The Grief Keeper

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When her brother is murdered, and her little sister’s life is threatened, seventeen-year-old Marisol Morales knows they have no choice but to flee their home in El Salvador, and steal across the US border. Especially because she knows everything is her fault. If she had never fallen for the charms of a beautiful girl named Liliana, Pablo might still be alive, her mother wouldn’t be in hiding and she and Gabi wouldn’t have been caught by ICE.

But they have been caught and their asylum request will most certainly be denied. With truly no options remaining, Marisol jumps at an unusual opportunity to stay in the United States. She’s asked to become a grief keeper, taking the grief of another into her own body to save a life. It’s a risky, experimental study, but if it means Marisol can keep her sister safe, she will risk anything. She just never imagined one of the risks would be falling in love, a love that may even be powerful enough to finally help her face her own crushing grief.

The Grief Keeper is a tender tale that explores the heartbreak and consequences of when both love and human beings are branded illegal.

Content Warning:
The Grief Keeper explores themes that include racism, xenophobia, violence, death/murder, suicide attempts, suicidal thoughts/ideation, PTSD, homophobia, homophobic slurs.

Praise for The Grief Keeper

"With both timeless poignancy and heartbreaking relevance, The Grief Keeper is a stunning exploration of how we love, how pain lives in us, and how we survive. Alexandra Villasante’s gift for writing the deepest emotional truths resonates through every page." —Anna-Marie McLemore, author of Wild Beauty  and Blanca & Roja

“The Grief Keeper begins with an original premise that is then propelled by complex characters and a story that asks deep questions about grief, class, race, sexual equality, and agency. Villasante is unflinching when touching on sensitive issues, allowing the reading to absorb their significance while following Marisol’s journey to freedom.” —The Advocate

“In her debut, Villasante captures the pressures of internalized racism in immigrants…Will grip readers and provoke empathy.” —Kirkus Review

"Villasante’s engrossing debut about two Salvadoran sisters recently arrived in the U.S. opens with plenty of tension…[she] builds her novel about undocumented immigrants into a suspenseful story with credible relationships, satisfying character development, and elements of science fiction.” —Publishers Weekly

“Villasante’s razor-sharp prose and rigorous world-building are living proof that YA does not equal 2D. The Grief Keeper follows Marisol as she sacrifices everything for a chance to stay in her adoptive home country. In a magical realist spin on the classic Bildungsroman, Villasante crafts a tender and heart-aching cry for acceptance in an increasingly hostile political climate and an ode to grief, celebration and everything in-between.” — Lantana Publishing, Top 6 Books for LGBT+ History Month

“Villasante's novel is for the reader who wants to get down and dirty with the emotional landscape, who wants a romance that is hard-earned and sweetly won. The Grief Keeper...[creates] a realistic yet still hopeful world seen through the gaze of an intelligent, curious protagonist.” — Shelf Awareness