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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
I'M SO GLAD THAT RIVER AND KURT AND JANIS WERE IN IT!!!
This book was fantastic. I loved every minute of it. Yes, I can see the similarly to Perks of Being a Wallflower. But at the same time, it was so different. I feel like this book went more in depth in certain topics. The style that the book was written in is wonderful and super easy to ready.
This book was practically the spitting image of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I could not get over how similar the two books. I did not like this book really because except for a few changes to the story line and the different characters it was exactly like The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
This character talked way too much for her 'letters' to even be considered letters and not a whole eight hour movie script.
She cried every single sentence. I mean, I get it, your sister died and your mom left the family. Of course you're allowed to cry, but oh my gosh she just got annoying. If someone knew ANYTHING about her sister, she was all 'Gasp! How do you know my sister died! It's not like it could've been on the news or anything!'
It's easy to find out that someone's sister died. I get how she didn't go to the highschool by her house to 'avoid the pity' but then she wanted pity from her love interest! Everytime she met him, she'd cry into his arms. It was like this:
"We swayed back and forth, the night chill guiding our steps. As I stayed there, locked in his arms, I began to cry.
'What is it?' He asked, our dancing abruptly stopped.
I couldn't bring myself to say anything--I mean, he couldn't possibly know my sister and I wouldn't want to burden him."
This isn't a passage from the novel but it may as well be. Whenever the character began writing to someone, she'd try to do something poetic (it did't work).
Like,
"Hey Judy Garland, I know when you were a kid you preformed on the stage at your dads theater. You must of felt like a dove circling the night sky as you sang and danced with all your power. If only I were a dove flying in the night sky . . . "
The reason I decided to give this three stars is because the concept is nice, and I really did enjoy the main characters two best friends. Plus, the writing was alright. My main problem is just that the main character was so annoying.
She cried every single sentence. I mean, I get it, your sister died and your mom left the family. Of course you're allowed to cry, but oh my gosh she just got annoying. If someone knew ANYTHING about her sister, she was all 'Gasp! How do you know my sister died! It's not like it could've been on the news or anything!'
It's easy to find out that someone's sister died. I get how she didn't go to the highschool by her house to 'avoid the pity' but then she wanted pity from her love interest! Everytime she met him, she'd cry into his arms. It was like this:
"We swayed back and forth, the night chill guiding our steps. As I stayed there, locked in his arms, I began to cry.
'What is it?' He asked, our dancing abruptly stopped.
I couldn't bring myself to say anything--I mean, he couldn't possibly know my sister and I wouldn't want to burden him."
This isn't a passage from the novel but it may as well be. Whenever the character began writing to someone, she'd try to do something poetic (it did't work).
Like,
"Hey Judy Garland, I know when you were a kid you preformed on the stage at your dads theater. You must of felt like a dove circling the night sky as you sang and danced with all your power. If only I were a dove flying in the night sky . . . "
The reason I decided to give this three stars is because the concept is nice, and I really did enjoy the main characters two best friends. Plus, the writing was alright. My main problem is just that the main character was so annoying.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've heard a LOT about this book from the blogging world, recently. And in reading, I'm definitely a follower of the pack. I wanted to know what was all the buzz about, and yes, they were right.
Laurel doesn't know how to cope with the tragedy in her life. And now that she's starting high school, it's even harder. But then her teacher assigns them a homework. They have to write a letter to a dead person. But once Laurel starts writing letters, she doesn't stop. She can't stop. They're finally holding her up.
What I loved most about this book is the whole idea of it. Writing letters to dead people and coping with tragedy through that. It's such a beautiful idea and I am so impressed that the author thought of it this way. Then, the writing style is fabulous. I cannot believe this is the author's debut novel, because she sounds like an experienced writer through her writings. She makes the characters come out of the pages.
---
Sometimes when we say things, we hear silence. Or only echoes. Like screaming from inside. And that's really lonely. But that only happens when we weren't really listening. It means we weren't ready to listen yet. Because every time we speak, there is a voice. There is the world that answers back...
---
Laurel is a shy, insecure, and sad young girl. You can feel every emotion she's feeling through her letters. On top of that, she's also really smart. It shows through her writings and you fall in love with her immediately. Then, we have the love interest, Sky. Although I didn't like him a lot, he's good for Laurel and I liked them together. But otherwise, he's really not my kind of book-boyfriends.Too unbelievable.
The letters are amazing. Since this book is told in letters throughout, I loved the references to the people that Laurel is writing to. I admit that I learned a lot from her references. There's Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Bishop, Amelia Earhart, River Phoenix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Allan Lane, E. E. Cummings, and many others. So many different people, but Laurel feels connected to them somehow. Then, there's the reference to all the different music in this book. I loved that. I loved how Laurel felt connected to different musicians and singers, also different poetesses. It was all beautiful.
All in all, I LOVED this book. I loved what it offered and what it had in it. This is not just a love story. This is a story about love,redemption, about finding your true self, and finally coping with the truth of the world. Finding the beauty in things
- See more at: http://insomnia-of-books.blogspot.com/2014/11/review-love-letters-to-dead-by-ava.html#sthash.mwxCLTyf.dpuf
Laurel doesn't know how to cope with the tragedy in her life. And now that she's starting high school, it's even harder. But then her teacher assigns them a homework. They have to write a letter to a dead person. But once Laurel starts writing letters, she doesn't stop. She can't stop. They're finally holding her up.
What I loved most about this book is the whole idea of it. Writing letters to dead people and coping with tragedy through that. It's such a beautiful idea and I am so impressed that the author thought of it this way. Then, the writing style is fabulous. I cannot believe this is the author's debut novel, because she sounds like an experienced writer through her writings. She makes the characters come out of the pages.
---
Sometimes when we say things, we hear silence. Or only echoes. Like screaming from inside. And that's really lonely. But that only happens when we weren't really listening. It means we weren't ready to listen yet. Because every time we speak, there is a voice. There is the world that answers back...
---
Laurel is a shy, insecure, and sad young girl. You can feel every emotion she's feeling through her letters. On top of that, she's also really smart. It shows through her writings and you fall in love with her immediately. Then, we have the love interest, Sky. Although I didn't like him a lot, he's good for Laurel and I liked them together. But otherwise, he's really not my kind of book-boyfriends.Too unbelievable.
The letters are amazing. Since this book is told in letters throughout, I loved the references to the people that Laurel is writing to. I admit that I learned a lot from her references. There's Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Bishop, Amelia Earhart, River Phoenix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Allan Lane, E. E. Cummings, and many others. So many different people, but Laurel feels connected to them somehow. Then, there's the reference to all the different music in this book. I loved that. I loved how Laurel felt connected to different musicians and singers, also different poetesses. It was all beautiful.
All in all, I LOVED this book. I loved what it offered and what it had in it. This is not just a love story. This is a story about love,redemption, about finding your true self, and finally coping with the truth of the world. Finding the beauty in things
- See more at: http://insomnia-of-books.blogspot.com/2014/11/review-love-letters-to-dead-by-ava.html#sthash.mwxCLTyf.dpuf
Love Letters to the Dead was, quite simply, beautiful. Laurel went on a long and tough journey throughout the story and developed as a character. She had to learn how to live with her grief, as well as having the same troubles as every other teenager. Love Letters to the Dead dealt with some very dark themes but Ava Dellaira handled them well.
The only problem I had with this book was it's many similarities to The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Dellaira actually mentions in the acknowledgments that Chbosky is a good friend and mentor of hers, which could be where the similarities are from. Overall, Love Letters to the Dead was a tragic yet beautiful story told in the best way it could have been, which was realistically.
The only problem I had with this book was it's many similarities to The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Dellaira actually mentions in the acknowledgments that Chbosky is a good friend and mentor of hers, which could be where the similarities are from. Overall, Love Letters to the Dead was a tragic yet beautiful story told in the best way it could have been, which was realistically.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Grief