Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle – Full‑Book Quiz
About This Quiz
This 20‑question quiz covers the entire novel Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle. Questions are divided into four categories:
- Plot/Sequence (8 questions) – test your recall of key events in order
- Character Motivation (5 questions) – explore why characters act the way they do
- Theme/Symbol (4 questions) – identify major themes and recurring symbols
- Synthesis (3 questions) – connect ideas across the story
Mix of multiple‑choice and short‑answer formats. After all questions you’ll find a complete answer key with brief explanations. Use the supplied chapter outline and evidence—every factual claim is traceable to the source.
Questions
Plot/Sequence (1–8)
1. (Short Answer)
In Chapter 1, what triggers Konstantin’s first aftertaste? Name the dish he tastes.
2. (Short Answer)
In Chapter 2, what game does Kostya beg his father Sergei to play before Sergei leaves for work?
3. (Multiple Choice)
What cocktail does Kostya mix for Charlie in Chapter 7?
A) Corpse Reviver
B) Spectral Sour
C) Last Word
D) Hemingway Daiquiri
4. (Short Answer)
In Chapter 13, how does chef Michel Beauchêne ruin Kostya’s attempt to summon his father’s ghost?
5. (Short Answer)
What two devastating events occur at the end of Chapter 17?
6. (Multiple Choice)
What name does Kostya give his Manhattan restaurant?
A) Pechonka
B) DUH
C) Kostochka
D) The Library of Spirits
7. (Short Answer)
In Chapter 45, what criminal operation is Viktor’s restaurant actually a front for?
8. (Multiple Choice)
Where does Kostya choose to remain at the novel’s conclusion?
A) In his mother’s cherry orchard
B) In the Afterlife’s Food Hall, helping spirits
C) In Maura’s apartment
D) In the ruins of DUH
Character Motivation (9–13)
9. (Multiple Choice)
Why does Kostya initially want to raise his father’s ghost?
A) To win a cooking competition
B) To gain forgiveness and closure for their last argument
C) To prove his powers to Viktor
D) To ask for a family recipe
10. (Short Answer)
In Chapter 8, why does Bones almost quit before starting his training with Kostya?
11. (Multiple Choice)
In Chapter 22, why does Kostya lie to Maura about having stopped his ghost‑raising experiments?
A) He wants to protect her from the truth
B) He fears she will leave him
C) He wants to pursue his ambition without conflict
D) He forgot about them
12. (Short Answer)
What is Maura’s true motive for insinuating herself into Kostya’s life (revealed in Chapter 40)?
13. (Short Answer)
In Chapter 46, what reason does Kostya’s mother Natalia give for having him institutionalized at age 11?
Theme/Symbol (14–17)
14. (Multiple Choice)
What does the sour cherry (vishnya) come to symbolise throughout the novel?
A) The bitterness of Kostya’s childhood
B) Family legacy and enduring connection
C) The danger of forbidden desires
D) The taste of betrayal
15. (Short Answer)
What does salt represent in the story? Provide at least one key association.
16. (Short Answer)
How does the “Hunger” afflicting dead spirits function thematically? What causes it?
17. (Multiple Choice)
What does the blindfolded tasting game that Kostya plays with his father symbolise?
A) Kostya’s desire for control
B) Heritage, trust, and the father‑son bond
C) The danger of revealing secrets
D) Kostya’s future culinary career
Synthesis (18–20)
18. (Short Answer)
Trace how Kostya’s ability to taste the dead evolves from a curse to a gift. Mention at least two turning points.
19. (Short Answer)
Compare how Kostya and his mother Natalia cope with the grief of losing Sergei. How does each character’s approach differ?
20. (Short Answer)
Explain the significance of the Spectral Sour cocktail in Chapter 7. What does it reveal about the connection between food, memory, and the afterlife?
Answer Key
Plot/Sequence
1. Kostya tastes pechonka (chicken‑liver dish) after kicking the water in frustration while watching other boys play with their fathers at the Brighton Beach pool.
Source: Chapter 1 outline.
2. The blindfolded tasting game – Kostya asks his father to play before Sergei leaves for his bus‑driving shift.
Source: Chapter 2 outline.
3. B) Spectral Sour – Kostya mixes this drink after tasting Charlie’s ghostly aftertaste; it allows Charlie to see and speak with his dead wife Anna.
Source: Chapter 7 outline.
4. Michel forces Kostya to eat the wrong pasta, which erases the aftertaste and banishes Sergei’s ghost. Michel then throws the liver dish into a fryer, splattering Kostya’s arm with hot oil, and fires him.
Source: Chapter 13 outline.
5. The Health Department shuts down Kostya’s unlicensed supper club, and Frankie dies in a fire at Wolfpup.
Source: Chapter 17 outline.
6. B) DUH – Russian for “spirit” and part of Kostya’s surname.
Source: Chapter 35 outline.
7. It is a front for mob operations – illicit transfers conducted via the subway.
Source: Chapter 45 outline.
8. B) In the Afterlife’s Food Hall, helping spirits – Kostya sacrifices his own memories to free trapped souls and chooses to remain in the Afterlife.
Source: Chapter 50 outline and evidence.
Character Motivation
9. B) To gain forgiveness and closure for their last argument – Kostya’s outburst (“Go to the Devil”) haunted him; he wanted to make amends.
Source: Chapter 2 and Chapter 50 evidence.
10. A psychic at a warehouse party in Vinegar Hill tried to dissuade Bones from working with Kostya.
Source: Chapter 8 outline.
11. C) He wants to pursue his ambition without conflict – Maura had assumed he stopped; Kostya feared explaining would jeopardise his restaurant plans with Viktor.
Source: Chapter 22 outline.
12. To use Kostya’s ability to find her dead sister Everleigh and feed her own Hunger.
Source: Chapter 40 outline.
13. Natalia experienced the same aftertaste of burnt liver after Sergei’s death and attempted suicide to stop it. She feared Kostya was suicidal too and wanted him to get proper help.
Source: Chapter 46 outline and evidence.
Theme/Symbol
14. B) Family legacy and enduring connection – The vishnya tree is passed down from great‑grandmother to Kostya; his mother later tends a cherry orchard in his memory.
Source: Chapter 5 and Chapter 52 evidence.
15. Salt represents memory, love, and permanence. Kostya uses fleur de sel to fix too‑sweet varenyky, and Maura’s kiss tastes of a special salt he never forgets.
Source: Chapter 32 and Chapter 54 evidence.
16. The Hunger afflicts spirits whose living loved ones cannot let go – it is caused by the Living’s bottomless grief, which prevents the dead from moving on.
Source: Chapter 19 outline and Chapter 48 evidence.
17. B) Heritage, trust, and the father‑son bond – The game is a cherished ritual that passes down sensory knowledge and love.
Source: Chapter 2 outline and Chapter 50 evidence.
Synthesis
18. Early in Kostya’s life, the aftertastes feel like a curse – they isolate him, lead to psychiatric hospitalisation, and trigger his mother’s fear. The turning point comes in Chapter 7 when he summons Charlie’s wife Anna, realising the ability can bring closure to the grieving. Later, after opening DUH (Chapter 35), he uses his gift professionally to help countless spirits. By Chapter 50, he sacrifices his own memories to free trapped souls, embracing the ability as a profound gift.
Source: Chapters 1, 7, 35, 50.
19. Kostya uses food to connect – he cooks dishes that summon spirits and seeks to recreate his father’s pechonka. Natalia tries to suppress the aftertastes entirely; she attempts suicide to stop them and later refuses to summon Sergei, believing he deserves rest. Kostya clings to memory; Natalia attempts to let go.
Source: Chapters 46, 50, 52.
20. The Spectral Sour reveals that food can act as a bridge between the living and the dead – the drink is made from the ghostly aftertaste of Anna’s favourite cocktail. When Charlie drinks it, Anna appears, delivers closure, and urges him to live. This establishes the key rule: Kostya can summon ghosts by recreating the best thing they ever ate, a principle that drives the entire plot.
Source: Chapter 7 outline.