Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer - ESSENTIAL

Kemmerer, Brigid Letters to the Lost (Letters to the Lost,#1), 388 pages. Bloomsbury, 2017. $18. Content: Language: PG-13 (40 swears); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: G. 

Juliet is devastated after the death of her mother, who was a photojournalist.  In order to deal with her grief, Juliet writes her mother notes and leaves them on her gravestone, like they would when her mother was traveling. Declan is doing community service at the cemetery by mowing the lawns there, and part of his job is to pick up mementos left at the grave sites.  When he spots Juliet’s letter and reads of her grief, he feels a connection to her and Declan feels like maybe Juliet would understand his sadness and the lost he’s experienced in his life.  Declan and Juliet fall into a friendship of anonymous letter writing as they work out their feelings, but eventually both will need more than anonymity.  

I loved this book.  Declan and Juliet are good characters with interesting family dynamics.  The mature content is one incident of underage drinking, an explanation of a naked lady-not detailed, and the heavy topic of alcoholism and losing loved ones.  Although the book is the first in a two book series, this book stands on its own, with the next book furthering the story of a friend from this book. 

MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.