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readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Child abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Self harm, and Blood
Minor: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Medical content, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Misogyny, Car accident, Homophobia, Colonisation, War, Religious bigotry, Murder, Genocide, Child death, and Abandonment
booksbeyondthebinary's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, and Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Car accident
justinekorson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY FOR PROVIDING ME WITH AN ARC OF THIS STORY
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
I don't often read novels in verse and I didn't even realize this was a novel in verse (I think I skipped over that line in the synopsis) but this was one of the better ones I read! For some verse novels I feel like it's hard for authors to world build so I can never really picture what's going on around the characters but for this novel I could see The City so well. The descriptions of The City and it's people (although short) were very impactful so I could clearly picture in my minds eye the underworld that Renee and Andres were walking through.
Vasily/Virgil was a great addition to the story too. I didn't anticipate him having as big of a role as he did but I'm glad he ended up having his own happy ending!
I REALLY loved as well how Renee and Liora didn't get upset with Andres when they found out The Prince was Andres shadow. They loved and supported him and didn't make him feel bad for his past (they did the same for Liora so it's only fair). I appreciated as well how Andres sacrifice ended up being his guitar and NOT Liora like he was worried it would be. I'm imagining a really good future for the three of them because they all seemed really mature.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
I don't often read novels in verse and I didn't even realize this was a novel in verse (I think I skipped over that line in the synopsis) but this was one of the better ones I read! For some verse novels I feel like it's hard for authors to world build so I can never really picture what's going on around the characters but for this novel I could see The City so well. The descriptions of The City and it's people (although short) were very impactful so I could clearly picture in my minds eye the underworld that Renee and Andres were walking through.
Vasily/Virgil was a great addition to the story too. I didn't anticipate him having as big of a role as he did but I'm glad he ended up having his own happy ending!
I REALLY loved as well how Renee and Liora didn't get upset with Andres when they found out The Prince was Andres shadow. They loved and supported him and didn't make him feel bad for his past (they did the same for Liora so it's only fair). I appreciated as well how Andres sacrifice ended up being his guitar and NOT Liora like he was worried it would be. I'm imagining a really good future for the three of them because they all seemed really mature.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Self harm, Violence, War, Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Eating disorder
chainingbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Thank you to the Peachtree Teen for providing this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
“We’re more / than these monsters / and the shadows they paint us with. / We don’t need to be afraid of what they show us. / But they should be afraid of what we can show them.”
“Death’s Country” is a stunning queer reimagining of the classic tale of Orpheus and Eurydice that beautifully blends Latine heritage with the already well known Greek tales and mythology.
Written as a novel in verse we follow Andres Santos as he finds himself having to learn what it means to truly grow, love, and be loved. The story begins with his explosive past in São Paulo and how he has found himself in Miami, relying on music to help escape his toxic home life. Living in Miami he finds himself infatuated with Renee and Liora, who are already a couple, but welcome Andres as their third. When Liora is involved in a car accident leaving her in a coma, Renee proposes that her and Andres go fetch her soul from the City of the dead. Andres, worried about what he may find waiting for him there, reluctantly agrees and he learns more about himself there than he ever has in the land of the living.
My favorite parts of this book were the characters and the way that Romero was able to handle such heavy themes with care. Through only short vignettes or quick interactions between characters I found myself able to quickly grasp who each person was or what they represented in the City of the dead. Along with getting to know these characters, we got to know their pasts and, although many of their stories were quite heavy, they were told in very respectful ways.
The pacing of the story seemed to follow the feelings of the main character, Andres, slow and intentional in moments of joy but rushing to the finish line in uncomfortable situations. In some ways this helped me get a sense of what being inside of his head was like, however I do think it made for the beginning of this story to feel rushed. Especially since the time spent in the City of the dead was given so much world-building and in-depth moments. If the beginning was given as much detail I think it would have really helped the reader feel more invested in the triad’s relationship and make the stakes feel even higher.
While it took me a bit of time to find the rhythm within Romero’s style of verse, I found I really enjoyed their linguistic choices and their beautifully laid out metaphors. There were so many passages I found myself highlighting, as the raw emotion or dreamy imagery just exuded off of the page. The most disjointing thing to me was how on the nose some references were. Although a wonderful love letter to classic epic poems, it did feel off that characters would almost self-insert themselves, stating exactly who they were representative of during the journey. Along with that, there were some formatting choices in the ARC edition that I found myself constantly stumbling through to catch the rhythm again. The biggest issues I ran into were the choices of bold text that I could not discern if they were meant to be read with emphasis or a new section of the story and that the chapter headers were not separated out onto new pages.
Overall I would recommend this to someone who either loves novels in verse or someone who loves the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. The themes and messages this novel focused on were handled very well, there were some really strong quotes that will sit with me for some time, and the journey of Andres growing to learn what it means to love and be loved is such an important message for YA readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Eating disorder and Self harm
atlastheninth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I received a free ARC of this book and here's my honest review.
First things first: This is written in verse and that is super fucking cool. I adore the prose: It's beautiful and flows easily.
The book is a rather quick read and given that, I found it impressive how much plot there is and how well we get to know the characters. It also deals with a lot of heavy topics and it handles them well enough but I think it might have been better with one or two less.
And even though the story is predictable, that didn't take away too much from my reading experience.
"Love doesn't need to be divided
between two people.
There's enough of it
to go around."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Emotional abuse, Death, War, and Eating disorder
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