Recent Reads #5 | Love Letters To The Dead

I seriously have no idea why I'm often drawn to books with rather dark plots because in all honesty, I'm pretty much a chicken shit in real life, but for some reason there is something about reading about sad or scary things that just gets me.

And, knowing that about me, a friend of mine recommended 'Love Letters to the Dead' to me - without really giving me any hints about the plot, just saying that I would probably really enjoy it.

So, I did what I always do - I looked for it in my local bookstore. And to my suprise, it was sitting there as if it was waiting for me - so home with me it went.

Now, maybe you're not so much about diving into a book without knowing anything about it as much as I am, so let me break the plot down to you first,

'Love Letters to the Dead' follows the story of Laurel, a fifteen year old freshman in High School whose sister May just died. The twist, though, is that it is told through letters that Laurel writes - letters to deceased, well known personalities. The entire thing starts as an assignment for English class in which Laurel's teacher asks them to write to someone who is already dead - so Laurel decides to write to Kurt Cobain because her sister loved his music so deeply.

 But after a whike, it seems like Laurel can't stop - she continues writing those letters for almost an entire year, to Amelia Earhart, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, River Phoenix - to name a few. And with each letter, Laurel reveals a little more about herself and all the things that have led up to her sister's death, but also lets the reader in on happier things, like the new people she meets and becomes friends with at her new school and her personal growth.

Through the letters, the reader eventually discovers that May, who was older than Laurel, was a very outgoing and social person who loved to party. Both her and her sister's life changed when she started seeing an older guy, whose friend sexually abused Laurel whenever they met.
When confronted with what had happened to her younger sister after meeting up with the men one night, May gets furious, climbs onto a bridge and ends up falling to her death. It is unclear to Laurel whether it was suicide or a horrible accident.

Following that incident, Laurel's live falls apart. Her already divorced mother moves across the country, she has to switch school.

I will admit that the entire letter situation made it a little difficult for me to get into the book and connect with Laurel at first - I had the exact same issue with 'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower' back in the day - but eventually, I warmed up to it. 

And thank god I did, because this book has amazed me on so many levels.

For one, the way that the story unfolds for us as the reader might seem slow at first because we obviously only get as much information as Laurel is comfortable with sharing, which at the beginning is basically none. But every time she does reveal something about herself and/or her past, you get so sucked into it - you want, no, you need to know more about what happened to her.

That way, you actually start to care about the girl telling your her story, you start to connect with her, even empathize with her.

I also really enjoyed the character development taking place throughout the story - not only Laurel's, even though hers was definitely the strongest, but also her family's and her friends'. There are so many different people involved in this who all have different stories it might seem confusing at first, but it does tie together quite nicely and gives and insight into various difficult issues like toxic relationships, illnesses and homosexuality.

Overall, 'Love Letters to the Dead' is an amazing coming-of-age story about grief, friendship and recovery that is definitely not a light read but will leave you with some very deep, raw feelings.

'Love Letters to the Dead' by Ava Dellaira is available on Amazon for only 7,30€.

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