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Andres Santos of São Paulo was all swinging fists and firecracker fury, a foot soldier in the war between his parents. Until he drowned in the Tietê River… and made a bargain with Death for a new life. A year later, his parents have relocated the family to Miami, but their promises of a fresh start quickly dissolve in the summer heat.

Instead of fists, Andres now uses music to escape his parents’ battles. While wandering Miami Beach, he meets two girls: photographer Renee, a blaze of fire, and dancer Liora, a ray of sunshine. The three become a polyamorous triad, happy, despite how no one understands their relationship. But when a car accident leaves Liora in a coma, Andres and Renee are shattered.

Then Renee proposes a radical solution: She and Andres must go into the underworld to retrieve their girlfriend’s spirit and reunite it with her body—before it’s too late. Their search takes them to the City of the dead, where painters bleed color, songs grow flowers, and regretful souls will do anything to forget their lives on earth. But finding Liora’s spirit is only the first step in returning to the living world. Because when Andres drowned, he left a part of himself in the underworld—a part he’s in no hurry to meet again. But it is eager to be reunited with him…

(Content warnings: Death, war, drowning, self-harm, disordered eating)

AWARDS & PRAISE

☆ Chicago Public Library’s Best Teen Fiction of 2024 ☆

☆ New York Public Library’s Best Books for Teens 2024 ☆

☆ Reactor Notable 2024 YA SFF ☆

PUBLISHER

  • Spun with allusions to mythology and literature, Romero’s novel in verse ensnares hearts and imaginations through vivid and memorable poetic craft that captures the ache and complexity of love. An alluring and lyrical journey.”

    — Kirkus starred review

  • “Death’s Country is a jaw-dropping, heart-wrenching examination of queer love and identity. Romero fully reimagines the Underworld with poetic grandeur to craft a story that frequently left me breathless. A must-read adventure!”

    — Mark Oshiro, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sun and the Star

  • “R. M. Romero wields words both like a brush and a blade in Death’s Country, painting vivid images one moment and then making them bleed with searing symbolism the next. Powerfully emotive, Death’s Country shows how we keep growing and learning and becoming ourselves—even in the underworld.”

    – Autumn Krause, critically acclaimed author of Before the Devil Knows You’re Here

  • “Told through R. M. Romero’s lush, visceral, and wholly original poetic voice, Death’s Country is a masterfully layered and kaleidoscopic reimagining of mythology and folklore. A dazzling and thought-provoking work of art!”

    — Rebecca Caprara, critically acclaimed author of Spin

  • "An original and anguished blend of music, magic and Judaic traditions. . . . [A] wistful and deeply symbolic tale of feeling seen and finding powerful connections to the past.”

    — Shelf Awareness starred review

  • “A splendidly rhapsodic novel-in-verse retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice that tenderly portrays polyamorous queer love and the expansive emotions behind embracing a complex self.”

    – Shelf Awareness

  • “Employing action-oriented and descriptive verse, Romero pulls from Dante’s Inferno as well as Latinx, Judaic, Greek, and Afro-Caribbean mythologies to craft this surreal queer polyamorous love story.”

    — Publishers Weekly

  • ”In her polyamorous take on Orpheus and Eurydice, Romero writes in dreamy verses that draw on current events and pop culture. Like a good cover song, this will strike a chord in older teens with a fondness for the classics.”

    – Booklist