Bookishrealm's Reviews > Death's Country

I'm not sure what to make of this book. It's my first time reading R.M. Romero and I think I picked a pretty intense title. It was dark, yet romantic and powerful. CW: death, self-harm, drowning, disordered eating, parental figures who create a toxic housewold.

Death's Country caught my attention because of it's centering of a polyamorous relationship. This isn't something that I've seen much in young adult and I was curious on how R.M. Romero was going to craft a darker fantasy romance around teenagers attempting to figure out themselves and their relationship. This is a queer retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice (I've never read the original) that follows main character Andres who is attempting to navigate a chaotic home life. He ends up drowning in the Tietê River and makes a bargain with death at a second life. During this "second" chance, he meets two other characters Renee and Liora. The three fall in love with each other and enjoy the many nuances of their relationship. Unfortunately, Liora gets into a car accident and ends up in a coma. Renee and Andres make the decision to travel to the underworld to retrieve her soul to save the one they love.

What Worked: While the writing in verse doesn't give much space for the development of their relationship, I liked Andres, Renee, and Liora together. Romero does a wonderful job giving each character a distinct personality that balances out their relationship. It is evident that the three care about each other beyond the confines of their relationship. The world building was also interesting. The underworld ending up being a lot more complex that what I anticipated. The mentioning of certain people and the interaction that Renee and Andres share with a soldier who fought in the Ukrainian War was extremely interesting. This is not to say that books written in verse can't have thorough world building and character development; however, I do think that Romero did such an excellent job slowing building up to and breaking the expectations that even Renee and Andres had for death and the underworld.

What Didn't Work: There is a "twist" at the end of the book that was pretty apparent early on. Granted, it tied nicely into the character development and messaging about self-acceptance; however, I think that it lacked the punch that Romero was anticipating for readers. While I enjoyed the character development, world building, and plot development, the writing did feel like it struggled in some areas. I didn't read this physically so my critique is mainly based on the interpretation of the text by the audiobook narrator. While poetic in some areas, it felt disjointed in others. This led for a reading experience that took away from the overall flow of the novel.

This is definitely an interesting read. Once I get some time, I think that I'll take a moment to work through Romero's back list.