Love Letters to the Dead: A Novel

Laurel’s English assignment is to write letters to a dead person. But once she starts, she can’t stop. She spills her soul, her secrets. She writes what she can’t say. And slowly, the story unfolds about her sister May, and the fateful night she died.

I am surprised by how much this book sucked me in and kept me reading. I’m not a fan of stories told in letters/emails, etc. But this one takes the reader’s hands and gently pulls them in. I love how each celebrity was researched, Laurel writing about the past experiences that celebrity had or experienced. I especially love the Amelia Earhart letters that show bravery and hopefulness as opposed to the Kurt letters which are darker and more sad.

We find Laurel slowly opening up through these letters, reliving the current day’s events but also the last few weeks up until her dear older sister, May, died. Heartbreaking and sad, the plot balances past and present expertly and although Laurel confesses about how she may have played a role in her sister’s death, and how broken she was before and after, there is still a sliver of hope.

The friends she makes are fun and complex, exposing Laurel to be a very rich character. The boy she likes, Sky, both fills her with love and breaks her heart. I love how the book deals with balances, both within herself and her surroundings. May balancing on the edge. Laurel balancing between who she is, who she wants to be. Before and After.

I really liked Laurel’s friends. They were all interesting and sweet and sad. I had a firm grasp on each of them. I enjoyed Sky’s relationship with Laurel and how bittersweet it seemed.

On a side note, let’s talk about the cover. Gorgeous. I love the color of the darkening, or brightening depending on how you look at it, sky. I love the side view of the girl writing. Most of all I love the large font of the title. It reminds me of handwritten, scary movie font. The lines are thin, the strokes wavy like they may crack.

Overall, Love Letters to the Dead is a wonderful book about loss and sisters and the lies we tell ourselves. And while it didn’t make me cry, it made me think and continued to even days after I finished.

Love Letters to the Dead is a coming of age roller coaster told through Laurel’s letters to the dead. Everyone from Kurt Cobain to Amy Winehouse to long gone poets. See, Laurel’s sister May died and now Laurel gets to navigate high school without her older sister and with a broken family. After May’s death, her mother practically fled their home for a ranch in California. Laurel manages to split her time alternating weeks between her mostly absent father’s home and her religious Jesus loving aunt’s home.

To sum this book up in one word would be raw. As someone who struggles with depression, reading this book allowed me to feel a whole spectrum of emotions. After putting the book down I just sat on my couch, enveloped in the raw emotions I experienced while reading this book. A lot of readers are comparing this book to Perks of Being a Wallflower, and honestly? The last time I felt this way was when I watched that movie.

There are similar themes to Perks, and I was a little surprised to discover that the author was an associate producer on the film. Regardless, this book holds its own and was a young adult masterpiece. The letters Laurel writes range from everyday musings, to deep and haunting, slowly revealing Laurel’s past to the readers. I wasn’t quite sure the letter format would work, and at times it wasn’t entirely believable, as there are things that need to be said to keep the story moving which doesn’t quite make sense for a letter.

We get to travel on Laurel’s journey in her first year of high school along with her. Her attempts to fit in, find friends and still process the grief of her dead sister and absent mother is a lot for one teenager to shoulder at such an important turning point in a young girls life. She also manages to develop a crush on a rather dreamy boy named Sky. He’s aloof and you can’t quite tell what is going on with him, and when you do, things start to fall in place and you start to see more about what happened with not just Laurel, but also Sky.

Love Letters to the Dead covered a wide range of issues, and didn’t force feed the reader like a cheesy after school television special. We see Laurel’s grief affecting every aspect of her life. We see the issues her friend’s are forced to go through too, which I think might have been my favorite scenes in the book. The characters became like friends to me, and I became immensely invested in their story. Truthfully, these characters and this story left a lasting impression on me.

Love Letters to the Dead , it'ss written in the form of letters to different dead celebrities such as Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, Amelia Earhart, Janis Joplin, River Phoenix and more.

Laurel is a girl in her freshman year of high school and her first assignment in her English class is to write a letter to a dead celebrities, so she decides to write a letter to Kurt Cobain whom was the favorite singer of her sister May, but at the end she doen't deliver the letter because it was too personal, but she decides to keep writing letters to different dead celebrities because she need to tell someone what she is feeling and what's going on in her life, such as going to the first year of high school, her new friends, the boy she likes, their parents who are divorced and for that reason she lives a week with her father and another with her maternal aunt,because her mother moved to another state, but she also tells them about her sister May, she died several months before, she was like her hero, her role model and she yearned to one day become as perfect as her sister May. And she also writes them about what happened to her when her sister was supposed to be looking out for her and no one else knows that event ... only May.

The story takes place in a school year and during that time we get to know Laurel a girl that misses her older sister terribly, suffers from not having her around, feel resentment toward her because she feels abandonment and even though she no longer is with her, she wants to follow her footsteps and become like her; Laurel gave me the impression that she's insecure because she's always comparing herself with May.

I really enjoy reading Love Letters to the Dead, I read it in 2 days (which is pretty fast for me), although it is not a light read; I really liked the narrative that felt like a diary or letters to someone you know, because sometimes she speaks directly about the lives of these people, like with Kurt, she talks about his suicide and how his life was as a child, and with Amelia Earhart talks about her travels and how she would like to be like her and as the story progresses the story becomes more emotional, sad and intense.

I knew this was going to be a book I enjoyed based on the synopsis alone. Laurel writes these really profound letters to Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Jim Morrison (and MORE!) to tell the story can't tell anyone in her life. Everyone thinks she's sad because of her sister's death, and yeah, of course that's part of it, but we discover there's so much more involved behind the walls she's built up. The saddest part for me was the fact that she has no way to deal with the feelings of grief, guilt and love she feels. Laurel is one of those unfortunate characters who has parents that have dealt with their own feelings in a way that has brought pain instead of relief.

The language used in this book is beautiful. I found myself devouring the pages and highlighting passages like a mad woman. It must be difficult to write an entire book in a letter format. I was in awe over how Dellaira was able to weave Laurel's story into the letters she wrote and make it relevant to the recepients own story. The letters to Cobain were especially touching and made me relive the pain (and anger) of losing Kurt that spring day in 1995. Tears did not fall, but my eyes got glossy a number of times.

Surprisingly, I found that my favorite character wasn't Laurel or May or even Sky. Nope. The character I most feel in love with was a secondary character named Tristan. Tristan and his girlfriend Kristen befriend Laurel when she transfers into their high school. At first glance, it's easy to brush him off as the "stoner" of the group, but the philosophies he shares with Laurel had me grasping at my heart on more than one occasion. His words were the most often highlighted during my reading.

I was quite nervous about the path this story was going down for a while, but toughed it out and was completely satisfied by the rerouting that took place. It can be hard to watch a character suffer through heartbreak, but it's a necessity sometimes. The road to a healthy mental state is never, ever, ever easy. Laurel's story is no exception, but you'll also see that once the decision to BE healthy is made, there's an awful lot of hope down that long road, too.

I can't wait to read more from Dellaira.

While I was reading Love Letters to the Dead I kept calling it “heartbreaking and charming.” When I updated my status on Goodreads, when people asked me if I liked it my answer was always yes and it’s so heartbreaking and charming. After finishing it those are still the words I would absolutely use to describe it.

The heartbreaking aspect should be pretty obvious if you know anything about this book. Laurel’s older sister May passed away a few months before the book starts and Laurel is trying to figure out how to live in a world without May. The story begins with Laurel starting high school. Her parents are divorced and after May died her mother decided she needed to go away and grieve on her own. Laurel splits her time between her dad’s house and her Aunt May’s house. Rather than going to the same high school May attended, Laurel goes to a different high school where she doesn’t know anyone. Watching Laurel, who’s so broken, be all alone, eating lunch by herself, trying to buy the “cool” thing to eat for lunch so she fits in, was so sad. Eventually she makes friends with two girls, Hannah and Natalie, and while I was happy that she had friends, it wasn’t clear if Hannah and Natalie, who flirt with older guys to get the guys who buy them alcohol and cut class, were good friends for Laurel to have.

Most of the heartbreaking aspects have to do with May’s death. Laurel has never told anyone the truth about the night that May died, we don’t find out what really happened until the end of the book, but in this case it worked because Laurel can barely admit the truth to herself. As more of May and Laurel’s history unfolds it just gets more and more heartbreaking. May, the older sister, was kind of like a second mother to Laurel, trying to protect her from their arguing parents and protect Laurel from some of the more evil parts of life. It becomes obvious that although May tried to protect Laurel she failed at protecting herself and ultimately also at protecting Laurel. Not only did she fail at protecting Laurel, but indirectly some of the ways she taught Laurel to cope actually ended up contributing to Laurel’s difficulty acknowledging what happened to her and acknowledging May’s death.

Even though there was all this sadness in the story I was completely charmed by Laurel’s voice. She’s young, but she’s also wise beyond her years in a very realistic way. She’s also one of the most empathetic characters I’ve come across, she feels so much in such a mature way. The whole concept of the book is Laurel writing letters to dead people (which is originally a beginning of the year assignment from her English teacher). She writes to people her sister loved like Kurt Cobain and River Phoenix, she writes to poets she reads in class like Elizabeth Bishop and John Keats, she writes to Allan Lane (the voice of Mr. Ed) who her aunt loves, and she writes to people she admires like Amelia Earhart. Not only does she write to them about her life, she writes to them about their lives (she obviously puts a lot of research into the letters) and makes such interesting connections between their lives and her own life and also society at large. I was completely taken in by the tone of the letters and they made me really fall in love with Laurel.

In the end though this book just didn’t sit right with me. I’ve thought about it and thought about it and ultimately I decided that it’s too similar to The Perks of Being a Wallflower for me to be able to get past. Yes, there are many differences, but there are also many similarities and knowing that Ava Dellaira is Stephen Chbosky’s protege just reinforced that idea in my head. Clearly that didn’t hold me back from connecting with the book, but it did hold me back from really loving it.

The book is also fairly sinister, maybe this is a naive outlook, but I don’t know if I believe the world is really that sinister. I don’t know if so many older guys go trolling for such young girls. It happens over and over again in the story and I don’t doubt it happens, especially when the girls are often looking for these guys, but the frequency of this storyline in the book got to me.

Bottom Line: This really is a heartbreaking and charming read. In the end I fell in love with the main character and the tone of the book, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something about the story that just didn’t work for me. I was bothered by the similarities to The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the use of the older man/young girl storyline, but in the end I did enjoy the book and admire what Ava Dellaira did enough to make my up for my reservations.

I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley (thank you!). All opinions are my own.

Love Letters to the Dead had me intrigued ever since I first found out about it. I loved the whole concept of it because I've never read a book before that was written in letter form. I found the whole thing interesting. This was a sad book, but it was still very good at the same time. I did have a couple issues, but it wasn't because of the story. I thought the writing had an amazing flow to it and it was sort of captivating in a way. I've just never read anything like it. Also, the characters were very realistic. I could understand and relate to each and everyone of them. There were also so many different types of issues that was touched in this book and that made me appreciate it so much more. I'd definitely recommend this. It was good and I'm glad I got the opportunity to read it!

Even though I loved the author's writing and thought it was written beautifully, it took me awhile to get into the story. I wasn't use to the format, so I had to gradually warm up to it. About 25% into the book, I really started getting into it and that's when I started flying through the story. I wanted to know what was really going on with the main character, Laurel. Laurel was a simple girl really, but she was struggling with the death of her sister. Her sister was someone that she looked up to and loved. Laurel seemed really lost. Through her letters we slowly start to find out all the things that happened to her. In a way, Laurel was acting out. She wasn't acting out to get attention or anything like that. I think she was just trying to be someone else and try and forget her past. But I liked Laurel! It took her awhile, but she slowly started to come to a realization and I was happy for her when it happen. Throughout the entire book I just felt really sad for her. I think her character had some awesome character development along with a lot of the other characters in the book. I liked Sky as well, the love interest and I also like Laurel's friends, Natalie and Heather. Each one of them were working through their own problems and had their own issues, but together they helped each other through their problems even if they didn't even realize it.

This book had some slow moments for me, but they weren't so slow that I lost my interest in the story. I enjoyed this book overall. I loved the romance and the writing and I also really liked characters and the development that they went through. The only issues I had with the book was that it took me a little bit to get use to letter format (my own issues) and that there were some slow moments. I'd definitely recommend the story! It touches on many issues; death/grieving/depression and sexual abuse and regular abuse and just many other things. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it. I receive a copy for review through Netgally. All thoughts are my honest opinion!

Laurel is in a new school to try and get away from everyone knowing who she is and what happened to her sister. She gets her first assignment in English class to write a letter to someone who has died. She writes to Kurt Cobain because he died young like her sister May did. While she doesn't turn it in that assignment started her writing to all kinds of dead people about what is going on in her life and the more she writes the more she reveals about what happened to her and her sister. The letters become a way of her finally getting out what she has been hiding from.

I had heard great things about this book and was glad I finally got the time to read it. Laurel is a young girl who is in many ways running from who she is. She lost her sister and now just wants to move on. She goes to a new school and begins to make new friends. She doesn't share anything from her past with them. With her new friends she begins to d many things from drinking form the first time, to falling in love with a guy, to sharing their secrets. All the time she is writing letters do dead people in her journal talking about her life. She slowly begins to talk about what happened to her sister and her in the letters. She doesn't want anyone to read them. Her sister's death has tore her family apart and Laurel has to learn to talk to them as well. The letters help her do so. I liked this book as it is very clever in how it is written. You do get to see Laurel in her every day life but the journal entries are a great touch as you see why she has picked each person and why they are special to her. Kurt Cobain is just the start of some amazing people she writes to. I felt sorry for her in many ways as most of the time she seemed to be trying to fit in with the others and hiding form what is really bothering her. I didn't expect what had happened to her and it was a twist that really surprised me. This is a wonderful book I would recommend to many.

Dear John letters with a twist in this dazzlingly, heartbreaking debut novel about a girl who writes to the dead about love, family, friends, and secrets she can only tell them–at first.

Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain to write her letter for her first assignment. But, as she starts writing it, she realizes she can’t hand it in. She can’t hand any of them in that she writes, filling a whole notebook in one year. Starting with Kurt Cobain, her sister May’s favorite musician, Laurel writes about May’s life and death, about her own life including falling in love for the first time, making new friends, and her strange living situation. Only to Kurt Cobain, River Phoenix, Judy Garland, Amy Winehouse, Elizabeth Bishop, the actor who plays Mr. Ed, and more can she say what really happened to May when she died. Only to them can she write the secrets she has kept.

It’s not just her life she writes about. She writes about theirs. Specifically about their deaths. She asks Judy if she really wanted to keep taking all those pills? The pills she was given as a child star that never stopped coming as an adult. That maybe if she said no. Then there’s River Phoenix. That maybe he needed a parent to look after him. Like maybe May and her needed. Maybe they would both be alive. She tells Kurt Cobain his daughter is not alright without him. That he should have never thought that.

I quickly fell head over heels in love with this book. The letters are no way superficial. There is substance. They are sometimes heartbreaking, devastating, pull at your heart strings, then introspective, make you think about celebrities and how we think about them, and laugh. I fell in love with Laurel/Dellaira’s writing style. They were fluid, elegant, and made me think. They was nothing in them that didn’t make me think or wonder. I felt for the characters. Their pain was, briefly, my pain. When Laurel slowly reveals her secret, my heart burst. As bad things happened, I got anger with her. Not at her, but with her, by her side.

Dellaira raised an interesting and very valid point about idolizing someone. A lot of the celebrities Laurel chooses to write to ended up dying of drug overdoses, or suicide. All at a very young age. Not as young as May, but relatively young. They were also idols in pop culture. May was Laurel’s ultimate idol. Even from when they were kids and May would say they were fairies and she would try to protect her. She idolized her so much she didn’t want to tell her the truth about something. The truth that when it came out Laurel thought killed her. Whether or not it did, you never know. But, Laurel has to go on her journey to stop idolizing her sister and see her as a real person. And, that’s what she does in the letters when she starts asking questions, like to River about needing protection. And, to Judy about the pills.

The journey is heartbreaking. But, worth it in the end. There is a beautiful poem in the end that Laurel writes to her sister that makes reading this book worth while. It’s truly amazing. I shed a tear the first time I heard it. There was something about it. If you don’t read the book, just read the poem.

This book really will take you on a journey. It will break your heart ten different ways. Pull on your heart-strings. Make you question almost everything about friendships, loyalty, love, and a little about who you are. In the end, at that poem, you will be mended. Your heart will be sewn back up. Your tears will be gone. Your journey will be a success. This is by far my favorite book of the year. And I’ve read about 20. Just sayin’ It’s that good. :)

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Summary:
Laurel's teacher assigns her to write a letter to a dead person. Deciding to write to her older sister May's favorite singer, Laurel pens a letter to Kurt Cobain. Since she knows that Cobain shared a deep knowledge about pain and anguish, she feels comfortable sharing with him some of the things she can't bring herself to share with anyone else. Soon she finds that she wants to write to several other dead celebrities that each conveyed some sort of embodiment of sharing the pain that Laurel is feeling. As she continues to write, she finds out more about herself and begins to understand some of the torment of feelings within herself. Finding out that she can't always hide her feelings of guilt, shame, and regret. Writing to the dead, helps Laurel find a new way to live.

My thoughts:
Wow this is so beautifully written that I didn't want it to end, yet it rips at my heart to the point where I also wanted to put it down. Laurel has been through so much and my instinct is to protect and save her far more than to let her work through her own pain. I found this to be an ingenious assignment. We definitely find things easier to share when we don't personally know someone. A lot of teens turn to the internet and that could have disastrous results. Writing to the dead allows you to share your thoughts with someone you don't know, will never met, and have no possibilities of being manipulated by. This gave Laurel a chance to really spill her guts without any repercussions.

Love Letters to the Dead spans Laurel’s 9th grade year as she tries to sort through her life—her older sister May has only recently died and the circumstances behind her death remain shrouded in mystery as the novel unfolds, spurring readers on as Laurel relays many different facts about her life. This is an extremely well written epistolary novel that captured my attention immediately. I really adore novels told through letters, diary entries, and the like, and Dellaira does a superb job getting Laurel’s voice across using this writing style.

When the novel first picks up, Laurel is writing a letter to Kurt Cobain, and as she begins to relate to him through their shared experiences, she starts to tell the story of her sister, and soon finds herself working her way through multiple letters and truths about the past, present, and future. With the death of May, Laurel’s family fell apart; her mother now lives in California, and Laurel splits her time between the homes of her father and aunt, yet none know the truth as Laurel does. And as the story unfolds, readers learn that there are many heavy underlying truths that Laurel must eventually face in order to move from the past and begin living in the present. I will admit that it took me a little while to warm up to Laurel, but as she pours out her heart, I found it impossible to not connect with her and her experiences, both trials and triumphs.

One aspect of this novel that I truly love is that, as Laurel writes letters to the dead, she connects the dead’s lives, music, accomplishments, and decisions with those that she is currently experiencing. It flows together seamlessly, and helps bring validity and emotion to the novel as Laurel tells her story, asks her questions, and struggles with the answers. The letters show how Laurel is on a downward spiral, and as it all comes to a head, we learn what Laurel really knows of the night her sister died, and why Laurel has slowly allowed herself to become someone else as the school year progresses. It’s an intriguing, heartfelt read that I highly recommend.

The story unfolds at a perfect pace, exploring how Laurel gradually comes to face, and then find a way to live with, losing her big sister, May, who she admired and wanted to be like. Laurel tackles many other challenges that come her way. Just a few include: starting high school where she doesn't know anyone; writing letters to famous dead people for an English assignment; learning who she wants to be and how to begin growing into that person; and discovering that NOT talking about things is hurting her, not helping her - but how can she talk about what happened the night May died, and who can she trust?

Some of the things I loved about the book are its vivid imagery, lyrical language and pieces of poems and good, sometimes magical memories Laurel shares from her childhood that express a depth to Laurel's feelings and experiences. Laurel - and the dead people she writes to (and her boyfriend, parents and friends) - really come alive and shine; you can really get a clear picture of how they think and feel. I also felt the revealing of Laurel's secret (part of what happens - and why it happened - the night May dies) was not only well expressed, but it unfolds at a perfect pace - the reader sees a glimpse here, a hint there, and then we can see the whole picture. Sky, Laurel's boyfriend, has his own interesting story to tell and the connection between Laurel and Sky deepens as more of his story is revealed. It's captivating to see how Sky and his story twines with Laurel, her story, struggle and personality.

The story is just plain good for the heart and soul. It has the potential to touch people's hearts, whether they're happy or sad, and to offer thought-provoking ideas for dealing with life's challenges which we all must face at some point.

I really wasn't sure about this one. I mean, I'll read almost any YA that sounds interesting and has a pretty cover. I was drawn in even more by the fact that I was seeing this one everywhere; I figured it had potential. But I still wasn't sure, for no reason that I can put my finger on. But this book was stunning. It's a coming of age tale that is destined to be a classic in the vein of The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- which, by the way, is the book I'll be giving out on World Book Night. (My first year as a giver! I'm a little nervous.)

In each letter, Laurel writes a bit about the celebrity's life, struggles, etc. and why she can relate to them. That might make this book sound like it deals solely with trivial, superficial things, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Laurel is dealing with more than meets the eye, more even than the recent loss of her sister. I can't say more without giving too much away.

I know I mentioned Perks earlier, but I'm bringing it up again. You see, Laurel is sort of a long-lost sister to Charlie: they both make new friends, deal with the loss of a beloved family member, experience a musical education, and write letter after letter as they strive to figure out who they are. And what does Laurel learn in the end?

...maybe what growing up really means is knowing that you don't have to just be a character, going whichever way the story says. It's knowing that you could be the author instead.

Laurel is simultaneously tentative and wise beyond her years. I wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be okay. And when the final letter was written to May, as I knew it would be, man, did the tears flow!

All in all: Worth reading if you like coming of age stories and don't mind a bit of sadness. The cover is perfect for a book that feels like a beautiful sunset: breathtaking and a little sad.

Note: I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

I was super excited to read this book. The cover is gorgeous and the blurb sounds really interesting. At first, it was everything I had been hoping for. Laurel is writing letters to dead celebrities as she tries to figure out her life. She is trying to cope with the fact that her mom ran away and her sister died. She's at a new school and makes some new friends. The writing is gorgeous and full of emotion. I love the way Laurel describes things, like the way she feels connected to the music of dead singers, or the performances of dead actors.

About half way through, I started to lose interest. The beginning was so awesome, but then the same things kept getting rehashed over and over. The writing was still beautiful, and I really enjoyed Laurel's relationship with the dead people she keeps writing to. But the story had somehow lost it's spark for me. I didn't feel like I connected with the characters all that much. They were all pretty quirky, which isn't a bad thing, but it just wasn't MY thing.

I'm not a teenager, so maybe that had something to do with it, but I can't be certain that I would have connected with the book even if I were a teenager. I'm chalking this one up to personal taste, because it really is a beautifully written book.

Content: This one has a LOT of content. Underage drinking, sex between underage teens and older guys, drugs, smoking, passionate make out sessions with and without clothes, and quite a bit of language. Far too many F-words for my tastes.

The Cover: I adore this cover! It is so gorgeous and it portrays the feel of this book really well. The cover was definitely a huge plus for me.

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.

I find Love Letters to the Dead a hard book to review. I liked it, a lot, but I don’t have a ton to say about. Which means this review will probably be pretty short.

I LOVED the way it was written, everything being told through letters. I thought this was unique and was a new refreshing way to hear your narrator’s voice. And since Laurel writes to certain celebrities multiple times, it was interesting to see the way her tone changes as her life takes different turns. She idolizes and in a way glamorizes these different figures though most of them died in tragic and haunting ways. As Laurel starts to maneuver through her own grief it was interesting to notice how the tone to the letters change.

I do feel like there is a disconnect between Laurel and the reader. I felt for her, and it made me sad to witness the things she was feeling, but none of her hurt and heartache really affected me. I wanted to feel more, I wanted to hurt more for her. It was almost like she was in a haze and no matter how much I wanted to sympathize for her I couldn’t break through that haze. Does that make sense? I don’t know how else to describe.

I was so extremely excited to read this book, and I feel like it definitely lived up to the hype. Love Letters to the Dead was a stunning debut, and I would be interested in reading more from Ava Dellaira.

Laurel’s trying to make a fresh start but she can’t push herself away from May’s departure. May was Laurel’s older sister. When Mr. Buster assigns the class to write a letter to a dead person, Laurel’s one assignment starts to fill up a notebook. She pours out her thoughts and speaks her mind to these dead individuals hoping that she might be able to figure out her own life. Laurel is hiding, hiding from others and hiding from herself because she’s afraid if others really knew what type of a person she was, she would be alone. Laurel doesn’t talk about what happened that might with May, it’s as if it never happened but you see……people know, they just don’t discuss it around Laurel. Laurel has placed May on a pedestal, she was perfect, she was flawless, at least that is what Laurel thinks. Laurel thought May had everything figured out, the world was hers for the taking but sometimes what people project and what they really are, aren’t the same things. Laurel needs to find out the truth about herself and her sister to move forward and it takes an open mind to grasp everything.
I found that I liked the ending of this book the best when Laurel was dealing with the truth of the matter. When Tristan and Laure talked about the wolf- being a part of you – I loved that talk as it is so true. When Laurel talked about the freedom from life and who actually is free, that was a good message to remember too. I think an important message in this book is to talk. Had Laurel talked with her friends and family, things would have been different sooner. At least I think so.

We start off knowing that Laurel's older sister, May, has died (somewhat mysteriously) about six months previously. Laurel has just entered high school - a different school than her sister attended, she didn't want to be branded as the sister of the dead girl. But one of her first assignments to to write a letter to a dead person.

Once she starts, she can't stop: Kurt Cobain, Amelia Earhart, Judy Garland... She writes to whoever resonates with her more, at the moment, and bit by bit, the story of the family disintegration, which began before May's death, and blew up even more afterward, is revealed.

It's poignant, and there are triggering things like teen drinking, molestation/sexual assault, an lgtb love affair, and the whole question of fitting in, of Laurel being like her sister, and not-like, figuring who she is and what she likes.

The style (epistolary) has its limitations, and may not be to everyone's taste. There are clearly sections that are more the author explaining to the reader who Kurt Cobain was, or Amy Winehouse, than anyone would need to write to them. Presumably Jim Morrison, if he is cognizant of anything, would be cognizant of how he died.

But overall it's an interesting, if sad read, though the ending is on a positive note. No, May doesn't return from the dead, but there is a sense of closure, and I loved May's invention of the fairy wings.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira is a quiet sort of book, one that I think people’s opinions are going to differ on across the board depending on their own life experiences and style preferences.

For the most part, I really got Love Letters to the Dead. But I did have trouble with the narration style. Laurel and her friends felt distant to me. Perhaps that’s to be expected. She’s writing the letters to process life, and in the wake of her sisters death, seems to struggle with connection– with herself, with her parents, with making friends. Because of that, I felt for her, but was prevented from feeling TOO much for her. I liked her friendships, may have come around to liking the eventual ‘ship, but… I just couldn’t feel those parts.

But I did think it was excellent. I just think it’s going to work more for other people.

For me, I was strongly reminded me of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak. And, you know, this book did work. Tears pricked at my eyes here and there while reading Love Letters to the Dead. Laurel’s parallels from her experiences to those of these famous dead people that she’s writing her letters to speaks so well to the breadth of human experience and the commonalities that people can have.

This epistolary novel will twist your heart.

*ARC provided by publisher. This in no way affected my review

~Originally posted at:[...]
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I would say this is more 3.5 stars.
The first 200 pages I didnt really care for but I cared enough to want to read more. If that makes any sense. I liked the concept of the writing letters to dead celebrities. And making a story with it. But the first 200 pages I didnt really care for but the last 100 pages I really enjoyed. That is what I enjoyed the most.
I believe this is Ava Dellaira's debut novel. For the ending I really enjoyed. I loved the writing style like I said the letters that was made into a story was really unique.
I really enjoyed the Nirvana letters about Kurt Cobain the best. When you finish the book its really heartbreaking. I feel so bad for Laurel and what she goes through while her sister is alive and when she passes away. A person should never ever go through losing someone like that in her family. But it happens.
Its really a beautiful story. Just not one of my favorites but I am really glad I did read it and finish it. I think this was a really good debut for this author and other people might enjoy it more than I did.

Rating: 3.5 stars

This book is confusing for me to review/rate.

Overall, I liked this book. If I think about the book in terms of individual letters, though, I feel less certain about whether or not I liked it as much. I enjoy stories that are told in the form of letters. I especially liked that the letters are addressed to people that I am familiar with. However, the included details about the letter recipients, solely for the sake of the reader, kind of threw the story off. It felt strange to read the letter discussing the recipient’s life and then transition into what was going on in Laurel’s life. It didn’t flow well for me.

The book is about dealing with loss, moving on, and becoming your own person after losing someone you’re close to. I enjoyed the way the story unfolded, over time and in a realistic way. However, there were times where I just wanted to know what happened already! Laurel’s grief over her sister’s death is palpable. It rang true in her letters. I think her transition throughout the book was done well. It’s hard dealing with life sometimes and this is especially so when dealing with such a great loss.

Love Letters to the Dead is a unique coming-of-age story. It will work for some, but fail for others.

“Love Letters to the Dead” has an intriguing premise, I have not read a book based on written letters like this. Going into the book, I was not quite sure what to expect. I’m not sure if this book is a stand alone or will have a sequel, but it was great having a concrete ending. One great thing is that the book had a concrete ending. Cliffhangers can be okay sometimes, but it’s nice to have an actual solid ending. Like other reviewers, I was a little confused on the time period. It felt like the 90’s, but there were more modern references. Although I enjoyed the story (and the beautiful cover), I felt the letters actually caused the story to be flat at times, which is why I gave a lower rating. It definitely had a gloomy feel to it; however, I understand that was how the reader should feel regarding the main character Laurel. The main character was broken, which the author did a great job illustrating. The only problem I see with her is that during some of the letters she seemed like a different person at times. Overall it was a great story, and the writing was beautiful.

Love Letters to the Dead for me was okay. I didn’t love it, or hate it. It was just middle of the road for me.

Laurel is a girl having to deal with death. After she’s given the assignment to write a letter to a dead person she feels comfortable sharing her thoughts. I was glad that she was able to deal with her feelings that way. I didn’t care for all the information they gave about the recipient’s life. Those should have been written in a way that made the reader want to learn more about them.

I think the thing that got me was that the relationships felt forced, and awkward. I’m glad she found the friends she did, but I didn’t care for her doing things she wasn’t comfortable with to impress them. I also liked the side characters much more. They had more depth, and faced their problems as best they could.

While I didn’t love this book, I think others would enjoy it. I liked the influential people that Laurel wrote to, and how they made her feel safe.

When Laurel started high school one of her first assignments was to write a letter to a dead person. She wrote the first one to Curt Kobain, her dead sister's favorite singer. She didn't turn it in but continued writing to him as well as other dead celebrities and didn't turn any of them in. She did, however, learn a lot about her broken family and herself while writing these letters.
I haven't read a young adult novel since I WAS one (no need for me to say how long ago that was!) and even back then, I never read one like this. I love the format - it's all just letters. No chapters, just letters that tell the story.
This story is really, really good and really, really emotional. Keep a box of tissues handy because if you're anything like me, you'll need them! As you learn about the break-up of Laurel's parents and the death of her sister it's impossible not to feel the heartbreak. It's not ALL sad, though. This is an excellent book, I can see how a teenage girl would like it (don't know if they'd know who Kurt Cobain is, though!) and it's a great start for a new author! Pick it up, you won't be sorry!

What a complete waste of my time.

If you're interested in reading a book that truly reads as if a 14 year old wrote it in short stunted sentences then you should definitely order this book. The letters read like a research paper on each person and then they have a loose connection to Laurel's life. All of the plots you can see coming a mile away. The characters are complete cliches. (Janis Joplin, really?) I just feel like this is a watered down version of Perks (and I didn't really like Perks that much. Teen angst. How compelling.)

Also, side note, what kind of name is Sky?

I really liked this! I liked the shape of how Laurel told her story. And I really liked the method Laurel had for telling us her story.

Laurel, a freshman in a new high school, is given an assignment by her English teacher, the first day of school: write a letter to a dead person. Her first letter is to Kurt Cobain, because he was her sister's favorite. Her sister died last April. Her mother left them in Albaquerque (sp?) for California. She lives with her uninvolved father one week and her Jesus freak aunt the week after that.

She continues to write to Kurt Cobain as the year goes on, but also includes Amy Winehouse, Judy Garland, Amelia Earhart, River Phoenix, the poet Elizabeth Bishop, Jim Morrison, Heath Ledger, Janis Joplin, and others. She tells us just enough about these people I know well, and people I know less well, to get us interested in why she writes to them. Because even before Laurel's recent losses, she was experiencing things she couldn't process. I'm very glad I read this.

I received this from the store Vine 4/28/14 in return for a fair review. I finished it 4/30/14.

I finally picked up the book that everyone is raving about. And yes, it is good.

Plot: This story is told through letters written to dead people. I love the way these letters reveal a small part Laurel life’s. She writes to each person differently, capturing the reader with great imagination. The way she wrote her feelings, the way she questions actions, helps the reader become more in-tune with Laurel.

Friendship/Loss: Laurel goes through a lot. With each letter Laurel becomes better and learns to deal. Each letter is significant to the person she is writing to. For me, it felt like Laurel’s connection to each dead person makes it real. Towards the end, I adored Laurel and the way she dealt with grief.

Ending: I think this story deals with grief that any teen can connect to. It has music and it has soul. It touches the reader right in the heart.

Love Letters To The Dead is an effective tale of grief and lost. The elegant use of letters, steals the reader away. Love Letters To The Dead is awesome.

What did I think? You know how sometimes there are books that are so wholly sad and filled with all the feels you could ever feel and it makes it too hard to to really funnel your thoughts into actual critical ideas about the book? This is that book for me. It was all just too full for me as a mom, and a teacher, and a sister and a former teenager, I felt it all. This book had many beautiful moments and many wonderful quotable quotes. I guess this isn't really a review but more so a lack of a review and a recommendation for you to read it yourself and come to your own conclusions.

My favorite quote: "And maybe what growing up really means is knowing that you don't have to be just the character, going whichever way the story says. It's knowing that you could be the author instead."

Final Recommendations: if you enjoy the feels (all of them), lovers of contemporary, a good "next read" if you enjoyed: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Eleanor & Park or Looking for Alaska.

This book is absolutely wonderful. Readers should make sure it is on their to-read and wishlists as soon as possible.

I opened Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira, and I was so overwhelmed with how much I loved it. The entire novel is written by main character Laurel, in the arrangement of letters to well-known dead people. I had no idea I would connect to it on such an emotional level and be pulled into Laurel's head and heart in such a strong and raw way.

I enthusiastically look forward to what debut author Ava Dellaira is going to come out with next! I recommend Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira to everyone.

An Advanced Readers Copy was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

I'd probably give this 1.5 stars, but I'm rounding down because of how much I disliked the main character. On paper, everything about this book appealed to me, and I've been looking forward to it since I first read the blurb. I loved the idea of a teenager writing to famous dead people, and I largely liked the list of people the character wrote to. But the character herself...she was awful. She gave into the slightest hint of peer pressure. Except, she didn't just give in, she dove in. As a freshman in high school, she starts smoking, drinking, doing drugs, and stealing, all because her friends do. She makes a half-hearted, little explained effort to take a break from drinking near the end of the book. Bully for her. She constantly puts herself in dangerous situations, and she makes the love interest (a character I really wanted to, but couldn't quite, like and with whom she has little chemistry) save her every time. Her growth is lacking and her maturity is all over the board (and mostly very, very juvenile--more like 11 or 12, in many cases. She talks about magic and fairy wings with the earnestness of someone even younger, honestly. I understand what the author was attempting with that, I simple don't think it worked.)

I struggled to connect with the main character and the book throughout. I know most disagree, but I wouldn't recommend this book.

Love Letters to the Dead reminded me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but I thought this book was better. The voice of the narrator, Laurel, is so genuine and heartbreaking as she tells us of the problems others around her are dealing with before finally focusing on her own inner turmoil: Her sister's death and the moments that lead up to it. I thought the writing was beautiful and lyrical and I especially loved the pieces of background information on the dead, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse to name a few. Dellaira perfectly wove Laurel's modern-day, high school, personal moments with the adult problems the dead she wrote to faced. She wrote out her anger at why some of them died and really, truly spoke to them. It was a unique way to write and it was done amazingly.

There are books that make you see the beauty and power of words and at the same time make you at a loss for them. Love Letters To The Dead was just that. It left me tongue tied, heavy-hearted yet amazed and inspired.

Saying I loved this book doesn't feel enough. Laurel's letters, while addressed to renowned dead people, like Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Bishop, Amelia Earheart, River Phoenix and Janis Joplin, spoke to me in more ways than I could count with my fingers. Laurel, the main character, deals with missing her sister, the person she loved and looked up to the most. I related not only to her grief, which was overwhelmingly heart-breaking, but also to her endeavors as a young girl finding love and belongingness.

I don't like comparing books often but I feel the need to mention how Love Letters was very similar to Chbosky's Perks Of Being A Wallflower, one of my most favorite books. Aside from both stories being told in letters, Love Letters' undertone was quite like Perks'- obscure and contemplative. While Laurel and Charlie's voice have some resemblance, I feel that Love Letters To The Dead still holds up on its own. Ava Dellaira's prose is distinctive, her story as striking and unforgettable as Chbosky's.

Even with Ava's smooth writing, Love Letters To The Dead was difficult to read and I only mean that in the best light possible. While I'm often drawn to upbeat contemporaries, there's something about reading dark and brave stories such as this one that fills me completely. I felt close to Laurel, and also to her friends, family and her love interest, Sky. Each of the characters had demons of their own to take down and I loved how their character growth intertwined with the protagonist's.

Aside from this, I also loved the way the story emphasized the music and poetry of the people Laurel was writing to. I appreciate how they were weaved into the book and I believe they made the story even lovelier. Love Letters To The Dead digs deep into the lives of these dead people whom Laurel's letters are addressed to and provokes readers to think about truly living.

Stories such as these are delicate but also poignant and emotional. Love Letters To The Dead was an excellent debut and I wholeheartedly recommend it to readers who are looking for a novel to stir their heart and soul.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Love Letters to the Dead is one of the most important books I’ve read in my entire life. It’s important because the message it conveys, is of the utmost important. The story tells us about Laurel, the main character, who moved schools after her sister, May, passed away. After May’s death, Laurel’s entire life has crumbled apart. She tries to become like May, tries to make her sister come to life again by becoming her. She tries to understand her sister and the mistakes she made, the choices she picked, and why. But the more Laurel begins to behave like May, the more she loses herself.

Her English teacher gives her an assignment – to write a letter to a dead person. Laurel starts writing to Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, and more. She picked those artists because her sisters loved them, or because they had something in common with her sister. As Laurel writes more and more letters, in which she talks about her new life, her new friends, how she copes with her sister’s passing, about her Mom who lives halfway across the state now, and about her Dad who tries so hard to cope, I started to feel a real connection to her, and my heart broke for Laurel. But despite it all, she keeps on going strong, and tries to deal with the past the only way she knows how.

The book is beautifully written. It brought me to tears more than once. The characters are amazing, and even May, although deceased, feels like a real character. The book feels very real, as if Laurel and her friends – who each have their own share of troubles – could just walk into the room and start chatting.

A great, inspiring read. Keep the tissues ready.

What begins as an assignment in Laurel's English class (Write a Letter to a Dead Person) becomes a way for her to come to terms with the death of her sister, the separation of her parents and other deep issues.

Written in a chain of letters to dead celebrities starting with Kurt Cobain because her sister May loved him, his music meant something to her, and he died young, to River Phoenix whom they both loved in STAND BY ME, Amelia Earhart, Amy Winehouse, Judy Garland, Jim Morrison, are other luminaries she identity's her struggles with.

It's touching, sweet, distorted, tortured and original. Laurel delves deep, conveying and sharing much in her letters, letters which allow her to cope with her past and deal with her present. A truly moving novel.

Love Letters To The Dead is a story written completely in letters. The Main character has an assignment where she has to write a letter to someone who is deceased. After doing this, Laurel, never ends up turning them in - but still continues to write them to many different deceased people. Laurel tells her story, and her sisters, through a narration that focuses on her feelings, the current events in her life, and the aftermath of dealing with her sisters death all jumbled together.

I think people who say they did not "connect" with Laurels character are looking at the story the wrong way. For me I connected with her when she started to open up to the people in her life - which I think was the intention. Laurel was at a point in her life where she wasn't connecting emotionally with anything - school, people, activities, life in general. Once Laurel starts to form relationships and be more forthcoming about her past, you can begin to identify with her as a character.

I think it was beautifully written, and it was done in a way that allows us a personal look into the life of the main character. With Laurel as our sole narrator we get all of her thoughts and feelings, without outside interruption. Had the book been written from multiple perspectives I don't think it would have had nearly the same effect as it did being written as an epistolary. Being an epistolary, we get to see how, in the beginning, she loves some of the people she is writing to. As Laurel grows, though, she begins to understand more about their lives, why they did what they did, or why she should no longer love those figures as much as she used to. Through her change in feelings toward these figures, we see her rationalizing her own situation, and beginning to grow up - or maybe even begin to accept the passing of her sister.

Overall, I LOVED the book - and would highly recommend it. I think it does a good job of showing how death affects people, and how messy it can be. Life is complicated, and the book shows that things take time.

So this story was told completely through letters the MC, Laurel, wrote to people who have died, mostly celebrities who died of drug overdose or suicides. As she learns about their lives, and their personal hardships, it helps her to face her own issues, and see that she needs to trust her family and friends with her own horrifying secrets.

The writing style was interesting and fitting. I alternated between wanting to hug Laurel and shake her, but she had to come to terms with her experiences on her own and in her own time. This story is a heartbreaker, but totally engaging. I read the whole thing in one day!

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review

(Originally posted @ my goodreads)

This book was just okay. I've been in a reading slump lately and I thought this book would get me out of it. For the first 100 pages or so I was really flying through it, but then around page 160 ish, I lost interest. One of the problems for me is that the main character seemed a little immature at times. She also talked about Sky soo much and I didn't really see the chemistry between them. After the hype I had heard I expected some different, but I was just underwhelmed with it. I'd say maybe give it a try if it sounds good? It just wasn't for me and was just meh.

On a side note, the cover is really gorgeous.

Love Letters to the Dead was a much different book than most I read. It was beautifully written, each letter conveying a piece of the story while giving you a glimpse of the dead celebrities that Laurel is writing to. The book covers really hard topics like loss, divorce, and abuse. Each topic is handled carefully and it amounts to a really stark look into the life of a very troubled young girl and her friends. I had a really hard time reading some of it, just hurting so much for the characters and being uncomfortable with the situations they find themselves in. I finished the book, though, and despite being a tough read, I'm glad I read it.

"Love Letters to the Dead" was the a long-winded diary of an immature little girl. It wasn't the story of love, death and grief that I expected it to be. There was no point to any of the "letters". They were all practically the same.

The characters were dull, selfish and changed between being either way too immature or overly wise as if a granny had been stuffed into a teenager's body, sprouting beautiful metaphors about life one second and then doing something completely stupid the next minute. They were always off in their own little worlds where everything revoloved around them and it was infuriating.

The plot was tedious to put it nicely. The letters were practically carbon copies of each other. They said the same thing over and over again so many times I am surprised the plotline moved forward at all.

They all followed this formula:

Dear [Kurt Cobain',

I am Laurel and I am sad. I went to school today and saw this really hot guy named Sky. He has eyes that sparkle and he gets the universe and music and everything just like I do. I love him but I don't know if I "really" love him because I am like really sad about my sister's death and shattered on the inside and just not okay enough for him. But I really love him. Oh, and I forgot, I am writing to you because my sister loved you and your music and well, I have to do everything she does because she was like this magical fairy who was totally perfect and could like practically fly and could do no wrong. Oh, I miss her. Lots. How sad, right? 'Cause it really is sad. You should feel sad for me.

Yours,
Laurel.

Yes, they all sounded like that. Sometime though she wrote about how brave Amelia Earhart was or how much Kristen liked Janis Joplin - that however, was the only variation. It was sooooo slow and dull that I would've given up on it if I hadn't been DNFing too many books lately. I would not recommend this one to anyone and I definitely won't be picking up any more of Ava Dellaira's books.

I picked up this book because of Kurt Cobain. The jacket cover mentioned that the main character writes to him. That was enough for me. As I get older, I become even more interested in the details of his suicide: what led to it, why he did it, what may have caused him to kill himself when he had a family, a daughter that loved him. Even the book Heavier Than Heaven gave some insight, but still hasn't answered all of my questions. I remember the exact moment that I discovered Kurt Cobain had died. I was in high school getting a soda at a local gas station. My friend was working as a cashier and she was crying and when I asked her why she told me. "Kurt Cobain is dead". And I remember being bewildered, walking around the gas station in a daze. I couldn't cry, because although I loved Nirvana's music, he wasn't family and he wasn't necessarily a hero of mine. But I definitely admired him. And I remember thinking that he was too strong, too famous, too important, had too many feelings to be sung, to die. Well, this book didn't really answer the questions I still have about his death but it does give insight into what survivors must live with after death.

May was similar to Kurt, wanting to feel life and its very essence, but all the while beckoning death through dangerous, thrill-seeking acts. Now it is the living, like her sister, Laurel who must live with her death. And her life. How she would do anything to be like her, anything to stay close to her sister, including actions she will deeply regret later. She must also deal with the dichotomy that all survivors must: the pull to turn the dead into icons without flaws and the pull to be angry at them for those flaws. In her sister's case, those flaws could have led to her death. Or was it a suicide? The reader is never really given the answer to that question, and that's okay. Sometimes death is vague. Sometimes life doesn't give all the answers. For that, I applaud the book. Not everything is neat and tidy. Death is messy. Family members leave. Some shut down. Some have to pick up, clumsily, where others left off. Sometimes there is no one to rescue you, including the sister you admire.
The main protagonist, Laurel picked Kurt Cobain as well because her sister May loved him. She chose Kurt as her first letter to the dead. She chooses everything because of May. But May is dead. And Laurel has many questions of her own. Did May jump? Did the wind blow her off the tracks and into the water? Was it an accident? But mostly she has lots of secrets that are slowly revealed through the novel and give light to May's death. When the truth is discovered, it is hard not to be angry at Laurel too for following along with May all of her life. I kept looking for Laurel's own personality to shine through, but the whole book she was trying to be a copy of May. Which was, I guess, the point. Laurel was lost without May as many are when people close to them, especially siblings die. Some never find their way. By the end of the novel, I was relieved that Laurel finally revealed the truth, finally started being herself, and finally began living her own life and finding a voice. I would like to believe this is realistic. That some really do find their way after a sibling's death.

Although an English assignment is an overused ruse in novels, the premise of writing to the dead worked as a way for Laurel to find her voice. However, I wish that there was a stronger connection to the dead like Janis Joplin, Amelia Earhart and Amy Winehouse. I was looking for some little-known facts about the dead to be revealed, but it wasn't that kind of book. It was truly about Laurel and the path she took before and after her sister's death. I kept wanting to shake her and her sister and even some of the friends Laurel made at her new school. WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT? WHY ARE YOU TAKING A PILL AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS? WHY ARE YOU IGNORING YOUR TRUE FEELINGS? WHY ARE YOU LYING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD WAITING FOR A CAR TO RUN OVER YOU? Still, the characters were likeable, yet sometimes unbelievable. They didn't distract from the message of the book: friendship heals, feelings are not to be ignored, and holding onto secrets helps no one.

What I enjoyed most about this book were the scenes where the characters took little slices of life and truly savored them. A day of school skipped, a game of night baseball, a bonfire to celebrate dreams, an exchange of homemade gifts matching each individual's personality, the flaunting of attic-found fairy wings through school hallways, and walk across a railroad trellis above a raging river. She just wasn't supposed to die. The book is also a cautionary tale on many levels. Of what can happen at parties, when one drinks too much, when one allows others to make decisions for them, when one worries too much about what others think, when one allows abuse to take place, and when one tries to be someone they are not. And I was thankful, by the end that Laurel was on the way to not blaming herself for her sister's death. She has instead, decided to be a poet, which was appropriate for this novel, which really did have its moments of pure poetry.

April might have begun as a dark cloud for me, but it's brought the most amazing stories with it. Tonight it's Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira. Moving, touching, poetic, aggravating, empowering. It reminded me of Perks, of Speak, and others like them, but this time there was the element of music that I could relate to, how many of my experiences are forever entwined with a song. Read it. It's a must. Especially for your teens and for those of us who contemplate why our heroes fail us and whether anyone will ever know the real us inside.

A lovely story. I don't know how well the letter-writing concept worked, even though it's an interesting hook. Most of the time the letters consisted of Laurel relaying a few facts about the dead celebrity and then launching into a recitation of her own tale.

But still, it's impossible not to be affected by the story of Laurel and the emotional damage she sustains after the death of her sister, May. Through much of the story, I kept wondering how May died, but Laurel takes a long time to reveal those details. This ended not quite as strongly as it began, but it was still a very moving story.

Totally beautiful! Such a sad book. So many feelings. I like that the author does not tell you everything at once. You have to keep reading to find out what happened. The writing is beautiful and descriptive and I could not put this book down. When Laurel is assigned to write a letter to a dead person, it turns into a notebook of letters to Curt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Judy Garland, Amelia Earhart and more - telling her story over the time period of about a year as she comes to grips with her sister May's death and how to deal with it. It is touching and sad and beautiful. I totally loved this book.

I can't say enough about this book. It's an epistolary novel about a teenage girl who can only talk about what is happening in her life by writing to those who are gone. Laurel pens letters to Kurt Cobain, Amelia Earhart, but also the voice actor for Mr. Ed (the story has a good sense of humor.) Most of them died before their time, as did Laurel's older sister. It's only through these letters to them that we are able to find out what happened to her. The book is aimed squarely at YA readers, and I imagine high school kids will find a great deal to connect with. But anyone who has ever lost a friend or a relative too soon will also relate. There's nothing you can say that will bring them back, but sometimes you just have to say it anyway.

Okay I know I am supposed to be feeling heartbroken and tearful but I am TICKED! This book is a prime example of what happens when parents are too wrapped up in their own problems and end up losing something precious because they were too self involved to notice signs. Yep I am TICKED!

Love Letters to the Dead is about Laurel and her struggle to move on after losing her older sister. All Laurel wanted to be was May. To her May hung the moon and much much more, but Laurel knows deep down that May wasn't always on the straight and narrow. Nope May would sneak out, lie, drink, and hook up with older guys. To Laurel though this was just about growing up and she felt left out when May changed. Mays sudden change took place right after her parents decided to split up after years of telling May that she was the reason her family was together in the first place. Yep pretty harsh right. Their mom moves out and well May just kinda goes in a different direction to hide her pain. Unfortunately Laurel wants to be just like May and things go downhill from there. When tragedy strikes and May dies Laurel is the only one who really knows what happened. One minute May was there the next she was gone and Laurel has to go on knowing that she might have been able to change everything.

I really loved the way this book was written. It was really interesting to see Laurel connect with so many famous people that have passed away. I learned so much more about quite a few people that she wrote too and it honestly changed my views on a few of them. What was heartbreaking to see was Laurel taking the same wild path that May did. I wanted to scream at her parents to wake up and see what was right there! Laurel needed help working through so much and her mom just up and leaves her! Yes I get it is beyond tough to lose a child but you have another one who needs you! STEP UP! I am so infuriated that so much that happens to Laurel could have been prevented. What happened before May dies was something that should have been prevented but I can see where it might not have been obvious but it is now so why did both her parents check out??!! Laurel deserved better than what she was handed.

Another thing that really bothered me about this is that nothing was done to a particular character that abused another character. I get that it happened a long time ago, but I still think criminal action should have been taken. Nobody should ever be allowed to get away with that and I wish the author would have said just a few lines about something being done. I'm not saying I wanted to see the whole trial and case, but please tell me that this person was being dealt with. I think that was the toughest for me. I know in real life these things don't always get punished but when I read a book I want them always to be punished.

All in all I did feel sympathy for Laurel but I just honestly feel enraged at her parents. She needed both of them and they both just checked out on her. Her friends weren't the best in the world but at least they were there for her in the end and they cared enough to let her cry on their shoulders. I am not sure if I got out of this what I was supposed to but it was a good read that will stay with me for quite a while.

I was a little hesitant about this book. I usually don't enjoy books that are written in the "letter format". However, once I got used to it, I really loved Love Letters to the Dead. As a child of the 90's I really loved the 90's references, like Nirvana. The story itself is sad but touching. This is a perfect novel for teens, the author really seems to understand and relate to teens. This book is mostly about grief, so don't expect a lot of laughs. But Love Letters to the Dead is a wonderful, touching novel that really kept my attention.

This year promises to be a stellar year for important books aimed at juveniles. Certainly Love Letters to the Dead is one of these books. Written totally as letters to celebrities who are no longer with us, we learn all about the writer, a grief stricken teenager striving to come to terms with her grief. This is tender and emotional reading. My first thought was that this would be a morbid book, but it isn't. Far from it. This should inspire a ton of book reports from high school students.

I have seen this book around the world wide web for a bit now. Like others I was intrigued with the concept of this book. So I had to read this book for myself. Well I have to agree with some of the other fellow readers. That is that while this book has a cool concept it was not as cool. Laurel did sound like she was more like 10 years old than the high school student she was.

Secondly what was with the whole romance angle with Sky? Because it was not working for me at all. I felt no chemistry between Laurel and Sky. It was more like a school girl crush, which grew old quickly. Sky is awesome, Sky is wonderful, Sky is a God, I am over the moon for Sky. This really does sound more like a crush than love.

Lastly even with all of the diary entries to all of the famous dead people, I never really felt like I knew who May was as a person. There was no connection that binded me to Laurel or anyone else in the book.

I give this 2.5 stars. I really wanted to love this, but the pacing was too slow for me, and Laurel, the main character, wasn't really someone i could connect with. This was a coming of age story, and since I've already "came of age" , I guess, I wasn't interested in this. It did make me feel some emotions, I'll give it that, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. I think those who like TFIOS and anything super pretentious would enjoy this, but I didn't.

It started as a school assignment--to write a letter to a dead person, but for Laurel, it's not that simple. She is still dealing with the death of her sister, May. As she writes letters to dead people, they learn about her life now and what led up to the death of her sister.

There is some very good stuff here and the letters are very well written. This was a page turner for me! Give it a chance. You will be glad you did.

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I received from the publisher via NetGalley.

A couple of months ago, there was this great little book called This Song Will Save Your Life. Most people loved it and connected to it, but I was not one of them. Love Letters to the Dead is a lot like This Song Will Safe Your Life; both have deep connections to music, a female lead who has been through mental hell in the past year or two of her life, and she’s isolated from the world around her until she finds the right friends and then herself. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m the black sheep again.

Laurel is a well-crafted character and when you picture her sitting by herself in her bedroom or in a classroom full of people writing these letters to dead celebrities, your heart aches for her. She has no one she can talk to now that her sister is dead, her family is in shambles, and the people around her have no idea what happened to her (this is by Laurel’s choice, though), so this is the only way she gets to talk to anyone and get all this out of her. It’s sad and not at all unbelievable. That very inability to talk to other people about what I was going through in my younger years is exactly why I had a diary.

The thing is that Laurel takes a very, very long time to open up and reveal all the secrets hiding in the nooks and crannies of her psyche. Though she’s going to be a compelling character for a lot of people and they’ll have no trouble reading on, I felt like I was wading through a waist-deep pool of molasses sometimes. Once she does reveal what happened the night her sister May died, you latch onto her and want to make it all better (semi-knowing her experience made it hit me that much harder), but it’s a long road there. Almost unnecessarily long with the wait feeling even longer because every line is spun into something poetic.

While Laurel is put together well and the image of her is vivid, other characters don’t get that sort of detailed attention. One of her friends is fifteen and with older men (hello, statutory rape!) and this doesn’t get remarked on beyond, “oh, her parents are dead and her brother is awful and her ailing grandparents don’t care.” She deserves something more than that, but the closest to “more” she gets is the secret relationship she has with another girl–Laurel’s other new friend. Laurel catches the two girls together quite a few times before the girls (well, one of them; the other wanted it to be open) are willing to start being open about it. Laurel’s love interest Sky? He has some stuff of his own going on and a few ties to Laurel and May, but he failed to make me ship him and Laurel.

The only character beyond Laurel who gets vivid characterization is May. Laurel is obsessed with her sister and her memory. It calls back to Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma, aka one of my favorite novels ever. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by that book and its brilliantly unhealthy sisterhood, but nothing can compare to it anymore. Laurel’s stories of May and the invisible fairy wings that will break if Laurel ever sees them try their hardest to create that sense of sisterhood, but it can’t quite reach the heights Imaginary Girls did. To be fair, few books can, if any.

If This Song Will Save Your Life was your jam, Love Letters to the Dead will be too. I can assure you of that much even though I’m going against the grain yet again and being a black sheep. Baaaaaaa.

Laurel’s English teacher assigns it---write a letter to a dead person---but Laurel takes the assignment and runs with it. For Laurel is a girl with troubles: her sister is dead, her mother has taken off, and her father won’t talk much. It’s the letter writing assignment that helps Laurel come to terms with her sister’s death and helps bring her family back to life.

Wasn't the biggest fan of this title. I didn't actually make it all the way through (and yet *gasp* I'm reviewing it). It started off a bit interesting, but I quickly found myself bored. The only thing I really cared about was finding out what happened to her sister...which I did part way through the novel. There was nothing left to keep me wanting to read this book. Other people have praised it, but I was just bored.

This book was what I expected, but in a comforting way, very similar to perks of being a wallflower, but that's ok. I felt ungrounded in time, like whether it took place in the 1990's or the present, but that too is okay. I thought the character was slightly immature, and naive for her age, but could relate well to her.

LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD isn’t my typical sort of book, but I had read a couple of reviews praising it, and I had also checked out the first few letters and thought I might enjoy it. Unfortunately, I didn’t. I couldn’t even bring myself to finish the book, and usually I *have* to finish books. I made it to page 74 before I said no more.

Here’s why I couldn’t get into the book:

--The idea of the “love letters.” I didn’t really see any point for Laurel to be writing love letters to famous dead people. Yes, it’s a neat idea at first, and probably what attracted a lot of people, myself included, to the book. But 99% of the letters are identical. Laurel starts off with “Dear _____,” then launches into a boring monologue about her day, complete with dialogue and misplaced purple prose descriptions. Most of the time, I forgot I was reading a letter. The epistolary format just didn’t work for me, especially when Laurel educated the dead person about their own life. She actually told Judy Garland and Janis Joplin what their childhoods were like. And the subjects of the letters? I can’t see a lot of teens knowing who many of these people are, such as Mister Ed or River Phoenix.

--Laurel had no personality for me. I didn’t care about her at all, and I couldn’t connect with her. In LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD, she’s just starting high school, but at times, I could have sworn she was 10 because of her innocence and naivety. Laurel is mourning her dead sister, May, but instead of showing us how broken up she is, the author just tells us. I am aware that people mourn in different ways, but I never felt any grief from Laurel.

--Within the 74 pages I read, Laurel smokes, drinks, flashes people, sneaks out, and watches her friends steal alcohol. I’m no prude, and I like when teens exhibit realistic behavior in young adult books, but I thought this was a bit much.

--I had no idea where LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD was going. Usually I get a good sense of where a book is headed, but here, I had no idea, and I like to know the plot’s general direction. I acknowledge that I didn’t finish the book and maybe a better story showed up later, but I shouldn’t have to wait until the middle or end for something to happen. A book needs to keep my interest, and LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD did not.

--The writing. I cannot imagine a freshman writing something like this: “I liked everything about it. I liked waiting in line with everyone. I liked that the girl in front of me had red curls on the back of her head that you could tell she curled herself. And I liked the thin crinkle of the plastic when I opened the wrapper. I liked how every bite made a falling-apart kind of crunch (p. 8).” That quote is about buying a Nutter Butter. A NUTTER BUTTER, people.

LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD is a book that just didn’t work for me. I wanted to like it, and I tried to read it, but I could not get into it.

I'm going to go list-tastic, because frankly it rocks to write lists:

THINGS I LOVED:
Letters to dead people! Okay that sounded morbid...but, honestly, letter-style-books are a huge favourite. Particularly if they're written well. (I even loved Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary when I was little!) This does the letters fantastically.

Good grief. I'm sorry! But sometimes these sorts of sad books call for some gallows humour. Writing about grief is a tricky subject. People handle it so differently! Love Letters to the Dead is about a girl losing her idolised big sister. It's bawl worthy. I felt very emotionally involved. Laurel (our narrator) handled her grief realistically and she grew. There was no bandaid at the end, too. Thank you.

Laurel. I like a narrator I can understand and sympathise with. Characters who whine? Ugh, let me bury the book. But Laurel was fantastic. I loved reading her thoughts. She really summed up what it is to be a teenager too: half her brain is still a kid while the other half is coming out with brilliant quotes like this:
And as much as I was hiding from him, I guess part of me also always wanted Sky to see into me -- to know the things that I was too scared to tell him. But we aren't transparent. If we want someone to know us, we have to tell them stuff. (pg. 285.)

THINGS I REALLY DIDN'T LIKE:
I've already read this book. It's called The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephan Chbosky. I realise Stephan Chbosky was Ava Dellaira's mentor and also endorsed this book...so obviously he doesn't think it's a newer version of Perks. But I couldn't overlook the similarities. Think of Perks and just throw in a gender swap and a bigger emphasis on sister-to-sister relations.

It always, always makes me twitchy when a book is just "another version" of a popular book. Perks was the first book that actually made me cry. It's a huge favourite! So this reason alone is why the star rating dropped.

I got very confused to the date this was set in. It wasn't until she started a letter to Heath Ledger (who died in 2008) that I figured it was modern. But it was hard to tell. Particularly when she wore overalls to her first day of highschool. I was just....huh? Are we in the 80s or...

THEY ARE NOT "LOVE" LETTERS. Come on! That's a little bit crazy! Laurel is writing letters to...dead people. Yes. But they're not "I wish I could marry you" sort of letters. It's a journal. Instead of saying "Dear Diary" she says "Dear Amelia Earhart". I don't get how those are considered "love letters".

Let's talk about what it means to be a "writer". I am so frustrated right now! What is it with books and throwing in the "you should be a writer" to people who HAVE NEVER WRITTEN. It is dang hard to write. You don't just wake up one day and pen a whole book. You have to practise. Laurel was always telling Sky he "could be a writer". Let's forget the fact he never wrote. SHE was the one writing all these letters! This happens a lot in books (I have no idea why...authors should appreciate how hard it is to write).

The writing is absolutely beautiful and I did have a good time reading it, but I couldn't shake the deja vu, peoples. I prefer The Perks of Being a Wallflower and I'm not so keen on reading the same story twice.

I thought this book was heartbreaking and beautiful. Death is a topic that makes everyone uncomfortable, so often no one wants to discuss death with young adults. I think this book is a great way to open up the lines of discussion. All in all, this was a beautiful book about a difficult subject.

I'm giving this book two stars because the plot was actually good. Unfortunately, the author's overuse of flowery writing took away too much from the book for me to enjoy it. Everything was too dramatic and overdone. I found it unrealistic that a present day teenager would choose people like Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, and Allan Lane to write letters to. I didn't enjoy this book and wouldn't recommend it.

There are not enough stars. I loved, loved, loved this book. It reminded me of when I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower for the first time when I was 14. (That is still my favorite book.) If you are a fan of Stephen Chbosky or John Green, you must read this book.

Like many readers, Love Letters To The Dead's cover really drew me in. It's absolutely gorgeous. I've been reading a lot more contemporary YA lately and the unique idea of having the story set out in a series of letters to dead celebrities really appealed to the weirder side of me, so I made sure I read it as soon as possible. The opening 20% or so was really good with poetic writing and an interesting storyline.

Laurel's sister has died and her mother has moved to California, leaving Laurel and her Dad to pick up the pieces. Laurel chooses to attend a school further away from her sister's old school, to avoid being 'that girl'. However, this doesn't work as Sky, a boy she spots the first day in the cafeteria, knew May and knew that Laurel was her sister. The she finds out that a teacher of hers knew May too. This book mostly focuses on Laurel trying to fit in with girls her age while dealing with a huge loss in her life and she uses the letters to cope and reflect on the events of the day.

However, about 30% in it started getting quite dull and I started asking more questions. With a contemporary like this, certainly of the ones I've read, you only need about 200 - 250 pages. However this is dragged out to over 330 and it really dulled the story for me. I literally nearly fell asleep in a couple of places. The writing is poetic, sure, but that got old fast for me and felt forced, not the author's natural style. I'm not the author though so perhaps that is her style. I also was confused as to why so many different characters would all speak in this weird poetic style all time.

The lovely unique aspect we have, the letter writing to celebrities that have died, actually started to downright piss me off. It's one thing writing to celebrities but the book really showed the celebrity culture and how we immerse ourselves in lives that are not ours. The main character makes lots of presumptions about the celebrities and how their lives must have been and it just felt... wrong to me. At one point, the most shocking part of the story for me, was the main character wondering if River Phoenix had been raped as a child. There's no proof of this and if I was his family I would be horrified (and would probably file a lawsuit or something). It just felt far too invasive. These were real people, not objects to pick and poke at like that.

The more interesting storyline for me, that isn't mentioned in the description, is the lesbian (ish?) subplot. Hannah and Natalie, Laurel's friends, are clearly in love and they really struggle with that and trying to hide it from the school and relatives. I do wish this book had been from Natalie's point of view, I think it would have been a far more interesting read.

I wasn't a fan of the ending either. I'm glad I read that far for the revelations and big reveals and such but that was also dragged out so that nearly every small storyline could be wrapped up with a pretty bow. If you like that sort of thing, great but it didn't feel right to be, to have everything happy and wonderful.

I bought this book because of a recommendation from one of my close friends, and this book will probably stay with me forever. It is a moving story about a girl trying to discover herself amongst the anguish from losing the one person who she felt connected to. I would recommend this book to anyone who would listen. Trust me, it is a great book. If you liked Perks of Being a Wallflower you will like this book.

This is a must read for those of us who have experienced the sucide/death of a sibling. i could relate to her simply because it just does not go away for a very, very long time. Then it really does not go away. It just seems to fade a little in the background. Although it took a while to really get the feel of where the author was headed with this story, I could not put the book down until I knew she was going to be allright. Death of a sibling is a very difficult thing.

A wonderfully written look into one girl's struggle with grief. I enjoyed the way the letters pan out with specifics to who she was writing to -- suicidal thoughts with Kurt Cobain, etc. I thought it was a great read, and a refreshing way of introducing characters and a story.

This book was both awful and wonderful. Awful as in what is happening to the protagonist: how sad she is, and how she sometimes seems like she's not there. Wonderful as in the book in general. This story is incredibly sad and will make you cry and feel very sad and then you will feel even worse when you realize the things that happen to Laurel happen all the time to real people. Such an important story with such an important message. Definitely not a light-hearted read.

The concept is very interesting but the execution is..weird. I feel like this book is trying too hard to be the next perks of being a wallflower. I really don't like how every other sentence is some inspiring phrase that goes along the lines of "infinity" and "life." It is also very similar to perks. And its hilarious that Stephan chbosky did a blurb as well.

Becuase of all the glowing reviews, I decided I had to read this book. Well, I DNF it shortly after I started it because the entire book is in... well, letters. This format is just not my thing.

I didn't find anything appealing in Laurel writing to dead people because she was sad and lonely. Maybe if I was a teenager myself I would go crazy over the sense of sadness and lonliness that Laurel is trying to convey. I recall feeling pretty lonely once in a while when I was a teenager.

Another thing that never works for me in stories is when someone dies tragically but the main character involved in the accident can't tell how it really happened.

Why, Laurel's sister May died but she can't tell us how just yet. In fact, Laurel hasn't even told her parents what really happened. Well, I guess that the letters will exorcise it out of her by the end of the book.

In short, Laurel's lonely and friendless life did't make it for me basically because my years reading have led me to KNOW that everything turns out right as soon as the lonely character makes a friend and gets a boyfriend.