by TPSreads tuj22
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira is a young adult book about a girl named Laurel and her struggle to figure out everything after her sister passed away. Her sister, May, was worth the entire world to Laurel. Laurel viewed May as a beautiful, loveable person who cared about her family even after her parents divorced. May was always there for Laurel, no matter what. When she passed away, Laurel has to move to a new high school. In her English class, she receives an assignment to write a letter to a dead person. She chooses Kurt Cobain, but continues the assignment by writing more letters to other dead people she admires.
Each letter tells a piece of Laurel’s life; she writes about the struggles she’s facing and the realizations she makes. She opens up about her family issues, her love for her sister, and how she feels about the events that are taking place in her life. Along with this, she usually talks about the dead person’s childhood, their accomplishments, and she tries to find a good reason why some of them died. Near the climax of the book, she starts talking about a horrifying period of time that lasted until her sister passed away. The book becomes even more darker than it once was as Laurel reveals why her sister passed away and a secret she has kept since her childhood.
The book was a very interesting read, even if it had a slow start. Everyone, including the side characters, had believable personalities that showed even through just letters. Laurel was able to connect what she wrote with the dead person’s story, often talking about their childhood or a song they wrote that she loved. The author was able to make it sound like a teenage girl and gave Laurel her own voice.
There were some features of the book that I didn’t like. The beginning was too slow, it took awhile for me to become truly interested in the book. It didn’t grab my attention quickly like the other books I’ve read. Sometimes I became frustrated with Laurel and I wished that she would realize certain things. I wish that this book reeled the reader in quickly during the beginning instead of waiting until almost halfway through the book to do so.
In conclusion, Love Letters to the Dead is a collection of letters a grief-stricken teenage girl writes to her dead role models. Though slow at first, the events that occur later in the book somewhat make up for the slow beginning.
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