Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > Death's Country

I feel like categorizing and marketing R. M. Romero’s books strictly as YA is doing them and her a huge disservice, because her writing transcends such boundaries: they’re novels in verse, poetry made into a novel. Poetry doesn’t know age groups. It only knows beauty.

While it’s not my favorite of Romero’s books (The Ghosts of Rose Hill is still my fave), I was still enraptured by the writing, swept away by the story, and was crying onto my pillow by the end.

Polyamory is still a titillating topic for fiction in adult books, let alone a book about 16 year-olds. On a personal level, I would love to see polyamory more normalized and treated as compassionately and as well as Romero did in this book, because every heart has the capacity for infinite love; however, that doesn’t mean that every person is capable of it. Capacity and capability are two different things, and no one is poorer for being capable of loving more than one person or not being capable of loving people at all (on a romantic level). Love is love, and no one has the right to tell you who you can or should love. I’ve met polyamorous teenagers because I’m polyamorous myself and raised my kids in a polyamorous household. My older kid is polyamorous.

There was so much in this book I loved: The musical references to David Bowie (beloved but deceased bisexual icon), at least three significant references to Sylvia Plath, a haunting homage to Gianni Versace, and the unique spin on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth (which I almost forgot about at some points in favor of the more original points in the story).

The feel of this story is very much soaked in duality: light and shadow, but look deeper. It’s bright neons and glaring sunlight against deepest shadows and darkest nights. It’s a gorgeous and important vibe that Romero executes well and is important to the story. As with all Romero novels, I recommend it.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/LGBTQ Fantasy/LGBTQ Romance/Mythological Fiction/Poetry/Polyamorous Romance/YA Fiction