Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 10/01/2025 *Starred 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. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.