Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Thirteen-year-old twins Felix and Lee live in the same house, but they are kept separate by the Agreement between the shades Death and Memory.In the west side of Poplar House, where Lee lives with his mother and Memory, there is laughter and fresh baked pie. In the east side, where Felix lives with his father and Death, there is nothing but sadness and cold. Lee is tasked with storing memories in jars tied with colored ribbons. Felix must brew tonics for the sick and dying and collect the life candles that have been snuffed out by Death. A failed attempt at breaking the Agreement has left the boys hopeless. However, when a mysterious death sends Gretchen, a willful neighbor girl, to their door demanding answers of Death, they decide to work with her hoping she may have the key to their release. While Lee's days are filled with the usual middle school angst, a first crush, and a dangerous bully, Felix's story is darker. Death is abusive and menacing. He demands perfection and is swift to dole out harsh punishment. Alternating chapters follow each of the twins and Gretchen. The suspenseful plot is unspooled slowly, but the magical elements, evocative, intelligent writing, and ever ratcheting suspense keep it interesting. Human characters seem to be default white. Love of family is the greatest magic even when faced with the power of Death. (Fantasy. 10-14)

School Library Journal Starred Review (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Gr 5 Up-In the atmospheric world of Ormsbee's latest, Death, Memory, and Passion are all very much living beings, with one person playing each role in every town. The Vickery twins have always known their place within this paradigm. On one side of their house, Felix Vickery aids his father in serving Death, trying to keep the red candle of life burning for those they can help, and storing away the candles that are extinguished in Death's trunks. Lee Vickery, meanwhile, lives in house's other half with his mother, spending his days after school in the service of Memory. After Passion's ill-advised decision to bring the Vickery parents together, resulting in the birth of the twins, an agreement was drafted as punishment to keep both parents separated, wherein one twin would reside with each of them in a different side of the house. While no one in the Vickery household is happy with this arrangement, attempting to get out of the agreement is punishable by Death himself. Enter Gretchen Whipple, daughter of the town's mayor and the second born in a family of summoners, who are charged with keeping Passion, Death, and Memory in check. Her proposition: if the siblings will help her solve the mystery of a school mate's death, she'll do her best to help them escape. Quirky, spooky, and thoroughly enjoyable, this will appeal fans of Trenton Lee Stewart and Colin Meloy, as well as readers generally looking for an absorbing fantastical mystery. VERDICT An excellent choice for middle grade shelves. Joanna Sondheim, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, New York City

ALA Booklist (Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

The house in Poplar Wood sits on the outskirts of town. It's here that two Shades reside and conduct their business ath from his side of the house, Memory from hers ch with the help of a human apprentice. It is also home to Felix and Lee Vickery, twin boys, who are expected to take over their parents' apprenticeships one day. In town, Gretchen Whipple seethes at being barred from the "family business" of summoning (performing rites to keep the Shades in check), simply because she's not firstborn. When she overhears a conversation suggesting that a high-school girl's recent death wasn't an accident, as reported, she decides to find out what really happened, though it means teaming up with the "enemy" Vickery boys. Narration shifts among the three kids, drawing readers into their secretive worlds, and the foreboding atmosphere perfectly matches the dark mystery and high stakes confronting the middle-schoolers. In their search for truth, they are able to see beyond old family prejudices, while Ormsbee's invented mythology bestows complexity and richness to the story. 

Horn Book

Ormsbee personifies Death and Memory and indentures a human family to them in this allegorical story set in present-day Tennessee. Once readers surrender to the premise, they'll be swept up in the attempts of twins Lee and Felix to escape their family's Agreement with help from strange new-girl Gretchen. Magical, mysterious, and somewhat macabre, their story escalates to a rousing conclusion.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Thirteen-year-old twins Felix and Lee live in the same house, but they are kept separate by the Agreement between the shades Death and Memory.In the west side of Poplar House, where Lee lives with his mother and Memory, there is laughter and fresh baked pie. In the east side, where Felix lives with his father and Death, there is nothing but sadness and cold. Lee is tasked with storing memories in jars tied with colored ribbons. Felix must brew tonics for the sick and dying and collect the life candles that have been snuffed out by Death. A failed attempt at breaking the Agreement has left the boys hopeless. However, when a mysterious death sends Gretchen, a willful neighbor girl, to their door demanding answers of Death, they decide to work with her hoping she may have the key to their release. While Lee's days are filled with the usual middle school angst, a first crush, and a dangerous bully, Felix's story is darker. Death is abusive and menacing. He demands perfection and is swift to dole out harsh punishment. Alternating chapters follow each of the twins and Gretchen. The suspenseful plot is unspooled slowly, but the magical elements, evocative, intelligent writing, and ever ratcheting suspense keep it interesting. Human characters seem to be default white. Love of family is the greatest magic even when faced with the power of Death. (Fantasy. 10-14)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In Boone Ridge, Tenn., 13-year-old twins Lee and Felix Vickery live at opposite ends of the same house. Per the Agreement, Lee lives with his mother and Memory in the warm west end, where he jars and labels memories (-sealed tight-) before he leaves the house for school. Felix has it harder; he lives with his father in the frigid east end, serving Death and stirring healing broths (-brewed right-), but never leaving the house except for one day each year: on Halloween, Death takes a holiday, and Felix can finally venture beyond their home and adjacent wood. After Gretchen Whipple, sworn enemy of the Vickerys and daughter of the town-s most powerful family, stumbles into the brothers at a Halloween bonfire, she strikes a deal with them: if they help her investigate a mysterious death, she-ll help them break the Agreement. With expert pacing and detailed worldbuilding, the story unfurls into a smart, thrilling mystery, equal parts dark and gentle, that explores questions about freedom, power, and choosing one-s master. Ages 8-12. Agent: Beth Phelan, Gallt & Zacker. (Aug.)