This Is Not A Love Letter by Kim Purcell
Published January 30th, 2018 by Disney-Hyperion
Genres Young Adult, Mystery
Pages 368
Goodreads / Amazon
One week. That’s all Jessie said. A one-week break to get some perspective before graduation, before she and her boyfriend, Chris, would have to make all the big, scary decisions about their future–decisions they had been fighting about for weeks. Then, Chris vanishes. The police think he’s run away, but Jessie doesn’t believe it. Chris is popular and good-looking, about to head off to college on a full-ride baseball scholarship. And he disappeared while going for a run along the river–the same place where some boys from the rival high school beat him up just three weeks ago. Chris is one of the only black kids in a depressed paper mill town, and Jessie is terrified of what might have happened. As the police are spurred to reluctant action, Jessie speaks up about the harassment Chris kept quiet about and the danger he could be in. But there are people in Jessie’s town who don’t like the story she tells, who are infuriated by the idea that a boy like Chris would be a target of violence. They smear Chris’s character and Jessie begins receiving frightening threats. Every Friday since they started dating, Chris has written Jessie a love letter. Now Jessie is writing Chris a letter of her own to tell him everything that’s happening while he’s gone. As Jessie searches for answers, she must face her fears, her guilt, and a past more complicated than she would like to admit.
3.5 stars. If you read the synopsis and the title. this isn’t a love letter. It is Jessie writing journal entries to her boyfriend, Chris who is missing. Although they were technically on a break when he went missing. I enjoyed the author’s writing and the style in which this book was written, but felt that there were some times throughout the book that could have been explained a bit more in depth. Jessie starts writing to Chris right after she finds out he is missing and documents what is going on and what they are doing to find him. This book is sad and it deals with some sensitive topics such as mental illness, race and bullying. The ending of the book was also done really well. Overall, I enjoyed the book, especially the style in which it was written and it certainly deals with some heavy, but very important topics. I think the author did a really good job in writing about these sensitive subjects and I think a lot of people will enjoy this book.
Thank you to the publisher, Disney-Hyperion, for sending me an ARC of this book.
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