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rhyttinen 's review for:
Love Letters to the Dead
by Ava Dellaira
The story follows Laurel who is given an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel initially chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did.
But Laurel didn’t stop there. She continued writing letters to deceased historical figures such as Janis Joplin, Judy Garland, Amy Winehouse, Jim Morrison, Amelia Earhart, River Phoenix, Heath Ledger and more.
Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters -- though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher and this book is the contents of those letters so it’s kind of an epistolary novel except we only have one person’s correspondence. In these letters, she writes about her day to day high school life, her friendships, her romances about music and her family.
We also learn via these letters that Laurel’s older sister is dead though we don’t know yet what happened to her. We can then understand the people Laurel’s chosen to write to — people who have tragically died young, many from suicide or drug overdose and who had lost their way in life.
I found it interesting how the author incorporated the lives of dead celebrities into Laurel’s healing process. I also liked the fact that through these letters, Laurel connects the deceased person’s life path, their music, their accomplishments, and even the decisions they’ve made with those that she is currently experiencing.
It becomes clear from the letters that Laurel blames herself for what happened to May. But it is also evident there is a lot more to Laurel's story than she's ready to tell. Through the letters, Laurel comes to terms with life without her sister and she realizes that no person is perfect, no person is without faults - not even her sister.
I ended up enjoying this book but it’s definitely the kind of book you have to be in the mood for reading — you definitely want to be in the right head space before delving in.
I’m glad I read it and ended up enjoying — well, I don’t know if enjoying is the right term — let’s say that I got a lot out of it and am glad I picked it up.
But Laurel didn’t stop there. She continued writing letters to deceased historical figures such as Janis Joplin, Judy Garland, Amy Winehouse, Jim Morrison, Amelia Earhart, River Phoenix, Heath Ledger and more.
Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters -- though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher and this book is the contents of those letters so it’s kind of an epistolary novel except we only have one person’s correspondence. In these letters, she writes about her day to day high school life, her friendships, her romances about music and her family.
We also learn via these letters that Laurel’s older sister is dead though we don’t know yet what happened to her. We can then understand the people Laurel’s chosen to write to — people who have tragically died young, many from suicide or drug overdose and who had lost their way in life.
I found it interesting how the author incorporated the lives of dead celebrities into Laurel’s healing process. I also liked the fact that through these letters, Laurel connects the deceased person’s life path, their music, their accomplishments, and even the decisions they’ve made with those that she is currently experiencing.
It becomes clear from the letters that Laurel blames herself for what happened to May. But it is also evident there is a lot more to Laurel's story than she's ready to tell. Through the letters, Laurel comes to terms with life without her sister and she realizes that no person is perfect, no person is without faults - not even her sister.
I ended up enjoying this book but it’s definitely the kind of book you have to be in the mood for reading — you definitely want to be in the right head space before delving in.
I’m glad I read it and ended up enjoying — well, I don’t know if enjoying is the right term — let’s say that I got a lot out of it and am glad I picked it up.