Free shipping on orders over $99
Love Letters to the Dead

Love Letters to the Dead 2

by Ava Dellaira
Paperback
Publication Date: 01/05/2014
4/5 Rating 2 Reviews

Share This Book:

11%
OFF
RRP  $19.99

RRP means 'Recommended Retail Price' and is the price our supplier recommends to retailers that the product be offered for sale. It does not necessarily mean the product has been offered or sold at the RRP by us or anyone else.

$17.95
It begins as an assignment for English class: write a letter to a dead person - any dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain - he died young, and so did Laurel's sister May - so maybe he'll understand a bit of what Laurel is going through. Soon Laurel is writing letters to lots of dead people - Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, Amelia Earhart... it's like she can't stop. And she'd certainly never dream of handing them in to her teacher. She writes about what it's like going to a new high school, meeting new friends, falling in love for the first time - and how her family has shattered since May died.

But much as Laurel might find writing the letters cathartic, she can't keep real life out forever. The ghosts of her past won't be contained between the lines of a page, and she will have to come to terms with growing up, the agony of losing a beloved sister, and the realisation that only you can shape your destiny. A lyrical, haunting and stunning debut from the protege of Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower).
ISBN:
9781471402883
9781471402883
Category:
Romance & relationships stories (Children's / Teenage)
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
01-05-2014
Publisher:
Hot Key Books
Country of origin:
United Kingdom
Pages:
336
Dimensions (mm):
198x129x19mm
Weight:
0.25kg

This title is in stock with our Australian supplier and should arrive at our Sydney warehouse within 1-2 weeks of you placing an order.

Once received into our warehouse we will despatch it to you with a Shipping Notification which includes online tracking.

Please check the estimated delivery times below for your region, for after your order is despatched from our warehouse:

ACT Metro 2 working days

NSW Metro 2 working days 

NSW Rural 2-3 working days

NSW Remote 2-5 working days

NT Metro 3-6 working days

NT Remote 4-10 working days

QLD Metro 2-4 working days

QLD Rural 2-5 working days

QLD Remote 2-7 working days

SA Metro 2-5 working days

SA Rural 3-6 working days

SA Remote 3-7 working days

TAS Metro 3-6 working days

TAS Rural 3-6 working days

VIC Metro 2-3 working days

VIC Rural 2-4 working days

VIC Remote 2-5 working days

WA Metro 3-6 working days

WA Rural 4-8 working days

WA Remote 4-12 working days

Reviews

4.0

Based on 2 reviews

5 Star
(0)
4 Star
(2)
3 Star
(0)
2 Star
(0)
1 Star
(0)

2 Reviews

There has been a lot of hype surrounding this book so far this year, both on Tumblr and BookTube, so Ive been super eager to pick it up. I'm so glad I did.

When I started this book, I expected that there would be a letter here in there to break up the story, but no, the whole story was written in the format of her letters to various dead famous people. I was worried that I wouldnt be able to lose myself in the storyline, and that the letters would feel disjointed and wouldnt flow, but I was oh-so beautifully wrong. However, I have to mention that there were points in the book where I would forget who Laurel was writing to, so when she would directly reference them, I felt a little lost and had to go back to remind myself of who shes talking to.

I actually really liked Laurel. At times I was a little annoyed at her, but everyone grieves in different ways and Laurels way of getting through her sisters death just happened to slightly irritate me. I loved her friends and family; they each brought something different to Laurel's character.

I feel like May was sort of like Laurels manic pixie dream girl and this book was mostly about Laurels journey to recognising that her sister was not perfect. But rather that she was a terribly flawed teenager who was just trying to find her way through life, in the very same way that Laurel finds herself doing now.

Towards the end of the book I started getting a little disillusioned with the plot and it ended up being a solid 4 star read. It was incredibly enjoyable and easy to get through.

Contains Spoilers No
Report Abuse

When Laurels sister May died, Laurel felt like she had no one left. Her mother moved to California to some kind of retreat and she hasnt had a real conversation with her father in a long time. When her English teacher sets the class an assignment of writing a letter to someone who has died, Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain her late sisters favourite singer. What starts as a piece of assessment turns into so much more. Laurel finds that she can tell dead celebrities all the things she keeps bottled up inside. Musicians, poets, actresses and even the voice of Mister Ed each of them means something different to Laurel. Though her letters to the dead, Laurel finds her voice.

This book is a story about friendship, secrets, coming of age and grief. Laurel is grieving the loss of not only her sister but May was also her best friend and closest ally. Its hard for Laurel and changing schools so she can start anew with people who dont know about May only isolates her further. This book is at times a difficult read. Not for how it was written but because of the subject matter. In trying to cope with Mays passing, Laurel makes some decisions which take her down some scary and dangerous roads. She is so young and comes across as so naive but the more we get to see Laurels journey we see how hard her life was even before May died.

Love Letters to the Dead is also about first loves. The romance in this book was so hopeful and optimistic with all the awkwardness and problems which come with teenage relationships. The depth of friendship is also explored and witnessing the ups and downs of these relationships was amazing. Laurels friends may be unconventional and have their own things going on but they are still there for each other when they need it most.

This book is beautiful written. Laurels thoughts are poetic and poignant but her conversations with the living were often clumsy. Laurels letters were never really to celebrities but rather a way to sort out her feelings of guilt and unhappiness. She grows so much over the course of the novel and it took a while for Laurel to come to terms with what happened. Her refusal to deal with Mays death was portrayed in a realistic manner and Laurels pain was palpable.

There are pop-culture references scattered liberally throughout the novel and while there are recent ones, I wondered while I read it if this book would have been more appropriate if it had been set n the nineties. Kurt Cobain, his music as well as River Phoenix are a driving force behind many of the letters Laurel writes and there are times when I almost forgot this book was set in the present day. Despite this this book is still relevant to all those reading no matter when the references were popular.

Love Letters to the Dead is a thought-provoking and emotional read. Dealing with some very adult issues like drug use, depression and death, this beautifully written book is both heartbreaking and moving.

Contains Spoilers No
Report Abuse