I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
on 2014-04-01
Genres: Death & Dying, Emotions & Feelings, Family, Siblings, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was; lovely and amazing and deeply flawed; can she begin to discover her own path.
My Thoughts:
Losing your sibling in a tragic accident isn’t easy, and Laurel’s broken family is even more devastated when her older sister May dies unexpectedly. Their parents are already divorced, but now their grief stricken mother needs to get away and heads to a ranch in California, leaving Laurel to split her time between her home with her father and her spinster aunt’s apartment. But living with her aunt for two weeks a month has a big advantage: Laurel can begin her freshman year at a different high school than the one her sister May had attended. She’s hoping to start a new school year anonymously, not as the girl who was there when her popular, lively sister died.
Laurel is lost without her sister, and she doesn’t know who she is on her own. Her English teacher gives the class an assignment to write a letter to a person who is dead. Laurel’s first letter is to Kurt Cobain, but she doesn’t turn the assignment in to the teacher who’d just transferred from the high school across town, and subsequently knew May and all about the accident. But Laurel finds solace in writing to dead celebrities, so she continues to pour her heart and soul out to the only people who she thinks would know what she’s going through as she tries to cope with her grief and the uncertainty of finding her way through growing up.
This story is heartbreaking, at times hopeless, and very angsty as Laurel tries to navigate her first year of high school–through her first romantic relationship and as she makes friends at her new school. At first she revels in no one knowing that she had a sister, but it’s slowly revealed that many more people were touched by May’s life than Laurel knew, so it’s hard for Laurel to ever be completely free of the ghost of her sister. She tries to find herself in becoming more like her sister was, but the real Laurel might just be pushed further and further away.
Laurel is instantly drawn to mysterious leather jacket wearing Sky. His home life isn’t picture perfect, and he’s drawn to Laurel as well. But it isn’t easy to be in a relationship with a girl that is so grief stricken and obsessed with her dead sister, and it’s a rocky coupling from the start. The other secondary characters are intriguing and well drawn as well, from her new best girl friends Hannah and Natalie to hippiesque Seniors Tristan and Kristen who take the younger girls under their wing.
I give Love Letters to the Dead a 4.5 out of 5. With angsty, fleshed out characters, this novel really packed an emotional punch. You really feel what Laurel’s going through, from the guilt of being left behind, to the extreme grief, to the anger, the sadness, the self-destruction. The format of letters to dead celebrities for the text took a few chapters to get used to, but it flowed nicely after that. The flashbacks to Laurel’s times with May and her parents gave a better look at what life was like through her young eyes, and it contrasted nicely with how Laurel comes to understand how things actually were through her older and more enlightened young adult eyes. This one is a tear jerker in quite a few places since it explores loss, grief, broken family dynamics, and how everything can just go wrong. This is definitely one of the best books that I’ve read in 2014 so far.
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I have to say, this looks like a really interesting read. I think I’ll have to get a copy.
Lisa recently posted..Book Review: A Million Ways To Die In The West
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I really enjoyed Love Letters to the Dead, and it can be a bit dark at times as Laurel slowly realizes what her sister was really like–as the rose tinted glasses come off, so to speak. But these parts make this book very raw and real, and all that more interesting. I definitely recommend it!
Heather recently posted..Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
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I’ve been avoiding angst lately just because there’s too much in my life at the moment (this happens, too, when you teach those angsty teens. So. Much. Drama.) but I’m adding it to my list for later when I need that fabulously angsty story. Plus, it definitely sounds like one I need to rec my library gets.
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I think that Love Letters to the Dead would be a fabulous addition to your school library! It does have a fair amount of drinking and drug use though, just to give you a heads up. This book is fantastic!
Heather recently posted..Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
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I am glad that you liked it..I felt so sad after reading this book, and I wanted to like all the letters but it didn’t work for me. Also the romance was okay.
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The romance in Love Letters to the Dead wasn’t a big focus, and it certainly wasn’t very epic. But I don’t think that it was supposed to be a main part of the book. What I would have liked to see in this book is a little bit of police involvement for what Laurel went through, although that wasn’t even touched on.
Heather recently posted..Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
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I’ve been hearing rave reviews about Love Letters to the Dead and have it on my TBR list. Am just waiting to be in the mood to read a tearjerker before starting it.
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Love Letters to the Dead is quite sad in a few parts, so if you can really be affected by these kinds of books, I’d definitely wait until you’re in the mood for a good cry. But the journey for Laurel is pretty good, so the book isn’t totally depressing.
Heather recently posted..Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
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This sounds like a beautiful yet kind of heartbreaking book. I tend to pass over family member death books because they make me so sad. I really have to be in the mood for them, but this one does look good.
Great review!
Michelle @ Book Briefs recently posted..{Review} Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott
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Love Letters to the Dead is more than just a family member death book. It’s a book about growing up, finding yourself, moving out of someone’s shadow and seeing someone for who they really were. It’s a fantastic book.
Heather recently posted..Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
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While I enjoyed this one, I didn’t like it as much as you. I had trouble because it was TOO dark, like too much darkness and very little light and hope. However, I know that much of those issues are because of my own past (too many close connections with my past) and me being older now. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Candace recently posted..Young Adult Review: Something Real by Heather Demetrios #LGBT
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I luckily haven’t had anyone in my immediate family pass away yet, so this book didn’t hit so close to home. Love Letters to the Dead was a bit dark, and I have been reading a lot of books lately that have been angsty and dark, so this one fit right in with my tastes lately.
Heather recently posted..Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
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I was really wanting to read this since I heard about it, but after reading your review…. I”M DYING to read it. MUST buy a copy ASAP.
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Definitely run out and get yourself a copy of Love Letters to the Dead, Chrystal. I loved it, and I hope that you really enjoy it too!
Heather recently posted..Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
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I felt the same way about this book! The only thing I wish it had more of was Sky and his family situation: I would have loved to see more of his mom. But other than that, I couldn’t put it down, and read it in one night!
Kayla @ The Thousand Lives recently posted..LA Times Festival of Books: Day One
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Will you ever do a giveaway for this book ?
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