Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

The relationship between two twins (Ava and Zelda) basically ends whenever Zelda (the “bad” twin) sleeps with Ava’s (the “good” twin) “kind-of” boyfriend. Zelda stays back in her small hometown taking care of her sick mother and the family vineyard while Ava leaves to go to Paris and live her life on her own, working towards fulfilling her dreams without her family to hold her back. Zelda continues to attempt to contact Ava via email for these two years; however, Ava does not respond. When Ava learns of her sister’s death (via email from her mother), she returns to her small town vineyard life, easily falling into old habits and old relationships. Ava doesn’t truly think that Zelda is dead…which is further supported by notes, emails, etc. that Zelda has left behind and continues to send. The question is…is Zelda alive or dead? And how has she pulled all of this off? I won’t share the answer to that question…you’ll have to read to find that out!

The book was okay for me. There was a lot of alcohol, a lot of drinking, a lot of “big” words in an attempt to make the characters seem very intelligent when compared to others in their small town, chaotic family relationships, etc. I agree with other reviews I’ve read that have said there really aren’t a lot of likable characters in this book. The relationship between the twins annoyed me…a lot of passive aggressive interactions in this book between various characters. I also didn’t love the ending…I felt really let down – like I’d spent all this time to reach an ending that didn’t satisfy.

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