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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn’t like the fact that this book doesn’t have chapters. The entire concept of the letters is a little strange to me and May‘s death didn’t really feel all that bad to Laurel.
Ugh I cried so much. Everything just hit me and I cried my way through the last 100 pages or so. Such an important and beautiful book.
One of the first things that occurred to me while reading Love Letters to the Dead was, "Wow, this is a LOT like [b:The Perks of Being a Wallflower|22628|The Perks of Being a Wallflower|Stephen Chbosky|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1363910637s/22628.jpg|2236198]..." At first, I thought it was just the epistolary format or the precocious-yet-innocent narrative voice, or the general premise (grieving misfit enters high school), but as the book went on, I kept coming across other similarities...
Unfortunately, this made it hard for me to really get into Laurel's story, especially once I realized Stephen Chbosky blurbed the front cover. I kind of lost myself wondering if the similarities were on purpose or unconscious or just coincidental, and wondering what it feels like when an author reads a book that feels obviously influenced by their own work. Do they feel flattered? I guess some must, being as Chbosky wrote a glowing review of this book. Anyway, it detracted from my enjoyment of the story.
That being said, readers who've never read Perks, or those who loved it and want something in a similar style will probably like this book a lot. The book has quite a few weaknesses, but the characters are sympathetic, the author does a nice job of keeping up the suspense surrounding May's death, and there are some nice touches.
Good for older teen girls, especially those who want a book about grief or living in someone else's shadow. Fans of Kurt Cobain or Janis Joplin might get into it too.
Spoiler
Character makes friends with the 'weird kids' at school. Best friends have homosexual feelings for each other and one won't admit it's love. Preoccupation with the music of bygone eras. English teacher as plot device giving the MC convenient poetry lessons. Loving a dead relative so much the MC overlooks their faults. Sexual abuse. Etc.Unfortunately, this made it hard for me to really get into Laurel's story, especially once I realized Stephen Chbosky blurbed the front cover. I kind of lost myself wondering if the similarities were on purpose or unconscious or just coincidental, and wondering what it feels like when an author reads a book that feels obviously influenced by their own work. Do they feel flattered? I guess some must, being as Chbosky wrote a glowing review of this book. Anyway, it detracted from my enjoyment of the story.
That being said, readers who've never read Perks, or those who loved it and want something in a similar style will probably like this book a lot. The book has quite a few weaknesses, but the characters are sympathetic, the author does a nice job of keeping up the suspense surrounding May's death, and there are some nice touches.
Good for older teen girls, especially those who want a book about grief or living in someone else's shadow. Fans of Kurt Cobain or Janis Joplin might get into it too.
La primera vez que lo leí me gustó, la segunda lo sentí forzado, no me gustó la protagonista, no me identifique en nada y no me convenció en lo absoluto...
This was a fairly decent little book. I have it four stars because I feel it was better than three but it wasn't five star worthy for me. I agree with other reviews that said the format of the letters didn't change from person to person and that would have been nice since there were a few letters Laurel would make a reference to the specific reipient but I had forgotten who it was addressed to so many pages in. Also, there didn't seem to be a pattern to whom she wrote it apart from they were celebrities who died young. Kurt Cobain was an easy connection to May as was Amelia Earheart because flying. But the others seemed to be ones her new friends found interesting and she just seemed to latch onto that. I also don't think these were "love" letters. These were more like conversational ones or even pen-pal style.
I disagree with the idea that Laurel wasn't mourning May throughout the book. I feel she was because everything cycled back to May, including who she picked for the writing assignment. Ialso feel she was coming to terms with her anger over May for leaving her and not protecting her like she felt a big sister should do. Despite the title and premise this was a pretty heavy book, and while I wouldn't call it my favorite this year or say I will re-read it, it also served as an emotional release that I needed and helped to get that out.
This book took me a bit to get through because it did drag in some parts and there were many references to something that could have happened to Laurel. And while it is relatively easy to guess what it was I feel the build up took too long and a lot of things that were left unresolved could have had more of one. If you go into this with regular expectations rather than high ones you will likely enjoy it but if you have high or unrealsitic ones you will end up disappointed.
I disagree with the idea that Laurel wasn't mourning May throughout the book. I feel she was because everything cycled back to May, including who she picked for the writing assignment. Ialso feel she was coming to terms with her anger over May for leaving her and not protecting her like she felt a big sister should do. Despite the title and premise this was a pretty heavy book, and while I wouldn't call it my favorite this year or say I will re-read it, it also served as an emotional release that I needed and helped to get that out.
This book took me a bit to get through because it did drag in some parts and there were many references to something that could have happened to Laurel. And while it is relatively easy to guess what it was I feel the build up took too long and a lot of things that were left unresolved could have had more of one. If you go into this with regular expectations rather than high ones you will likely enjoy it but if you have high or unrealsitic ones you will end up disappointed.
So. Melodramatic. The construct of writing letters to the dead was poorly executed, too--she had to tell the person too much about their own life in order for the reader to know what she was talking about. It was always awkward. The writing was so low-level and trite--authors can use the excuse of "the character's voice" for only so long before I just don't think they're good writers.
The story was completely predictable. Of COURSE she gets roofied. Oh duh, she was being molested. Hey look, everyone comes to terms with their shit and gets closure!
All this book reinforced is that those who suffer a major loss, no matter their age, need to go to therapy, stat. And apparently divorce is far more traumatic to children than I ever realized, at least in the opinion of this writer, given how it seemed to be at the crux of a few of the dead people's torments and was a major issue for Laurel (really, though, her mother is a selfish asshole). Therapy is clearly necessary. And oh look, she gets it at the end!
The story was completely predictable. Of COURSE she gets roofied. Oh duh, she was being molested. Hey look, everyone comes to terms with their shit and gets closure!
All this book reinforced is that those who suffer a major loss, no matter their age, need to go to therapy, stat. And apparently divorce is far more traumatic to children than I ever realized, at least in the opinion of this writer, given how it seemed to be at the crux of a few of the dead people's torments and was a major issue for Laurel (really, though, her mother is a selfish asshole). Therapy is clearly necessary. And oh look, she gets it at the end!
Me hizo falta conectar un poco más... no entiendo porqué... pero en general no fue una mala lectura. Rescato varias cosas. Pronto la reseña en IG.
I don't know how to rate this book. It's somewhere between a 2 and a 4, but 3 seems too generous. It was an easy and fast read, but I dont think there was enough character development. It felt very contrived. I thought the letters were unnecessary, it should have just been a journal.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.25 stars. It brought me to tears. Such a tragic yet beautiful coming-of-age story about figuring out how to navigate the world and our place in it. It took me a long time to read it, but not because I didn’t enjoy it. Baldur’s Gate 3 displaced a lot of my reading time 😅
I never write reviews, but I had to for this one…
I hated this book while I was reading it and was convinced I’d give it one star, but by the 187th page and one of the countless letters to Kurt Cobain is where the connection happened.
“The world was too much for you. People were too close to you. You said it in one sentence I can’t get out of my head: I simply love people …so much that it makes me feel too fucking sad. Yes I understand.”
Once I finished the last page I had tears in my eyes. I honestly don’t know if I love this book in its entirety, But it is one I’ll pick up on my tough days and read the parts I annotated to try and make sense of things that make me feel too much.
LLTTD does have a feeling of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and maybe that’s why I initially had a problem with it in the beginning. But it is one book I’m glad to have read.
"What I told you about saving people isn't true. You might think it is, because you might want someone else to save you, or you might want to save someone so badly. But no one else can save you, not really. Not from yourself, You fall asleep in the foothills, and the wolf comes down from the mountains. And you hope someone will wake you up. Or chase it off. Or shoot it dead. But when you realize that the wolf is inside you, that's when you know. You can't run from it. And no one who loves you can kill the wolf, because it's part of you. They see your face on it. And they won't fire the shot. "
I hated this book while I was reading it and was convinced I’d give it one star, but by the 187th page and one of the countless letters to Kurt Cobain is where the connection happened.
“The world was too much for you. People were too close to you. You said it in one sentence I can’t get out of my head: I simply love people …so much that it makes me feel too fucking sad. Yes I understand.”
Once I finished the last page I had tears in my eyes. I honestly don’t know if I love this book in its entirety, But it is one I’ll pick up on my tough days and read the parts I annotated to try and make sense of things that make me feel too much.
LLTTD does have a feeling of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and maybe that’s why I initially had a problem with it in the beginning. But it is one book I’m glad to have read.
"What I told you about saving people isn't true. You might think it is, because you might want someone else to save you, or you might want to save someone so badly. But no one else can save you, not really. Not from yourself, You fall asleep in the foothills, and the wolf comes down from the mountains. And you hope someone will wake you up. Or chase it off. Or shoot it dead. But when you realize that the wolf is inside you, that's when you know. You can't run from it. And no one who loves you can kill the wolf, because it's part of you. They see your face on it. And they won't fire the shot. "