Title: Dear LauraAuthor: Gemma Amor
First Published: July 2, 2019
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 121
Genre: Horror
Format: Ebook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Rating:
Synopsis:
Every year, on her birthday, Laura gets a letter from a stranger. That stranger claims to know the whereabouts of her missing friend Bobby, but there’s a catch: he’ll only tell her what he knows in exchange for something...personal.So begins Laura’s sordid relationship with her new penpal, built on a foundation of quid pro quo. Her quest for closure will push her to bizarre acts of humiliation and harm, yet no matter how hard she tries, she cannot escape her correspondent’s demands. The letters keep coming, and as time passes, they have a profound effect on Laura.From the author of Cruel Works of Nature comes a dark and twisted tale about obsession, guilt, and how far a person will go to put her ghosts to bed.
Buy the Book: AmazonReview
Dear Laura is an emotionally harsh novella about grief and trauma. The story follows a young girl who witnesses the abduction of her best friend and first love, an experience that forever altered her course in life, and her mysterious correspondence with the man that took him.
The plot details one of the most disturbing cases of stalking and grooming that I’ve read in literature and it is deeply unsettling. From the very first letter that arrives on Laura’s doorstep, I felt intense anxiety while reading. Laura suffers from anxiety and paranoia throughout her life and I appreciated how accurately this is depicted. This little novella is fast-paced and hard to put down, I flew through it and only put it down when I had to sleep for work the next morning but immediately picked it right back up the next day.
My only frustration with the book was how Laura acts out in ways that didn’t seem sensible to me at certain points, like a horror movie character that continually makes decisions that seem silly. The writing also felt awkward at points due to word choices or mild errors that I found distracting. These criticisms are very minor though for an otherwise thrilling short.
I also have to note how eye-catching the cover is, it immediately caught my attention and I was so impressed with Gemma’s art. Dear Laura is a great little page-turner that reaffirms my hope for indie writers.
Quote
“I think ours was always the real love story, Laura.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Gemma Amor
Gemma Amor’s books include Cruel Works of Nature, Dear Laura, White Pines, Girl on Fire, Six Rooms, Grief is a False God, and These Wounds We Make. Her debut traditionally published novel Full Immersion is out in September 2022 from Angry Robot Books.
Gemma also paints book covers, and is the co-creator, writer and voice actor for horror-comedy podcast Calling Darkness, starring Kate Siegel. Her stories feature in a number of horror anthologies in print and have been adapted many times over by the NoSleep Podcast, Shadows at the Door, Creepy, The Hidden Frequencies and the Grey Rooms podcast.
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