Thank you Libro.fm / Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Atria Books, #partner for the advanced e-copy of Nothing Tastes As Good in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Atria Books / Simon & Schuster Audio
Published: March 31, 2026
Summary:
The acclaimed author of the “disorienting, creepy, paranoia-inducing” (Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World) A History of Fear returns with a spine-tingling new thriller about a weight loss treatment with potentially murderous side effects.
Retail worker Emmett Truesdale has never fit the Southern California mold of six-pack, suntanned masculinity. Over three hundred pounds, he carries the weight of his childhood trauma and millennial ennui around his waist and in his soul. After trying every diet under the sun, he remains stuck—in his dead-end job, in love, and in his body.
Desperate for help, he enrolls in a clinical trial for a new weight loss product called Obexity. The treatment is as horrifying as the results are miraculous and as Emmett sheds pounds at superhuman speed, every part of his life improves overnight.
Unfortunately, Obexity comes with some killer side effects, including lost stretches of time and overwhelming cravings. Worse, people who were cruel to him have started disappearing and when the police warn of a cannibalistic killer on the loose, he fears that Obexity is turning him into a monster. But how can he give it up now that people are finally starting to treat him like he’s human?
Nerve-racking, sinister, and at times surreal, Nothing Tastes as Good is an unputdownable thriller that combines The Substance with the best of Stephen King and keeps you guessing until the final page.
My thoughts:
Don’t be fooled by this amazing cover featuring this tasty treat…the story inside, while completely satisfying, is darker than you might think.
The horror genre is one I’m still finding my footing in, but this book is what I am loving about it. The way an author can take a subject and turn it on its head…in this case, weight loss and all the diet fads most of us have grown up hearing about. Using childhood trauma as a driving force, this book takes a hard look at how the two could possibly go hand in hand, while making social commentary on how some of those programs did more harm than good.
This book is dark, unsettling and wholly relatable. I loved Emmett and I think most of us can find a little of ourselves in Emmett. Of course, because this is horror, the story takes some unexpected turns and it does get gory, but again…it’s horror. The one thing that kept coming back to me with this is that do we ever know all the side effects of these drugs??
This is such a thought-provoking, hard-hitting read as much as it is a timely one. I think, for those that can stomach it, it really would make for a great book club pick…there really is a lot to unpack!
Audio thoughts:
This was fantastic on audio…I ended up listening to it in two sittings because I couldn’t put it down. It has a full-cast narration–Graham Halstead, Ali Andre Ali, Raquel Beattie, Cassandra Campbell and James Anderson Foster–all bring their A-game.
It was the title that drew me in!
Author
Right?!? Me, too!