By Lauren Draper

“Brodie has three mysteries to solve—what actually happened to the mystical Adder Stone she was accused of stealing, who sent the love notes left behind in the Dead Letter Office, and how she lost her two best friends—in this layered and compelling US debut about found family, first love, and one town’s tragedies, perfect for fans of Melina Marchetta, Kristin Dwyer, and Nina LaCour. Brodie McKellon didn’t leave town in handcuffs, not exactly. But all the same, in only one night, she lost her best friends and her home. And that same night, the town of Warwick lost the Adder Stone, a supposedly magical ring of local legend. The events, Brodie maintains, were not related. Four years later, Brodie’s returned to Warwick, ready to get back everything she lost by solving the mystery of who actually stole the Adder Stone. She can clear her name, win back her friends Elliott and Levi, and save Gran’s house from the bank. But as Brodie starts investigating, she gets pulled into a different mystery, of three friends and their “dead letters”—mail that’s been lost over the years. And soon she finds that there are times when the things you find aren’t the things you even knew you had lost. A house becomes a home. Some friends become family. And other friends, well, they might become something more. As long as Brodie can be brave enough to find herself.” (Goodreads).

When I say I sped through this book, I mean I literally could not put it down. I think I read it in about two hours. Draper somehow orchestrated this beautiful, melancholic, sweet search for answers in the past as a process of redemption and grieving. The characters were amazing, the plot was well-paced and interesting, and the ending was both satisfying and realistic. This is more of a cozy mystery than a hard-hitting teen detective novel, but I would recommend it to fans of Tuck Everlasting (there’s a pretty big rep!) or those looking for something emotional and exciting at the same time.

The plot was very strong. Nothing felt forced or silly; everything Brodie went through was very realistic. The stakes were high from both exterior sources and Brodie’s own motivations to solve the mystery. The attempts to solve the mystery really become a way for Brodie to heal the pain in her past – you can really read between the lines and see that Brodie seems to think that if she can put the letter-writer’s lives together, she can somehow put hers together as well. I loved the way her relationships developed with other characters. There was no insta-love with the love interest (in fact, it was one of the truest slow-burns I’ve read in a long time) and Brodie and her best friend had to take time to learn to open up to each other again after so long. The relationship between her and her father was complex as well – she tried to push it to the back of her mind but eventually she had to deal with it. Draper has crafted both a relatable teenage grief and drama situation, but included questions of how to deal with grief and how each person’s life connects to their history.

I loved the writing style. It felt dreamy and soft, like a poem at some points. It both conveyed the quickly changing and half-formed thoughts of a teenager and the numbness and grief from the events in Brodie’s past. The style was really well suited to the book. It’s a first-person, singular POV throughout the book, but it also includes the letters of the mysterious letter-writers.

I loved all of the characters! Brodie was so real. She had realistic flaws and an interesting backstory. Her reactions to the events in her life fit so well with her character and I was rooting for her the whole time. Her love interest, Levi, was also really sweet. I thought he was a little less well developed (some of his backstory was explained, but he didn’t seem to have as much of a complex emotional situation. Maybe he was just supposed to be doing okay so that Brodie could have a foundation in him – which actually seemed to help her a lot so that makes sense :)). I liked how her relationship with him grew and changed slowly and methodically over the course of the book, and it took them a while to get over the misunderstanding in their pasts. Brodie’s (gay) best friend Elliot was a very complex character. I appreciated how he wasn’t just the stereotypical gay best friend – he had his own wants, desires, and relationships to balance. While I don’t support homosexual relationships, I also believe I should love everyone – and Brodie and Elliot’s other friends loved him well. I appreciated how Brodie wasn’t the only one dealing with all the hard things – Elliot had just as much, if not more, hard things to go through, and watching Brodie just be there for him and support him was very heartwarming. The side cast added a lot to the story and nobody felt like a useless foil or a plot device.

Amazing book. Truly amazing – it was heartwarming and saddening and so real and raw. I loved Brodie and her friends, I loved the letter-writers, and the emotions were very real. If you’re looking for a complex and cozy YA mystery, look no further.