Every Last Word Love Letters to the Dead
Author: Tamara Ireland Stone Author: Ava Dellaira
Genre: YA/ Mental Health Genre: YA
Grade: B- Grade: B
These were both really average books for me. It’s not that they weren’t well written and interesting. I think what it comes down to in the end is that it was very hard for me to connect to either book.
Every Last Word is about Sam McAllister, a high school girl whose been battling purely obsessional OCD. It’s becoming harder and harder to keep this secret from her friends when she meets a new girl at school who introduces her to a school secret, Poet’s Corner. I liked the poetry that was throughout the book and I thought Sam’s interactions with that group were good but it was just so hard to connect with her.
My main problem with it involves the ending so I won’t even go there. But there was an element of the fantastic to it that (possibly for personal reasons) threw the book out of whack for me. Because this issue hits home right now I appreciate as much realism as possible.
That’s my taste though so if you are looking for something that may make the subject matter go a little easier this one could be a good read for you.
Love Letters to the Dead had the same connection problem for me. Laurel is a high schooler trying to deal with the death of her sister May so she begins writing letters to dead celebrities including; Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Heath Ledger and Janis Joplin amongst others. The letters were -somewhat- interesting and as the book goes on you can see Laurel is dealing with her pain as much as talking about others. I do think that the author does a fairly good job of getting you into May’s state of mind.
That was the thing with this book. I connected and felt more for May then any of the other characters.
It’s sad to say that because this book did attempt to deal with a lot of issues. Although I did appreciate the fact that when Laurel finally starts talking about what happened it’s heavily implied people know to get her help.
My other problem with this one was that I didn’t feel the romance/ relationship was such a good idea. I don’t want to give to much away there but there’s a connection of sorts to dead sister. Trigger warnings: this book also deals with divorce and sexual abuse (possibly rape) of a character.
Recommend: 50/50. Since these are books that deal with big important issues I’m loath to just outright say no just because I didn’t personally connect and found them a bit cold. You never know what type of story will move someone when they need it most. Yet I found the books only okay and I’ve read better dealing with both subjects.