A beautiful book, which made me think, appreciate my life a little more, and shed a few tears at the end. Edward is a very believable, and lovable character. Various stories are cleverly interwoven, and the ending is just perfect. I would recommend this book whole-heartedly.

If I could give this book more stars, I would!
I read this book courtesy of Netgalley who were kind enough to send me an advance copy. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to like it - would it be mawkish? Would it be depressing? It was neither of these thing.
The book was about a plane en route to Los Angeles from New York, which crashed killing everyone on board except a twelve year old boy called Eddie. His parents and adored older brother, who was fifteen, were no more, and Eddie was badly injured, both in body and mind.
The story was told both in flashback to the plane before the crash, where we met some of the other passengers and got to know them too and the new and changed life of Eddie, now Edward, who was adopted by his mother’s sister and her husband, who had no children of their own, and have to learn how to treat and care for their nephew.
Next door, live a Mexican mother and daughter Besa and Shay, and Edward finds great comfort being in their house. Shay is a great little character, two months older than Edward, and tact isn’t her best feature, but somehow her straightforward attitude and her easy way with Edward, starts to slowly help him on his way to recovery. There are many other characters in this book to get to know and like, and it’s impossible not to get caught up their lives too.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book, it’s so well written and so uplifting, I’m looking forward to reading more of Ann Napolitano’s books

Dear Edward is a really interesting idea for a novel. In brief, Edward at 12 is the only survivor of a plane crash which kills nearly 200 others including his parents and brother. Edward goes to live with his also grieving aunt and uncle. It takes a while in the book, but we eventually discover that letters have been sent to Edward from relatives of the crash victims. Yes it is unrealistic that over 100 relatives of people who had been killed in a crash would write to Edward, a teenage boy: but it is a good idea and could have been wonderful if only the writing had centred more on these letters. I enjoyed hearing about how Edward and his family coped with the aftermath of the plane crash but I did find the flashbacks to the lives of some of the other passengers rather tedious and somewhat unnecessary. Once Edward and Shay began to open the letters, it became more relevant and interesting and I wish the book had given a larger proportion to this idea as I believe it had more to give. .

I received an ARC of this title from Net Galley to my Kindle in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank the publisher and Ann Neapolitano for letting me read it.

Dear Edward is about 192 people who get on a plane to Los Angeles for different reasons and each has a story to tell throughout the book.

The plane crashes over Colorado and there is only 1 survivor - Eddie / Edward who was travelling with his dad and brother in economy whilst his mum was in first class and who have left New York to start a new life in California.

I must admit that when I started to read the book I found it hard to keep going and was tempted to not finish the ARC copy, but after a few chapters I really got into the story and just wanted to keep reading and find out how Edward Adler coped with being the only survivor and losing his family.

If you are scared of flying, I would not recommend this book as the last few chapters are quite graphic on what happens for the plane to crash. And as a person whose not too bad with flying, even I found it hard reading the content.

As the book unfolds after Edward is rescued you follow his journey of survival and how it affects those around him. His only way of staying grounded is to have his friend Shay with him, who is the neighbours daughter to his aunt and uncle who become Edwards legal guardians.

Shay and Edward form a bond that is unbreakable after he starts to sleep in Shays bedroom as he finds it comforting to be with Shay than sleeping at his aunt and uncles house. When Shay says that Edward can no longer stay the night as she has reached puberty he finds it hard to understand why Shay has changed, but in reality it is Edward who has changed.

It takes Shay to tell him how he has been acting to make him realise that he is depressed and has been reading into things that are not really there.

When Edward finds that his uncle has been keeping articles from newspapers, letters and other details from him in the garage about the crash, Shay and Edward start to go through everything that has been hidden and read every letter sent from the victims families. Shay suggests that they sort them into piles and keeps a spreadsheet for everyone read so that they can decide what to do with them.

Edward is left over 7 million dollars from Jax a brother of Mark who was on the plane and who does not want the fortune that was left to him. He asks Edward to do what he wants with the money if he feels that he does not want to keep it.

Edward decides to the donate money to victims families without them knowing that the money is from him via charities.

I decided to give the book 5 stars, even though it took me a few chapters to get into it as it was thought provoking, poignant and emotional and it makes you realise that you only have one life and you should live it to the max. You never know what is around the corner.

It is not a lighthearted novel and is very dark in places, especially when you read about the other passengers and why they are flying to Los Angeles to start a new life and what it means to them to have that chance to start over again, but it is taken from them and the despair that the families feel afterwards.

The ending is uplifting and gives you hope for the future of Edward and Shay.

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

I read this book for review purposes for Netgalley.

This book begins on a flight to Los Angeles from New York.
We meet some of the passengers and find out bits and pieces from the it lives and what some of them are going through in their lives.
The blurb is quite open about what happens next.
The plane goes down in Colorado, with the lives of everyone on board gone forever. Except for a young man named Edward Adler. 12 years old Eddie was traveling with his brother Jordan, his father Bruce and mother Jane. The story of what happened during the flight and what Edward had to do in terms of acceptance and moving on, is dipped into back and forth as the story unfolds.

I really enjoyed reading Dear Edward. It doesn’t explain the title until nearer the end of the book. The epilogue made me hold my breath and tear up a bit.
If the reader has ever lost anyone it does make you think and wonder what if, but I think that’s something that happens naturally to those left behind. This type of tragedy is bound to. But I feel that the story is cleverly written. I wanted to know how Edward was going to react to things and it isn’t all about just Edward either.

I’m looking forward to reading more from Ann Napolitano.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. I enjoyed it, although the story is quite harrowing at times, it is also uplifting.

Twelve year old Eddie and his family are moving to Los Angeles when their plane crashes. Eddie is the only survivor and the book mainly looks at how he copes with this. He goes to live with his aunt and uncle and is helped by their neighbour's daughter who befriends him. The narrative goes between the build up to the crash centring in on a few passengers and Eddie's (now Edward) journey through grief to hope for the future.

I found this a difficult book to like. Much of it is centred on the premise that relatives of the passengers write to Edward and I just found this hard to swallow. I could have believed a handful of relatives so doing but there seemed to be endless letters for Edward exhorting him to do things their relatives might have done had they lived. The most believable part is him coping with his grief.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I have to be honest in saying that I cannot read this book. The storyline and style of writing is good but the for.at and layout makes it very hard to read.

I requested this book only a few hours ago. Since downloading it all I have done is read, and cry.
I don't have the language skills to properly convey just how good Dear Edward is. If you read the blurb and think this would never happen, trust me, you must read it.
The style of writing and the way the sections are broken up - before, the flight, now - all merge to make this a book you cannot stop reading at the end of the next chapter. The flow of words, at least for me, had to remain unbroken.
My only disappointment is that I can no longer read Dear Edward for the first time.

Im almost ashamed to say that I quit this book 15% in..... it was confusing and thready.
I very seldom do this and it’s never an easy decision, but there are too many wonderful books waiting to be read for me to be reading one which I can’t concentrate on..... I found myself distracted and mentally writing my shopping list, which is never a good sign.

It goes without saying that this book will make you feel emotional. I felt so much sadness and admiration for Edward and, despite him being only 12 years old, I found him to be a relatable character. I liked how the book switched between Edward's life after the crash and the flight before it crashed. It made the book more of a page turner and it felt like I was reading both fiction and mystery (in a good way).
Ann Napolitano tackles grief, friendship and survival in an extremely moving way. Edward isn't the only one that I came to love, the passengers on the plane and those who support him after the crash all feel equally real and like characters in their own right, rather than accessories to the plot.

I was unsure at first whether I would like 'Dear Edward' but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

Edward is a young boy who is the sole survivor of a plane crash that claims the lives of his family. Edward is sent to live with his aunt and uncle who had been trying for a baby for a long time but stopped when he moved in. I thought this book got off to a really promising start but it just dragged and became a total chore to read. I don't like marking anything unfinished so I kept going but really didn't enjoy it. It isn't badly written but the plot seems to go around in circles for most of it.

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano is about twelve-year-old Edward Adler who is the sole survivor of a plane crash that kills his older brother and parents and all the other passengers on board.