Love Letters to the Dead: A Novel

This book was absolutely beautiful! The writing was so compelling and beautiful I had a very difficult time putting this down. I loved the entire concept behind this! Laurel is told to write a letter to a dead person. It doesn’t matter what it’s about. Well, her older sister, May recently passed away. They were extremely close and it’s been very hard for Laurel. She begins writing to Kurt Cobain. But when it comes time to turn it in, she can’t bring herself to do so. She then starts writing to all kinds of popular influences like Amy Winehouse. She doesn’t know what to do, her parents split before May died. But now her mom has moved across the country to California leaving her youngest behind with ex-husband and sister. Neither guardians know how to handle Laurel. Laurel confides in these dead famous people and confesses things she never thought would be said out loud. I love how although she’s writing to dead people, the story still progresses on. Laurel in the beginning was scared and not sure what to do with her life after her sister passing. She doesn’t want to remember anything from that night. But the end of the book, she has done a complete 180. She’s much more confident in herself and willing to open up to those that are close to her. This was such a compelling, beautifully written, and emotional book. There were times I wanted to burst out in tears. There were times where I got a little teary eyed. I liked all the different themes that played a part in this. Mostly the LGBT, you don’t see this very much in young adult books. It’s starting to grow, but still isn’t all that big yet. I adored this aspect! Loved Hannah and Natalie’s relationship that grew in this. Everything about this book was absolutely beautiful! Probably one of my top favorite books of this year! I highly recommend reading!

The story is told through Laurel’s various letters to various famous dead peeps, which originally was an assignment for class but she continues throughout the year. The way the dead person, whether it was Kurt Cobain or Amelia Earhart or whomever, was brought in to reflect whatever part of Laurel’s story was being told was really interesting. It becomes clear that writing these letters is her way to cope with not only her sister May’s death, but her own issues. ::Slight tangent ahead:: The fact that she never hands any of them in for a grade kills me. It’s like seriously just write a something and hand that s*** in! Get that grade! ::End tangent:: “And maybe what growing up really means is knowing that you don’t have to be just a character, going whichever way the story says. It’s knowing you could be the author instead.” I appreciated Laurel as a character. She was complex even though I think she was a bit immature and simple towards the beginning. You really get to see how all the things that have happened in her past shaped her into the person she is in the present. Also the way her past is revealed through out the span of the letters was done very well. Dellaira was great with not only Laurel’s development but that of her best friends Hannah and Natalie. Their relationship with Hannah as well as with each other came off very sincere. I think it was easy for me to relate to their little crew as they were shown as kind of different and outsiders (shocker that me being a book nerd didn’t always fit in). “When we are in love, we are both completely in danger and completely saved.” And of course there is the boyfriend, Sky. Her first love. He is the new guy, mysterious and of course a hottie (do the kids these day still say that? did they ever?). Their relationship was sweet but also a upsetting (you have to read it to get those juicy details). Again, I think their relationship rang true and I liked the progression it took. “I think a lot of people want to be someone, but we are scared that if we try, we won’t be as good as everyone imagines we could be.” As the letters go on Laurel opens up more and more about her relationship with her mom and dad, her sister’s death, and what she has gone through in the past but never really dealt with. The letters serve as her therapist on some level in my opinion. Probably because no on sees them so there is no nervousness or hesitation to share. No judgement to face. “Truth is beautiful, no matter what the truth is. Even if it’s scary or bad. It is beauty simply because it’s true. And truth is bright. Truth makes you more you.” While the book deals with some majorly heavy topics, including death, it still has very normal high school issues – first love, friendships, fitting in and figuring out who you are – as well. I found the book to start a little slow but still engaging. Once I was past the halfway mark it really started to pickup. Of course by the end I was a mess. Overall I thought it was a great read and glad I picked it up ( especially since it was because I loved the beautiful cover!!).

Ich gebe dem Buch 5-Sterne, da es als erstes ein wunderschönes Cover hat, mir die Schreibweise gefällt und ich von Freunden weiß, dass es ein wundervolles Buch ist. Jetzt muss ich es auch lesen :)

Such a great book.

Aún no lo leí pero me llego genial y en perfectas condiciones. Deseando estoy de leerlo, lo recomiendo para pasar el rato con un libro entretenido

Cela fait longtemps que je n’avais pas eu un tel coup de coeur pour un livre. Que je n’avais pas été bouleversée par une histoire aussi touchante, aussi incroyablement bouleversante. Mais Love Letters to the Dead s’est emparé de mon coeur. Pour son premier roman, Ava Dellaira nous envoûte dès les premières pages avec sa plume enchanteresse. On se prend toute de suite d’amitié pour Laurel qui tente, comme elle le peut, de reprendre pied dans ce quotidien sans sa soeur. Le deuil est différent pour chaque personne, et le sien ne peut que nous toucher, nous envahir au point de le partager profondément et sincèrement avec elle. Ecrit sous forme épistolaire, Love Letters to the dead est une véritable claque. Rien ne nous prépare à ce roman, ni à sa conclusion surprenante. On se perd dans l’histoire de Laurel, dans sa tentative de s’en sortir et d’apprendre à vivre sans sa soeur. Quel est ce poids qui la torture ? Quelle est la véritable raison de la mort de May ? Tant de questions qui nous torturent nous aussi et dont les réponses vont nous laisser sans voix. Une pépite pareille, on en lit peu. Et je suis reconnaissante à Ava Dellaira d’avoir fait entrer Laurel et son histoire dans ma vie. J’en suis chamboulée.

Comprei ele porque o titulo me chamou a atenção. Quando comecei a ler vi que não era aquilo que eu estava pensando, mais não me decepcionou. Não é uma historia profunda, é algo simples, pra vc se divertir e passar o tempo. O inglês é super simples e quem tiver o nível intermediário pode lê-lo com facilidade. Enfim, gostei muito! :)