Death’s Country

By: Jamie Steinberg

I absolutely adored R. M. Romero’s book The Ghosts of Rose Hill. However, her latest read Death’s Country threw me off. We follow a teenage boy who comes from a trouble background as he falls for two young women – struggling to keep his past from interfering with his romance(s). Romero is known for beautifully intertwining the supernatural with fantasy but here I felt the storyline lacked the pizzaz and power of previous tales. If you’re looking for a modern-day take on a love story gone awry, this might be a worthy read. Unfortunately, the unique verse and twisted tale fails to captivate.

Andres Santos is a teenager living in São Paulo. His machismo keeps him getting into fights and filled with fury. It doesn’t help that his home life is rife with struggle as his parents are constantly at odds with one another. His life gets turned upside down after a particularly difficult day finds him losing his life in the Tietê River – that is until he makes a deal with Death to save himself. This bargain comes with a price though, he’ll eventually have to give up something he loves. More concerned with living a full life, Andres agrees to this. Upon returning to the living and breathing world, his parents uproot and move the family to Miami. Here he meets two best friends, Liora – a gorgeous and talented dancer – and Renee – a beautiful and exceptional photographer. This is where the story gets a little frazzled for me as they (too) quickly become a polyamorous union. Adding to this complicated trio is the looming promise Andres once made, which seems to be coming to fruition when Liora finds herself in a car accident where she winds up in a coma. Maybe it’s the stanza style. Maybe it’s their all too fast of a connection. It could be the adventure that they undertake to the underworld to save their girlfriend’s spirit so it can be reunited with her body. In fact, it’s all of these things that found me feeling disconnected and overwhelmed. Liora and Andres’ trip to the City of the Dead just feels clunky. It’s less about saving Liora and more a mix of politics and Andres’ struggling to reconcile his past. Romero excels at painting a picture for the audience with her words; however, their search is difficult to invest in. Liora has her camera to help her wage war while in the underworld and Andres has his guitar – Ariel – by his side. Add some spirit animals and a dead boy to help guide them along on their mission and you’ve got a perplexing adventure.

While readers will want to fall for Andres and his beauties, it’s just difficult to find your footing in this mix of magic and romance. It lacks a reason to root for Andres to save himself and his lady loves. If you’re looking to fall hard with an investible love story, I am sad to say that Death’s Country won’t be your soulmate.