REVIEW: Love Letters to the Dead

Hello there. My blog's not been much active for a time now because SENIOR YEAR IS NOT BEING CUTE--no, not really. It's so much fun, actually--just very busy. I couldn't find the time to spend my hours reading and writing things for the blog, but hey, I try, whenever there's some time to kill and my brain's up for it.


BOOK DETAILS:

title: Love Letters to the Dead
author: Ava Dellaira
series: none; standalone
publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
pub date: April 1st, 2014
genre: contemporary, realistic fiction,
format acquired: movie tie-in paperback; purchased
links: goodreads, amazon, tbd, author site
synopsis: 

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. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to the dead—to people like Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse—though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating the choppy waters of new friendships, learning to live with her splintering family, falling in love for the first time, and, most important, trying to grieve for May. But how do you mourn for someone you haven't forgiven?

It's not until Laurel has written the truth about what happened to herself that she can finally 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 truly start to discover her own path.

In a voice that's as lyrical and as true as a favorite song, Ava Dellaira writes about one girl's journey through life's challenges with a haunting and often heartbreaking beauty.

REVIEW:
What do you think is under the title?

• This novel basically is composed of letters--letters that Laurel, the main character and narrator--addresses to dead people.

In general: (didn't like it, okay, liked it, loved it)

• 'Twas okay...?

Why?
I really don't know how I'll talk about this novel, so I'll give one paragraph for the writing, one for the characters, the plot, and so on.

We enter Laurel, the lost, confused, and directionless teenager. I'll be honest: I didn't like her. I thought she was whiny, and has very bad mood swings. But I'm glad to have seen her grow and develop throughout the novel.

The first half of it was very slow for me. I actually felt as though I'm only waiting for something to happen. I think the biggest mystery here is what happened to May. And to be honest, I think it's the only thing that pushed me to actually want to finish the story. Thankfully, it didn't disappoint. It ended with a smile on my face, and I closed the book wishing for more.

Quotes you liked:

"'I think it's like when you lose something so close to you, it's like losing yourself. That's why at the end. it's hard for her to write even. She can hardly remember how. Because she barely knows what she is anymore.'"

"'Why do you think that's the most profound thing for a person? It's both at once. When we are in love, we are both completely in danger and completely saved.'"

"'Can I ask you something?'
'What?'
'Do you see her when you look at me? I mean May?'
'No. I see Laurel.'
'Really?'
'Yes.'
'Then why do you even love me? I mean, why did you?'
'Because--because you remind me of my first concert.'"

Make a three to five song playlist for the novel:

• Cool Kids - Echosmith
• Wings - Birdy
• Ghost - Ella Henderson
• Ready to Question - Gabrielle Aplin

Rate it by stars/rubber ducks:

three and a half ducks!

Would you recommend it?

• If you liked Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and other novel of those sorts, then yes.

'Til next time!