Review: Love Letters to the Dead

Title: Love Letters to the Dead

Author: Ava Dellaira

Genre: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 327

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Published: April. 1, 2014

Source: Library

Description: 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 did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to 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 begin to discover her own path.

Review: I just wasn't feeling this book. I felt sorry for the character because her sister died and her family is grieving. But she was stupid and crazy. She didn't do drugs but she did drink alcohol which I didn't like because she's 15 and I hate underage drinking. She only did drink because of her friends and she wanted them to like her. I didn't like the romance, it was to boring for me. They had like two conversations that was about nothing and all of a sudden they are together. The boy Sky, I didn't understand him either. Laurel did two things that could of gotten herself killed right in front of him and he doesn't tell no one. I just didn't see the love. She needed to stop trying to be like her sister. The ending was ok.

2 out of 5 stars

Review: Saving Fancesca by Melina Marchetta

Description: Francesca is stuck at St. Sebastians, a boys’ school that’s pretends it’s coed by giving the girls their own bathroom. Her only female companions are an ultra-feminist, a rumored slut, and an an impossibly dorky accordion player. The boys are no better, from Thomas who specializes in musical burping to Will, the perpetually frowning, smug moron that Francesca can’t seem to stop thinking about.
Then there’s Francesca’s mother, who always thinks she knows what’s best for Francesca—until she is suddenly stricken with acute depression, leaving Francesca lost, alone, and without an inkling who she really is. Simultaneously humorous, poignant, and impossible to put down, this is the story of a girl who must summon the strength to save her family, her social life and—hardest of all—herself.

Review: It was OK. I wasn’t really felling this book, but I pushed myself to read it because I wanted to know how it ended. I got confused at times who was talking and what the conversation was about. The Romance was kinda boring. Her Mom depression, Idk everything was just solved towards the end. It seemed rushed to me. I really wanted to read this, glad I did. But it just wasn’t the right one for me.

2 out of 5 Stars

Read: September. 15, 2013 - September. 24, 2013

Review: Chopsticks

Description: After her mother died, Glory retreated into herself and her music. Her single father raised her as a piano prodigy, with a rigid schedule and the goal of playing sold-out shows across the globe. Now, as a teenager, Glory has disappeared. As we flash back to the events leading up to her disappearance, we see a girl on the precipice of disaster. Brilliant and lonely, Glory is drawn to an artistic new boy, Frank, who moves in next door. The farther she falls, the deeper she spirals into madness. Before long, Glory is unable to play anything but the song "Chopsticks."

But nothing is what it seems, and Glory's reality is not reality at all. In this stunningly moving novel told in photographs, pictures, and words, it's up to the reader to decide what is real, what is imagined, and what has been madness all along....

My Review: ** spoiler alert ** I didn't hate it or really like it, so I'm in between. At first I was a bit confused but as I read or looked at the pictures more I got. Glory and Frank fall in love. Glory father takes her to Europe to play piano. She doesn't like it, misses Frank. Frank hates the school. He hates living in the Bronx. He wants to leave and wants Glory to follow him. I think Glory was pressured into playing piano because of her dad and not wanting her to see Frank. So as I can see at the end, she goes to Argentina where Frank said he was going back home too. I would be wrong but that's how I seen it.

2 out of 5 Stars

Read: April.14 - April.14, 2013