Publication Date: April 4, 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Series: Letters to the Lost #1
No. of Pages: 416 pages
R E V I E W
WARNING: This review may contain spoilers.
Letters to the Lost is a young adult fiction of Brigid Kemmerer which tells us a story about two teenagers who are suffering from losing someone they love. This is the first (ever) book of Brigid Kemmerer that I’ve read.
My first impression of this book is that it will give me a feeling of “light reading” and I was very wrong! Because it gave me heavy and serious feelings. Although in the end, I loved every bit of it.
I have so many feelings about this book. The book doesn’t purely depend on the love story of Juliet and Declan and it has so many things to do with family and friendships. Families that are perfectly imperfect. It gave me a feeling of being a teenager.
The character of Declan has the “stereotype” attitude of a teenager who is perpetually misunderstood and easily judged because of a single mistake. It reminds me of the saying (in non-verbatim):
Do good to people all the time and they never notice. But when you make one mistake, it’s never forgotten.
The book covers some realities in a teenager’s life. It gives us a window on what will happen to kids when their parents failed them or left them to discover everything on their own. I don’t know but the situation of Declan really made me sad rather than the situation of Juliet. Although at some parts of the story, I don’t feel like Declan is a teenager. Sometimes he feels like somewhere in between 18-25 years old. (Is it just me or you felt it too? Haha.)
Turned out he was scared of Geoff and Kristin because they’re black. His dad told him that black people were evil and sent by the devil.
I loved this part because it’s timely and it’s related to issues about racism. I don’t know what was running through Brigid’s mind while writing this part but I’m grateful for it because it gave me an impact that you should NEVER (EVER!) judge people based on what race they came from. And just to clarify things, I am not a racist. I’m just stating here why I loved this part. 🙂
Another thing that I loved from this book is that it taught me the exact term for “silhouette with details” photography which is conte-jour. Furthermore, I loved this because I am an amateur and enthusiast of photography and it taught me a lot too. Brigid exemplifies some important things here through Juliet’s character in which people should never underestimate other people’s passion and people have different perspectives in making an impact and difference in this world.
I’ve spent years idolizing my mother and her vibrancy, thinking of my father in boring shades of beige, when he’s been right here beside me the whole time.
Just O-M-G! This part made me cry because admit it. We all have those moments in life when we were so blinded by other things that made us forget about the persons who were there beside us ever since.
Because I loved you, and you loved her. I couldn’t take that away from you.
But I was here for those three days. And I’ll be here for all the other days, as long as you need me.
Lastly, hands down to this book. I can’t really describe how amazing this part is for me. But one thing I’m sure, I love this 100%!
Thank you, Brigid Kemmerer, for expanding my English vocabulary. I’ve learned a lot!
★★★★☆
F A V O R I T E L I N E S
“Don’t you think it’s funny how people say “lost” as if they were just misplaced?”
“…sometimes you get to the point where it hurts too much, and you’ll do anything to get rid of the pain. Even if it means doing something that hurts someone else.”
“Doing all these unexpected things is leaving me off balance.”
“You’re the one who showed me I could be normal.”
“There’s not a joy the world can give like that it takes away, when the glow of early thought declines in feeling’s dull decay.”
“I mean a photo is just that: a moment in time. We don’t know what’s really going on with the people in the picture.”
“Just because you can’t do it now doesn’t mean you can’t do it ever.”
S Y N O P S I S
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.
L E T ‘ S C H A T !
Have you read Letters to the Lost? What are your thoughts about it?
Do you have a favorite book by Kemmerer?
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