The Game of Love and Death

Starred review from February 16, 2015
The odds against Henry and Flora becoming a couple are significant: Henry is white, Flora is black, and this is Depression-era Seattle. But their similarities outweigh their differences; at 17, they’re both orphans, musicians, and—unbeknownst to them—the current players in the centuries-old contest between Love and Death. Death’s player, Flora, is a singer and aspiring aviatrix; Henry, chosen by Love, plays bass and baseball. Airplanes and music bring Henry and Flora together, and though they feel something immediately, Flora, with a pessimism born of experience, is sure it can’t work. Love and Death are on the scene in human guises, manipulating people and events, and the book is really a tale of two couples: Henry and Flora, as well as the ultimate opposites-attract pair, Love and Death. Brockenbrough (Devine Intervention) never sugarcoats the obstacles facing Henry and Flora’s love—whether human prejudices or supernatural manipulations—in this inventive and affecting novel, and the ending in which Flora, who has seen too many people die, realizes how love and death intertwine, is beautiful. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary Agency.

February 15, 2015
A lovingly realized Depression-era Seattle becomes the field of play for the latest round in the titular, age-old game.In February 1920, Love and Death choose their newest pawns as infants: Love's is Henry, a white boy of privilege (though influenza and grief rob him of much of it); Death's is Flora, the soon-to-be-orphaned daughter of African-American jazz musicians. In spring of 1937, the game begins. Flora sings in-and actually owns part of-the family's nightclub, but her heart is in the skies, where she flies a borrowed biplane and dreams of owning her own. Henry, a talented bass player, is poised to graduate from the tony private school he attends on scholarship with his best friend, Ethan, whose family took him in upon his father's suicide. They meet when Henry and Ethan visit the airstrip where Flora works; the boys are in pursuit of a story for Ethan's newspaper-magnate father. Brockenbrough's precise, luscious prose cuts back and forth among the four protagonists, according each character equal depth, with Ethan playing a heartbreaking supporting role. The contrast between the youthful excitement of ardent Henry and pragmatic Flora and the ageless, apparent ennui of the immortals gains nuance as readers come to understand that Love and Death are not without their own complicated feelings. Race, class, fate and choice-they join Love and Death to play their parts in Brockenbrough's haunting and masterfully orchestrated narrative. (Magical realism. 12 & up)

March 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Set in 1930s Seattle, this work tells the story of two teenagers whose destinies are being manipulated by powers far beyond their control. An orphan from a poor African American family who works as an airplane mechanic by day and a jazz singer at night, Flora dreams of being the next Amelia Earhart. Henry lives just a few blocks away, but he is white, and his adoptive family is wealthy. A bright future of college and a career lies ahead of him, but he is distracted by his love of music and, from the moment he first lays eyes on her, by Flora. What Flora and Henry don't know is that they have been chosen as pawns in a game between the immortal entities Love and Death. If they choose each other, then Love wins and they both survive, but if they don't, then Death wins and Flora's life is forfeit. Love and Death take on various guises and wreak havoc on the lives of their players at a deadly cost to both of their families. Though the writing is often beautiful and evocative, the story is sometimes weighed down by its many side characters and plot twists, and attempts to use Love and Death to explore larger philosophical ideas lack punch. Still, romance lovers will find themselves rooting for the ill-fated couple, and the historical setting and African American characters-particularly strong-willed Flora-bring some much needed diversity to the YA scene. VERDICT An interracial YA romance with weighty themes.-Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Stuck as eternal companions, Love and Death never worked as allies. Instead, they while away the millennia playing a game. Each chooses a player from among humanity. The length of the game is determined by a roll of the dice. The stakes are fatally high: if Death wins, her player dies; if Love wins, both players live. Death always wins. This time, however, Love is confident that he has the edge: the players are twins at heart. Flora is an African American girl, toughened by tragedy, who dreams of being an aviatrix. Henry, who has known his own share of misfortune, is white and guaranteed financial success as long as he follows the life mapped out for him by his adoptive family. Flora and Henry's fight for love in Depression-era Seattle faces so many natural obstacles that the machinations of the immortals almost look like a secondary concern. Almost. This sophisticated novel is filled with breathtaking prose and nuanced characterizations. Secondary characters pulled into the game by virtue of their associations with Henry and Flora are as richly drawn as the lovers. Love and Death, equally enigmatic and maddening, are the moral core of the story, despite the callous premise of their game. This original novel is a thoughtful exploration of courage, love, and the price we pay to live.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2015
Love and Death have played many Games down through the centuries -- and Death has always won. The setting for this particular battle is Depression-era Seattle, and while Love has chosen as his player Henry Bishop, a white boy taken in after his parents' deaths by the wealthy Thorne family and raised in privilege and high society, Death has selected a scrappy survivor: Flora Saudade, an African American aviatrix who moonlights as a jazz singer. In fact, the two seventeen-year-olds' shared love of music -- Henry is also an accomplished bassist -- inevitably brings them together despite the prevailing social stigma of interracial relationships. As the Game unfolds, Love and Death assume human identities to be closer to their players. Love becomes James Booth, the charismatic mayor of the local Hooverville. He begins a secret romantic relationship with Ethan Thorne, who has been like a brother to Henry. Death passes herself off as Ethan's troubled cousin, Helen, a rival for Henry's affections. Despite the machinations of Love and Death, Henry and Flora strive for a happy ending and earn one in a tender, sweet denouement. There is a deliberately archetypal quality to the story, but the fully realized setting and characters make this more than just a modern fairy tale. It's a poignant reminder of how far we've come since the 1930s in terms of race, class, and sexual orientation -- and how far we still have to go. jonathan hunt

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2015
Love and Death have played Games through the centuries--and Death has always won. In Depression-era Seattle, Love chooses as his player wealthy, white Henry Bishop; Death selects scrappy Flora Saudade, an African American aviatrix/jazz singer. Henry and Flora earn a happy ending in a tender denouement. The fully realized setting and characters make this more than just a modern fairy tale.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)