Grieving for someone that you knew your whole is something that is hard to overcome. You are filled with memories that you both shared and you are constantly reminded about that person because of the little things that holds a huge amount of memory. This is what Laurel had to go through when she faced the death of her sister May.
The story revolves around how Laurel tries to pick herself up and the way she chose to do it. When given the assignment wherein she has to write a letter to a dead person, Laurel felt hesitant about it. Since her teacher, Mrs. Buster knew about what happened to Laurel’s sister, she expected her to write about May. Instead of writing a letter to May, Laurel wrote one to Kurt Cobain, one of May’s favorite people. She wrote stuff regarding what happened and how she’s doing. But, rather than submitting her letter, she felt that these are a personal thing for her and eventually she wrote to other dead people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, and Amelia Earhart. This became Laurel’s coping mechanism as she winds her way up in her new life.
Personally, I think that this novel is a really important thing especially to those who have been coping up with their loss. Laurel’s struggles on how memories suddenly rushes to her seems familiar to many people. In the end, it was really inspiring on how she found light after being in the darkness for too long.
This book for me is the definition of putting something realistic and giving someone in the same situation a hope. The way Ava Dellaira made this is so compelling that you are left stunned by how truthful some of the words are. My personal favorite is the quote that one of the characters, Tristan, mentioned:
What I told you about saving people isn’t true. You might think it is, because you might want someone else to save you, or you might want to save someone so badly. But no one else can save you, not really. Not from yourself. […] You fall asleep in the foothills, and the wolf comes down from the mountains. And you hope someone will wake you up. Or chase it off. Or shoot it dead. But when you realize that the wolf is inside you, that’s when you know. You can’t run from it. And no one who loves you can kill the wolf, because it’s part of you. They see your face on it. And they won’t fire the shot.
This probably is something that I had not realized until I reached this part of the book. It took me some time just to think about it and this is not the only amazing line that I found in the book. My own physical copy of it has too many underlines and page marks because of how much this book contains some truthful quotes. The book makes you think, then it makes you realize and after finishing the book, there’s this feeling of wanting to do something. There is this new feeling that I wanted to change something. It makes you value the things around you so much that somehow after reading it, you try to be more cautious and understanding.
There are a lot of concepts that have been discussed in this book that I’m really thankful for because as people get introduced to it, they get a deeper understanding on how some awful situations actually feels like, which is for me, the best thing an author can always do. I’ve always loved authors who introduce these kind of stuff to their readers because it reduces the misunderstanding that surrounds certain topics.
In conclusion, I believe that this book is a gem of its own. Ava Dellaira is an exceptional writer who managed to influence a reader to have an interest to read more things like her work and also influenced a writer to want to inspire people through his works. It’s a book for those who are having a hard time dealing with a situation that Laurel was in, it is for those who seeks hope amidst the darkness that they are in and most importantly, it is a book that will always be for those who aspire to be inspired. I am glad to have found this book and I will always be grateful for the things I’ve learned from it.
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