“The Last Letter is a haunting, heartbreaking and ultimately inspirational love story.”–InTouch Weekly Beckett, If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have. I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride. My little sister Ella’s … army and get to Telluride.
My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. It’s not fair.
And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart. She’s going to need help.
So if I’m gone, that means I can’t be there for Ella. I can’t help them through this. But you can. So I’m begging you, as my best friend, go take care of my sister, my family.
Please don’t make her go through it alone.
Ryan
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A wonderful, heart warming yet poignant story.
A well-written book that is poignant and very real.
This book has been on my reading list for quite some time, and I’m now kicking myself for not reading it sooner.
The Last Letter will take you on a very emotional journey. I can assure you that you will need tissues to hand. There is much heartache and worry throughout the story but even when my thoughts were coming to terms with the events that were happening, I couldn’t help but stop and admire how strong Ella is. I want to be her when I grow up. She truly is an incredible person.
I’m going to remember Beckett for a very long time. His backstory is one that broke my heart and although he shows that he is human and can make mistakes like the rest of us, to me he is perfect. He is someone who everyone needs by their side during the most trying times in our lives.
This is one book that every romance reader must read. I didn’t want to put my kindle down until I knew the conclusion to this heartbreakingly beautiful story. Situations happened that I never once considered Ella and Beckett would go through and as much as I hated those scenes, it sadly was their reality. There is so much I will take from this story, in particular that we all need hope, love, support and also to stop being so hard on ourselves.
The Last Letter is an incredible story from start to finish. This is my first time reading this author’s words and it certainly won’t be the last because I love how the author penned this story. The characters and the storyline (even though it broke me at times) are what make this book one that will take me some time to get over…. if that is even possible. I loved that the author wrote this story using dual POVs, and I can’t not mention those letters!!
I highly recommend this book to you to read.
Wow….I loved the characters in this book. I loved the relationships. Have a hanky handy cause you will need it.
This is the first book I have read by this author and it was a very different type of book from my normal reading list. Ms. Yarros does a great job of character development, interactions between characters and dialogue. The plot moves at a nice pace and flows well with the descriptions of scenery, time and character dress. This book is written in first person but you need to keep the speaker in mind when reading it as both primary characters speak in first person – not at the same time. The dog on the front of the book plays a large part in the story and is very likeable.
5
This book arrived at a moment of need. I’m not into drama, I confess. And with this book, I decided to jump right into it without even reading the entire blurb.
It was the best decision. I needed a book like this just to remind me that there’s always sunshine, no matter what life throws your way.
A book that changes the heart in more ways than one.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that has gutted me so completely like this one did.
I listened to it on audio which I think magnified all of my feelings.
How does it never fail that the most gut-wrenching parts of the audio book happen on my way to work?
The audio book was fantastic. Two very quality narrators that made this an experience rather than just a story being told.
From the blurb, you see that this is a story of a single mom raising twins and has faced more tragedy than a person should endure. I can’t understand how some people wind up with all the bad luck, but it does. Ella is a fierce, strong heroine. Beckett comes to help her out as her brother’s dying wish. Now, I hate for this to be vague but it’s for the best. There is so much stuff that happens during this story that you better buckle right up. As much as I sort of cursed the author, I reveled in the brilliance of her writing. Suspense, twists, emotions. I haven’t felt so completely shattered in such a long time.
This is my first RY book.. ever and This book wrecked me. What an incredible novel. I don’t have enough good words for this book! I finished this book while on a plane. I’m sure the people next to me thought I was insane because I had tears running down my face and I kept looking around. I had no one to talk to. Airplane mode and all my book friends were thousands of miles away and all I could do was clutch the book and stare out the airplane window.
This is a book I thought about for months if not years after I read it. This is one of those books that sticks with you forever.
So good.
This had me hooked from the start. it was sweet, emotional and just plain beautiful. I would highly recommend it but be prepared to cry. The narrators did an amazing job. They portrayed two very realistic, everyday people in a natural, believable and heartwarming manner. loved every second of this even when my heart was breaking
This book. This book contains all the beauty and heartbreak that life contains. The Last Letter is extreme in nature. The gorgeous parts of life are incandescent and are balanced by some of the darkest times a person can ever know. The power of this contrast absolutely blew my reader mind.
I found myself laughing and alternately crying. I not only cried tears of sorrow, I also shed tears of pure joy. These surges of emotion were not at all what I expected when I first opened the cover on this book.
Ms. Yarros has masterfully provided a complete and perfect reading experience with this story of promises made, kept, and broken. Reading The last Letter was an exquisitely painful experience that marked my soul for life. This story features Love in all of its incarnations. This story is simply incomparable, unputdownable, and completely unforgettable.
There’s no other way to describe this book than utterly heartbreaking. Rebecca Yarros’ beautifully crafted novel tells the story of a family torn apart and struggling to survive some truly awful tragedies.
Before I began, I thought I knew what I was signing up for when I picked up The Last Letter. Boy, was I wrong. I expected it to be angsty and sad, after all, the book’s synopsis comes right out and says that Ella’s brother, a special-ops soldier, has died, leaving Ella and her children essentially alone. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so attached to characters so quickly nor cried so easily, but I found myself struggling against the latter for a solid chunk of the book before succumbing in the end.
The plot is similar to many other romances in that it begins with a long-distance, pen-pal relationship between a woman and a soldier and that the relationship evolves after the two characters are forced to come together. But that’s where the similarities to cutesy romances end. Ella is a young, single mother who owns and operates her family’s resort in Telluride, Colorado and has just been given the devastating news that her daughter has been diagnosed with cancer and that her chances of surviving the next year are slim. Her brother was just killed in action and her parents have long since passed in their own tragedies. Before her brother’s death, Ella began exchanging letters with Beckett Gentry, whom Ryan said could use a human connection and whom Ella only knows by his call sign, Chaos. Following Ryan’s death, Beckett honors his last request and embarks on a mission to help Ella as much as she will allow, leaving the only certain thing in his life behind. He’s met with a reluctant Ella who has no idea that he is, in fact, Chaos. Ella’s fears keep her from embracing a relationship with Beckett right away despite Beckett’s sincere commitment to helping her navigate the emotional waters that have been made even more turbulent by Maisie’s uncertain future.
Although it feels like the number of horrible things Ella has to deal with could easily make this book an exasperating read, Yarros knows her craft and it comes across as a show of human resilience and the power of love. At its core, The Last Letter is about family and survival, about recovering from loss, and about looking forward to the next day in spite of it. It’s a powerful story with an incredible ending that is sure to end make you shed some tears.
I can’t believe I waited this long to read The Last Letter. This book is EVERYTHING
It’s very rare for me to get emotional with books but this one…this was so freaking gut wrenchingly heartbreaking. I have NEVER cried this much reading. I want to give this book the great review that it deserves but honestly nothing I say will do this book justice.
If you haven’t read it, you need to. Sometimes we need a book that isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. A book that doesn’t have the typical HEA. This book was refreshing. Rebecca Yarros outdid herself with this one!
This is a “Love it or Hate it” book. No other way around it or in between. I hated it at first – once I finished it – I loved it. I first read the book last spring – at a signing event that Ms. Yarros happen to be in attendance (Apollycon). Half-way thru this emotional journey – I ran into her in the elevator – I told her I was struggling with the book so far. Rebecca said she gets that a lot with this one. WOW – did the last part of the story throw me so far off – like totally ugly-crying feels! The next day (stayed up half the night because I could NOT put the book down) I cried with Ms. Yarros about the ending and she unapologetically said that was what she needed to write. This re-read of the book was much more meaningful and so much easier to love the story clearer.
OK – so we start off with the death of Ella’s brother Ryan – who is also Beckett’s best friend – in a military mission that went bad. Beckett is shouldering the guilt of that death which is his internal struggle to overcome. Weaved throughout the book we read letters between Ella and “Chaos” (unbeknownst to Ella that it is actually Beckett) on an earlier timeline before the Ryan’s death. They basically fall in love with each other thru the closeness they achieve via the letters – then Chaos stops writing back – right after the brother’s death.
Months later, Beckett shows up on Ella’s doorstep to take care of her — a plea from Ryan in his “last letter” to his friend. But, Beckett doesn’t tell Ella that he is Chaos (thinking she will blame him for the death.) Ella currently has the ultimate struggle of a young daughter (Maisie) with cancer – whose twin (Colt) is a loving, protective brother. She has no other family left except for her twins and as far as she knows her “Chaos” must have died with her brother. As the romantic relationship develops between Beckett and Ella – they work together so well – coordinating the cancer treatments for Maisie with Colt’s extracurriculars. The children are integral to this story and cement the love between Ella and Becket. He even adopts them for “insurance reasons” in the beginning – for love in the end.
Then Becket’s “lie of omission” comes to light that he is Chaos. Thus, throwing her trust of him to the wind. This is where I was in the pissed off mode – she dumps him – forcing the kids out of his life. It was too much for me that she wouldn’t forgive him. They were a family by then – UGH!
Beckett : “the truth is that I’m too scared to do anything but breathe for fear I’ll make it worse. I didn’t lose just you, Ella, I lost them, too.”
They FINALLY find their way back – friends only, then lovers again. Then the tragedy of all tragedies hit – it is was NOT what was stringing you a long thru the whole book.
Ella: “Sometimes bad things happen. And there’s no blame to be placed. You can’t reason with the universe, no matter how sound your logic is.” Said too early.
The Last Letter is a moving, emotional, thoughtful, poignant story of love and loss. I wholeheartedly recommend it – knowing you are either going to absolutely love it or completely hate me for suggesting it. But you will be better for it in the end.
You know when you read the blurb of a book and go “WOW, that sounds great!” and then you already have the book figured out before you start it? Well that’s exactly what I did with THE LAST LETTER, but I was so wrong. The blurb is just a glimpse of a wave in the big ocean. The blurb is not the A, nor is it the Z to this story. This story is so much more than even my creative mind could imagine.
The only fault I had with this book, is that it sucked me in so deeply, that I sped my way thru it. Don’t make my mistake. Savor the words, the story, the amazing writing.
The characters were wonderful, so well described, it was like 3 dimensional. Characters, that you could feel, touch, wrap your arms around, as you take in the room settings or the environment. As you feel their heart and the deep emotions within them. It’s truly amazing how Author Yarros can take her own life experiences, the experiences of others and the vast amount of research and weave a story that has you believing that she must have picked a couple out of her community and shared their story. There are authors, there are writers, and then there is Rebecca Yarros, so very gifted! I’ve lost count of how many of her books I’ve ready (11?), but I’ve never been disappointed or left lacking from one of her stories. THE LAST LETTER is now my ultimate favorite by Author Rebecca Yarros!
The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros the best novel you will read this year. Honestly if I could give this more than five-stars would, you will need to ensure you have a box or two of tissues to read this one as it’s so gut wrenching heart-breakingly amazing. I love a good cry, but honestly this was so much better, I was gutted as I was offered an early copy of this, but I had the flu so declined and then I kept seeing this in the RARE recommendations and it rung a bell, but I had a huge TBR pile and never got to it for ages, and then I saw it recommended again and I was like oh why not, everyone raves and lets see what the fuss is about. Honestly I am so gutted that I didn’t get it started sooner, I finished the book days ago but I just kept sobbing every time I sat down to type, this is one of those stories that will stay with you and never be one to let you go, I have major stalking to be done on Rebecca Yarros to see what else I can devour. I hadn’t planned on taking any physical books to get signed this year at RARE, just a signing board, this one has just been ordered as I will gladly pay the extra baggage fee if it puts me over the edge. Its just that good, if you read one story this year, make it this one.
Grab your tissues this book was intense and so good.
Two people who need each other more than they realize are brought together through letters. Pen pals and nothing more but when Beckett gets Ryan’s “death letter” that all changes.
Beckett lost his whole world when he lost Ryan so when this little or big request came he did what he had to do he moved across the world for Ryan’s sister.
Ella has so much going on in her life and more death than anyone should have to deal with. A sexy stranger shows up telling her he came at the request of her dead brother turns her already messy life even more complicated. She doesn’t want to be someone’s mission or burden she wants to be the best mom she can be and run her business.
Ella needs Beckett as much or more than he needs her. This book was fantastic but a tear jerker it’s a must read but grab your tissues it’s going to be a messy ride.
This book is heart break. It is love and grief and happiness and life. It will lift you high then send you plummeting. It is an incredibly powerful book about love and loss and hope and life. This is a must read, but make sure you have your Kleenex ready. Such an amazingly impacting book.
I’ll preface this review by saying that I expected there to be some sadness and angst in this book. The very nature of the description lets us know this. However, I did NOT expect this novel to completely comprised of an overload of sadness and tragedy. (Spoilers and trigger warnings below.)
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SPOILER
The basic premise of this book is that Ella, the heroine, starts writing Beckett (also know as Chaos) while he’s deployed with her brother, Ryan. Because of military protocol, she doesn’t know his real name, but she knows the connection they share is real. Ryan is killed, and his final letter asks Beckett to go and take care of his sister. While Beckett is in love with Ella, he blames himself for Ryan’s death and feels that he doesn’t deserve her, so he hides the fact that he is actually Chaos when he comes to Colorado to help Ella. So, that’s obviously going to end well. [Insert sarcasm here.]
This novel has all the trigger warnings. There’s tragic, unexpected death of a child, childhood cancer, PTSD, etc. It’s just tragedy on top of tragedy on top of tragedy. It’s like watching all of the Grey’s Anatomy season finales at once. I’m all for bringing realness and for having characters who don’t have perfect, shiny lives, but this novel put me over the edge. I kept waiting for it to get happier, to get better, and it never let up. There are also some weird time jumps that happen during the narrative that don’t make a lot of sense. I also had a difficult time believing that Beckett would hide that he’s Chaos for so long, and/or that Ella didn’t figure it out. And, I think the thing I disliked the most about the book is how Maisie finally goes into remission, only to have her twin brother die in a tragic accident. I did not see any value in that narrative decision, and frankly, it made me kind of angry. The heroine has been orphaned by her parents, her grandparents have also died, her husband abandoned her when he found out she was pregnant with twins, her brother dies, her daughter gets diagnosed with rare cancer, and then her son dies in a hiking accident. Like, just stop it.
END SPOILER
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At the end of the day, this book just wasn’t for me. I found it to be emotionally manipulative and too over-the-top. But I appreciate what the author was trying to accomplish, and know that there is definitely an audience for this book. But don’t go into reading this thinking you’ll feel satisfied at the end. You won’t. You’ll feel gutted. Or angry. Or both.
Wow – I think this might be my favorite book of the year.
I heard about this book being one of Kirkus Reviews 2019 Best Books in the Fiction and Literary category. That caught my interest, I read the synopsis, and barely put the book down from beginning to finish.
This is a complex story about two damaged people. Ella is a single mom to kindergarten twins and runs the large B&B her grandmother left to her. This is in Telluride, Colorado – one of my favorite, most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.
Ella’s brother, Ryan, has her write to one of the soldiers, Chaos, in his Special Ops unit who doesn’t have family and has been closed off to the world. They start writing to each other, sharing their innermost thoughts, and fall for each other as they do.
Then Ryan dies and Chaos (aka Beckett Gentry) ends up in Telluride to grant Ryan’s last wish – that he take care of his sister and the twins. Only problem is he doesn’t feel he can tell her who he is.
This book is full of beyond emotional moments. Have the tissues ready. There’s also romance and love and laughter.
I loved this book and it will be one I keep for my personal library.
Absolutely beautiful. Oh, my heart. So many things tugged at my heart, my feelings, my tears. So much pain and loss. But on the other side of all that sadness lies hope and love, like a beacon. Something good is gone. Something precious lost. Fate gave something wonderful back and filled every heartbroken crack with peace.
This is my first by this author and I’m so glad I took the chance to read it. I read slowly because it hurt and I felt the need to savor those glimpses of hope. And I have to believe that writing this story took so much of the author’s soul but what she gave the readers is nothing short of beautiful.