Death's Country by R.M. Romero (A Warning About Swans) is 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.
Sixteen-year-old Andres Santos is "a snarl/ of thorns playacting/ at being a boy," a tempest of "pointless fury" sustained by his Cuban mami and Brazilian papi's volatile relationship. Then, he meets Liora and Renee. The three soon form a romantic bond that serves as Andres's "sanctuary." After an accident lands Liora in a coma, Renee and Andres travel to the underworld to retrieve her soul. But, unbeknownst to Renee, Andres has already been here. Months ago, Andres drowned and bargained for his life with Death herself. Death agreed to cleave away Andres's shadow--his anger--in exchange for something he loves. Now, Andres fears Liora is that something. Andres, however, isn't the only one with secret wounds.
Romero's transportive prose, via Andres's soulful first-person narration, conjures a land of "broken animals," the "phantom perfume" of "crumbling flowers," the envy of stuck "film-strip souls" desperate to forget regrets, and predatory "vulture men" with "sickle-edged" smiles. The story bursts with the beauty of romantic love ("my first kiss with Liora/ became the third bar of our trio's anthem") and stresses that "any rule that limits love/ doesn't make sense... We're a circle, not a series of strings/ about to knot and break." Romero sleekly references literature (The Divine Comedy) and music (Bowie, Cobain, the Beatles) between gorgeous turns of phrase (kisses "soft/ as sea-foam"; "ballad blue" Miami nights; a highway as the city's "electrified spine"). A melodic marvel. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer