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When Death Gives You Lemons
Not yet published
Expected 11 Jan 26The road to forgiveness has never been this queer.
Isaac Frye is many things: Animal enthusiast, gay, guilty of three murders, dead.
Grim is only one thing: Tired of leading humans to their afterlife, day after day.
When Isaac dies and asks for a second chance to make up for what he did, Grim seizes the opportunity to explore the living realm with the excuse of wanting Isaac to succeed in his task.
But humanity isn’t at all what Grim expected, and now he’s stuck on the road to forgiveness with a guilt-ridden murderer by his side. Not that he can die, but there are far more pleasant ways to explore the world.
As Isaac searches his past for a forgiveness that may never come, Grim discovers the truth behind the murders; and whether his unwilling companion is irredeemable after all.
This story explores redemption, guilt, and forgiveness in the midst of a world full of hope. Recommended for ages 16 and above.
Isaac Frye is many things: Animal enthusiast, gay, guilty of three murders, dead.
Grim is only one thing: Tired of leading humans to their afterlife, day after day.
When Isaac dies and asks for a second chance to make up for what he did, Grim seizes the opportunity to explore the living realm with the excuse of wanting Isaac to succeed in his task.
But humanity isn’t at all what Grim expected, and now he’s stuck on the road to forgiveness with a guilt-ridden murderer by his side. Not that he can die, but there are far more pleasant ways to explore the world.
As Isaac searches his past for a forgiveness that may never come, Grim discovers the truth behind the murders; and whether his unwilling companion is irredeemable after all.
This story explores redemption, guilt, and forgiveness in the midst of a world full of hope. Recommended for ages 16 and above.
383 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication January 11, 2026
5 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Alice G. Brooks
1 book5 followersAlice G. Brooks, formerly published under Alice Brooks, is a sapphic indie author writing LGBTQIA+ fiction and low fantasy. When she’s not writing, she enjoys hiking, videogames, rewatching the same shows over and over again, and photography.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 16, 2025
This book will make you laugh, tear up, and want to punch one of the main characters in the face while hugging and protecting the other main character from all harm. Which is, honestly, everything I want from a book. I want characters so real, with such genuine depth, that I actually get angry with them, or want to cry with them, or just laugh with them. The story is unique, paced well, and will keep you invested until the very end. There are themes of acceptance, grief, understanding/processing how our mistakes can define us if we let them, how much our actions define us as humans, etc etc. And it's done in an accessible way that really makes you think. Plus, it's very, very gay. 10/10 stars, would read again. I would protect Grim with my life. Alice is a fantastic storyteller and I will read anything she writes!
November 7, 2025
I'd like to start by giving a big thank you to Alice, who gave me an ARC copy of the book. Thank you for trusting me with Isaac and Grim's story. And with that, let me begin. The best I can, I promise, without any spoilers.
Starting with the characters: Isaac and Grim were crafted perfectly, as individuals and as a couple. Their personalities, beliefs, desires, and conflicts are all compelling and complex. Isaac and Grim's time in the human world proves successful in many ways. Starting with Isaac, so obsessed with redeeming his already tarnished name, that he will do anything-- and I mean anything, for a LITTLE forgiveness, for someone to see BEYOND the crimes he committed. The actions he took in the past and those in the present (as vague as possible so others can enjoy their reading experience) characterize him as a LOVABLE and TRAGIC hot mess! You want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him every now and then, but in an endearing way. We'll let Grim do that instead.
Grim. GRIM!!!!!!! To simply state it, I love him. His development was especially thrilling from start to finish. As one of the many reapers, you expect him to have a black/white viewpoint on life... death, actually. One word to describe him: JUDGMENTAL (but rightfully so!) You have to pick up the book and read it if you want to know if this personality trait changes. All I'll say now is it's worth it... Our little oblivious Grim wants to learn about humans, who he once described as "simple" and "squishy." But he learns humans are VERY complex and stronger than they make out to be-- the way they move, the way they act, the way they convey their emotions, the way the endure hardships. All because he follows Isaac on his journey of redemption. Watching Grim trying to be human is comedic, balancing this heavy story with lighthearted moments. Isaac often ridicules Grim for being the babysitter on this quest, but Isaac is the REAL babysitter here-- watching out for Grim, who is as clueless about the world as a child is. And boy, do I absolutely love it.
Together, Isaac and Grim are the sun and moon. They are their own beings, but they aren't complete without each other, and can't exist without the other. The pacing of their relationship is perfect, complete distaste to mild liking, to becoming friends and eventual lovers-- to fully seeing each other. If you're a fan of grumpy x sunshine and comfort x hurt, then this one is definitely for you. I had to hold my chest and wipe my tears whenever a certain someone had to be comforted because the horrors of his mind are too great...
And on that note:
When Life Gives You Lemons, You Make Lemonade🍋
When Life Gives You This Story, You READ IT!!!!📚
Look out for it’s release in January! You don’t wanna miss this one.
Starting with the characters: Isaac and Grim were crafted perfectly, as individuals and as a couple. Their personalities, beliefs, desires, and conflicts are all compelling and complex. Isaac and Grim's time in the human world proves successful in many ways. Starting with Isaac, so obsessed with redeeming his already tarnished name, that he will do anything-- and I mean anything, for a LITTLE forgiveness, for someone to see BEYOND the crimes he committed. The actions he took in the past and those in the present (as vague as possible so others can enjoy their reading experience) characterize him as a LOVABLE and TRAGIC hot mess! You want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him every now and then, but in an endearing way. We'll let Grim do that instead.
Grim. GRIM!!!!!!! To simply state it, I love him. His development was especially thrilling from start to finish. As one of the many reapers, you expect him to have a black/white viewpoint on life... death, actually. One word to describe him: JUDGMENTAL (but rightfully so!) You have to pick up the book and read it if you want to know if this personality trait changes. All I'll say now is it's worth it... Our little oblivious Grim wants to learn about humans, who he once described as "simple" and "squishy." But he learns humans are VERY complex and stronger than they make out to be-- the way they move, the way they act, the way they convey their emotions, the way the endure hardships. All because he follows Isaac on his journey of redemption. Watching Grim trying to be human is comedic, balancing this heavy story with lighthearted moments. Isaac often ridicules Grim for being the babysitter on this quest, but Isaac is the REAL babysitter here-- watching out for Grim, who is as clueless about the world as a child is. And boy, do I absolutely love it.
Together, Isaac and Grim are the sun and moon. They are their own beings, but they aren't complete without each other, and can't exist without the other. The pacing of their relationship is perfect, complete distaste to mild liking, to becoming friends and eventual lovers-- to fully seeing each other. If you're a fan of grumpy x sunshine and comfort x hurt, then this one is definitely for you. I had to hold my chest and wipe my tears whenever a certain someone had to be comforted because the horrors of his mind are too great...
And on that note:
When Life Gives You Lemons, You Make Lemonade🍋
When Life Gives You This Story, You READ IT!!!!📚
Look out for it’s release in January! You don’t wanna miss this one.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Actual Rating: 3.5 (rounded up)
For Fans Of: The Good Place, Dead Like Me, Miracle Workers (S1), Good Omens, Reincarnation Blues
Guilt, grief, and the search for redemption are at the heart of this book. Overall, I found it to be a really beautiful meditation on guilt and mourning, on what redemption means or can mean. Grim repeatedly warns Isaac that there is no way to redeem what he has done - the murders have happened, they cannot be fixed - and questions why Isaac seems to be chasing forgiveness for 10-year-old crimes.
Overall I have mixed feelings about the book. I went from "I love this" to "meh" about 60% of the way through. The back half of the book is bloated and drags on while Grim and Isaac have the same conversation over and over. Yes in real life processing guilt and grief takes time and often you hit the same block over and over, but that doesn't work in a book with a finite amount of space. I also thought Grim's relationship with Ann and Cris could have been played with more,
That being said, I found a lot to love about the book. Grim reminds me of Daniel Radcliffe's character in Miracle Workers (season 1), while Isaac made me think of a deeply depressed Jack Kerouac.
I loved how absolutely fucked up Isaac's story is. The author's choice to make it so deeply horrifying felt like a choice to make it impossible for the reader to try to excuse his actions and offer him redemption from outside the story. What he did was unforgivable, unredeemable - they were bad things and they cannot be fixed. To that end I thought giving his victims agency in the brightness was a very cool choice.
I'm not sure how I feel about where Isaac and Grim's relationship went. On the one hand, I enjoyed how growing closer eventually made Isaac feel he could "confess" to Grim, but I think a queerplatonic relationship might have had a greater impact than a romantic one.
Ultimately this book takes a deep topic and treats it with respect, and I think it's worth a read for people interested in the philosophy of good/evil and the very human experience of guilt and the search for forgiveness.
Thanks to the author for providing me with an ARC, I am leaving this review by my own choice.
For Fans Of: The Good Place, Dead Like Me, Miracle Workers (S1), Good Omens, Reincarnation Blues
"I just think there has to be more to them than that. More than our widely accepted fact that humans are not redeemable if they do bad things."
Guilt, grief, and the search for redemption are at the heart of this book. Overall, I found it to be a really beautiful meditation on guilt and mourning, on what redemption means or can mean. Grim repeatedly warns Isaac that there is no way to redeem what he has done - the murders have happened, they cannot be fixed - and questions why Isaac seems to be chasing forgiveness for 10-year-old crimes.
Overall I have mixed feelings about the book. I went from "I love this" to "meh" about 60% of the way through. The back half of the book is bloated and drags on while Grim and Isaac have the same conversation over and over. Yes in real life processing guilt and grief takes time and often you hit the same block over and over, but that doesn't work in a book with a finite amount of space. I also thought Grim's relationship with Ann and Cris could have been played with more,
That being said, I found a lot to love about the book. Grim reminds me of Daniel Radcliffe's character in Miracle Workers (season 1), while Isaac made me think of a deeply depressed Jack Kerouac.
I loved how absolutely fucked up Isaac's story is. The author's choice to make it so deeply horrifying felt like a choice to make it impossible for the reader to try to excuse his actions and offer him redemption from outside the story. What he did was unforgivable, unredeemable - they were bad things and they cannot be fixed. To that end I thought giving his victims agency in the brightness was a very cool choice.
I'm not sure how I feel about where Isaac and Grim's relationship went. On the one hand, I enjoyed how growing closer eventually made Isaac feel he could "confess" to Grim, but I think a queerplatonic relationship might have had a greater impact than a romantic one.
Ultimately this book takes a deep topic and treats it with respect, and I think it's worth a read for people interested in the philosophy of good/evil and the very human experience of guilt and the search for forgiveness.
Thanks to the author for providing me with an ARC, I am leaving this review by my own choice.
November 29, 2025
4.5/5, but goodreads doesn't let me do half stars 😡
Well this was fun. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to try and understand humanity through the lense of a remorseful murderer, but here we are. It works surprisingly well :D
The book is filled with great situational jokes ("Classic human behavior, Grim. Good job."), much gayness ("His blue eyes drown me violently, making me swallow salty waves"), some very fun observations on humanity ("The living realm has a lot of doors and so far every single one of them has creaked") and some surprisingly deep philosophical discussions (sadly no quotes here, cause they would spoil too much :D).
The half star off from the full 5 star is because the story transitions felt off pacing wise. When they first move from the afterlife back to living realm it's a little bit rushed and then in the end when they go back to the afterlife, that transition is also slightly weird in the pacing.
All in all this is an extremely good book and it gets a full recommendation.
It has the perfect mixture between the tension of following a murderer recounting his murders and just a fun little read with some very funny scenes.
Well this was fun. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to try and understand humanity through the lense of a remorseful murderer, but here we are. It works surprisingly well :D
The book is filled with great situational jokes ("Classic human behavior, Grim. Good job."), much gayness ("His blue eyes drown me violently, making me swallow salty waves"), some very fun observations on humanity ("The living realm has a lot of doors and so far every single one of them has creaked") and some surprisingly deep philosophical discussions (sadly no quotes here, cause they would spoil too much :D).
The half star off from the full 5 star is because the story transitions felt off pacing wise. When they first move from the afterlife back to living realm it's a little bit rushed and then in the end when they go back to the afterlife, that transition is also slightly weird in the pacing.
All in all this is an extremely good book and it gets a full recommendation.
It has the perfect mixture between the tension of following a murderer recounting his murders and just a fun little read with some very funny scenes.
November 16, 2025
Reading the ARC for this book has been one of my favourite experiences this year, the rollercoaster of emotions I went through with reading both points of view was extreme but not unwelcome. I would recommend this book if you’re wanting something emotional, with some tense moments and some cute moments too!
I’ve loved every second spent on this book uncovering Issac’s past and witnessing Grim’s development. The author has done an amazing job with writing this book, managing to perfectly get across the atmosphere and differences in both the boys. Seriously, please read this book if you have a chance, you won’t regret it!!
I’m super grateful for being able to have the ARC, it meant a lot to me ❤️
I’ve loved every second spent on this book uncovering Issac’s past and witnessing Grim’s development. The author has done an amazing job with writing this book, managing to perfectly get across the atmosphere and differences in both the boys. Seriously, please read this book if you have a chance, you won’t regret it!!
I’m super grateful for being able to have the ARC, it meant a lot to me ❤️
November 23, 2025
Isaac wants to make amends. But at what cost
Obviously the big question of the book is “who deserves to be forgiven?”
But imo. Not this guy lol
He does some shitty things and continues to do shitty things for his own selfish reasons. Even though he’s hurting EVERYONE.
“Just this one last thing” is his theme and I just don’t feel like anything has been redeemed in the end.
I had some huge plot questions, but I looked past them when I remembered this is YA.
Grim is new to emotions and ppl and frankly deserves better than this guy
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to arc read this novel
December 7, 2025
this is one of the most beautiful stories i’ve had the pleasure of reading. there’s grief, and anger, and hope, and love, and wonder. this book will grip your heart in its skeletal hands and wrap your around its scythe. and you’ll be glad you let it happen.
isaac and grim’s story is complicated. it’s messy and raw and will make you a little uncomfortable as they confront isaac’s brutal past. it will force you to think of humanity, of what makes a person truly good or evil, and will make you sit and reflect.
truly a beautiful story i would recommend to everyone.
on a lighter note…gay grim reaper. need i really say anything else?
isaac and grim’s story is complicated. it’s messy and raw and will make you a little uncomfortable as they confront isaac’s brutal past. it will force you to think of humanity, of what makes a person truly good or evil, and will make you sit and reflect.
truly a beautiful story i would recommend to everyone.
on a lighter note…gay grim reaper. need i really say anything else?
December 1, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this book!! I was on tenterhooks throughout cuz I had absolutely no idea how Grim and Isaac were ever going to be endgame, and, ngl, I was kind of slightly worried it would take a really sad turn and my heart would be broken...
It was pretty sweet—as well as a deep exploration of murder, morality, and the clinging guilt and remorse that follows.
if you enjoyed The Good Place, you'll definitely also love When Death Gives You Lemons!!
I received an ARC from the author & I'm leaving this review voluntarily! <3
It was pretty sweet—as well as a deep exploration of murder, morality, and the clinging guilt and remorse that follows.
if you enjoyed The Good Place, you'll definitely also love When Death Gives You Lemons!!
I received an ARC from the author & I'm leaving this review voluntarily! <3
October 20, 2025
I absolutely DEVOURED this book, an absolute MUST READ if you are a fan of deep moral questions of redemption, and what that really means, and also SUCH A CUTE ROMANCE. I would die for Grim, as simple as that. 5 stars, all the way. Would give it 10 if possible. Read this book, you will not regret it! (Mind the trigger warnings though, because it has a good share of deep topics. But they are beautifully handled by the author, so amazing job.) I will definitely be re-reading this one!
November 4, 2025
Thank you to the author for receiving an ARC of this novel!
This was strangely endearing in all the right ways. The story of a recently dead man and his grim reaper, the concept of forgiveness and eternal guilt...and just some sprinkles of humanity being weird and odd and yet so beautiful
A bit long to get into (in my opinion), but definitely worth it
This was strangely endearing in all the right ways. The story of a recently dead man and his grim reaper, the concept of forgiveness and eternal guilt...and just some sprinkles of humanity being weird and odd and yet so beautiful
A bit long to get into (in my opinion), but definitely worth it
December 12, 2025
I really enjoyed this book!!!
I read the advanced readers copy 🩷
I read the advanced readers copy 🩷
Review of advance copy received from Author
thank you for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Author
"Death isn't as bad as humans make it out to be. It's quite freeing. I always thought that you should chase death, not flee from it."
When Death Gives You Lemons by Alice G. Brooks is a beautiful urban queer fantasy written about pain, punishment and death. Received an ARC, and here’s my absolutely mesmerised review of the book.
At its core, the novel is about Isaac, a guilt-ridden murderer who seeks a second chance after death... for redemption. Taking his side is Grim, a reaper tired of escorting souls to the afterlife. Now, they’re in the living realm... Isaac seeking forgiveness; Grim trying to understand humans.
And throughout the story, I kept thinking, “Can a story about death be this cute and funny?” It’s often philosophical, also comforting and heartwarming. Grim felt like a baby robot learning the world and the nuances of human behaviour.
Alice’s writing is conversational and straightforward, making the book easy to read. Even serious themes like grief, forgiveness and acceptance never feel overwhelmingly heavy.
She also managed to keep the pace natural. Nothing felt dragged or forced. At times, Isaac did feel like an irritating crackpot (towards the end, especially), but only for moments.
The ending is touching, too, beautiful, closing on a happy note. It’s rare to find a book that talks so openly about death yet leaves you with happy tears. Resonated with my own thoughts around death.
“When death gives you lemons, make some tea.”
It's a fun, light read. Best suited for fans of philosophical fiction who are curious about death and the afterlife.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews