Letters to Nowhere (Letters to Nowhere, #1)

by Julie Cross

[lizarodz]

Letter to Nowhere is a book about, bereavement, about first and lasts, about love and understanding, about friendship and self-discovery.

Karen is an elite gymnast, a sport that I love to watch on TV, but that I didn’t know much about (I feel better educated now!) and even though the story revolves about that side of her life, there is much more to the book than that. When Karen’s parents die, she agrees to live with her new coach and his son instead of moving in with a grandmother that she doesn’t know and who doesn’t want her either.
Karen has been sheltered all her life by her parents. She was homeschooled and had gymnastics; that was pretty much her life. That’s not to say that she is antisocial or anything, her best friends are her teammates, but they are a really tight group. She just lacked a lot of normal teenage experiences, like prom, cliques, games, peer pressure, etc. However, she is really honest with her feelings and what are her ‘firsts’; she doesn’t give in to what others expect of her and tried to remain true to herself and I admire that about her. Karen is going through a lot of changes in all aspects of her life, more prominent is the grieving process and her relationship with Jordan. The name of the book comes from letters that Karen writes to the people in her life and to her dead parents as a coping mechanism for their lost.

Jordan is the sweetest guy in the world! He has his own share of pain and loss and he has a little more experience that he tries to use to help Karen. He knows his shortcomings and he’s looking for his dad’s approval above all else. Jordan is really intelligent, but is very impulsive which gets him in trouble often. Their relationship cannot be described as anything but sweet and genuine.

Coach Bently is strict, but very good for Karen both personally and in her professional life, he just needs to apply the same principles with Jordan, his son. I like Karen’s friends, especially Blair and Stevie. Blair is two years younger that Karen and her best friend. I liked that even when Karen was trying to push her out of her life; Blair refused to be pushed and was there for her 100%. Stevie is the veteran gymnast and is tougher with Karen, but with good reason; her heart is in the right place.

This is the first book that I read by Julie Cross and it will not be the last. I really enjoyed Letter to Nowhere; especially the writing. The plot is not complicated, but crafted well. The ending is really open and I’m glad to see that this is the first in a series (otherwise I would have been really mad about the ending!) I’m eager to see more of Jordan and see where Karen’s talent takes her.