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 … 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 in this stunning debut from Ava Dellaira, Love Letters to the Dead.
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This has been on my TBR list even since it came out a couple years ago. It made quite the splash in the contemporary YA world, and I can see why – Ava Dellaira is a beautiful writer. She doesn’t patronize her audience, and she talks about grief in a unique and deeply human way. Plus, the cover is just lovely.
Cleverly written. Touching. Original. You’ve gotta read it.
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: Love Letters to the Dead
: Ava Dellaira
: 3.5/5
This is a really hard review to write, since there were things I absolutely loved about this book… but there were also some things that I really disliked. I liked that you go through the story by letters written by the protagonist. However, because the book consisted of only letters, I felt a disconnect at times with the characters and I missed that real connecting. I did love a lot of things, the character development was really good and I also felt that there were a lot of interesting topics and I loved her best friends. The pace and the writing was also pretty good it made the book easy to read. What I disliked, and this is just a personal thing, is the background of the dead people she writes to. I sometimes really couldn’t care less and just skipped parts. I also did not like how Laurel behaved towards her aunt. I felt she could’ve had a bit more respect. I also missed some justice at the ending (you will understand it once you read it). Maybe I am also a bit too old to connect to the protagonists voice, since she was really young in her behavior and actions. Overall, this book really gave me feels that I loved and I do recommend reading this book. It is also very suitable for a bit “younger” crowd.
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I loved this book I really want a second book to it
This book was intense…I’ve seen some reviews that say it’s all about the cute boy and very lame and cliche and to anyone who hesitates to read this book based on those reviews, please just continue reading. What starts out as the typical YA book about seeing a cute boy and wanting to make him the boyfriend, turns into a story of tragic events that have left a teen girl not knowing who she is or who she should be. She’s afraid to talk to the living, breathing people who care about her because she’s afraid of what will happen when she breaks her silence. She tries to turn herself into a person she admired and ends up pushing people who could have helped her away. Through her letters to these people who have passed on, she opens up and talks about what scares her, what she feels about what has happened to her. Eventually, this cathartic expression helps her to open up to people who can help her. There are some very touchy things in this book that could be triggers for some, but I think in the vein of books like “Speak” this could help young people open up about bad things that happen to them and know that people won’t judge them and can and will help them through it.
OML this one had me near tears sometimes. I just loove this book. it honestly just made me so happy when i read it.
When I first read this book I wasn’t sure what to expect. The real reason I read it was because it was the last book that my grandmother had before she passed. My sister had given it to me because she thought it was a good book and that it might help with my greif. As I was reading it I was that my grandmother had great taste in books. I couldn’t put the book down. This is the best book I have read and that probably will ever read.