Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Love Letters to the Dead
by Ava Dellaira
Released |April 1st 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)|
Edition |eARC|
Source |Netgalley|
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It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was; lovely and amazing and deeply flawed; can she begin to discover her own path.

Love Letters to the Dead had me intrigued ever since I first found out about it. I loved the whole concept of it because I've never read a book before that was written in letter form. I found the whole thing interesting. This was a sad book, but it was still very good at the same time. I did have a couple issues, but it wasn't because of the story. I thought the writing had an amazing flow to it and it was sort of captivating in a way. I've just never read anything like it. Also, the characters were very realistic. I could understand and relate to each and everyone of them. There were also so many different types of issues that was touched in this book and that made me appreciate it so much more. I'd definitely recommend this. It was good and I'm glad I got the opportunity to read it!


Even though I loved the author's writing and thought it was written beautifully, it took me awhile to get into the story. I wasn't use to the format, so I had to gradually warm up to it. About 25% into the book, I really started getting into it and that's when I started flying through the story. I wanted to know what was really going on with the main character, Laurel. Laurel was a simple girl really, but she was struggling with the death of her sister. Her sister was someone that she looked up to and loved. Laurel seemed really lost. Through her letters we slowly start to find out all the things that happened to her. In a way, Laurel was acting out. She wasn't acting out to get attention or anything like that. I think she was just trying to be someone else and try and forget her past. But I liked Laurel! It took her awhile, but she slowly started to come to a realization and I was happy for her when it happen. Throughout the entire book I just felt really sad for her. I think her character had some awesome character development along with a lot of the other characters in the book. I liked Sky as well, the love interest and I also like Laurel's friends, Natalie and Heather. Each one of them were working through their own problems and had their own issues, but together they helped each other through their problems even if they didn't even realize it.

This book had some slow moments for me, but they weren't so slow that I lost my interest in the story. I enjoyed this book overall. I loved the romance and the writing and I also really liked characters and the development that they went through. The only issues I had with the book was that it took me a little bit to get use to letter format (my own issues) and that there were some slow moments. I'd definitely recommend the story! It touches on many issues; death/grieving/depression and sexual abuse and regular abuse and just many other things. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it. I receive a copy for review through Netgally. All thoughts are my honest opinion!