Review by Booklist Review
Gospel is a Keeper, living in a place called a Leaving Room and shepherding transitioning souls across the space between life and death. On bookshelves made from a living tree, she keeps jars filled with marblesized memories--the very best memory of each person she meets. When she is alone, she plays mancala with a tree stump named Methuselah, who bears brutal scars from an unknown trauma. There is a lot about her role that she doesn't understand and many rules she must follow carefully. The longer she spends as a Keeper, the more aware Gospel becomes of the passing of time, and some of the souls she meets seem to begin holding more significance. When the boundaries between Gospel's Leaving Room and another begin to thin, she meets another Keeper named Melodee. As they begin to share their gifts with each other--Gospel's delicious desserts (several recipes included) and Melodee's moving violin music--the mysterious circumstances surrounding them also begin to unravel. Sparse yet evocative verse brings to life a deep and profound exploration of the liminal space between life and death, between here and wherever there is. Love and loss are given equal space in the narrative, and creative, thoughtful play with the structure of words on the page is engaging. Gorgeous and haunting, through and through.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A teen steward acting as a bridge to the afterlife wonders if there's more to her existence in this achingly tender verse romance by McBride (Onyx & Beyond). Gospel is a Keeper, a being tasked with helping Leavers--the recently deceased--make peace with their deaths. As a Keeper, Gospel must follow a core set of rules: don't lie, don't enter another Keeper's room, don't review the memories collected from Leavers. Despite these mandates, Gospel watches her Leavers' memories and chafes against the reality that "Keepers can't feel./ We Just are. We keep." Nonetheless, Gospel takes pride in her duties, preparing meals for the young spirits in her care to ensure that they "find joy in whatever is next." Over the course of her work, Gospel becomes especially affected by five-year-old Maple and eight-year-old Suvi, and after beautiful and enchanting violinist Melodee, another Keeper, enters Gospel's room, the encounter sparks within Gospel a desire to experience things beyond her perceived purpose. Through quiet, in-between-feeling moments rendered in an eerie, philosophical tone, McBride considers the liminal spaces between life and death, as well as the weight of grief and loss on children, particularly Black youth. Richly imagined settings pulled from Leavers' memories ("Haint-blue ceilings/ & rocking chairs to sit/ & watch giant willows weep") evoke Black Southern gothic imagery, adding texture to this wholesome speculative novel. Ages 12--up. Agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Heirloom Literary. (Oct.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--Gospel is the Keeper of the Leaving Room, where children go before they die. Her job is to comfort these children in her care, and then coax them to give her their best memory so they are not forgotten when they pass through. One of the few rules of the Leaving Room is that there is only one Keeper and one Leaver allowed in the room. A new Leaver is not allowed in Gospel's room until the previous Leaver is gone. As much as Gospel follows this rule, there are other ones she breaks, which causes her room to malfunction. Eventually, she bumps into another Keeper named Melodee. Gospel and Melodee have a strong connection, and even seem to be attracted to each other. They live like this for what seems ages, until their rooms break apart and Melodee disappears. McBride has created a universe to provide an answer to what happens when one dies, and what it must be like to be between life and death. Those who have read We Are All So Good at Smiling will recognize the same type of magical realism with some of the same themes. Weighty topics, such as death, the importance of connection, sexuality, and self-awareness are rooted in our world, but seem to take on a magical feel in McBride's stories. VERDICT Recommended for libraries, and especially for readers who like McBride's previous books.--Jeni Tahaney
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Gospel, this verse novel's protagonist, is a Keeper in the Leaving Room, a space between life and death where she guides recently deceased children through their final transition. Each Leaver transforms her room with small changes: a memory, a crack in the wall, a door. One day, Gospel's room merges with Melodee's, another Keeper whose immediate connection with Gospel fundamentally alters both girls' understanding of their existence. While Gospel clings to her role, Melodee questions what lies beyond their predetermined purpose, and as their rooms blend together, so do the girls. A revelation about Gospel's charges also uncovers a traumatic experience she is processing and a choice she must make. McBride skillfully employs verse that feels both accessible and challenging, capturing Gospel's emotional transformation with haunting precision. Through richly imagined settings and imagery evoking Black Southern gothic elements (e.g., Black people in nature, bodies of water, beautiful music), she crafts a speculative narrative that vibrates with trauma and hope. The lyrical verse captures tender moments of grief while celebrating Black joy, queer love, and the transformative power of human connection. Readers journey alongside Gospel in this moving exploration of what it means to fully exist and what it takes to choose a life. S. R. ToliverNovember/December 2025 p.72 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A 17-year-old guardian of the memories of recently deceased young people questions her purpose in the latest from National Book Award finalist McBride. The Keepers stay in their Leaving Rooms, ushering Leavers through this liminal space between life and death. Gospel, a Keeper who struggles with following rules, prides herself on providing Leavers with meals made of loving memories and cares for the souls during their precious four minutes with her. Tending to children who have just died, Gospel takes each one's "best memory," often involving a meal, and places it in one of the mason jars that line her bookshelves, which are "made from living trees." Some of the Leavers haunt Gospel, their presences creating lasting memories for her--5-year-old Maple and 8-year-old Suvi, in particular (readers later learn the reason behind their significance). As Gospel struggles with the weight of her role, Melodee, who's also a Keeper, enters her Leaving Room, breaking another rule. Their connection is instantaneous; "I didn't know Keepers /could feel love," Gospel observes--and she wonders whether her existence might hold more meaning. McBride is a master of verse, weaving lines with emotion and character development, articulating pain and hope with an economy of words, and documenting Black lives with tenderness. Reverberating with a haunting trauma, this powerful narrative is packed with Black joy, queer love, and feminist defiance. Compelling and evocative: a must-read. (author's note, playlist)(Verse fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
