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 Love Letters To The Dead was one of my most anticipated books of 2014, I was immediately drawn to the title, the gorgeous cover and intriguing description. Not to mention the fact that that Love Letters was blurbed by several contemporary authors who I have the utmost respect for. Love Letters To The Dead is one of the best coming-of-age tales I've ever read and by the end, I was bawling my eyes out. 
 Ava Dellaria broke my heart, made me laugh and feel overjoyed all in the span of a few pages. Love Letters To The Dead is a honest, realistic depiction of growing up and dealing with grief. Dellaria really understands how much it sucks to be a teenager and how hard it is to keep your life together after losing a close family member. 
 The letters that Laurel wrote to deceased celebrities like River Phoenix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger and Allan Lane were absolutely moving. Readers will able to see clear parallels between Laurel's life and the deceased people that she wrote letters to. Each letter felt special in their own way, even the ones to celebrities who I had no prior knowledge of before reading (ie Alan Lane). The letters that really affected me the most were the ones written to Kurt Cobain and River Phoenix, even now as I write this review I feel tears pinpricking my eyes as I think of these letters. Just reading about Cobain and Phoenix's lives before they were famous was beyond tragic. To think that Cobain and Phoenix survived such difficult childhoods to lead such ephemeral lives just felt so unfair. 
 While reading Love Letters To The Dead, there were just so many quotes that I absolutely loved; by the time I finished, my book was littered with post-its. Ava Dellaria's Love Letters To The Dead is full of memorable quotations that are just so empowering and sage like. Dellaria never seems to soften the brutality of loss and being a teenager, she really doesn't gloss over anything. Many YA books have plot lines where the main character is going through a difficult time, but everything becomes lollipops and gum drops, when the protagonist falls in love. Problems don't just disappear as Love Letters To The Dead expertly displays, no matter how much we try to hide our past, our skeletons in our closet always follow us. 
 The romance in Love Letters To The Dead isn't the spotlight focus, but it's exceptionally done. Sky and Laurel's relationship isn't true love at first sight, their initial relationship is actually extremely awkward. Their relationship slowly progressed throughout the book and it really tied well into Laurel's journey of self-discovery. The romance was incredibly sweet, touching, and it really complimented the rest of the book well. 
 Whenever I read books about tough social issues, there's usually two ways the book can turn out. The controversial topic is either extremely well done or the book becomes extremely sappy because the author butchers the importance of the issue to evoke pity from the reader. Ava Dellaria doesn't avoid controversial topics that are extremely relevant in today's society, she explores them in situations that readers will be able to relate to. 
 I am not a teenage girl. I have never lost a sibling to death. I have never been like Laurel has. Despite these extremely obvious differences between Laurel and I, I really felt like I understood exactly what Laurel was going through. I saw myself in Laurel which was truly something scary and amazing at the same time. I have a strong premonition that many readers will easily empathize with Laurel because she is three-dimensional. 
 There became a point while reading Love Letters To The Dead where I emotionally broke down and I started to bawl. Throughout the novel, there were several sections where I started to tear, but it wasn't till the last section where I started to cry a waterfall. I'm not an extremely emotional reader, but Love Letters To The Dead really touched me deeply and it brought out my sensitive side. 
 Love Letters To The Dead is one of the best debut novels that I've read in years. I can proudly say that Dellaria is definitely an author to watch, I really am looking forward to reading her future novels. Love Letters To The Dead is a novel that has really resonanted with me on an emotional level.