Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Letters to the Lost

This book had me in the biggest chokehold and I read 300 in a day. Yes, that's a lot. It's inspiring i a way and it'll make you think about things differently once you finish it.

Spoiler

Duclan's backstory is the saddest thing ever. The way he experiences emotions through this books is so insane. I felt so bad for him so many times, I mean his parents were shitty and the way he saw himself and hinted of suicide sometimes was just heartbreaking. Juliett's mom made me want to rip the book apart, like what the hell was she thinking. Emotions are portrayed incredibly in this book. The plot itself is so unique and just cool that you are taken by it. I would have prefered if we saw more of the actual relationship between them than the last two pages or so.

Overall this book had me hooked and I definitely recommend it!

Content Warnings

rearic's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-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

4.0

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nevaparis's review against another edition

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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.

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ericacanjustaboutread's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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minbyrnes's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

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bhavya_s_book_reads's review against another edition

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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-

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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

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