A review by vampire_burrito
The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I spent the majority of this book feeling aggressively neutral about it, however I did really like some parts towards the end talking about Marisol's grief/depression. I think I enjoyed the relationship between the two main girls. I liked the parts where they were connecting over their shared love of some old Gilmore Girls-esque show, I thought that was very sweet but on the other hand I wasn't convinced that they would have come to care that deeply for each other in under a month. The other thing I wasn't too sure about was the whole "experiment". I'm not convinced that it was legal and the whole thing felt a bit underdeveloped, which is unfortunate because it's what the entire book is about. I was interested in the commentary that it was supposed to be provided on human experimentation and the way immigrant bodies were used in this program, but I think the book could have gone a little bit deeper (the same things go for all the themes present).That being said, I did enjoy reading about the relationship between Marisol and her younger sister (always love a sibling relationship especially when the MC is an older sister) and, as I've already said, the parts about Marisol and Rey (is that her name. The love interest.) shared grief. Some of the passages really made me feel something and I would say that the book is worth picking up just for those bits. It's one I will probably re-read at some point. I would recommend this book to people who want a YA novel with a sweet sapphic romance, a focus on serious subjects but with a hopeful ending.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings