Book Review: The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros + Giveaway
The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros
Pages: 434
Publish date: February 26th 2019
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
ISBN: 9781640635333
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD
Beckett,
If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have.
I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride.
My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. It’s not fair.
And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart. She’s going to need help.
So if I’m gone, that means I can’t be there for Ella. 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
The Last Letter:
I received an earc of The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.
Also a quick note, I tried to not spoil anything in this review, however, there were things that I had to speak about. In saying that a lot of the things that I did mention happen close to the start of the novel. Reminder to stay to the end to win a copy of The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros
Rebecca Yarros was one of the first New Adult and Adult romance author that I really loved and devoured their books. So, of course, I had to pick up her newest edition. And gosh this one got me when I finished reading The Last Letter, I just cried. It was an emotional rollercoaster for sure, but oh so good.
The Last Letter follows protagonists Ella and Beckett as they write to one another while he is off fighting for his country. But then tragedy strikes in so many different ways and Ella and Beckett are brought together. But after all this time can Beckett tell Ella who he really is, or will it hide it from her forever. Ella has already been pulled through the blender, but nothing matters more to her than her children, but when things starting falling apart, she doesn’t know if she can stay together anymore.
Ella was such a fabulous protagonist and I fell in love with her right from the start. She is such a strong female character that it was so easy to fall into her life. From the very start, the reader is able to see how much Ella cares about those around, especially her two children. She will do anything for them. But she will also do heaps for her brother. So when he asks to write to a fellow teammate, she does and everything starts from there. Ella is put through a lot during The Last Letter, especially with Maisie and her health. But I also think it added to Ella’s character arc, she isn’t the same person at the end of the novel as she was at the start. And although Rebecca Yarros put her through, hell, Ella was pretty amazing at the end.
Beckett was a really interesting protagonist. I could see a lot of Rebecca Yarros other characters in him, but he also stood very strong on his own. Like Ella, he has been through a lot, and while the reader doesn’t know anything at the start, as the novel goes, everything starts to fall into place. I really liked getting to know Beckett, not only through this point of view but also through the letters between him and Ella.
I think that the letters enabled the reader to see Beckett in a different way as there wasn’t a filter. My heart broke with how much he cared about Ella and her two kids, he took everything head on and wanted to give them the best he could. The thing that I liked best about Beckett was that he was a character on his own, he didn’t fall as a love interest or a side character. He had his own story, his own past and his own character arc.
The romance was everything. When I pick up romance novels, I am normally expecting a fast-paced romance. But the romance in The Last Letter was slow and perfect. The reader is able to see Ella and Beckett fall in love, not only in real life but also through their letters. Rebecca Yarros was able to really utilised her life experiences with the military to really capture the essence of these letters and everything that happens while at war and on leave. I adored that they just slowly fell for each other and built lives together.
And while it is slow, it’s not snail slow. It’s done in such a way that the reader falls into the story and keeps egging them both to get together. It also wasn’t perfect. They had their ups and downs, but that made The Last Letter so much more real. The characters were leaping off the page and had substance.
Something else that stood out to me in The Last Letter was the family dynamics between Beckett and Ella as well as her children; Maisie and Colt. My heart was so full and I couldn’t stop smiling with how much they all cared for one another. Maisie and Colt are adorable and just made the novel so much better. Their innocence, but resilence just shone through. The reader is not able to see the relationship between Ella and Beckett grow, but also Beckett’s relationship with Maisie and Colt. He really took them under his wing and it was such a nice thing to see. Both Maisie and Cold adored Beckett and he returned it as well. There is a line that Maisie days to Ella that just broke me towards the end of the book about Beckett and Colt and gosh I couldn’t handle it.
I am not going to lie, it doesn’t take much to make me cry. Really I cry at things most people don’t. But I haven’t cried like I did while reading The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros, in such a long time. It was a full sob cry, like a hurt in my chest kind of cry. Yarros was able to create so many emotions throughout the whole book, but the last couple of chapters torn me apart. My heart felt like it was being ripped out of my chest over and over again. I don’t want to say too much about what exactly made me cry so hard, but when you read, I think you will know. As I am writing this review, I am thinking about everything that happened, and I want to cry again.
Overall, The Last Letter is a very emotional read. I cried so much in this book. But that is also what made it so good. Both Ella and Beckett have incredible character arcs that really captured me from the start. The reader is not only able to see them grow as individuals, but also together. The Last Letter explores childhood illness, war, family and everything that comes along with life. There are many surprised in store when reading, but it’s also a beautiful story of love and family. If you are looking for a new romance or contemporary read, then please pick this one up.
Have you read The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros yet? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? If you are, you can enter the giveaway below to win a Kindle copy of it.
The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles
Thank you everyone for the last 4 years. I would not be doing this without you all. And to thank you, I’m holding a giveaway for you guys, my lovely followers.
