Book Review: Love Letters To The Dead

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.

I loved this book.  Its well written and easy to read, yet there is a sense of mystery in that you don’t know what really happened to May or the role that Laurel played in her death.  She has immense guilt and reading her letters feels like reading someones journal.  You just can’t stop yourself.  Seeing into someone else’s thoughts is so addicting, which makes Love Letters To The Dead addicting as well.

“There are some things I can’t tell anyone, except the people who aren’t here anymore”

Love Letters To The Dead is available at your local book store, Chapters.ca, and Amazon.  I loved this book for myself, however parents might want to read it first before letting their kids read it, as there are a few discussion points to bring up with the book.

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