Review: Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

Posted June 18, 2017 by Kate

Review: Letters to the Lost by Brigid KemmererCheck out on Goodreads | Buy on Amazon
Genres: Young Adult, High School Romance
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Source: My shelves

Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.
Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past.
When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he's opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they're not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart.

On Wednesday, 6/14/17, my best friend passed away. She was the best puppy ever and her absence leaves a hole in my life that will never be filled. I talk a bit about it (and show adorable pictures of my Riley) in my Sunday Post update right here.

I actually read Letters to the Lost a week before that fateful Wednesday, on my return trip from North Carolina. But it was Wednesday – and even Tuesday night – where I really understood the concepts talked about in this book, making me appreciate it far more than I did previously.

Letters to the Lost starts off with Juliet Young, who has lost her mother. She writes her mother a letter twice a week, and puts it on her headstone. One day, Declan Murphy picks up the letter and reads it. He finds it to be an accurate description of how he feels and he writes on the bottom of the letter Me, too.

Well, she beats him soundly for it (verbally) in the next letter she writes, hoping he will pick it up again. Which does, sparking a correspondence between the two of them, helping them each deal with their individual losses.

Letters to the Lost does a really good job of making the reader connect with the characters and their individual losses. Reading Juliet’s letters, you almost begin to feel that her troubles are your troubles and it really allows you to delve into her character and her feels.

Not to say that it is a wholly depressing book talking about death. It’s a book about coping with loss and the sparks of first love and finding someone who really gets you and appreciates everything about you. Declan and Juliet’s journey was really inspiring and I loved it :)

Have you read Letters to the Lost? What did you think? What have you read and likely recently because of a readathon? Let me know in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you! 


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