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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
entamewitchlulu's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
4.5
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC.
An incredibly beautiful, lyrical story about love and becoming the best version of yourself by accepting all your worst parts. I could really just make this review a list of stanzas that struck me, but it would be way better for someone to experience each of those beautiful "aha" moments of poetic understanding themselves.
I loved the mixed up bag of references to all sorts of stories of the underworld from around the world, the combining of Persephone and Eurydice, of Orpheus and Dante, even the twist of the Hero Twins of Aztec legend braided in for good measure. The surreal setting was perfectly captured by the verse style, and I loved all of the imagery of Renee's camera and Andres's guitar becoming their "weapons/shields" as they journeyed through the City.
An excellent, poignant story that settles in very nicely as you read.
An incredibly beautiful, lyrical story about love and becoming the best version of yourself by accepting all your worst parts. I could really just make this review a list of stanzas that struck me, but it would be way better for someone to experience each of those beautiful "aha" moments of poetic understanding themselves.
I loved the mixed up bag of references to all sorts of stories of the underworld from around the world, the combining of Persephone and Eurydice, of Orpheus and Dante, even the twist of the Hero Twins of Aztec legend braided in for good measure. The surreal setting was perfectly captured by the verse style, and I loved all of the imagery of Renee's camera and Andres's guitar becoming their "weapons/shields" as they journeyed through the City.
An excellent, poignant story that settles in very nicely as you read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Death, and Child abuse
Minor: Medical content, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Self harm
cathwolfiereads's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
(Thank you to R.M Romero, Holiday House, Peachtree Teen and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC)
“Death’s country” is a beautiful book written in verse about Andres and his girlfriend Renee trying to find and guide their other girlfriend Liora back to the living world again by entering death’s country.
It is very beautifully and poetically written and u really liked how the author had written the characters and their stories. However, I did feel like some parts of the story was very fast paced and/or confusing to read because of the poetic writing. But that could also be my own interpretation of the story.
And I also really liked that there were polyamorous representation in the book and also how it took up a few mental health issues and just overall showed that life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows and how we have to embrace our flaws and past in order to move forward.
But I feel like some parts of the book left out a whole lot, sure there were a good plot line but it also felt like it was a tiny bit all over the place. And sometimes the characters felt a little bland in some chapters and then in others they seemed to bloom.
I did however feel like I connected somewhat with the characters but I also felt like they were more acquaintances to me as a reader than they were someone we have been getting to know throughout the book and at one point the book and the characters felt a little boring to me because they felt like they were just strangers to the reader.
But I would still recommend this book to anyone who likes poetry, LGBTQIA+ representation and anything written in verse because then you have a spot on book for that. And maybe this book wasn’t really for me but might be someone else’s favourite book. So I highly recommend reading it and see!
“Death’s country” is a beautiful book written in verse about Andres and his girlfriend Renee trying to find and guide their other girlfriend Liora back to the living world again by entering death’s country.
It is very beautifully and poetically written and u really liked how the author had written the characters and their stories. However, I did feel like some parts of the story was very fast paced and/or confusing to read because of the poetic writing. But that could also be my own interpretation of the story.
And I also really liked that there were polyamorous representation in the book and also how it took up a few mental health issues and just overall showed that life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows and how we have to embrace our flaws and past in order to move forward.
But I feel like some parts of the book left out a whole lot, sure there were a good plot line but it also felt like it was a tiny bit all over the place. And sometimes the characters felt a little bland in some chapters and then in others they seemed to bloom.
I did however feel like I connected somewhat with the characters but I also felt like they were more acquaintances to me as a reader than they were someone we have been getting to know throughout the book and at one point the book and the characters felt a little boring to me because they felt like they were just strangers to the reader.
But I would still recommend this book to anyone who likes poetry, LGBTQIA+ representation and anything written in verse because then you have a spot on book for that. And maybe this book wasn’t really for me but might be someone else’s favourite book. So I highly recommend reading it and see!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Emotional abuse
Minor: Car accident, Death, Self harm, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content
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
thebookvali's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder
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