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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Me gustó mucho este libro. En principio me pareció atractivo el formato, con cartas a famosos fallecidos. Sin embargo, tuve que buscar quiénes eran muchos de ellos ya que no los conocía.
Quedé muy conforme con el estilo de la escritora, muy poético de a momentos, con frases hermosas.
Los personajes son sinceros y sentí muchos cariño por todos ellos, especialmente por Laurel. El mensaje que deja al final, es muy bonito.
Me sentí muy atrapada por el libro y por conocer y develar todos los secretos de Laurel.
Quedé muy conforme con el estilo de la escritora, muy poético de a momentos, con frases hermosas.
Los personajes son sinceros y sentí muchos cariño por todos ellos, especialmente por Laurel. El mensaje que deja al final, es muy bonito.
Me sentí muy atrapada por el libro y por conocer y develar todos los secretos de Laurel.
How do I even begin to describe my love for this book?
I bought this book on my Kindle with money from an Amazon gift card for my 14th birthday. I read the sample and fell in love. The main character, Laurel, is so much like me, which is very rare. She is dealing with the death of her older sister, May, when she gets a class assignment during her freshman year of high school: write a letter to a dead person. The story is entirely made of letters to various people who've died young. Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, River Phoenix, Amelia Earheart, and Judy Garland, to name some. Laurel is dealing with May's death while simultaneously struggling to cope with what happened to her and starting high school, each being a struggle in themselves. Laurel meets a boy, Sky, who has a connection with May, thus beginning a special relationship. A group of very different people befriend her and she experiences some new things, to say the least.
This is one of my favorite books of all time, and I really hope that more people read it! There really is a character for every person. You can literally FEEL as if you are Laurel dealing with all of these emotions, and feeling trapped within herself and her situation.
This book is simply amazing, heartbreaking, and beautiful.
I bought this book on my Kindle with money from an Amazon gift card for my 14th birthday. I read the sample and fell in love. The main character, Laurel, is so much like me, which is very rare. She is dealing with the death of her older sister, May, when she gets a class assignment during her freshman year of high school: write a letter to a dead person. The story is entirely made of letters to various people who've died young. Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, River Phoenix, Amelia Earheart, and Judy Garland, to name some. Laurel is dealing with May's death while simultaneously struggling to cope with what happened to her and starting high school, each being a struggle in themselves. Laurel meets a boy, Sky, who has a connection with May, thus beginning a special relationship. A group of very different people befriend her and she experiences some new things, to say the least.
This is one of my favorite books of all time, and I really hope that more people read it! There really is a character for every person. You can literally FEEL as if you are Laurel dealing with all of these emotions, and feeling trapped within herself and her situation.
This book is simply amazing, heartbreaking, and beautiful.
Dear Kate Chopin,
there's something extraordinary about writing letters the dead. I think it's because it's kind of freeing to write something to someone who will never ever read it. You don't feel silly about getting too deep or too poetic or too weird or nonsensical. And it's better than writing a diary, because a diary is basically one talking to oneself, and sometimes we don't want to talk to ourselves, we want to talk to someone else, but we can't because we don't want to sound too deep or too poetic or too weird or nonsensical. Besides, even though we might believe the dead will not read these letters, a tiny part in our hearts kind of believes (hopes?) that you can read them, but since you're dead and beyond, you don't really care how deep or poetic or weird or nonsensical we get, because you know about things beyond death, so the way we sound is the smallest of your thoughts.
So, for me, this is what this book is mostly about. Of course there are the issues, and the relationships, and the tough bits, and all of that is nicely written and greatly handled, but the best part is how it's freely written from the heart, through the letters.
I really think you would have liked this book, not because of its narrative, or the complexity of characters, ot its clever choice of words and references and poems, but because I think you would love something so raw, so openly written from someone's soul, even if that someone is fictional. I've read books like this before, of course, it's not something ground-breaking or anything, but I liked this one better because it was from a girl and about girls, and I really love girls. As people go, I like girls and kids most of all. Kid girls are the best.
But anyway, I felt like trying this, writing one letter to one dead person. I thought about writing to Elvis of Virginia Woolf or David Foster Wallace, but you seemed like the right choice. Studying about you has always been my favorite (that is, in the category where we talk and study about dead people). You were someone who had strong opinions, but didn't much care about making a fuss about it. Not that there's anything wrong about making a fuss about opinions, especially if they are important and right. But it's like... I feel like you kind of knew that people weren't ready to listen to what you had to say. So, instead of going crazy with frustration and sadness and anger, you wrote about it, and you lived your small, simple, happy life (I really hope it was happy), and you left your opinions for those in the future who would want to know about them. So now I'm writing this letter to you to let you know (though it's not like you're really reading this. Are you? Hello? We'll never know) that I liked this book, and I like what it means and I like that more and more people talk about messed stuff that they were not willing to talk about back when you were alive. I will never have a conversation with you, I don't think, so this letter is the closest I've got. So, for that alone, this book is special. But for many other reasons, too.
Love,
Dayse D.
P.S.: I'm really sorry your house burnt down.
there's something extraordinary about writing letters the dead. I think it's because it's kind of freeing to write something to someone who will never ever read it. You don't feel silly about getting too deep or too poetic or too weird or nonsensical. And it's better than writing a diary, because a diary is basically one talking to oneself, and sometimes we don't want to talk to ourselves, we want to talk to someone else, but we can't because we don't want to sound too deep or too poetic or too weird or nonsensical. Besides, even though we might believe the dead will not read these letters, a tiny part in our hearts kind of believes (hopes?) that you can read them, but since you're dead and beyond, you don't really care how deep or poetic or weird or nonsensical we get, because you know about things beyond death, so the way we sound is the smallest of your thoughts.
So, for me, this is what this book is mostly about. Of course there are the issues, and the relationships, and the tough bits, and all of that is nicely written and greatly handled, but the best part is how it's freely written from the heart, through the letters.
I really think you would have liked this book, not because of its narrative, or the complexity of characters, ot its clever choice of words and references and poems, but because I think you would love something so raw, so openly written from someone's soul, even if that someone is fictional. I've read books like this before, of course, it's not something ground-breaking or anything, but I liked this one better because it was from a girl and about girls, and I really love girls. As people go, I like girls and kids most of all. Kid girls are the best.
But anyway, I felt like trying this, writing one letter to one dead person. I thought about writing to Elvis of Virginia Woolf or David Foster Wallace, but you seemed like the right choice. Studying about you has always been my favorite (that is, in the category where we talk and study about dead people). You were someone who had strong opinions, but didn't much care about making a fuss about it. Not that there's anything wrong about making a fuss about opinions, especially if they are important and right. But it's like... I feel like you kind of knew that people weren't ready to listen to what you had to say. So, instead of going crazy with frustration and sadness and anger, you wrote about it, and you lived your small, simple, happy life (I really hope it was happy), and you left your opinions for those in the future who would want to know about them. So now I'm writing this letter to you to let you know (though it's not like you're really reading this. Are you? Hello? We'll never know) that I liked this book, and I like what it means and I like that more and more people talk about messed stuff that they were not willing to talk about back when you were alive. I will never have a conversation with you, I don't think, so this letter is the closest I've got. So, for that alone, this book is special. But for many other reasons, too.
Love,
Dayse D.
P.S.: I'm really sorry your house burnt down.
A slightly better version of “All the bright places”...
This one deserves a standing ovation, a held-in breath after reading the last sentence, a custom pack of tissues to come along with it.
As I was reading, Love Letters reminded me more and more of an all-time favourite The Perks of Being a Wallflower and seeing Stephen Chbosky's name in the acknowledgments made me smile, somehow?
In all seriousness, May's story is a painful one. But also a hopeful one. And it only reminded me of how much a sibling can mean to someone else, how much words hold, how precious poetry of all ages is.
Although the writing style was a little too simplistic at times, and the way May switched between talking about the infatuating older Sky, her Aunt and Jesus Man, and talking about her sister clearly shows that she is still a child (with pubescent moods), I still think that it was necessary to make the book realistic (and thusly more painful).
As I was reading, Love Letters reminded me more and more of an all-time favourite The Perks of Being a Wallflower and seeing Stephen Chbosky's name in the acknowledgments made me smile, somehow?
In all seriousness, May's story is a painful one. But also a hopeful one. And it only reminded me of how much a sibling can mean to someone else, how much words hold, how precious poetry of all ages is.
Although the writing style was a little too simplistic at times, and the way May switched between talking about the infatuating older Sky, her Aunt and Jesus Man, and talking about her sister clearly shows that she is still a child (with pubescent moods), I still think that it was necessary to make the book realistic (and thusly more painful).
This week I read Love Letters To the Dead by Ava Dellaira: It was one of the books I received from sweet Wendi @ All Who Wander for the Books 'n' Bloggers Swap. This book has been on my Want to Read List for several weeks, and it did not disappoint.
I wasn't crazy about the book's premise: It's a story told through a series of letters written to dead people. When I was a high school English teacher, I was often astounded by how students thought that writing about death was a more mature choice than writing about life. I find the opposite to be true: Life is a blessings and should be celebrated! Laurel starts high school just a few months after her older sister's tragic death, and on the first day of school, her English teacher assigns the students to write a letter to a dead person. Rather than choosing her sister May, Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain as her letter's "recipient" because May listened to Nirvana often and had posters of Cobain in her room. (Later we discover that this teacher knew about May and probably gave the assignment on purpose. Bad teacher.)
But Laurel doesn't end the assignment with one letter. She begins to write letters to other famous dead people, like Amy Winehouse, Judy Garland, Jim Morrison, and Elizabeth Bishop among others. Laurel's letters contain everything from the mundane day to day schedule of a high school freshman to her sorrow, anger, and grief over the death of her sister and her mother's recent separation from her father. There is a progression to the letters as Laurel slowly reveals the circumstances of her sister's death. The letters also become more mature and complex as the year progresses, and most teens will relate to many of Laurel's trials, but hopefully not all of them.
I really liked Laurel's Aunt Amy. Laurel alternates weekly living with her dad and her aunt so she can attend a different high school in a different school district. Amy is a devout Christian, and (keeping in mind that the story is told in Laurel's voice) it's very refreshing to see a Christian being depicted in a positive light.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but the plot is revealed in a way that kept me thoroughly engrossed, and Laurel's well-developed character is one of the most interesting young women I've read in YA in a very long time. I really hope Laurel writes to the living in tenth grade.
NOTE: Music lovers will appreciate this book because of the music Laurel discusses in her letters. You can see a playlist for the book on Ava Delaira's website.
I wasn't crazy about the book's premise: It's a story told through a series of letters written to dead people. When I was a high school English teacher, I was often astounded by how students thought that writing about death was a more mature choice than writing about life. I find the opposite to be true: Life is a blessings and should be celebrated! Laurel starts high school just a few months after her older sister's tragic death, and on the first day of school, her English teacher assigns the students to write a letter to a dead person. Rather than choosing her sister May, Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain as her letter's "recipient" because May listened to Nirvana often and had posters of Cobain in her room. (Later we discover that this teacher knew about May and probably gave the assignment on purpose. Bad teacher.)
But Laurel doesn't end the assignment with one letter. She begins to write letters to other famous dead people, like Amy Winehouse, Judy Garland, Jim Morrison, and Elizabeth Bishop among others. Laurel's letters contain everything from the mundane day to day schedule of a high school freshman to her sorrow, anger, and grief over the death of her sister and her mother's recent separation from her father. There is a progression to the letters as Laurel slowly reveals the circumstances of her sister's death. The letters also become more mature and complex as the year progresses, and most teens will relate to many of Laurel's trials, but hopefully not all of them.
I really liked Laurel's Aunt Amy. Laurel alternates weekly living with her dad and her aunt so she can attend a different high school in a different school district. Amy is a devout Christian, and (keeping in mind that the story is told in Laurel's voice) it's very refreshing to see a Christian being depicted in a positive light.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but the plot is revealed in a way that kept me thoroughly engrossed, and Laurel's well-developed character is one of the most interesting young women I've read in YA in a very long time. I really hope Laurel writes to the living in tenth grade.
NOTE: Music lovers will appreciate this book because of the music Laurel discusses in her letters. You can see a playlist for the book on Ava Delaira's website.
This was an extremely emotional book for me to read, and I'd like to start out this review with a little bit of a warning. If you don't deal well with reading about death and depression and other triggering things, then this might not be the book for you. I will admit there were times it was a struggle for me to stop crying long enough so that I could breathe- it held that much of a connection to me.
Love Letters to the Dead is about a girl named Laurel, who has a sister, May, who died. May and Laurel were close as little girls, but as May grew up, as siblings usually do, they drifted apart. For a while, it was like they were in two very different parts of the continent. There were times when May would sometimes slip into Laurel's room and tell her to listen to songs, but they didn't have a lot of connection anymore. This all changed one night when May finally extends an invitation for her to go to the movies with her. And when they get there, Laurel meets May's older, creepy boyfriend, Paul, and his equally sleazy friend, Billy.
From that moment forward, Laurel's life changes to an extreme. And as we read through the letters she writes to various dead famous people (Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Judy Garland, and Amy Winehouse to name a few), we discover just how her sister died and what happened to make Laurel the way that she was.
So much had changed because of May's death. Her parents divorced, and her mother went off to California, leaving Laurel to live with her father and Aunt Amy every other weekend. She chose to go to a different high school, because she didn't want everyone knowing her as May's little sister. She meets two new friends, Hannah and Natalie, and through them, Kristen and Tristan. Then there's Sky, the mysterious handsome boy that she cares deeply about.
Over all this is a book about growing up and dealing with the tragedies of life. Seeking out help is always an option, and is always the best.
It gets better.
Love Letters to the Dead is about a girl named Laurel, who has a sister, May, who died. May and Laurel were close as little girls, but as May grew up, as siblings usually do, they drifted apart. For a while, it was like they were in two very different parts of the continent. There were times when May would sometimes slip into Laurel's room and tell her to listen to songs, but they didn't have a lot of connection anymore. This all changed one night when May finally extends an invitation for her to go to the movies with her. And when they get there, Laurel meets May's older, creepy boyfriend, Paul, and his equally sleazy friend, Billy.
From that moment forward, Laurel's life changes to an extreme. And as we read through the letters she writes to various dead famous people (Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Judy Garland, and Amy Winehouse to name a few), we discover just how her sister died and what happened to make Laurel the way that she was.
So much had changed because of May's death. Her parents divorced, and her mother went off to California, leaving Laurel to live with her father and Aunt Amy every other weekend. She chose to go to a different high school, because she didn't want everyone knowing her as May's little sister. She meets two new friends, Hannah and Natalie, and through them, Kristen and Tristan. Then there's Sky, the mysterious handsome boy that she cares deeply about.
Over all this is a book about growing up and dealing with the tragedies of life. Seeking out help is always an option, and is always the best.
It gets better.
This was an interesting take on trying to deal with loss. I admit, I was drawn to the stunning cover, but the story was intriguing as well.
Laurel has just lost her older sister, May, and relocated to another school. The unexpected passing of her sibling left her family in tatters, and she's just trying to cope. When her English teacher gives the students a project to write a letter to a dead person, Laurel discovers an outlet for her thoughts.
Amelia Earhart, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Elizabeth Bishop, Heath Ledger, Alan Young, and a few others appear as recipients for Laurel's story. Through her letters, she is not only able to connect with the deceased and put her soul down on paper, but she's also able to come to terms with the night her sister left, and feelings she wasn't ready to handle.
While this is sold as a YA read, and readers get all the happenings of high school drama, we also understand how everyone deals differently with death. We meet friends of Laurel's and witness her day-to-day as she moves on, but we get the bigger story and her innermost thoughts, which, for me, was the focus of the story.
Anyone who has not only had to cope with loss, but unexpected loss, should go pick up this book.
Laurel has just lost her older sister, May, and relocated to another school. The unexpected passing of her sibling left her family in tatters, and she's just trying to cope. When her English teacher gives the students a project to write a letter to a dead person, Laurel discovers an outlet for her thoughts.
Amelia Earhart, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Elizabeth Bishop, Heath Ledger, Alan Young, and a few others appear as recipients for Laurel's story. Through her letters, she is not only able to connect with the deceased and put her soul down on paper, but she's also able to come to terms with the night her sister left, and feelings she wasn't ready to handle.
While this is sold as a YA read, and readers get all the happenings of high school drama, we also understand how everyone deals differently with death. We meet friends of Laurel's and witness her day-to-day as she moves on, but we get the bigger story and her innermost thoughts, which, for me, was the focus of the story.
Anyone who has not only had to cope with loss, but unexpected loss, should go pick up this book.
I had such high expectations for this book. The premise was so interesting and it ended up being the selfish story of a 12-year-old girl. Laurel simply annoyed me and her whiny woe-is-me attitude was something I could have done without. May seemed like a problem child and I have yet to meet one 12-year-old who idolizes her sister that much.