Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

4 Stars!

A special thank you to Bloomsbury USA Children's Books for the ARC through NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review!

"Pain flares in every word…The kind of pain that isolates. The kind of pain you’re certain no one else has felt, ever.”

             This was not exactly what I was expecting, but still a good story. Jules and Declan are easy to like and makes you root for them to figure out a way to heal. In a mix of tragic and hopeful, Letters to the Lost has a lot to say about loss, grief, and guilt, and how sometimes you need someone going through the same thing to help pull you out of the dark.

             Juliet doesn't expect a response to any of the letters she leaves at the Cemetery. Her mother's dead, but somehow writing to her makes Jules feel closer to her, even though everyone else in her life seems to think it's time for her to start moving on. Yet, she sees a scribbled reply to one she left on her mother's grave, she's blindsided with a rush of emotions ranging from anger at the invasion of her privacy to a glimmer of hope that maybe there's someone out there that understands what she's going through.

            Declan knows he probably shouldn't have replied to that letter he came across while mowing the cemetery lawn as part of his community service, but it was like that girl knew exactly how he felt. Now neither of them can stop writing to the other under the protective anonymity, telling more to each other than they've ever thought of saying to someone in real life. And it seems to be working, slowly they seem to be bringing each other back to life. But do they really want to stay in that protective bubble forever? Or do they take a chance and see if they're able to make that same connection in the real world? What if they're not the strangers they think they are?

            I'm torn here. On one hand, I like that the book made it more about working through grief and finding the strength to open yourself up again instead of about the potential relationship between Declan and Juliet. Yet, my inner romantic was screaming for a little bit more to happen between the two. But, I get why things happened the way they did. It was a little dramatic and angsty at points, but was understandable considering everything they had had thrown at them. Follow their journey for yourself and see if Juliet and Declan can manage to lead each other away from their grief and out into the light, or if they're just writing Letters to the Lost.

P.S.: I can't wait for Rev's book! He was my favorite character!