Love Letters to the Dead

By: Ava Dellaira

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

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. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to the dead - to people like Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse - though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating the choppy waters of new friendships, learning to live with her splintering family, falling in love for the first time, and, most important, trying to grieve for May. But how do you mourn for someone you haven’t forgiven?

It’s not until Laurel has written the truth about what happened to herself that she can finally 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 truly start to discover her own path.

In a voice that’s as lyrical and as true as a favorite song, Ava Dellaira writes about one girl’s journey through life’s challenges with a haunting and often heartbreaking beauty.

©2014 Ava Dellaira. Published by arrangement with Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. All rights reserved. “One Art” and excerpt from “The Armadillo” from The Complete Poems 1927– 1979 by Elizabeth Bishop. © 1979, 1983 by Alice Helen Methfessel. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Moving storyline, amazing audio performance

In the beginning of this story, I was disappointed at how it seemed to fold out. I was expecting something much deeper than a girl writing to famous dead people about her high school problems. However, as the story continues and it got deeper, the story intrigued me more and more. While it still had typical YA tropes, it was a moving tale and one that captured my attention until the end.

Odd but okay

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend the book to YA readers, but many of them won't know who Kurt Cobain or the other "dead" people the narrator is writing to are.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Let down

What about Julia Whelan’s performance did you like?

She was a good reader.

Was Love Letters to the Dead worth the listening time?

The premise was odd, and I like how it developed, but there were a few things about the plot that were just...meh.

Any additional comments?

Nope!

Easy to invest in!

This story is gut-wrenching. Laurel’s family is dysfunctional, and the deep-rooted issues only worsen when an unexplained tragedy hits. Laurel doesn’t fully know what she saw, but the death of her sister, May, becomes a blackhole she falls into. Withdrawn, abandoned, and moved to a new school, her true self disappears within herself, and she attempts to reinvent herself in the likeness of her deceased sister. However, through a writing assignment, Laurel is given an opportunity to express her feelings, confusion, and her own trauma – all that she has attempted to bury. The story is told in letter format – letters to famous deceased. The anger I felt at Laurel’s parents and sister was intense for many pages as was the frustration and sadness I felt for Laurel and her situation. The tie in of the famous deceased was a nice touch. Trauma, sadness, anger, and loneliness are relatable for all.

Speechless

Beautifully written. True to like. Will definitely listen to it again. Thank you for this book!

<3

I don't think I have ever read (listened) to a book that made me "feel" like I did... I recommend whole heartedly!