Review: Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

 

Letters to the Lost

by Brigid Kemmerer

April 4, 2017
400 pages

Goodreads  Indigo
 

Goodreads Summary:

Juliet Young has always written 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 of them 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.

Review

Letters to the Lost is such a gritty and compelling read. This book captures a lot of emotions and its characters had the best sort of connection. I found myself unable to stop reading- four hundred pages flew by.

Juliet and Declan are dealing with major losses in their lives. They're unable to let go and get past the pain until they stumble into an anonymous friendship with each other. They start to slowly heal as unexpected ugly truths surfaced. The mood in the book kept shifting as Ms. Kemmerer reveals one shocker after another. I was unprepared and it made the book super intense and unputdownable (this should totally be a real word, everyone uses it).

I love Declan. Sure he can be rash and rude at times but I felt he had incredible depth. He's had to shoulder a heavy burden by himself since a young age. It's no wonder he has temper issues. My heart aches for all that he's had to go through and still put up with in the present. That one seemingly harmless choice should not have had the power to destroy him. Had the right people intervened earlier on Declan would've been a way happier kid. Thank heavens Juliet came into the picture when she did.

The romance between Juliet and Declan was slow but packed with feels. They were not the biggest fans of each other at first. I love that as their alter egos, Cemetery Girl and The Dark, communicated more, the interactions between the two in real life increased too. The more they came into contact the more their perspective of each other changed. Best of all neither was blind to the other's familiarity. The gradual development of their feelings was so natural and believable. I really want to see more of them together after everything was sorted out.

There's also an excellent support network in Letters to the Lost. The (best) friends, the teacher, coworker and one parent were all very present and attentive. They provided strength and safety for Declan and Juliet when they needed them most. One pair of parents had some major miscommunication and guilt issues at play and even though they made me mad a lot, they were realistic and left me hopeful.

Letters to the Lost is my first book by Brigid Kemmerer but it certainly won't be the last. I've heard that Rev, Declan's best friend, will be getting his own book next year so I'm definitely looking forward to that. In the meantime I will probably be looking up Ms. Kemmerer's backlist titles to tide me over until then!

*I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own and not affected in any way.