Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer
"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." (Goodreads)
Letters to the Lost intrigued me from the moment I read the title. As an admirer of the lost art of letter-writing, the title made my heart skip a beat and after reading the blurb I was sucked right into it. Letters to the Lost deals with subjects such as depression, anger issues, loneliness, coping with the loss of a loved one and grief.
The chapters alternate between Declan and Juliet's point of views. Reading through both characters' point of views gave me a better understanding of their state of mind and their situations. I loved the complexity of the characters and the experiences they were going through. As you get more into the book you get a better understanding of the characters' personalities, decisions they make, and the events that have unfolded.
Compared to Declan's, Juliet's character had a very sheltered and full of love childhood. On the other hand, Declan had to shoulder the responsibilities of an adult at a very young age. As both characters' relationship history with their parents is revealed, the reader gets a better understanding of the reasons behind the characters' actions.
One of the issues behind the characters' troubles was the lack of communication they had with the people in their lives. Although they had trouble communicating in person, it was interesting to see how Juliet and Declan were able to open up to each other through their anonymous letters. In person though they would always end up fighting. The thought of writing to someone you have no idea about seemed safer to them because there would be no chance of judgment and rejection. I was able to connect to the main characters through their letters. The deep and thoughtful letters they wrote to each other was what captured my heart.
"Have you ever heard of Kevin Carter? He won a Pulitzer for a photograph of a dying girl. It's a pretty famous photo, so maybe you've seen it. A little girl was starving in the Sudan, trying to reach a feeding station. She needed to stop to rest because she was barely more than a skeleton held together by a stretch of skin. She needed to rest because she wasn't strong enough to get to the food in one trip.
So she rested in the dirt, this tiny little girl, while a vulture sat nearby, waiting.
Do you get it? Waiting. For her to die.
I think of that picture sometimes. Of that moment.
Sometimes I feel like the girl.
Sometimes I feel like the bird.
Sometimes I feel like the photographer, unable to do anything but watch.
Kevin Carter killed himself after he won the Pulitzer.
Sometimes I think I understand why" (Kemmerer, 21).
I loved everything about this book. From the characters to their thought-provoking letters, everything was beautifully written. It was such an emotionally inspiring book which handled deep and tragic topics that I was a blubbering mess the whole time. Overall, it was an amazing read that I couldn't put down. It was well written with well-developed characters and amazing twists. I would definitely recommend this book.
Here's the link to an article about Kevin Carter's life and another link of the photo of the girl mentioned above:
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." (Goodreads)
Letters to the Lost intrigued me from the moment I read the title. As an admirer of the lost art of letter-writing, the title made my heart skip a beat and after reading the blurb I was sucked right into it. Letters to the Lost deals with subjects such as depression, anger issues, loneliness, coping with the loss of a loved one and grief.
The chapters alternate between Declan and Juliet's point of views. Reading through both characters' point of views gave me a better understanding of their state of mind and their situations. I loved the complexity of the characters and the experiences they were going through. As you get more into the book you get a better understanding of the characters' personalities, decisions they make, and the events that have unfolded.
Compared to Declan's, Juliet's character had a very sheltered and full of love childhood. On the other hand, Declan had to shoulder the responsibilities of an adult at a very young age. As both characters' relationship history with their parents is revealed, the reader gets a better understanding of the reasons behind the characters' actions.
One of the issues behind the characters' troubles was the lack of communication they had with the people in their lives. Although they had trouble communicating in person, it was interesting to see how Juliet and Declan were able to open up to each other through their anonymous letters. In person though they would always end up fighting. The thought of writing to someone you have no idea about seemed safer to them because there would be no chance of judgment and rejection. I was able to connect to the main characters through their letters. The deep and thoughtful letters they wrote to each other was what captured my heart.
"Have you ever heard of Kevin Carter? He won a Pulitzer for a photograph of a dying girl. It's a pretty famous photo, so maybe you've seen it. A little girl was starving in the Sudan, trying to reach a feeding station. She needed to stop to rest because she was barely more than a skeleton held together by a stretch of skin. She needed to rest because she wasn't strong enough to get to the food in one trip.
So she rested in the dirt, this tiny little girl, while a vulture sat nearby, waiting.
Do you get it? Waiting. For her to die.
I think of that picture sometimes. Of that moment.
Sometimes I feel like the girl.
Sometimes I feel like the bird.
Sometimes I feel like the photographer, unable to do anything but watch.
Kevin Carter killed himself after he won the Pulitzer.
Sometimes I think I understand why" (Kemmerer, 21).
I loved everything about this book. From the characters to their thought-provoking letters, everything was beautifully written. It was such an emotionally inspiring book which handled deep and tragic topics that I was a blubbering mess the whole time. Overall, it was an amazing read that I couldn't put down. It was well written with well-developed characters and amazing twists. I would definitely recommend this book.
★★★★/5
Here's the link to an article about Kevin Carter's life and another link of the photo of the girl mentioned above:
Kemmerer, Brigid. Letters to the Lost. Bloomsbury USA, 2017.
Comments
Post a Comment