When I Was Death

Gr 9 Up–It has been a year since her sister Adeline died, but Roslyn is still tormented by her absence. When Roslyn encounters the same mysterious troupe of girls who spent the summer before Adeline’s death with her, she’s drawn to them, hoping they might hold the answers she’s been searching for. But as she joins them on their travels, Roslyn discovers that these girls are no ordinary companions: they serve Death himself, reaping souls in exchange for their spared lives. When Death offers Roslyn a similar proposition to gain answers about her sister, she must confront her grief and the darkness that lies within it. Henderson delivers an intriguing premise in this work of speculative fiction. The pacing is slow, favoring atmosphere and introspection over plot momentum. The emotional stakes are high; the narrative’s heart lies not in grand events but in the reflective and intimate look into grief and death. However, this same subtlety sometimes works against the story’s clarity. Points are underexplained, leaving readers searching for firmer footing in the story’s speculative mechanics. There is also a lack of character depth that makes it challenging for readers to connect with such an emotionally driven story. Roslyn and her sister Adeline are biracial: their mother is Black, and their father is white.