Beckett,
If you're reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn't. I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride. My little sister Ella's there, raising the twins alone. If I'm gone, that means I can't be there for her. I can't help them through this. But you can. So I'm begging you, as my best friend, go take care of my sister, my family. Please don't make her go through it alone.
Ryan
When Beckett follows his best friend’s dying wish and arrives in the small mountain town of Telluride, he expects grief, guilt, and the weight of a promise he’s not sure he can keep.
What he doesn’t expect is Ella. Fiercely independent and determined to hold her family together, Ella is still reeling from loss after loss. But as Beckett slowly becomes part of her life, their shared grief begins to turn into something neither of them saw coming.
But Ella knows that loving Beckett means risking heartbreak all over again…and this time she's not sure she'll survive.
What did I think?
If Rebecca Yarros had cut my heart out with a spoon it wouldn't have hurt as much as reading The Last Letter. My heart wasn't just broken, it was put through an emotional blender and shredded into tiny little bits. I was certainly in bits at the end of it and at several times during it too, so have your tissues handy when you read it.
The whole 'last letter' theme gave me a lump in my throat and that was before I had even been introduced to any of the characters. Once I got to know them, I fell in love with every single one of them and experienced their pain, joy, hopes and fears as they rode the rollercoaster of life. Talk about 'stop the ride I want to get off' - this ride is not a fun one!
Told via a dual point of view, we follow single mother Ella and soldier Becket as they start writing to each other before they even met. I loved reading their letters and felt it really showed depth to the characters. They of course do eventually meet, but in such tragic circumstances, and one of them is not being completely honest. Uh-oh!
As heart shattering as the story was, I just couldn't stop reading it. I'm glad I read it as part of a readalong as it gave me a chance to pause and take stock of my emotions. I could have easily read it in one or two sittings but I would have felt like my heart had been pelted at a brick wall. There's some romance with a bit of spice to lighten the distressing darker parts of the story so it is very well balanced.
The Last Letter is a completely devastating novel that is filled with so much emotion it really should come with waterproof pages. I'm not sure I can forgive Rebecca Yarros for making my heart hurt so much but forgiveness is a theme of the novel so I am sure I will forgive her...eventually.
I received a gifted paperback for the Insta Book Tours readalong and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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