The Leaving Room by Amber McBride

e-Audio, 02:40:01
Narrated by: Amber McBride
Release Date: October 14, 2025
Published by: Macmillan Audio
Read from: October 21-22, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received this ALC free from the publisher and Netgalley. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning: Child Death, Grief
For Readers Interested In: 2sLGBTQ+, Audio, Fantasy, Sparkly Cover, Middle Grade (MG), Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Novel in Verse

     Gospel is the Keeper of the Leaving Room—a place all young people must phase through when they die. The young are never ready to leave; they need a moment to remember and a Keeper to help their wispy souls along.
     Gospel assumes that there are countless other Leaving Rooms because many children pass, but she suspects they are not like her Leaving Room which is small (like a walk in closet)with shelves full of tiny jars that hold the memories of those who have gone.
     When a random door opens and a Keeper named Melody arrives, their souls become entangled. Gospel seriousness melts and Melody’s fear of connection fades, but still—are Keepers allowed to fall in love? Now they must find a way out of the Leaving Room and be unafraid of their love. They must claw their way back to their bodies because there is so much more life to explore—together.

*MY THOUGHTS*

Not gonna lie, this one confused me for most of the book. I knew a little about where it was going because of the synopsis, but yeah. I only read the synopsis because I was confused. If you know me, you know I don’t usually read them. But it wasn’t until I read the synopsis and most of the book that I really got what was going on.

The beginning of this is confusing. Novels in verse are already missing a lot of the back story, and this one also had a main character who was also confused and didn’t understand what was going on. It just was really weird and hard to figure out. But as the story goes on, the messaging is more clear. And by the ending everything changes. It made me go back and look at the whole story. I think what changed everything for me was the amount of time this book is told over.

The fact that this takes place over 4 minutes really drove the point of this home for me. And then what happens in the end almost had me crying. This isn’t something I ever really sat with and thought about before. This was short and confusing at first, but by the ending I was shocked and surprised. This is definitely a thought provoking story that made me look at the bigger picture after it was all said and done.

I knew I was going to like this because the author is Amber McBride, but I didn’t expect for it to be like this. This book was confusing, but in the best way? I’m not sure how to word it lol I’m not even sure this review made sense. If you read it, be prepared to think about this book long after you’ve turned the last page.

Overall, I give this