ALA Booklist

Juliet Young writes letters to her recently dead photographer mother and leaves them by her tombstone at the cemetery. One day, Declan Murphy, serving community service hours at the same cemetery, finds one of those letters and writes back. So begins an unlikely romance between star student and juvenile delinquent, who go from writing letters to exchanging e-mails to online chat, supporting each other and developing a real relationship, without ever knowing the other's true identities. It's a great concept, delivered in a compulsively readable package: each chapter ends with a hook, chapters alternate between Declan and Juliet, and several nice (and believable) plot twists emerge at just the right moments. There are even interesting secondary characters, especially in the parents, whose human faults and love for their children are equally strong. The ending resolves rather tidily, and judicious editing could have tightened up the length, but romance readers will stay up late to finish this very satisfying and heartfelt read.

Horn Book

After her globe-trotting mother's death, Juliet leaves letters to her by the grave. When Juliet unexpectedly receives an anonymous reply, she is intrigued. Little does Juliet know that the letter-writer is someone she knows--and can't stand. The epistolary romance between real-life enemies is nothing new, and the teen characters are both overwrought and unlikable.

Kirkus Reviews

Kemmerer's dual-narrative romance ponders the path of fate versus blazing one's own trail.Juliet's photographer mother died several months ago, and every week since, she's been writing letters to her mother and leaving them at her graveside. Declan, the local bad boy, is sentenced to community service as a cemetery caretaker for drunkenly crashing his incarcerated father's truck. When Declan replies anonymously to one of Juliet's letters, Juliet writes back, and the two begin an exchange about fate and free will. The two inevitably meet in person, not knowing they have been revealing their deepest secrets to each other via pen and paper. During their in-person interactions, Juliet is attracted to this potentially violent outcast and "intense" but vulnerable soul, and he's extremely rude to her, a behavior that moderates as pages turn but is not fully corrected. Sadly, Juliet lets him make her feel shame and guilt for the things she says. In his letters and, eventually, emails to her, he invalidates her feelings, causing her to second-guess herself, all of this unfurling in chapters that alternate narration. Despite the tragedies in their lives, neither teen is sympathetic; they possess too much self-pity and anger and act accordingly, and as a result they are unlikable. Both principals are white; Declan's community-service supervisor is Latino, and his white best friend's adoptive parents are black, and one main secondary character is Asian. Lacks any real substance. (Fiction. 13-17)

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Juliet and her mother, a globetrotting photojournalist, always sent each other handwritten letters when they were apart. After her mother is killed in a car accident on the way home from the airport, Juliet, an AP English student, continues the practicea coping strategy that her friends and counselors are beginning to question. Declan is an auto shop student who has been court-ordered to clean the cemetery as community service after a drunk-driving incident, and he discovers one of Juliet's letters. He decides to answer it, starting an exchange reminiscent of that in the film You've Got Mail or, more recently, Becky Albertalli's novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda . As the letter writing (and then emailing, chatting, and texting) continues, through pseudonyms, Juliet and Declan learn that they have much in common, but day-to-day life is another story. When they cross paths in both school and the community, their interactions are hostile, a commentary on the way students of different circles and academic levels sometimes view one another. Eventually, though, their facades unravel, and their identities are revealed. Readers will find themselves rooting for the real Declan to win Juliet's heart the same way his online persona did. VERDICT Consider this tale of modern star-crossed love as a first purchase for YA collections. Jillian Woychowski, West Haven High School, CT

Voice of Youth Advocates

“You can see it on her face. Her reality is being ripped away, and she knows it. . . . I know exactly how she feels.” To cope with the loss of her world-traveling mother, Juliet Young writes letters and leaves them on her mother’s grave after her death in a tragic hit-and-run accident. She never believes someone will read them or respond. Declan Murphy, parent disappointment and school screw-up, is dealing with his own losses when he finds her letter while doing community service. He writes back two words: “Me too.” Soon, anonymous letters, emails, and texts become regular correspondence as the two teenagers open up to each other about how they are each falling apart. As their relationship becomes more intense and intimate, they are faced with looming questions: Should they meet, and will their relationship survive if they do? Kemmerer has written a story that takes her readers on an emotional roller coaster as they experience the anger, grief, frustration, and blossoming friendship and love of these two teens. Juliet and Declan are complex characters whose choices have consequences and who follow their journey of healing with the help of the other. Kemmerer fleshes out themes of grief and isolation, helping readers understand and have empathy for others experiencing loss. This book is going to fly off the shelves to all teens, but it will hold special interest for those looking for a tear-jerking romance and serious readers of realistic fiction.—Deanne Boyer.