Dirty Letters by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward

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After finishing Carnal Urges, I was in a little bit of a book hangover. And not a good one. I spent probably about an hour trying to figure out what I wanted to read next and eventually gave up. The next night after work I looked at my remaining prompts for the Summer of Swoon bingo board and decided to find a 5-star read from Shelby. Scrolling through her reviews on goodreads I came across Dirty Letters by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward. I actually own this in paperback and bought it last year during a sale. I mainly bought it since it's an epistolary romance and I love those. I've also read books before from Vi and Penelope that I've loved. Now was my chance to finally read it and meet another prompt as well as read another book off my shelves!

Luca and Griffin were pen pals from elementary school. Luca in New York and Griffin in England. They were very connected and because their connection was through letters they were both able to be more open during their growing years. Then something tragic happens to Luca and she stops writing Griffin. This happened 8 years ago. Luca's father has passed and time has come for her to clean out his place. While there, she sees a new letter from Griffin. He's now in California and ended up writing her a scathing letter drunk. This kickstarts their reconnection as adults.

I absolutely loved this book. It had me sobbing for like the last 50 pages. This is a little bit of a spoiler, but Luca suffers from extreme anxiety and agoraphobia. When she was a teenager she was at a concert with her best friend. An accident occurs and things caught fire and almost everybody died, including her friend. This has understandably changed Luca. She also suffers from survivor's guilt, but that isn't quite addressed as much as her anxiety and agoraphobia. This book had such great mental health representation. It was written so well. And while I don't suffer from either of those, there were still aspects I could connect to and understand. I also liked the representation of being a "normal" person in a deep relationship with someone suffering. 

The only little thing about this book that I didn't like was the blurb mentioned fantasies in their letters once the reconnect. While it happened once or twice, it wasn't what I was expecting from the blurb. That's it. The rest of this I loved. Griffin is so understanding and tries to push Luca where able to in a safe and loving way. He also gives her space to deal with her emotions when triggered. I loved how he kept pushing for her to open up and just confront him on anything she might hear/see. I feel like I should mention, Griffin is now a famous rock star. A lifestyle that clashes with Luca's. Griffin was such a cinnamon-roll hero though and was willing to sacrifice almost anything to be with Luca. There was recognition though that it would be harmful to both of them if it was only him constantly compromising. This book just really hit me and was just what I needed to avoid going into a slump.

I loved the representation and how even though you can get better, all it takes is one little thing (or big event, let's be honest) to cause a step back. It's how you strive to push against your health and strive for a life that feels fulfilled and doesn't leave you with regrets. I'm really glad Shelby recommended this for her Summer of Swoon challenge and if I didn't already own it I would want this on my shelf. I can definitely see myself rereading this when needing an emotional pick me up, but wanting to get grittier more in my feel rather than light and fluffy. I can go either way. If you are looking for a book that has mental health and/or anxiety representation, this is a great option.

Have you read Dirty Letters?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Dirty Letters, Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward, 5-stars, 0 days, paperback, 294 pages, published in 2019