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merlesstorys's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book was a tough ride.
The writing style was really painful for me (because it was so slow and the letters didn’t really help me feel immersed) but at the same time Laurel‘s story was quite beautiful.
If it weren’t for the slowness of the book and how I really didn’t get to connect with anyone in this book, I may have given it more stars, but 2 feel right to me right now.
This book felt quite therapeutic though, even if it’s just in the knowledge of that I‘m happy I‘m not as depressed and traumatized as Laurel.
The writing style was really painful for me (because it was so slow and the letters didn’t really help me feel immersed) but at the same time Laurel‘s story was quite beautiful.
If it weren’t for the slowness of the book and how I really didn’t get to connect with anyone in this book, I may have given it more stars, but 2 feel right to me right now.
This book felt quite therapeutic though, even if it’s just in the knowledge of that I‘m happy I‘m not as depressed and traumatized as Laurel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Grief, Abandonment, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Rape, Suicide, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent, Dementia, Car accident, Child death, and Violence
the_readingfox's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Grief, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Suicide
rochelleisreading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Drug use
taliatalksbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Love Letters to The Dead by Ava Dellaira was one of my favorite books in letter format that I’ve read. Usually I hate this format, but I liked the framework in this instance because we didn’t need to know everything that was going on, but it still pieced together a cohesive narrative. While I did find some of the details to get repetitive (as they usually do in this format) the different important figures that Laurel writes to helps break up the repetitive nature and contextualize the stories she’s sharing. I think the progression of details that Laurel is able to share surrounding her sister death is progressive enough to show her healing (though writing) without withholding too much information from the reader. This aspect is handled really well in my opinion. While not the most interesting of reads, this was an effective communication in the weight of grief, and how grief can manifest in different ways.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Sexual assault, Death, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
kunsetzz's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Mental illness, and Death
astalavista's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Rape, Grief, Suicide, and Sexual assault
aurervlnbooks's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Suicide, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
christinakann's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Suicide
lilyatwell's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Death, Mental illness, and Sexual assault
rebelbooks101's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
** spoiler alert ** 2.5* if I wasn’t reading this for a video, I would’ve dnfed it and searched online to see what happened.
Trigger warning for descriptions of suicide, rape, and abuse.
What I’ve learned from this is I don’t really like hard hitting contemporary or things that make me sad. I still want to explore this genre and see if I can find something I like but it’s just not what I like to read anymore sadly.
I feel like my younger self would’ve liked this book more than I do now. I probably would’ve given it a 3.5 had I read it when I was in middle school.
That being said, I in no capacity believe this is a bad book. Like I’ve been saying a lot recently, this book wasn’t for me. I went into this book, hoping I would enjoy it but I didn’t.
If this book was 150 pages shorter I think it would’ve been better. There were so many parts the story dragged on. I never really got into this book as it was slow the entire time. If a lot of it was cut out I see this being a better book.
The whole writing letters to the dead was a cool concept at first but it got old quickly. I found myself never really caring about what she had to say to these famous dead people. It more so read like a diary.
I found all the characters really one dimensional. They didn’t really have a personality besides one character trait which seemed to define them. Take Laurel for example. She is grieving therefore she is sad. It effects the way she talks and that’s all that I felt I knew about her. I didn’t really know her besides that.
I think mental health was talked about in a great way and this book did a great job at exploring and talking about so many topics.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the relationships at the beginning but I ended up really appreciating it in the end. I like how these two characters support each other and I really liked how we saw their relationship in the end.
I really did enjoy the plot line between Natalie and Hannah however, the whole interaction when Laurel caught them together and one of them (I think Hannah) said she needed to kiss Laurel so she wouldn’t tell was not okay. She didn’t kiss her because Laurel ran away from her and I understand the characters were intoxicated but it was never addressed again and she never apologized.
Overall, this book was fine, just not for me sadly.
Trigger warning for descriptions of suicide, rape, and abuse.
What I’ve learned from this is I don’t really like hard hitting contemporary or things that make me sad. I still want to explore this genre and see if I can find something I like but it’s just not what I like to read anymore sadly.
I feel like my younger self would’ve liked this book more than I do now. I probably would’ve given it a 3.5 had I read it when I was in middle school.
That being said, I in no capacity believe this is a bad book. Like I’ve been saying a lot recently, this book wasn’t for me. I went into this book, hoping I would enjoy it but I didn’t.
If this book was 150 pages shorter I think it would’ve been better. There were so many parts the story dragged on. I never really got into this book as it was slow the entire time. If a lot of it was cut out I see this being a better book.
The whole writing letters to the dead was a cool concept at first but it got old quickly. I found myself never really caring about what she had to say to these famous dead people. It more so read like a diary.
I found all the characters really one dimensional. They didn’t really have a personality besides one character trait which seemed to define them. Take Laurel for example. She is grieving therefore she is sad. It effects the way she talks and that’s all that I felt I knew about her. I didn’t really know her besides that.
I think mental health was talked about in a great way and this book did a great job at exploring and talking about so many topics.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the relationships at the beginning but I ended up really appreciating it in the end. I like how these two characters support each other and I really liked how we saw their relationship in the end.
I really did enjoy the plot line between Natalie and Hannah however, the whole interaction when Laurel caught them together and one of them (I think Hannah) said she needed to kiss Laurel so she wouldn’t tell was not okay. She didn’t kiss her because Laurel ran away from her and I understand the characters were intoxicated but it was never addressed again and she never apologized.
Overall, this book was fine, just not for me sadly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Rape