The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros

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Title: The Last Letter
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Published by: Entangled: Amara
Release Date: February 26, 2019
Format: eARC
Pages: 432
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Source: InkSlinger PR
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 Monthly Motif Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Winter 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

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

I received a free copy through InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

5 stars — It takes a lot to get full 5 stars from me nowadays.  4.5 rounded up?  Not as much, but full 5 stars?  Yeah…I’m a bit stingy with those.  But this book.  This book just kind of burrowed into my heart and stayed there.  It’s the kind of book that had me thinking about it, and its characters, even when I had to set it aside to do other things.  And while I was sucked in, I can say that I wasn’t as bummed as I normally might have been when life interrupted…because it was nice to take time in the middle to ruminate over what was happening with our characters, and prepare myself for any potential heartaches I thought might be coming.

And yes.  It’s a Rebecca Yarros novel.  So if you’ve read her Flight & Glory series, you won’t be surprised to find yourself shedding tears.  And for me there were a lot of them.  I might even hate her a little bit for it.  No offense Ms. Yarros, but I had to use MAKEUP to fix my face because of you.  😛

You see, she made me fall in love.  And when you love, you have the potential to be hurt.  It’s a central theme of the book, and it’s its own strange irony that Ms. Yarros made me fall in love, and then put my heart through its paces.  And there were so many characters to love in this story.

We have Ella…Ella who has been hurt, and is guarded, and super mama-bear protective.  Ella was everything I expected.  She was strong, vulnerable, sassy, sweet, and stubborn as fuck.  GAH!  I was so cranky with her at times, even if I understood why she was the way she was.

We have Beckett…oh sweet Beckett.  My heart ached for him more than anyone.  He was so sweet, and vulnerable, and earnest, and WORTHY OF LOVE.  He went through so much, and because of the way he was raised, it took him a long time to understand his value.  So yeah, I was also cranky with him at times (though I was probably less harsh on him).

And then we have the twins.  They were a surprise to my heart.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m not a big kid person.  But you couldn’t help but fall in love with Colt and Maisie.  They go through so much, and yeah…at times they didn’t act their age, but I was okay with it.  While I loved them on their own, what stood out to me most was their interactions with Beckett.  I LOVED watching Beckett fall in love with them right alongside Ella.  I loved seeing the three of them develop this bond.  Through them we got to see to the depths of Beckett’s heart.

And this review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Havoc.  I LOVED what his character brought to the story, and particularly what he brought to our understanding of Beckett.  The relationship they had with one another was both fascinating and enviable.  I love learning about little niches of the military, and this is one that I don’t think many people know about.

As for the romance?  Well, Ella and Beckett together gave me all the butterflies.  I loved how their relationship developed, how they got to know one another through words, how it moved slowly and built trust, and it made it that much more satisfying when we got to the steamy scenes.  By that point I FELT their connection.  And wow, their physical relationship was hot.  But in truth?  It was the emotional connection they had with one another that made this book stand out above the rest.

Lots of great little side characters, from Ada and Larry, to Hailey, to Dr. Hughes, to Emma.  They didn’t have big parts, but they added to the story.

This book captured my heart, tortured it at times, delighted it at others, and generally left me feeling spent but happy.