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Kayla Cottingham
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This Delicious Death Kindle Edition

by Kayla Cottingham (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 430 ratings
See all formats and editions

From the author of the New York Times bestselling My Dearest Darkest comes another incredible sapphic horror. When four best friends with a hunger for human flesh attend a music festival in the desert they discover a murderous plot to expose and vilify the girls and everyone like them. This summer is going to get gory.

Two years ago, a small percentage of population underwent a transformation known as the Hollowing. Those affected were only able to survive by consuming human flesh. The people who went without quickly became feral, turning on their friends and family. Luckily, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy their hunger. As a result, humanity slowly began to return to normal.

Cut to Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine, four hollow girls living in Southern California. As a last hurrah before graduation they decide to attend a musical festival in the heart of the desert. They have a cooler filled with seltzer, vodka, and Synflesh… and are ready to party. 

But on the first night of the festival Val goes feral and ends up killing and eating a boy in one of the bands. As other festival guests start disappearing around them the girls soon discover someone is targeting people like them. And if they can't figure out how to stop it, and soon, no one at the festival is getting out alive.


Previous page
  1. Print length
    281 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Sourcebooks Fire
  5. Publication date
    April 25, 2023
  6. Reading age
    14 - 18 years
  7. Grade level
    9 - 12
  8. File size
    2998 KB
  9. Page Flip
    Enabled
  10. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  11. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  12. See all details
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From the Publisher

top image of cover
middle image of cover "Four best friends. A music festival."
end image of cover "And a cooler filled with human organs..."
It's a girl eat girl world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Riveting horror combined with savvy social commentary" ― Kirkus Reviews, STARRED Review

"Cottingham impressively explores solidly teen issues regarding self-image against the backdrop of a haunting mystery and mystifying illness. Visceral horror depictions, a climbing body count, and socially conscious prose elevate this jaw-dropping chiller." ― Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

"This author’s novel begs for a film rendition and leaves fans salivating for more." ― The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, STARRED review --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Kayla Cottingham is a YA author and librarian. Her first book, My Dearest Darkest, was a New York Times and Publisher's Weekly bestseller. Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Kayla lives in Boston where she loves to go hiking in the woods, play RPGs, and snuggle on the couch with her ridiculously large black cat, Squid.

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B787746H
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Fire (April 25, 2023)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 25, 2023
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2998 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 281 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 430 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Kayla Cottingham

Kayla Cottingham

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Kayla Cottingham is a YA author and librarian. Her first book, My Dearest Darkest, was a New York Times and Publisher's Weekly bestseller. Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Kayla lives in Boston where she loves to go hiking in the woods, play RPGs, and snuggle on the couch with her ridiculously large black cat, Squid.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
430 global ratings
Loved this book!
5 Stars
Loved this book!
I absolutely loved this book. I work an office job so I love reading in my free time and this book kept my attention from the first page to the last. Highly recommend! Looking to get another Kayla Cottingham book now. I love horror and anything LGBTQIA+, and this book was filled with both.
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Top reviews from the United States

Amber Deegan
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024
Verified Purchase
I absolutely loved this book. I work an office job so I love reading in my free time and this book kept my attention from the first page to the last. Highly recommend! Looking to get another Kayla Cottingham book now. I love horror and anything LGBTQIA+, and this book was filled with both.
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Amber Deegan
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024
I absolutely loved this book. I work an office job so I love reading in my free time and this book kept my attention from the first page to the last. Highly recommend! Looking to get another Kayla Cottingham book now. I love horror and anything LGBTQIA+, and this book was filled with both.
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Abigail Broska
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Potential
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2024
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This book has great potential. The story is good but the writing is immature. Too many pop culture references and forced mentions of lifestyle choices.
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Darque Dreamer
3.0 out of 5 stars Campy, Gory Fun!
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2023
Verified Purchase
3.5 stars.

For the most part this was a fun read. It was campy, gory fun that was quick and easy. The writing and pace was decent and it had some good moments of girl power with emphasis on true friendship and chosen family, but it had many moments that felt like writing from a new author. Instances of redundancy in phrasing, like starting 2 paragraphs back to back with "to my surprise",, "she was a Latina girl" and re-bringing up facts about the characters in places that they didn't fit. Not to mention, the author seemed to take the easy way out by generically describing the main characters as "she's white, she's black, he was a white guy". Knit picking, I know, but these instances just felt jarring in what was supposed to be a care free read. 

Even though I liked the emphasis on the close female bonded friendships, I did kind of feel like the characters fell a little flat. I had a hard time keeping them separated in my head for a while. And, with regards to the racial descriptions above, it seemed like maybe the author could have tried just a tiny bit harder to really make the characters feel diversified. 

Other than that, it was a Shaun of the Dead style good time. I will definitely try another one from this author.
One person found this helpful
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Summer
5.0 out of 5 stars Ghouls at Play!
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book was a blast. I read over ¾ of it on the first day, and would have finished it that night if I hadn't actually fallen asleep and stayed there for once!

It's hard to figure out if this is a new take on cannibals, zombies, both, or just how they're described in the book: ghouls. However you want to describe it, it's fun.

I'm normally annoyed by most things influencer culture, but the characters in the book were loveable and I really felt invested in their lives. It's definitely got the YA teen romantic angst down as well.

The villain was a little predictable, however I did question myself several times along the way. Overall this is just a really fun, lighthearted read. I really enjoyed it.
One person found this helpful
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D. J. Duran
4.0 out of 5 stars OH MY!
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2023
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I don't usually read LGBQT books. But I do love horror. I didn't realize these four fiesty girls were gay. I eventually figured it out. But that part of the story was not overbearing and even kind of sweet. Now on to the horror! These four young ladies were changed into ghouls that crave human flesh. We read about each of their stories. They are on their first road trip to a concert venue and meet four young men, who hate ghouls. But despite the they all seem to get along ok. Then something happens to change one of the girls. The mystery, horror, and adventure begins. I loved this book.I would have like a little more background of the girls and what exactly came about to cause the change to ghouls. The end came pretty fast and I would like to have had more. And what eventually happened to the feral ghouls? Need more!
4 people found this helpful
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Brittni
5.0 out of 5 stars Zombies but make it relatable
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2023
Verified Purchase
I loved this book. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting but a good read nonetheless. The plot was easy to follow, I won't give spoilers, and resolved itself nicely at the end. The descriptions made it easy for the pictures in my brain that follow along. I wish there would have been room for a follow up because I would LOVE to read and learn more about that world and to follow the love story of the main characters. BUT it does read well as a stand alone.
One person found this helpful
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Sara Cate
3.0 out of 5 stars stayed for the rep
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2024
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This is a sapphic rep horror that delivers quite well on both. I was pleasantly surprised and honestly dug it.
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Sherri Bergeron
2.0 out of 5 stars Not a fan
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2024
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Okay so first off I’m pro whoever you love and openly accept everyone. But do you really have to mention everyone’s sexuality in AT LEAST every other chapter? Once the character has their foundation I don’t think it needs re mentioning so often unless things change with the story line. I just felt that maybe the book was trying a bit too hard to be all inclusive and in doing so left out some structure and plot holes. Two stars because I did read it through but I will probably not read anything else from this author.
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Top reviews from other countries

Paulina
4.0 out of 5 stars .
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2023
Verified Purchase
This was honestly a really fun read. And cuter than I would expect from "a group of zombie girls go to a festival and eat some boys" set up. The relationship between the girls felt really natural and their friendship was really sweet. And so was the romantic friends to lovers subplot. And I'm usually not the biggest fan of that particular trope but it really worked for me here.

It was a unique take on zombie story and I really liked the flashbacks that gave us enough information about the girls' past and the things that kept haunting them without overwhelming the story and taking away from what was happening in the present.
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Vervada
4.0 out of 5 stars A strange mix that ended up working together really well
Reviewed in Italy on August 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
It was really interesting to read a zombie book from the zombie's pov. I mean they weren't exactly zombies, but close enough. I know it's been done before, but it's the first time that I read something like that. And combining it with a music festival, teenage angst and mysterious disappearances ended up being a very good idea. I never would have thought about it and that illustrates one of the things I like best about books: their ability to surprise and show a new perspective. I'm glad I gave this book a chance; it was definitely worth it.
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Chloe
3.0 out of 5 stars A bit lacklustre unless you’re a young teenager..
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2023
Verified Purchase
Light spoilers: The book starts off good, I love the concept of “zombies” living in society but as it goes on, it turns into a cheesy teenage romance novel.
An easy read but I started to lose interest towards the end as some bits made me cringe.
Not an awful read but I feel it pushes on LGBTQ and discrimination not naturally, the narrative feels a little forced like certain characters attributes are only there so it hits a target audience. Not for me, 2.5/5
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Phylicia C
4.0 out of 5 stars “Say Ghoulfriends!”
Reviewed in Australia on September 4, 2023
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4⭐️Arghhh I loved this read! Zero % spice but 4 billion % plot and cuteness overload on these characters. What a super cool read. I was so wrapped up in the storyline, trying to work out the mystery as it unfolded that I didn’t even mind the YA side of this tale, which is not my usual feast.
It played out like a movie in my head, the writing was superb and so believable in an unbelievable kind of way if that makes sense. It did bring back some covid ptsd quarantine vibes at times but what a journey.
Horror elements and zombie apocalypse vibes so check yourself! But I Loved it!
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Phylicia C
4.0 out of 5 stars “Say Ghoulfriends!”
Reviewed in Australia on September 4, 2023
4⭐️Arghhh I loved this read! Zero % spice but 4 billion % plot and cuteness overload on these characters. What a super cool read. I was so wrapped up in the storyline, trying to work out the mystery as it unfolded that I didn’t even mind the YA side of this tale, which is not my usual feast.
It played out like a movie in my head, the writing was superb and so believable in an unbelievable kind of way if that makes sense. It did bring back some covid ptsd quarantine vibes at times but what a journey.
Horror elements and zombie apocalypse vibes so check yourself! But I Loved it!
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