Have You Seen My Sister? by Kirsty McKay

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Date of publication: September 5th, 2023

Genre: Mystery, Young Adult

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N

Goodreads Synopsis:

Gaia Gill is the last person in the world anyone would expect to go missing. Beautiful, athletic, and recently accepted to a prestigious college, she has everything to look forward to—but the night of her going-away party at the Moon Mountain ski resort, she disappears.

Gaia’s younger sister Esme is supposed to be flying back to England with her family after the party, but she can’t leave with Gaia missing—especially because nobody remembers Gaia leaving the party. Or if they do, they’re not saying. Everyone at the lodge has their own secrets: the little rich girl, the ex-boyfriend, the ski instructor, the failed reality star.

Esme’s out of her depth searching the dark, dangerous forests and icy slopes of Moon Mountain, until she teams up with a local boy who promises to help her. The clock is ticking, and it’s down to Esme to piece the clues together and work out who—if anybody—is telling the truth.


First Line:

I didn’t realize it at the time, but the first clue in my sister’s disappearance was the shoes.

Have You Seen My Sister by Kirsty McKay

On vacation at a ski resort where her sister works, Esme isn’t thrilled to be going back to England. But, when Gaia goes missing after not returning from her going away party, Esme is on high alert. With little to no leads coming in, Esme decides to strike out on her own and search for Gaia. With the help of a local boy, Bode, Esme slowly starts to piece together what happened that night. Can Esme find Gaia?

When I initially read the blurb for Have You Seen My Sister, I was intrigued by the plotline. A mystery set at a ski resort with a plethora of suspects? I liked it. But I couldn’t request the book on Sourcebooks Fire NetGalley; it was a wish only. So, I took a chance, wished for it, and then forgot it. So, wasn’t I surprised when I got a notification in my email saying Sourcebooks Fire granted my wish. I immediately started reading it. While glad I read it, the book didn’t meet my expectations.

Have You Seen My Sister is a fast-paced book set in the fictional resort town of Moonville, New Hampshire. The storyline, which takes place within a week of Gaia’s disappearance, did suit the book’s pacing. But there was lag, and it did disrupt the flow. Usually, that doesn’t matter to me (and I enjoy the book anyway), but with everything else going on in the book, it was just another mark against it for me.

The main storyline is obvious: Gaia’s disappearance and Esme’s search for her. I did think that it was well-written, and there were some twists in the storyline. But I started to lose interest in the storyline when Esme started to catch feelings for Bode. I didn’t want to read about a romance; I wanted to read about Esme’s search for her sister. The author put the wannabe romance on the back burner but by then, it was almost the end of the book, and Esme had connected some crucial dots.

Esme annoyed me. Not that I didn’t like her, I did, but I felt that she took a lot of risks with Bode while investigating. She didn’t tell her parents or the police what she found until they confronted her. I didn’t particularly appreciate that she was made out to be the only one who could find Gaia.

The mystery angle of Have You Seen My Sister was interesting. I had figured out only half of what was happening (and it was a convoluted mess). I wasn’t surprised at who ultimately was behind Gaia’s disappearance or the reason why. There were apparent hints dropped throughout the book that made sense, looking back.

There was a slight romance angle between Bode and Esme. I wasn’t a fan of having them in any way romantically involved. I felt that it took away from the book. But I did like it at the end. I liked that Esme found someone who accepted her for who she was.

The end of Have You Seen My Sister was interesting. I liked how the author ended Gaia’s disappearance. While the reason seemed a little over the top, it at least made sense. I also liked how the people involved were caught. The one dude who was trussed up like a deer made me laugh. But there was one guy in particular that made me mad. It didn’t seem like he was going to get charged with anything.

I would recommend Have You Seen My Sister to anyone over 16. There are mild sexual situations, mild violence, and mild language.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire, NetGalley, and Kirsty McKay for allowing me to read and review Have You Seen My Sister. All opinions stated in this review are mine.


If you enjoyed reading this review of Have You Seen My Sister, then you will enjoy reading these books:


Other books by Kirsty McKay

July 2023 Wrap Up

Here is what I read/posted/bought in July.

As always, let me know if you have read any of these books and (if you did) what you thought of them.


Books I Read:

ARC from Crooked Lane Books
Non-ARC from author
Non-ARC from author
Non-ARC from author
Non-ARC from author
Non-ARC from author
Kindle purchase
Free Kindle purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
KU Purchase
ARC from Crooked Lane Books
ARC from Meryl Moss Media Group, Rosewind Books
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
Non-ARC from Author
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
ARC from St. Martin’s Press
ARC from Sourcebooks Fire
ARC from Random House Publishing Group -Ballantine, Del Rey
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell
Free Kindle purchase
Free Kindle purchase
Kindle Purchase
Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Non-ARC from author
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books

Books I got from NetGalley:

ARC from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
Wish granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Delacorte Press
Wish granted from Sourcebooks Fire
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey
ARC from St. Martin’s Press
ARC from St. Martin’s Press
Wish granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell
Limited time Read Now from St. Martin’s Press
Invite from author via his publisher–Level Best Books
Arc from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
ARC from Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Books I got from Authors/Indie Publishers:

ARC from author
Non-ARC from author

Giveaway Winners

The Bridge to Magic by Alex Thornbury


Books Reviewed:

Carving Up Reily by Paul Flanagan—review here (4 stars)

Playing with Fire by Flora McGowan—review here (4 stars)

The Voinico’s Slayer by Sallie Cochren—review here (4 stars)

Death By a Thousand Sips by Gretchen Rue—review coming September 5th, 2023

One*Life: Ameno by Blaze Dendukuri—review here (3 stars)

The Master of Demise by Nadija Mujagic—review here (4 stars)

Under Central Park: The Amulet’s Secret by D.W. Spinola—review here (4 stars)

Paper Targets: Art Can Be Murder by Steve S. Sardoff—review here (4 stars)

Dark Horse by Ann Hunter—review here (4 stars)

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center—review here (4 stars)

A Cryptic Clue by Victoria Gilbert—review here (4 stars)

Macarons Can Be Murder by Rose Betancourt—review here (3 stars)

My Goodbye Girl by Anna Gomez—review here (4 stars)

Thief Liar Lady by D.L. Sonia—review here (4 stars)

Play to Win by Jodie Slaughter—review here (4 stars)

Against the Odds by Ann Hunter—review here (4 stars)

Take the Honey and Run by Jennie Marts—review here (4 stars)

The Block Party by Jamie Day—review here (4 stars)

Have You Seen My Sister by Kirsty McKay—review coming September 5th

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia—review here (4 stars)

Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review by Tehlor Kay Meija—review here (4 stars)

Blind Fear by Brandon Webb and John David Webb—review here (4 stars)

The Lady from Burma by Allison Montclair—review here (4 stars)

The Celine Bower Story by Carly Brown—review here (4 stars)

The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein—review here (4 stars)


The StoryGraph Reading Challenges:

June:

Scavenger Hunt (A book that was turned into a show/movie you haven’t seen): The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

PopSugar Reading Challenge 2023 (A book about a forbidden romance): Painted Love by Lacy Embers

2023 TBR Toppler (A book under 200 pages): Berkley Street by Ron Ripley

2023 Monthly Themes (June to the Moon: Sci-fi): The Liberty Box by C.A. Gray

2023 Reading Challenge (A retelling of a classic story/myth): Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

2023 ABC Challenge (F): Forever Black by Sandi Lynn

Romanceopoly 2023! (Read a contemporary romance by an author you haven’t tried before): Father Figure by James J. Cudney

2023 TBR Prompts (Shortest book on my TBR): Thirst by Graceley Knox

July:

Buzzword Reading Challenge 2023 (“Weather-related words: weather related words in the title: rain, storm, snow, clouds, sky, sunshine, hurricane): Stormcall by T.A. Marks

2023 Sami Parker Reads Title Challenge (A book that has a day of the week in the title): That Monday Girl by Julie Johnson

Cover Scavenger Hunt 2023 (Sky): Unbound by A.R. Shaw

The StoryGraph Reads the World 2023 (Pakistan): A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

The StoryGraph’s Genre Challenge 2023 (A fantasy novel written by an author of color): The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Beat the Backlist 2023 (an author writing under a pseudonym): What Doesn’t Kill You by Jo Ho

Scavenger Hunt TBR Book Challenge (find a book with the same amount of pages as the last book and read it): Woman Scorned by Shannon Heuston

Scavenger Hunt (A book that was translated from another language): Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

PopSugar Reading Challenge 2023 (A book with “girl” in the title): The Fireproof Girl by Loretta Lost

2023 TBR Toppler (A book over 500 pages): The Yellowstone Conundrum by John D. Randall

2023 Monthly Themes (Books in the Heat: Book takes place in the summer or someplace hot): What Happened at the Lake by Phil M. Williams

2023 Reading Challenge (A Yellow Book: Cover or Title are Yellow): A Worse Secret by Harvey Church

2023 ABC Challenge (G): Girl with No Fingerprints by Mark Bailey

Romanceopoly 2023! (friends to lovers): Anything for Love by Lola St. Vil

2023 TBR Prompts (Longest book on my TBR): The Needle House by Robin Roughley


Books I bought:

Stalks of Gold by Celeste Baxendell (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Mirrors of Ice by Celeste Baxendell (accidental Kindle purchase)

Dead Before Dinner by Kat Bellemore (free Kindle purchase via blog post)

Death on Deck by Verity Bright (free Kindle purchase via blog post)

Protecting Fiona by Susan Stoker (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Open, Honestly by Bill Konigsberg (free Kindle purchase via Goodreads)

His Baby Proposal by Ivy James (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

This Much Is True by Tia Louise (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Ruined & Redeemed: The Earl’s Fallen Wife by Bree Wolf (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Burden of Proof by Julie Anne Lindsey (free Kindle purchase via blog post)

MacFarland’s Lass by Glynnis Campbell (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Finding Faith by B.E. Baker (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Resisting Chase by Sharon Woods (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Dance with Deception by Tracy Goodwin (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Saving Noah by Kaci Rose (free Kindle purchase)

Four Cold Months by K.J. Kalis (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Whiskey Rebellion by Liliana Hart (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Watch Your Back by Stacy Claflin (free Kindle purchase via blog post)

Sweet Distraction by Lainey Davis (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

Dirty Player by Stacey Lynn (free Kindle purchase via BookBub)

April 2023 Wrap Up

Here is what I read/posted in April.

As always, let me know if you have read any of these books and (if you did) what you thought of them.


Books I Read:

ARC from author
KU Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Non-ARC from Novel Cause
Non-ARC from Novel Cause
ARC from Sourcebooks Casablanca
ARC from author, Level Best Books, IBPA, Member’s Titles
Free Kindle Purchase—No review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Non-ARC from author
KU Purchase—No Review
Free Amazon Prime Reads—No Review
KU Purchase—No Review
KU Purchase—No Review
KU Purchase—No Review
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
ARC from St. Martin’s Press
Non-ARC from Author
Non-ARC from Author
KU Purchase—No Review
KU Purchase—No Review
KU Purchase—No Review
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Paperbacks
ARC from Sourcebooks Fire
Non ARC from author
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Kindle Purchase—No Review
KU Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
ARC from author
ARC from Crooked Lane Books
ARC from Sourcebooks Casablanca
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Random House, Dial Press Trade Paperback

Books I got from NetGalley:

Read Now from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Wish granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam
Wish Granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam
Read Now from Tor Publishing Group, Tor Books
Wish Granted from Sourcebooks Casablanca
Wished Granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Delacorte Press
Invite from Random House Publishing Group – Random House, Random House Trade Paperbacks
SMP Influencer Program pick from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Wish Granted from Random House Publishing Group – Random House, The Dial Group
Wish Granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
Request from Meryl Media Group, Rosewind Books

Books I got from Authors/Indie Publishers:

Non-Arc from author
ARC from Novel Cause
ARC from author
Non ARC from author
Non-ARC from author
Non-ARC from author
ARC from Author

Giveaway Winners

Goodreads Giveaway—Kindle download
Goodreads Giveaway—Paperback
Goodreads Giveaway—Paperback
Goodreads Giveaway—Paperback

Books Reviewed:

The Witch and the Vampire—review here

Prince of Typgar: Nurjan and the Monks of Meirar—review here

Read to Death at the Lakeside Library—review here

Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose—review here

Body Count by SM Thomas—review here

Prince of Typgar: Nujran and the Corpse in the Quadrangle by Krishna Sudhir—review here

Wings Once Cursed and Bound by Piper J. Drake—review here

No Time to Breathe by Lori Duffy Foster—review here

Another Chance at Happiness by Dani Phoenix—review here

Tales from the Box, Volume 1 by Weston Kincaide—review here

Pieces of Me by Kate McLaughlin—review here

Where Coyotes Howl by Sandra Dallas—review here

Bait by D.I. Jolly—review here

Missing by Amy Kulp—review here

How to Best a Marquess—review here

This Delicious Death—review here


Reading Challenges:

2023 Monthly Themes (Continue a series or reread an author already read this year): Claim My Baby—Finished 3-31-23

Romanceopoly 2023! (Read a book where the main character works at or owns a bar)-About LoveFinished 4-1-23

Buzzword Reading Challenge 2023 (words in the title related to emotions, from happy to sad, smile to frown, pride to rage)—P.S. I Hate You—Finished 4-3-23

2023 Sami Parker Reads Title Challenge (a book with one of these words in the title: Sunny, Bright, Cloud or Rain): Brightest Shadow—Finished 4-6-2023

Cover Scavenger Hunt 2023 (a flower): A Spirited Manor—Finished 4-7-2023

The StoryGraph’s OnBoarding Reading Challenge 2023 (read one of the first 10 books you added to your to-read pile): The Night Swim—Finished 4-8-2023

The StoryGraph Reads the World 2023 (Italy): Find Me—Finished 4-10-2023

The StoryGraph’s Genre Challenge (a biography about someone you don’t know much about): Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot—Finished 4-11-2023

Beat the Backlist 2023 (take place primarily in winter or a cold region): Tainted—Finished 4-19-2023

Scavenger Hunt TBR Book Challenge (go to the acknowledgments of the last book you read for this prompt. What name did you first see? Find a book written by an author with that name): Frost Burn—Finished 4-20-2023

Scavenger Hunt (Book I found that day): Delicate Ink—Finished 4-20-2023

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2023 (a book by a first time author): The Fifth Floor—Finished 4-21-23

2023 TBR Toppler (continue a series): Ten Thousand Lies—Finished 4-22-23

2023 Reading Challenge (book that has been on my TBR for the longest time): Purple Death—Finished 4-23-23

2023 ABC Challenge (D): Descendants—Carrying over to May

2023 TBR Prompts (A BookTok Favorite): The Song of Achilles—Carrying over to May

This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Date of publication: April 25th, 2023

Genre: Horror, Young Adult, LGBT, Queer, Lesbian, Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery Thriller

Trigger Warnings: Alcohol consumption by minors, Anxiety disorders (mentioned), Blood, Gore, Body Horror, Cannibalism, Captivity, Confinement, Dead bodies, body parts, Deadnaming, Death of a grandparent, Death of a sibling, drugging, drug use, fire, grief, loss, gun violence, intrusive thoughts, murder, needles, syringes, nightmares, parental neglect, pandemic, scars, sexism, suicidal ideation, transphobia

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCake

Goodreads Synopsis:

Four best friends, one music festival, and a cooler filled with human organs: this summer is about to get gory. ​​​

Jennifer’s Body fans will clamor for this new sapphic horror standalone from New York Times bestselling author Kayla Cottingham.

Three years ago, the melting of arctic permafrost released a pathogen of unknown origin into the atmosphere, causing a small percentage of people to undergo a transformation that became known as the Hollowing. Those impacted slowly became intolerant to normal food and were only able to gain sustenance by consuming the flesh of other human beings. Those who went without flesh quickly became feral, turning on their friends and family. However, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy the hunger of those impacted by the Hollowing. As a result, humanity slowly began to return to normal, albeit with lasting fear and distrust for the people they’d pejoratively dubbed ghouls.

Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine are all ghouls living in Southern California. As a last hurrah before their graduation they decided to attend a musical festival in the desert. They have a cooler filled with hard seltzers 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. As other festival guests start disappearing around them the girls soon discover someone is drugging ghouls and making them feral. And if they can’t figure out how to stop it, and soon, no one at the festival is safe.


First Line:

When my parents asked if I wanted a Mini Cooper for graduation, I didn’t think ahead to whether or not it would have enough trunk space to accommodate my cooler full of organs.

This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham

Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine are preparing to attend a desert music festival. This event is a big deal for them because they were infected with a pathogen three years earlier, which turned them into ghouls. They all rely on synthetic meat to satisfy their hunger, which keeps them from going feral (and turning back into ghouls). But ghouls are feared, and the girls are monitored constantly. So, taking this trip is a big deal to them. But, on the first night, Valeria goes feral, killing and eating a boy. After investigating why Valeria went feral, the girls make a surprising discovery: someone is drugging ghouls and causing them to go feral. With other guests going missing and the National Guard on their way to round up the ghouls, the girls must find out who is behind it and why. But, what they discover is just the tip of something much bigger than what they realized. Can they stop the people behind it? Can they retain their humanity?

I had initially seen This Delicious Death floating around the blogosphere. I liked the blurb for the book and made it a point to put it on my short list of books I want to read. Then I got an email from NetGalley saying they had the book on a limited Read Now for the first 500 people. I made sure that I immediately downloaded it. I can’t even begin to express how excited I was about this. The funny thing about this is that I am terrified of any zombie movie/tv show/book—I legit freak out. So I was curious how I would react when reading This Delicious Death. I didn’t have the reaction I thought, and I loved it!!

This Delicious Death has numerous trigger/content warnings. The author kindly lists everything at the beginning of the book. They are:

  1. Alcohol Consumption by Minors: Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine drink constantly throughout the book. They are served at bars set up at the festival also.
  2. Anxiety Disorders: It is mentioned throughout the book that Celeste and Zoey have anxiety. Also, Jessica and Valeria have anxiety because of what they went through during the Hollowing.
  3. Blood: There is a lot of blood in this book. Seeing that it is a zombie book, I would have been surprised if there wasn’t blood.
  4. Gore: There is a lot of gore throughout This Delicious Death. The explicit scenes happen during each girl’s flashback to the Hollowing, Cole’s flashback, Valeria’s feral scenes, and the scenes in Facility B.
  5. Body Horror: There are quite a few scenes where the author graphically describes the girls eating synthetic organs and meat. There are also scenes where the author details the girls (in their flashbacks) killing and eating people. There are scenes towards the end of the book where the girls watch a ghoul (called the anthropophagi) kill and eat a boy in front of them.
  6. Cannibalism: The girls need to eat human flesh so they don’t become ghouls. It is graphically detailed throughout the book.
  7. Captivity: Celeste and Zoey are captured and held at two different facilities while they are ghouls. The anthropophagi are held captive in Facility B. While at the festival, Celeste, Jasmine, and Zoey are in their cabin.
  8. Confinement: Zoey was confined to a facility for months longer than Celeste. Valeria was confined to her house and then her room during the onset of the pandemic. The four girls are confined to their cabin before going to Facility B and after the events at Facility B.
  9. Dead Bodies: There are dead bodies throughout the book. Some, the girls caused (in their flashbacks and present day), and others, they stumbled upon.
  10. Body Parts: The girls must eat organs and body parts to satisfy their ghouls. Different body parts appear once ghouls start getting drugged and the anthropophagi are removed from Facility B.
  11. Deadnaming: Celeste (who is trans) is almost deadnamed at a party after the Hollowing. The author stopped short of having that person say what her male name was.
  12. Death of a grandparent: Jasmine’s grandmother was killed after she turned. Jasmine and her younger brother left when her grandmother started tearing up her bedroom.
  13. Death of a sibling: Cole killed and ate his older sister while she was on Facebook Live with her boyfriend (who was also Cole’s bandmate). Cole never recovered from doing that.
  14. Drugging: Celeste and Zoey were drugged during their capture. Zoey was drugged constantly during her captivity. Valeria was drugged at a bar, turned feral, and killed the boy she was with. His bandmates drugged Cole towards the end of the book, and he went feral.
  15. Drug Use: I think that drugs were used recreationally by other festival-goers. I don’t believe that the girls (or Cole) used drugs.
  16. Fire: A fire was deliberately set in Facility B at the end of the book.
  17. Grief: Both Celeste and Zoey grieve the deaths of the hunter and camp counselor they killed and ate. Jasmine grieves that she has scarred her brother for life. Valeria grieves what she did to survive. Cole grieves what he did to his sister.
  18. Loss: Each of the main characters experienced loss. There is too much to go into, but the author covers each person individually in their flashbacks and the present day.
  19. Gun Violence: In flashbacks, a hunter holds Celeste and Zoey at rifle point, and Zoey is shot. Present day, Celeste is shot by a National Guardsman while distracting them from seeing Zoey and Jasmine going after Valeria.
  20. Intrusive Thoughts: Zoey is tortured by what she did while a ghoul and thinks about suicide. Cole is also tormented by what he did.
  21. Murder: Zoey and Celeste murder their camp counselor and the hunter. Jasmine murders the white supremacist couple that was threatening her brother. Valeria murders the star football player in a scuffle over a corpse. Valeria murders the boy she was with at the bar. Cole murders his sister.
  22. Needles: Zoey is given medication through her neck with a needle while confined. Celeste takes her hormones with needles. Jasmine gives Valeria the antidote with a needle to the neck.
  23. Syringes: See above.
  24. Nightmares: All four girls suffer from nightmares from what they did while they were ghouls. The same goes for Cole.
  25. Parental Neglect: Zoey’s parents refuse to have anything to do with her after she returns home. Her parents are terrified of her. She is painfully aware of that.
  26. Pandemic: The Hollowing is caused by a pathogen released by melting polar ice caps. That sets off a worldwide pandemic of ghouls.
  27. Scars: The girls and Cole have mental scars from their Hollowing.
  28. Sexism: The lead singer of the band that Cole is in is sexist. He makes several remarks during the book that set me on edge.
  29. Suicidal Ideation: Zoey and Cole have thoughts about suicide during the book. This is directly related to what they went through during the Hollowing.
  30. Transphobia: Celeste is trans (male to female). She is afraid to tell her followers (she is an influencer) because of the transphobic backlash. There is a small moment of transphobia at a party she is at with Valeria and Zoey, but Jasmine stops it.

This is a lengthy list. If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book.

The main storyline of This Delicious Death centers around the four girls (Zoey, Celeste, Jasmine, and Valeria), their trip to the festival, the mystery of who is behind drugging the ghouls and why, and the girls’ backstories. Let’s start with the backstories first. The author gave each girl a smallish chapter explaining how they became ghouls. It was heartbreaking in all cases because of how young they were. They were all around 15 years old, and they were all in different parts of California. The author details what they did to survive and sometimes did it explicitly. But those chapters were sprinkled throughout the book. The main focus was on Valeria going feral and why. I loved how the girls went about their investigations. They were resourceful with their limitations. Because they were ghouls, they were not allowed to go beyond certain boundaries. Once they discovered the drug, it was a search for who and why. It was a very twisty investigation, and I was surprised at what the girls turned up. I wasn’t surprised at who was behind it (because I had an idea it was those people).

The main characters (Celeste, Zoey, Jasmine, and Valeria) were well-written and multifaceted. I liked that they were diverse, but at the same time, they weren’t (if that makes sense). I liked that each girl brought their personality to the story. Even when they were fighting, which they did quite a bit of in the middle of the book, they were still respectful of each other and watched out for each other. It was watching out for each other that eventually paved the way to the ending events of the book.

The romance angle of the book was well played out. You knew what Zoey’s feelings were for Celeste since page one. She was in love with her. But she wasn’t sure how Celeste felt about Zoey, and the author kept it that way until the end of the book. I wasn’t sure if I liked the almost romance between Zoey and Cole, mainly because it didn’t feel right.

The mystery angle of This Delicious Death was wonderfully written. The author had me guessing who drugged Valeria and the other ghouls. I liked how the girls did their investigations and ended up at Facility B. But how they tied everything together (with Cole’s help) and decided to get the antidote to the drug and rescue Valeria made the book!!

I was almost unreasonably angry with Zoey’s parents. Finding out your kid had been changed into a flesh-eating monster was soul-shattering. But to let her languish in that detention center and treat her like dirt when she got out was awful. For three years, she raised herself while her parents made themselves scarce. At least she had a parent in Celeste’s mom. Speaking of Celeste’s mom, she was the MVP of the entire book. She was one of the most accepting, down-to-earth, loving people ever!! I was jealous of Celeste.

An interesting secondary storyline involved Cole’s stepfather, the drug he tested out, and ghouls that went crazy. There was a point in the book where I wondered if the author would explain the background of the anthropophagi. I wasn’t expecting the horrible backstory to that, though. I also didn’t expect Cole’s stepfather to develop a conscience about his actions and create an antidote.

The end of This Delicious Death was gripping and heartbreaking. I expected everything to go down differently than it did. I’m not going to go much more into it other than that.

I would recommend This Delicious Death to anyone over 21. There is violence, language, and nongraphic sexual situations. Also, see the very long list of triggers above.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire, NetGalley, and Kayla Cottingham for allowing me to read and review This Delicious Death. All opinions stated in this review are mine.


If you enjoyed reading this review of This Delicious Death, then you will enjoy reading these books:


Other books by Kayla Cottingham:

What We Devour by Linsey Miller

Book Cover

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Sourcebooks Fire

Date of publication: July 6th, 2021

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBTQIA

Purchase Links: Amazon | Audible | B&N | WorldCat

Format Read: Unedited ARC

Received From: Publisher


Goodreads Synopsis:

Lorena Adler has a secret—she holds the power of the banished gods, the Noble and the Vile, inside her. She has spent her entire life hiding from the world and her past. She’s content to spend her days as an undertaker in a small town, marry her best friend, Julian, and live an unfulfilling life so long as no one uncovers her true nature.

But when the notoriously bloodthirsty and equally Vile crown prince comes to arrest Julian’s father, he immediately recognizes Lorena for what she is. So she makes a deal—a fair trial for her betrothed’s father in exchange for her service to the crown.

The prince is desperate for her help. He’s spent years trying to repair the weakening Door that holds back the Vile…and he’s losing the battle. As Lorena learns more about the Door and the horrifying price it takes to keep it closed, she’ll have to embrace both parts of herself to survive.


First Line:

It was an honor to work with the dead, but Rylan Hunt – four stone, fifty two inches, eviscerated, my notes read – had died two days before his thirteenth birthday, and no funeral rites would fix that.

What We Devour by Linsey Miller

I had to take a couple of days to process What We Devour before I wrote the review for it. Normally, I don’t do that. I can sit down and write my review and be on my way. But with this book, I had to let everything that happened process before I could even entertain writing this review.

What We Devour is a dark fantasy. Before this book, when I thought of dark fantasy, I thought of Anne Bishop’s The Black Jewel series. I went into reading What We Devour, thinking it would be somewhat like those books. I was wrong, very wrong. This book took dark fantasy and ran with it.

There are several trigger warnings that I am going to address upfront. Trigger warnings are taken directly from Goodreads: self-harm (mainly cutting), murder (mass and child), sacrifices, executions, factory-related accidents and death, child neglect and abuse, filicide, references to siblings’ death, multiple scenes with death, mass suicide, violence, and blood.

What We Devour is a fast-paced book. From the beginning scenes, where Lorena is prepping a burial body, this book doesn’t stop at those frantic last scenes. The author doesn’t sugarcoat what Lorena is or what she can do. She also doesn’t sugarcoat The Heir, his mother, or anyone else in the book. I read through the book believing that 90% of the people introduced were psychopaths. I mean, if you could create or destroy, wouldn’t you be? Wouldn’t your abilities drive you mad, even with the bindings? I know it would for me.

The world that What We Devour is set in is a bleak, brutal world. Children, more often than not, outlived parents. If you were a wrought (noble or vile), you were often bound, against your will, to the court. You could also be brought up on false charges and sacrificed to The Door. As I said, it was a brutal, terrible world to live in.

I felt terrible for Lorena. All she wanted was a quiet life in Fellhollow, being the town’s undertaker. Instead, she is forced to reveal that she is a dual wrought and then forced to research for The Heir. She is forced to make terrible decisions and face some very uncomfortable truths about people she loved. By the end of the book, though, she did what she thought was right…what she thought would protect the people of her country. She couldn’t stop the inevitable, but she could save as many lives as she could.

The Heir was 100% a psychopath. But I don’t think he was a natural-born psycho. Instead, he was a made one through the abuse of his father and mother and by the power of his Vile wrought. I did have sympathy for him, though. He wanted, in the worse way, to close The Door so that the sacrifices would stop. He wanted someone to understand him.

What We Devour kept me on my toes reading. There were several twists in turns in the plotline that took me by surprise. Just a warning, don’t get too close to any of the characters (except Lorena). They are all expendable.

I loved the fantasy angle of the book. The author created a world that repulsed me, but at the same time, it intrigued me. Her explanation of Vile and Noble, how the wroughts were made, The Door, and what would happen when The Door was opened had me hooked.

The end of What We Devour left me sitting with my mouth open. Everything that happened took me 100% by surprise. The author didn’t resolve any storylines. Instead, she left me wanting to read book 2.


What We Devour is a dark fantasy that had me hooked from page 1. I enjoyed reading it!!

I would recommend What We Devour for anyone over the age of 21. There are violence, blood, murder, and suicide references. See above for a complete list of triggers.

After the Fire by Will Hill

After the Fire

4 Stars

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Date of publication: October 1st, 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Thriller

Where you can find After the Fire: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

The things I’ve seen are burned into me, like scars that refuse to fade.

Before, she lived inside the fence. Before, she was never allowed to leave the property, never allowed to talk to Outsiders, never allowed to speak her mind. Because Father John controlled everything—and Father John liked rules. Disobeying Father John came with terrible consequences.

But there are lies behind Father John’s words. Outside, there are different truths.

Then came the fire.


My Review:

When I started reading After the Fire, I was thinking that this was going to be a run of the mill Young Adult book. You know, a book where the plucky heroine saves the day. She solves the mystery and gets the bad guy. When I started reading After the Fire last night, I thought that I would get to 30-40% before going to sleep. Yeah, that didn’t happen. Instead, I was up until almost 12am, devouring this book. I got emotionally invested. I needed to find out what lead up to the fire. I needed to know what would happen to Moonbeam.

After the Fire is Moonbeam’s story. Moonbeam is a survivor of a raid on her cult’s compound. Unlike the other children that were saved, she has secrets. Secrets that eat away at her soul. Secrets that need to come out. Recovering from the raid at a children’s psychiatric hospital, Moonbeam must tell what life was like inside the compound. She also needs to tell them the events that led up to the raid. But can she? Can she overcome everything that has been beaten into her? Or will Father John’s hold on her extend into this new life?

I wasn’t a fan of how the book was broken up at first. There was Before the fire and After the fire. Before detailed how life was at the compound. How Father John and his Centurions dealt out savage punishments. How everyone walked on eggshells because they didn’t want to be the next one in the box. It was a frightening and oppressive existence. After detailed, Moonbeam’s time in the hospital, recovering from wounds attained in the raid. But more importantly, she is being helped mentally to adjust to being Outside. They also want her to tell them about what led up to the raid and what happened when she went into The Big House while it was going on. Like I said earlier, I wasn’t a huge fan of it at first but as I read the book, I realized that there was a flow to the book. All Before scenes were told in therapy sessions. After I realized that, the book flowed nicely for me.

The characters in this book were layered. I like that in a character. I like being able to peel back the layers to see what made that character up. Take Luke for instance. When he is introduced, I thought that he was an innocent victim. But as the book went on and more of Luke’s personality was revealed, I realized that he had been 100% indoctrinated. That began when Father John took over. By the end of the book, I felt bad for him. Even though he did some atrocious things Before and After, he was still a child that had been abused.

I despised Father John. He was the epitome of evil. He took child brides (which disgusted me). He turned Luke into a fanatic that about flipped his wig when he wasn’t accepted into being a Centurion. I thought he got what was coming to him during the fire.

The secondary characters made this book what it was. They were very well-developed. I will say that I was upset with what happened to Nate. I actually groaned and said “Nooooo” when it was revealed what happened.

The end of the book filled me with hope. The author did a great job of wrapping up all the storylines. He did a fantastic job at letting the reader know that deprogramming from a cult takes months, not weeks. He showed me that those kids could go on to live normal lives. But most of all, he showed me what happened to Moonbeam. The afterword was worth the read.

What I liked about After the Fire:

  1. Not your typical YA book
  2. Layered characters
  3. The end of the book

What I disliked about After the Fire:

  1. How the book was broken up at first
  2. Luke (even though I pitied him)
  3. Father John

I gave After the Fire a 4-star rating. This is not your typical YA book and I liked that. It had layered characters (main and secondary). I loved the end of the book. What I disliked about the book didn’t have a huge impact on my rating. They were personal feelings. I didn’t like how the book was broken up when I started reading it. I didn’t like Luke or Father John.

I would give After the Fire an Older Teen rating. There is no sex. There is language. There is violence. The scene of the raid and of a man being almost starved to death in a box can be triggers. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 16.

I would reread After the Fire. I would also recommend it to family and friends.

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review After the Fire.

All opinions stated in this review of After the Fire are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller

Mask of Shadows by [Miller, Linsey]

Title: Mask of Shadows

Author: Linsey Miller

Publisher: SOURCEBOOKS Fire

Date of publication: September 5th, 2017

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBTQIA

Number of pages: 352

POV: 1st person

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis (via Goodreads): 

Sallot Leon is a thief and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class―and the nobles who destroyed their home.

When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand―the Queen’s personal assassins, named after the rings she wears―Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge.

But the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. And as Sal succeeds in the competition, and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future, but one that Sal can have only if they survive.

My review:

I was pretty excited to read Mask of Shadows. When I first read the blurb on the NetGalley posting, it caught my interest. The last fantasy novel I read with a genderfluid character was The Farseer/The Tawny Man/The Fitz and The Fool series with The Fool being the genderfluid character (and before anyone asks, I have read all of those series plus 2 that aren’t listed).

I actually liked Sal. She/He/They thought on his/her/their feet. The fact that she/he/they wanted to become Opal and went for it was great. Her/His/Their other reason for becoming Opal (finding the lords who refused to help her homeland and assassinating them) was pretty valid too. She/He/They thought that if she/he/they became Opal, that she/he/they could take on the lords as a side job.

I did think that the audition was a little reminiscent of The Hunger Games….but only, and stress only when the members of The Left Hand told them that it was a free-for-all. Once the auditioners were whittled down from 23 to 8, the free for all ended and they started to be eliminated by The Left-Hand members or the remaining people were disqualified. Any similarities to The Hunger Games were ended. I mean, I read The Hunger Games and they battled it out to the last person (well, last two people in Katniss and Peeta’s case). Not here. The Left-Hand members decided who was going to be Opal and let the remaining two people (in this case, it was referenced that there were more at previous auditions) go.

The masks kinda bothered me, though. I don’t like masks. I have a phobia about things covering my face and even reading about them skeeved me out. They had to eat with those things on and I can only imagine what the insides looked like….puke. So yes, I spent almost the whole book being grossed out and praying that the masks will go away…lol.

I also liked the romance between Elise and Sal. It was sweet and totally forbidden. I actually had a huge smile on my face during those scenes. Sal really had no clue on how to act because Elise was an Erland and he/she/they hated the Erlands with a passion because of what happened to his/her/their homeland. I also liked Elise’s personality. She was spunky and she definitely not afraid to stand up for who and what she believed in.

The main plot, the audition, ended the way I thought it would (giving nothing away). But the secondary plot about Sal and her/his/their obsession with getting even with the Erland’s took a very surprising, and sad, turn. Want to find out….read the book.

The end of the book was definitely a cliffhanger. As much as I dislike cliffhangers, this one worked and I really can’t wait for book 2!!

How many stars will I give Mask of Shadows: 4

Why: I enjoyed reading this book and it definitely kept me engrossed.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Late Teen

Why: Violence

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**