paced, novel of the uncanny; and is definitely one of my favorite new releases of 2025.
Many thanks to Simon + Schuster and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I selected so many moods for Aftertaste because it broguht out so many different feelings in me. While these leaned more heavily into the food than I was anticipating, it moved me to tears and made me laugh so many times. As someone who has recently lost people very close to me, I hugged this at the end.

I DNF’d this one at 30% - it’s way too sad for me to get through right now. the writing is beautiful, though! Maybe I will pick it back up at some point. Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC.

This book has such a unique and heartfelt premise. After the loss of his father, a man realizes that he has an unbelievable gift of bringing back to dead, in order to give their living relatives a chance to say goodbye. He does this by receiving a taste of a meaningful meal or drink from a ghost in the afterlife, and crafting it for the living person to consume, thus briefly bridging the two worlds.

The culinary descriptions are an absolute highlight. The author’s details were so vivid that they made me long to taste the dishes myself as I read. Had me thinking it would be so cool if they did a restaurant experience like in the book where you got to try all of the meals that were described. I would be up for that for sure!

What starts out as a very personal journey to reconnect with his late father, evolves into a love story when Konstantine crosses paths with a woman who is mourning the loss of her sister; a death she carries guilt over.

The back half of the book unfortunately fell a little flat for me. I wasn’t as interested in the storyline related to closing the portal between the living and the dead; felt a little Ghostbusters to me.

Still, the overarching idea of offering people one last, meaningful moment with someone they’ve lost, was relatable. I also loved the idea of someone giving so much of themselves, all for another person. It’s a unique read, and worth picking up for anyone who appreciates stories about grief, healing, and the power of food.

What a fantastic story! Aftertaste is unique and will stick with you long after you have finished turning the pages. I loved Kostya, he was such a good-hearted character that was easy to relate to. You want to see him succeed, you want to see him happy. While I liked Maura, her selfishness stood in the way of her becoming a standout character for me. Even at the end, I was like, dang, you are still going for yourself, not sharing the love. She says she is in love, but her actions speak otherwise. The premise is what makes this book so special. The ability to communicate with the dead through food. What an incredibly unique concept. I loved it. I look forward to reading more by this author.