My first read of 2018, Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer, turned out to be a strong start to my reading year! Let's review.
As the title suggests, letters play a large part in the narrative of this book. Juliet, our lead female, writes letters to her deceased mother that she leaves at her gravesite. Declan, our lead male, stumbles upon the letter not knowing who wrote it and feels compelled to respond. What follows is anonymous communication via letters and, eventually, email about the grief and hardships that both are facing in their lives. Both feel that they cannot truly express their true, uncensored feelings to anyone in the real world, so they choose this as an outlet and comfort and support each other.
Declan and Juliet could not be more different. Declan is on probation and working community service. His reputation proceeds him and he allows the fact that everyone thinks they know him to dictate the way he lives his life. Juliet mostly stays out of the way, especially since the death of her mother, which has led her to back away from things that she previously enjoyed. Declan's anger radiates. Juliet keeps hers under the skin, essentially isolating herself from her best friend and her father. I loved seeing the difference between the way they behave in certain situations, and it also helped prove a point I don't think people realize: people are written off for various reasons when they often really need a helping hand.
Declan and Juliet could not be more different. Declan is on probation and working community service. His reputation proceeds him and he allows the fact that everyone thinks they know him to dictate the way he lives his life. Juliet mostly stays out of the way, especially since the death of her mother, which has led her to back away from things that she previously enjoyed. Declan's anger radiates. Juliet keeps hers under the skin, essentially isolating herself from her best friend and her father. I loved seeing the difference between the way they behave in certain situations, and it also helped prove a point I don't think people realize: people are written off for various reasons when they often really need a helping hand.
I wasn't aware that the story was going to be told in alternating perspectives, and Kemmerer did an interesting job of separating their chapters without ever stating the narrator's name. Instead, the reader deciphers based on who wrote the letter or email that starts each chapter. Luckily, Kemmerer did a great job of keeping Juliet and Declan's voices unique, because this could've been a problem and it definitely wasn't.
Sidenote: I think it might have been a little easier for me to distinguish this fact if I hadn't read the book on my Kindle. The physical book has different fonts that distinguish Juliet and Declan's writing, and that also separates it from the rest of the novel. That didn't translate into eBook format, where everything looked the same. Still, I picked up quickly and that's super important.
Rating
This book had the potential to disappoint me because there are so many good reviews on Goodreads and it has a strong average of 4.36. I get it, though. It's a great story that touches on grief with a gentle hand, takes a look at the way people become a certain way, and even has a bit of a "You've Got Mail"-esque will they-won't they romance that you'll be rooting for. I'm looking forward to the companion novel featuring Declan's best friend, Rev.
Comments
Post a Comment