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The Grief Keeper

by Alexandra Villasante

A speculative story of grief, migration, and love

Regular price $13.38 USD
Regular price $22.30 USD Sale price $13.38 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

A speculative story of grief, migration, and love

Seventeen-year-old Marisol agrees to an experimental procedure as she and her younger sister Gabi are detained by the U.S. government. The procedure makes Marisol a “grief keeper”: she takes strangers’ sorrow into herself, bearing its effects in exchange for a chance to remain in the country. Her decision is bound up with guilt over her brother’s death and her determination to protect Gabi. The book’s science-fiction premise brings questions of displacement and bodily risk together with a romance between Marisol and a troubled teenage girl, placing personal grief within a story about family and belonging.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teens and young adults interested in science fiction with a near-future social premise.
  • Readers seeking fiction that explores migration, family bonds, and grief.
  • Readers interested in a romance between teenage girls.

Themes

Grief and guiltMigration and detentionFamily protectionLove and belongingBodily and mental risk

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

LAMBDA AWARD-WINNER. Now in paperback. A tender and timely tale that explores the heartbreak and consequences of when both love and human beings are branded illegal.

Seventeen-year-old Marisol and her little sister Gabi are detainees of the United States Government. Fleeing the gang that killed her older brother in El Salvador and consumed by her guilt over his death, Marisol will do anything to keep Gabi safe--including consenting to an experimental procedure. For the chance to stay in the United States, Marisol becomes a grief keeper, taking the grief of strangers into her body, relieving them of their pain as she lives through it. Although Marisol agrees to risk her own health and mental well-being, she never imagined that one of the risks would be falling in love. Her shared connection with a troubled but beautiful teenage girl erupts into a powerful love that just might be enough to save each of them from their crushing grief.
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