9.14.2014

finished reading

From the publisher:
It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person.

Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to the dead—to people like Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse—though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating the choppy waters of new friendships, learning to live with her splintering family, falling in love for the first time, and, most important, trying to grieve for May. But how do you mourn for someone you haven't forgiven?

It's not until Laurel has written the truth about what happened to herself that she can finally accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was—lovely and amazing and deeply flawed—can she truly start to discover her own path.

It's a coming of age story told through the series of letters Laurel writes to celebrities whose lives ended too soon. Laurel explores her relationships with her family and her new friends, and her first love, through her examination of the lives of the people she writes to. Each letter helps her navigate the loss of and grief over her beloved sister, May.

The musical references and snippets of poetry are spot on. I think they add a timelessness to this story.

Even though it's in the Young Adult genre, it's a beautifully crafted novel full of unique characters and an interesting premise. I laughed out loud and I also cried.

I came across a Spotify playlist of songs featured in the book: as seen at My Shelf Confessions:

3 comments:

Fireflywishes said...

Great review! I felt the same way, in a lot of ways this book had the same feel to me as Perks of Being a Wallflower. Although this one definitely isn't a rip off of Perks, and stands on it's own two feet quite nicely. I love Ava and her letters and like you I laughed and cried. I agree too that the music gives the book a timelessness, which is what made me create the Spotify music list. I LOVE when books include music with them, it adds that extra element that makes the book come even THAT much more alive for me. And a lot of times whenever I hear a particular song, I'll think of that book forever afterwards, which is nice. Especially if it's a good moment in the book.

Thanks for sharing the Spotify list in your post and for linking to MSC. :) I really like your blog!

April @ My Shelf Confessions

A Day in the Life on the Farm said...

Sounds interesting. I will have to put it on my to read list.

Anonymous said...

I'll have to look for this book.