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oceanbluetay's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Deadnaming, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy
kmsander4's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This one has been sitting on my shelf for ages, but I don't even remember buying it. I needed something light to follow-up my first reads of the year so I picked this one up purely based on the cover. And then I read the back...
Didn't exactly inspire confidence that it would be a light and fluffy read but I really enjoyed it. Very much YA - so if that's not your speed, then skip it - but it was heartfelt and difficult in parts. Almost every character is working through some serious trauma and grief, and Brigid captures their emotions brilliantly.
Definitely would recommend to others - just maybe not if they want something carefree and easy to get through!
Didn't exactly inspire confidence that it would be a light and fluffy read but I really enjoyed it. Very much YA - so if that's not your speed, then skip it - but it was heartfelt and difficult in parts. Almost every character is working through some serious trauma and grief, and Brigid captures their emotions brilliantly.
Definitely would recommend to others - just maybe not if they want something carefree and easy to get through!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
pchamblee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Abandonment
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
4.0
Finished reading: October 22nd 2023
“One day isn't your whole life. A day is just a day.”
I've had Letters To The Lost on my TBR for years now, and even though I've enjoyed her writing in the past somehow I never actually picked it up. I guess my TBR jar thought it was time to change that... Not that I'm complaining, because I ended up having a great time reading this YA contemporary. Sure, it took me a bit longer than expected to warm up to this story and especially to one of the main characters (Juliet), but once I did things improved drastically. I do confess that I liked Declan a lot more than Juliet, and especially the bond between Rev and Declan. There was also a lot less focus on the romance than expected, which I personally didn't mind too much. Instead, Letters To The Lost is mainly about grief and trying to move on after the death of a loved one, and it includes other serious topics like (child)abuse, alcoholism, bullying and suicide. As a result, this story was a lot darker than expected, but there were some brighter moments and I especially liked the anonymous interactions between The Dark and Cemetery Girl. The emails gave the characters so much more dept, and it added a little something extra to the story. I do have to say that it was quite obvious that Declan was behind The Dark, but that might just have been me... The change in Declan's home situation was also a bit too abrupt to be completely credible, but I still liked how everything else was wrapped up in the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War
hmbird's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is my favorite book. I have emotionally connected with the characters and I love that it has made me so happy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Gore, Blood, and Car accident
Minor: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt
readingwheneva's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book took me honestly no time to read which is saying something since I hit a pretty serious reading slump before picking up this book. Following Declan and Juliet was honestly amazing and the way their characters were written was so amazing and realistic that it made it so hard to put the book down because I needed to know what happened next.
Letters to the Lost is written in first person narration but does switch between Juliet and Declan as far as point of view goes. If Juliet sends a letter or an email then the chapter is from Declan’s POV and vice versa. Both characters have some seriously dark things that they are dealing with and being able to confide in each other through letters (and later emails) helps both of them in their grief and healing processes. Even though neither character knows that they have had many interactions throughout the book at first, eventually, it is revealed who they both truly are.
The fact that we get to follow both characters through their trials and tribulations and that we get to see how vulnerable both Juliet and Declan can be with each other and it’s amazing to be able to follow their journey from not knowing each other at all, to being friends and then, eventually, to being romantically involved with each other. Ultimately, I gave this book 5 stars for the character development, beautiful writing and range of emotions that were truly invoked through reading this book. I honestly can’t wait to read the second book in this series to continue the beauty that is this story.
Letters to the Lost is written in first person narration but does switch between Juliet and Declan as far as point of view goes. If Juliet sends a letter or an email then the chapter is from Declan’s POV and vice versa. Both characters have some seriously dark things that they are dealing with and being able to confide in each other through letters (and later emails) helps both of them in their grief and healing processes. Even though neither character knows that they have had many interactions throughout the book at first, eventually, it is revealed who they both truly are.
The fact that we get to follow both characters through their trials and tribulations and that we get to see how vulnerable both Juliet and Declan can be with each other and it’s amazing to be able to follow their journey from not knowing each other at all, to being friends and then, eventually, to being romantically involved with each other. Ultimately, I gave this book 5 stars for the character development, beautiful writing and range of emotions that were truly invoked through reading this book. I honestly can’t wait to read the second book in this series to continue the beauty that is this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
bhavya_is_reading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"I don’t know what the point of this story is, except maybe to say that sometimes you get to a point where it hurts too much, and you’ll do anything to get rid of the pain. Even if it means doing something that hurts someone else."
First Read- January 2021
Second read- August 2021
First Rating- 5 stars
Second rating- 5 stars
Content/ Trigger Warnings- school shooting joke, grief, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, car accident, cheating, the death of a sibling, the death of a parent, alcoholism
-Mention of some of these in the review-
Spotify Playlist
Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer is a Young Adult Contemporary romance, but I would say it’s much more than just a romance. It is a story about grief and guilt and anger. It's a story written with passion. It's a story which will make you feel .
The Plot
There’s a definition for insanity that talks about doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.
Juliet Young, our main character has only one way to cope with her mother's death, writing her letters. Declan Murphy works at a community service at the local cemetery and he's trying to escape the demons of his past. When Declan reads Juliet’s letter, he writes back two simple words- 'Me Too' . This book is about Juliet and Declan's letters.
The writing
Sometimes I think fate conspires against us. Or maybe fate conspires with us.
The letters between Juliet and Declan were absolutely beautiful. They talked about intense topics in a touching way and it made me think over a lot of things.
You want to know what I believe? I believe in fate, but I also believe in free will. Meaning, there’s a path, but we’re free to veer away from it. The only problem is that there’s no way to know whose path we’re following at any given moment. Our own? Or fate’s? Other people are on their own paths, too. What happens when we intersect? What happens when someone else wipes our path clean, and we’re left with no road to follow? Is that fate? Is that when free will kicks in? Is the path there, but invisible?
Who the hell knows?
The whole book was full of such great quotes and honestly I have no words to describe this. Even writing this review makes me want to reread the book.
The characters
“One day isn’t your whole life, Murph.” He waits until I look at him. “A day is just a day.”
This is the first contemporary I've read in a while where all the characters are flawed, yet extremely likable people. All of the characters seemed genuine. What more could you ask for?
The side characters in this book are also complex and fleshed out.
Rev is one of my favourites! He has my heart. I know book 2 is on him and I'm a bit scared to read it.
The main characters Juliet and Declan are also very interesting. I will not talk about them more to avoid spoilers.
“We’re all united by grief, and somehow divided by the same thing.”
Final thoughts
This book doesn't have any sort of petty drama like most contemporary books do. This deals with grief through thought-provoking letters and that's what I loved about it the most.
I wasn't very happy with the ending though, which is why it's not a 5 star. (bumped it to 5 stars as I was thinking about it even after half a year) I think there should have been one more chapter to conclude it.
So overall, Letters to the Lost was an extremely fun read and definitely makes my list of top books of 2021. I would highly recommend it!
“There’s not a joy the world can give like that it takes away, when the glow of early thought declines in feeling’s dull decay.”
DISCLAIMER - All opinions on the books I’ve read and reviewed are my own, and are with no intention to offend anyone. If you feel offended by my reviews, let me know how I can fix it.
How I Rate-
1 star- Hardly liked anything/ was disappointed
2 star- Had potential but did not deliver/ was disappointed
3 stars- Was ok but could have been better/ was average / Enjoyed a lot but something was missing
4 stars- Loved a lot but something was missing
5 stars- Loved it/ new favourite
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Mass/school shootings
anaya_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I liked this book. The flaws of the characters are really out there and some may say that that makes the characters unlikeable bug u just think it made the real. I’d check content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent