Author: Ava Dellaira
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Genre: YA Contemporary
Format: ARC
Release Date: April 1, 2014
Source: ARC received from publisher at ALA
Rating: 3.5 Stars
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***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This
has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my
open and honest opinion.***
Synopsis from Goodreads:
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?
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.
My
Review:
I’ve wanted to read
this book for a while, but somehow other books kept getting in the way. I was
in need of a slightly heavier contemporary and thought this one would be a good
choice. It was! While the subject matter is quite sad, it still felt light enough
that I could just chill out reading and enjoying the story.
This book is written in
the form of letters, written by our main character to various dead people that
were pop-culture icons. I really enjoyed this style of writing. It was
different and felt fresh. I even learned some interesting things about said
dead people that I didn’t know (as I’m not big on celebrities and knowing
what’s going…). The one problem with this style of writing was connecting to
the characters. I found it a bit harder to connect than with books written in a
traditional style. I still felt like I got to know them all well enough, but I
just felt a bit disconnected. They were just characters to me, if that makes
sense. They never crossed over that line into feeling like real people.
That being said, I
still really enjoyed these characters. The main character, Laurel, is grieving
over the loss of her sister. Laurel’s journey to discover who she is,
independently from her sister, was so heart-breaking and beautiful. Laurel has been
through a lot, more than just losing her sister, and she doesn’t always handle
things well, but I liked that about her. I loved that she was flawed and
broken. Because it made it that much more rewarding to watch her work through
things.
The other supporting
characters were really great as well. I LOVED her friends. From her friend at
her old school to the four new friends she meets at the new school. All of them
were incredibly supportive and just sheer awesome. I was sitting there,
reading, and wishing that I had had friends like them in high school. I also
really loved her family, mostly her aunt and her dad. I loved the little
glimpses we saw of her dad when he came out his shell and her aunt was so sweet
and caring.
I never connected to
the romance. It was okay, but I felt like it was very quick. It started out
really well, but then was insta-love all of a sudden. Not cool. But Sky was an
interesting character and I liked how he pushed Laurel to deal with her
emotions.
Overall I really
enjoyed this story. It was beautifully written, with an interesting cast of
characters. It’s a somewhat heart-breaking story, but one that will make you
feel good by the end. Happy reading all!
Let's talk! Have you read this one? What did you think of Laurel? Her friends? The romance? How did you feel about this style of writing?
I've been meaning to read this! The author was at the fierce reads event I was at back in June and it sounded so good. Too bad about the instalove though...I hate when that happens. I'm glad you loved the characters though!! Well def have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think it was a really great book. I just didn't quite love it. But it was beautifully written!
DeleteI LOVED this book. But I agree about the intsalove. Still, I found this book powerfully emotional and it had so many quotable and relatable moments, thoughts, words for me personally. <3
ReplyDeleteI was upset about the instalove too because it started off with so much potential. :( But it definitely was beautifully written. :)
DeleteI'll probably skip this one. Sometimes I think the books that are well written in a unique way are the books I don't end up loving for some reason. I really want to connect with the characters and the romance in a book like this and if I don't, that keeps me from loving it. Glad you enjoyed it for the most part. ~Pam
ReplyDeleteYeah, I feel like I connected with every character but the mc. is that weird?
Delete