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Table of Contents
About The Book
“Dark and delicious, sincerely moving and at times laugh out loud funny, a heady, bittersweet, beautiful novel about life and death, grief and closure, passion and hunger. A must-read.” —RACHEL HARRISON, USA TODAY bestselling author of So Thirsty and Black Sheep
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.
Some hungers never fade.
When Konstantin Duhovny cooks a dish tied to a memory of someone deceased, he can summon their ghost back for one final meal. But what begins as a thrilling gift quickly spins out of control when Kostya decides to open a restaurant that promises to reunite the Living and the Dead. (It turns out that messing with the afterlife comes at a steep cost.)
As the boundaries between worlds start to blur, and as Kostya falls in love with a woman with her own secret relationship with the afterlife, he must confront the limits of what can be reclaimed, and what we must let go, in order to move on.
Deliciously unique and deeply emotional, Aftertaste is an epic love story and a genre-blending adventure through eating, grieving, and the moments that make us feel alive.
Hungry? Come take your seat at New York City's most unforgettable culinary experience.
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.
Some hungers never fade.
When Konstantin Duhovny cooks a dish tied to a memory of someone deceased, he can summon their ghost back for one final meal. But what begins as a thrilling gift quickly spins out of control when Kostya decides to open a restaurant that promises to reunite the Living and the Dead. (It turns out that messing with the afterlife comes at a steep cost.)
As the boundaries between worlds start to blur, and as Kostya falls in love with a woman with her own secret relationship with the afterlife, he must confront the limits of what can be reclaimed, and what we must let go, in order to move on.
Deliciously unique and deeply emotional, Aftertaste is an epic love story and a genre-blending adventure through eating, grieving, and the moments that make us feel alive.
Hungry? Come take your seat at New York City's most unforgettable culinary experience.
Reading Group Guide
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1. As Kostya discovers, aftertastes are food memories so potent and special that they form a tether between the Dead and the Living who love them. What would your aftertaste be? Who would it connect you to?
2. Share an early memory of food or cooking, and the “flavor” that memory has for you. (Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, savory, spicy, etc.)
3. Kostya keeps his clairgustance a secret for most of his life. If you had the power to taste the Dead, would you keep it hidden?
4. Vera’s fear and inability to cope after Sergei’s death is one of the things haunting Kostya into adulthood. How do her actions and their relationship impact Kostya’s decision-making?
5. Which of Kostya’s restaurant experiences did you like best? Library of Spirits, Saveur Fare, Hell’s Kitchen, or DUH? What did he learn about his gift at each one?
6. Kostya goes to extreme lengths to see his dad again—how far might you go to see someone you loved one more time?
7. Who (or what) is the villain or antagonizing force in Aftertaste? What causes the conflicts in the living world? What causes the issues arising in the Afterlife?
8. Maura’s confession at DUH sends Konstantin reeling. What might have happened if she had chosen to be honest sooner? Why do you think she kept her hunger and her visits to the Afterlife hidden, and did those reasons change during the story?
9. The characters in Aftertaste keep many secrets throughout the book. Which were the most surprising to you and why?
10. The book is structured with chapters that alternate between narratives from the living world (Kostya’s story) and the Afterlife (Frankie’s tour, Everleigh’s experience, Maura’s trips), meaning that the reader always knows more than Konstantin does about the effect his food is having. How would your perspective change if you only had access to Kostya’s narrative?
2. Share an early memory of food or cooking, and the “flavor” that memory has for you. (Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, savory, spicy, etc.)
3. Kostya keeps his clairgustance a secret for most of his life. If you had the power to taste the Dead, would you keep it hidden?
4. Vera’s fear and inability to cope after Sergei’s death is one of the things haunting Kostya into adulthood. How do her actions and their relationship impact Kostya’s decision-making?
5. Which of Kostya’s restaurant experiences did you like best? Library of Spirits, Saveur Fare, Hell’s Kitchen, or DUH? What did he learn about his gift at each one?
6. Kostya goes to extreme lengths to see his dad again—how far might you go to see someone you loved one more time?
7. Who (or what) is the villain or antagonizing force in Aftertaste? What causes the conflicts in the living world? What causes the issues arising in the Afterlife?
8. Maura’s confession at DUH sends Konstantin reeling. What might have happened if she had chosen to be honest sooner? Why do you think she kept her hunger and her visits to the Afterlife hidden, and did those reasons change during the story?
9. The characters in Aftertaste keep many secrets throughout the book. Which were the most surprising to you and why?
10. The book is structured with chapters that alternate between narratives from the living world (Kostya’s story) and the Afterlife (Frankie’s tour, Everleigh’s experience, Maura’s trips), meaning that the reader always knows more than Konstantin does about the effect his food is having. How would your perspective change if you only had access to Kostya’s narrative?
About The Author
Caroline Baptista
Daria Lavelle is an American fiction writer. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and raised in the New York metro area, her work explores themes of identity and belonging through magic and the uncanny. Her short stories have appeared in The Deadlands, The Dread Machine, and elsewhere, and she holds degrees in writing from Princeton University and Sarah Lawrence College. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, children, and goldendoodle, all of whom love a great meal almost as much as she does. Learn more at DariaLavelle.com.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 20, 2025)
- Length: 400 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668204702
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Raves and Reviews
“A decadent debut that marks the arrival of a sparkling new voice. Dark and delicious, sincerely moving and at times laugh out loud funny, a heady, bittersweet, beautiful novel about life and death, grief and closure, passion and hunger. A must-read.”—RACHEL HARRISON, USA Today Bestselling author of So Thirsty and Black Sheep
“Aftertaste is a breathtaking novel. Combining the grit of the restaurant world with the magic of the afterlife, Daria Lavelle perfectly blends unexpected ingredients into a book you'll want to savor. It's a story about grief that's filled with humor, warmth, and astounding creativity, and I already can't wait to read it again.”—LAURA HANKIN, author of One-Star Romance and The Daydreams
“This is a terrific book. Aftertaste offers the glories of food and cooking—all the yes-chef details we now love—in a cool, brilliant, and suspenseful novel whose spec-fic plot wants to talk about the mysteries of sense-memory and death. I could not put it down.”—JOAN SILBER, author of Secrets of Happiness and Improvement
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