This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham Quinita Balderson Cottingham, Kayla This Delicious Death. Sourcebooks Fire, 2023 [304p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781728236445 $11.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781728236421 $14.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 9-12 Two years ago, an environmental crisis triggered a pandemic that caused part of the population to crave human flesh to survive, resulting in an apocalyptic event coined "The Hollowing." Hollow people–called ghouls–faced a troubling dilemma: consume humans and live or risk starvation and the strong possibility that their feral instincts would lead them to uncontrollably rip loved ones to shreds. Fortunately, SynFlesh was developed (rather quickly) to satisfy the Hollowed cravings, and the world is mostly returning to normal, safely integrating ghouls into society. Finally freed from societal lockdown, four queer Hollow girlfriends road trip to a music festival in the secluded desert to let loose; unfortunately, an encounter with a cocky B-list celebrity sets off a series of mysterious events leaving a bloody trail to a missing ghoul friend. Meanwhile, attacks by an insatiable creature—far more monstrous than ghouls—slash the chances of any survivors, human or otherwise, escaping the desert. Fyre Festival meets zombie apocalypse in Cottingham's latest gore-filled excursion in which the social commentary bites just as hard as the flesh-eating monsters. Despite the heavy consequences of wrecking the environment, the world continues in the same self-serving dog-eat-dog fashion that led to this situation, and it's clear that even an apocalyptic event wouldn't eradicate societal problems like racism, homophobia, and privilege. Matters of the heart, too, coexist with the crisis, as the book follows Zoey and her bestie/long-time crush Celeste, a trans girl, and new potential love interest Cole. Once again, this author's novel begs for a film rendition and leaves fans salivating for more. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois