Her letters are to those who died before their time. People with troubled lives, family break-ups and hard childhoods but also those who could express their feelings or showed bravery. As the letters continue, you find more in common with Laurel and the people she chooses to write to.

Laurel tells the dead the things she cannot tell her friends and family. They start off small, like her trouble making friends at her new school and the boy she stares at. But as time go on, the letters get more and more personal, and we start to learn she has buried a lot under the surface.

I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first though. I'm not a huge fan of books about music. I like listening to music but not talking about it or hearing people talk about. And there seems a trend for young adult books where the kids all like old bands as some sort of statement. Fortunately, it's more the lives of the musicians that are the important part to the story. She starts talking about how their music affected her but goes on to think about how they lived and died, and the tragedy left behind.

I’m not sure the letters consistently feel like letters though. Especially where speech is concerned, they just read like normal narrative. There are other places where it feels like too much information is given, that some historical background was required but why would you write that in a letter to the person? As a book aimed at young adults, plenty of the people mentioned may be new to them, so it’s tough to get across enough solely in letters. Maybe a mix of letters and some other narrative would have worked a bit better for me.

However it’s a strong debut. Her narrative reminds me a little of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. You know there’s something wrong through her actions and thoughts without being too direct. The revelations of her past come slowly and I didn’t find it predictable. Once I got caught up in her life, the last few letters were really rather moving.

Este libro me pareció muy lindo y lleno de momentos que te hacen reflexionar, sin duda tenía contenido que me afectó mucho pero que me lograron acercar al personaje, ya que al principio yo no entendía su forma de ser. Se me hizo difícil engancharme al libro pero yo creo que fue básicamente por lo que comenté antes. Sin duda es un libro muy recomendable y que al final me entregó mucho.

It really felt like the author was just trying to write The Perks Of Being A Wallflower again. Its plot is very similar, as is the style. It's just not a very original or compelling story.

I made it 216 pages/64% through but... I couldn't stand it anymore? I might try reading it again another time, but for now I'm DONE.

I LOVED this book. It was so emotional and beautifully written I can't begin to describe it. I had to put the book down because of how emotional it did tend to get but it was so worth it. It was breathtakingly, heartbreakingly beautiful.

Maybe high school me would've liked this more than 22 year old me did.

Laurel is a high school girl who is given an assignment from her English teacher to write a letter to a dead person. Laurel also happened to lose her sister which resulted in moving schools and thus, starting all over.

Soon, a letter turns into a notebook filled with them to public figures that impacted the lives of those around her, and help Laurel to grieve, find herself and confess her deepest torments.

I don't know how to rate a book like this. At times I almost teared up, most times I wanted to put it down, but despite the peculiar way in which Dellaria tells this story there's no connection with the characters. So overall, a 3.5 will do.

This started out slow for me. Actually, I think it stayed slow. The plot wasn’t very eventful, and a lot of the letters consisted more of Laurel’s memories and thoughts, than what was currently happening. Further into the story, I was okay with this.

I think my favorite thing about this book is the character flaws. Laurel wants to believe May was perfect, but it’s clear that she was so far from it. She was struggling. Her mom left for an entire year after May died, and her dad seemed quite disconnected at times. Despite this, none of them were made out to be bad people. I think a great part of this book is that the characters gave up, or walked away when they shouldn’t have, or unintentionally hurt the ones they loved – but that’s how people are. It’s what they do, and it doesn’t make them horrible.

I also enjoyed the character growth. Laurel was so scared at the beginning, timid and trying to be like May. At the end of the story she’s so much stronger and more sure of herself. She grew up and it was wonderful to read. A side character that I especially loved for this was Hannah – she was so brave and strong. I can just imagine what a difficult past she had, losing her parents and dealing with her brother. But through the story, she really learned to accept love. She learned to be herself and overcome her fears.

If it hasn’t already been made obvious, I really love this book. It’s truly beautiful and I fell in love with the characters and the writing. I highlighted a lot of quotes as I was reading.

Recommending it is tricky, though. I feel like some people won’t enjoy the slow storyline. If you’re a patient reader and enjoy stories that are about character development, rather than action, I think this one is for you.

Interesting story of a coming of age of a teenage girl who has just lost her sister. The story is written in the form of letters from the teenage girl to famous dead people. A bit of the history of these dead people is also mentioned in these letters. It was well done.