Letters to the Lost

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Her hostile and petty attitude deterred me from fully enjoying the novel and forming any kind of emotional connection with her. To say I hated her would be a gross understatement. So much so that I wanted to skip all her POVs and only read Declan’s but I get stressed out about skipping parts in books so I pushed through it by the skin of my teeth. Declan grew tremendously too! Juliet taught him to open up to others, and encouraged him to talk his problems out. His teacher even encouraged him to try harder in school! Don’t you think it’s funny how people say “lost” as if they were just misplaced? But maybe it’s a different meaning of “lost,” in that you don’t know where they went. There were a lot of wonderful secondary characters in this book! Rev, Declan's best friend, who has a heartbreaking past but a positive outlook on life. He is an amazing friend and I loved their bromance. He's one of my favorites, and I can't wait to read his story next. Rowan, Juliet's best friend, who is so supportive and such a good best friend. Then there is "Melonhead" (his name is Frank), who is Declan's community service supervisor. He actually plays a huge and very positive role in Declan's life, and I'm glad he is in the story. Same with Rev's parents. Positive role models - not like Declan's mother and stepfather. Ugh, to both of them.

Okay seriously, this book is emotional torture because what they talk about is just so deep, sad, but so so inspiring. This book is just a pure little gem in this shitty world and I love it so much omg, I want to cry all over again. A lot of romances I read have toxic relationships, threats, and the characters downgrading for their love interest.In tone and feeling, this is a very serious book. Deep. Thoughtful. Painful. Hopeful. And incredibly well written!! It’s a quiet but powerful story. It’s not a Romance but there is a love story. It’s more about PEOPLE. Friendship. Family. Love. Loss. More like mature YA fiction in terms of genre (the hero and heroine are both seventeen and in their last year of high school but have each survived experiences that made them sometimes seem older than their years) but I do want to reassure you that there is a happy ending. The writing was beautiful. It flowed so smoothly and I definitely know I'd want to read another book by this author just because she wrote it. I loved the vivid imagery and the way she conveyed emotion. I highlighted so many passages. The characters were complex and compelling. The story was intriguing, surprising, and ultimately deeply satisfying. In every way, this book was the perfect “change of pace” I'd been searching for and while it was very DIFFERENT than what I'd normally read/review, I loved it!! Don’t you think it’s funny how people say “lost” as if they were just misplaced? But maybe it’s a different meaning of “lost,” in that you don’t know where they went." It's true, isn't it? That quote isn't only making a statement, but I also feel like it's implying something. You can choose grief to let it divide you, or let it unite you. It's your choice how you cope.

I have and I could say that it’s kinda sad because when they judge you, they might not even know the real you and the reasons why you did what you did. The only thing I wanted more of was the thing I just mentioned - more physical swoon. I shared a snippet of this book on my latest Swoon Thursday post, and notice how it isn't a kissy swoon! Yeah, there could have been more kissy scenes. A lot more.

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In addition, this book had morals. Really important life lessons. For example, look at the quote I chose and put above. I chose it for a reason. Feeling abandoned by his mother, who has since remarried a complete jerk, Declan struggles with his own feelings of guilt, isolation and anger. I cannot express how much I loved this book. The more I thought about this book, the more I realized how much I adored it. Loved my reread so much! This book is just so good and gets better with every read. It will forever be my all time fav. BR with a some of my friends. 💕 There’s a definition for insanity that talks about doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.

Moving on, Letters to the Lost is a romance novel with outstanding, relatable characters, an interesting plot, and beautiful writing. Juliet is overwhelmed with grief. Her mother's death is still fresh, and even the thought of getting rid of her mother's cameras makes Juliet break down in tears, or panic. Juliet hasn't had an easy year, but she isn't alone. She misjudges Declan badly, and slowly, she starts to realize that. Juliet is a good girl, though at first she is a little judgmental (towards Declan). In general she isn't... but to him, she was. She was to the point where she was afraid of him, which I thought was silly. The writing was so beautiful! The writing was mainly like a typical YA book, but with more depth. The author covered very tough and deep topics in an engaging, and easy to understand format. I found it very creative how the author implied all these life messages. Loved the writing! I feel like a bad friend, but I can't help it. I can't force what I'm feeling to fit between chapters two and six in some handbook dealing with the death of a loved one.They didn’t instantly solve each other’s problems in a single hallway glance it was like they encouraged and supported each other from behind anonymous usernames but they still had to work it out on their own and reach their own closure It started off as a solid 4 stars, but the second half was wonderful and elevated it tenfold. There were tears of both sadness and happiness dripping down my face. This book made me genuinely shed tears, which is a rarity to say the least. Most books just don't make me cry no matter how sad they are.

YA contemporary fan or not (I'm not one), I recommend this book. It is such a meaningful and thought-provoking book. Also, I can't remember the last time I got that swept up in a story, to the point where I unintentionally finish it or stay up really late without being aware. (I stay up late reading books all the time but it's always intentional). There are a lot of tough topics explored in this book, but it's not overwhelmingly heavy. This is an excellent story that is powerful beyond it being a YA contemporary story about two teens who meet in more than one way. It's worth mentioning again how much I loved the writing. Not only was it beautiful, but the pacing of the story was on point -- always moving forward, no 'extra' scenes, no parts of the book that I wanted to skim. I felt very connected to this story the whole way through.I sat down with this book with the intention of reading only half of the book, and saving the other half for the next day. I started reading really late into the night (after 9 PM) and had no intention of finishing. But hours went by, my family went to bed, and I didn't even notice. I was so engrossed in this book, and I couldn't stop reading, and the next thing I know, I've finished it. It was that wonderful, and heartbreaking, and thought-provoking. On the other hand we have Declan who I felt so sorry for especially whenever he talked about his family. He had the most character development and went through a lot of healing in this book which is why this story has a higher rating. I think he really tried hard with his mother but it was made really realistic especially with the giving up factor since I relate to that a lot. Forced to do community service work after his own drunk driving incident, Declan ends up working on the maintenance crew at the local cemetery where he stumbles upon Juliet's letters. She was aggravating and despicable to the max and I loathed her with a passion. I could not stand her.