Not a book to read on a plane, in the airport or several days before a trip. I found the story of Edward fascinating and interesting. I was routing for him as I read his journey through grief after the death of his family. It was also interesting to see a glimpse into the cockpit at the end of the book. The other passengers stories were often times confusing and not that riveting.

Young Edward is the sole survivor of a plane crash which leaves him so emotionally impaired. He moves in with his mother’s sister and her husband who are struggling with their inability to have their own baby. He feels most comfortable with a young girl , Shay, in the neighborhood who helps him become more comfortable and deal with the guilt he feels. Edward’s story is woven throughout the stories of other passengers that were on the plane, including his parents and older brother. A very thought provoking and powerful read. Many thanks to Ann Neapolitan, Dial Press, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read this arc.

This was such a unique plot. You follow the life of a 12 year old boy who is the sole plane survivor as he comes to term with his new reality. The author did an amazing job getting the reader into the boy’s head and empathizing with him. It’s a heartbreaking, inspiring, lovely, and hopeful story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from The Dial Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Welcome to a story about surviving a plane crash. Sounds ho-hum but it certainly is not “ho-hum”! This is a journey of mending physically and mentally as the sole survivor of a plane crash, Eddie/Edward, a 12 year old, is the protagonist, and losing his entire family. Edward and many others in the book deal with profound loss. The book gives the reader insight into coping with grief and trauma in many aspects.

The story flips back and forth between characters on the plane and Edward’s coping with survival after the crash. With the flipping of chapters, it successfully ties characters with their loved ones’ relationships. The author does a good job interweaving the characters onboard the plane and their loved ones. There was great character development.

The title, “Dear Edward”, comes from the numerous letters he receives from many survivors’ loved ones and strangers. The letters have a variety of requests of Edward that will help with healing. The reader learns grieving takes time as it ebbs and flows. Edward leverages these letters to move on with his life.

As the book progressed, I enjoyed it more and more. Pick it up and stick with it; you won’t regret it.

Twelve-year old Edward, who used to be Eddie in his old life in New York City, is the sole survivor of an airplane crash that killed 191 passengers, including his parents and brother Jordan. After a hospital stay, Edward moves in with his aunt and uncle in New Jersey. Despite strong support Edward finds the loss more than he can handle. His only hope lies in his newfound friendship with his next door neighbors.

Having always been home schooled, Edward now attends a traditional school, where he finds himself notorious for having survived the accident.
This is a beautiful story that shows the importance that others, even strangers, can make in the way we deal with stress and change. Edward, his aunt and uncle, his neighbors, therapist and school principal are all affected by Edward and all of them have a profound effect on his healing.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and I appreciate the opportunity to have read this wonderful book.

I was mesmerized by this novel from the first page. Eloquently written and deeply, moving Dear Edward tells the story of Edward--the sole survivor of a plane crash (Damn! Why didn't I think to write this book!) and how he moves through the years. So astonishingly great, I've been telling everyone about it.

A readable, well-constructed book with a bit of a tendency to turn pat. The point of view switches are very deft and characters feel full. Overall, goes down easy and likely to be popular.

”We contain the other, hopelessly and forever.”
-- James Baldwin

An examination of the sorrow that follows losing loved ones, as well as the suffering that follows any harrowing ordeal, this centers primarily on twelve-year-old Edward Adler who is the sole survivor of a plane crash.

During the early part of the flight we learn bits and pieces about some of the 183 passengers. One young woman has just found out she is pregnant, while another woman is leaving behind a husband, an elderly business mogul has an assistant flying with him, a woman, Edward’s mother, working on a script for a movie in first class while her two sons and husband sit in coach, another woman who believes that she has been reincarnated many times. Many other characters stories are shared in a more limited sense, but this is really Edward’s story.

After the plane crash, and after a somewhat lengthy stay in the hospital Edward goes to live with his mother’s sister and her husband in West Milford, New Jersey, overlooking Greenwood Lake. It’s not that far from where his family had lived in NYC, but it has the benefit of being remote and relatively quiet, although it had lost some of the charm it once held as a summer resort town over the years.

When the girl next door befriends Edward, it is like a lifeline for him, and he grabs hold to it, but it is still a while before Edward begins to even begin to return to his pre-sole survivor status. Joy is fleeting for some time, but there are moments where his trust and comfort in the company of Shay show his walls coming down, if not with everyone then with her.

There are some very lovely, and some very emotional elements of this story, but the frequently changing perspectives took a bit of a toll on me for the story overall. Still, I found this to be a very compelling story. My eyes filled with tears at moments, and other moments had me smiling as I saw Edward finding his way toward a life with love, and the peace that follows discovering the path to the life he was meant to live.



Pub Date: 14 Jan 2020


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group – Random House / The Dial Press

Very well written and engaging story of a sole plane crash survivor and the journey he makes to heal. I adored Edward's honesty and found the aunt and uncle endearing. The sense of place was also very well established. I felt like a fly on the wall, watching Edward's story unfold. The only part I could do without was the long, drawn out story of the plane's actual crashing. I wasn't invested in the passengers as much. And I wouldn't read this on an actual plane ride... it brings certain fears to mind. Overall, however, I would recommend!

I am so sorry.. I could not complete this book. I was in a plane crash when I was much younger and flying is not my forte. It was written well but when I realized what happened and they were going back to the event on the plane prior to the crash I had to stop.

What a gripping story! Loved the character development!

Dear Edward is a story of great loss that will bring you to tears.

This story is about a 12 year old boy who Is left behind after a place crash that took the lives of he rest of the members of his family.. He goes thru so many emotions but finds his way thru by the help of he neighbors teenage daughter.
This novel deals with great loss, tragedy and helpfulness. Will Edward find soils in he end??

Thank you Random House Publishing Group, The Del Press & NetGalley for the ARC,

A wonderfully written heart hitting novel that will have you feeling all the feels from beginning to end.

This was pretty slow for me. The story was heart wrenching and moving. This reminds me of Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud with the child's point of view. It makes you stop and think- what if this happened to your family. The writing was beautiful as well. Thank you to the publisher and net galley for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought it would. Edward is going on a trip with his family when the plane crashes where he is the only survivor. After the loss of his family, he is goes to live with his aunt and uncle. With the help of his aunt, uncle and Shay the neighbor girl next door he heals. I really loved the friendship he had with Shay, and how their relationship grew.
The story goes back and forth from what happened before the crash with Edward and other passengers on the plane to what happened after the crash. I do admit I preferred the main story line with Edward than the other passengers, but the book pulls them all together.
This is a story of loss, survival, love, friendship.

I just finished this book and my husband wants to know why tears are flowing down my cheeks. I am an avid reader and this novel so moved me,. The author had such a way of holding you onto the story that I couldn’t stop reading . Edward will be a character that will stay with me for a long long time

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Edward is the sole survivor of a plane crash that kills his parents and older brother as well as 180+ passengers and crew. The first half of the book flips back and forth between before the crash and immediately after the crash. You learn about Edward's family and the backstories of a few other passengers(not entirely necessary in my opinion). But it's the second half of the book that really got me. Edward struggles to adjust to his new life - without his family (he especially misses his brother), living with his aunt and uncle and dealing with all the medical and psychological effects of the crash. On top of that, people want access to him because he survived and they pour all their hope and expectations on him via letters.

This is a book about relationships and it's a coming of age story with heart and feeling. Definitely recommend.

This book was so hard to get into. I had high hopes because I thought it was similar to the shows Lost and Manifest but it's nothing like I thought it would be.

It's about Edward who is the only survivor out of 191 passengers on a flight from NY to LA. The book tosses between the past, which is the day of the flight, and the now, which is how Edward is coping and moving on. However, the one thing that drove me nuts was that during the day of the flight, Napolitano tells the view point of 8 different people. But it's not broken up and labeled who's talking. All the viewpoints are within the chapters, so you could be hearing about the dad's POV but then the next paragraph is about the pilot. It is so hard to follow and very messy. I also felt like it had no relevance to the story as Edward only briefly touches about those particular people later.

The only reason I gave it 2 stars is because when I finally got to the part about how the plane went down, I cried. It was heartbreaking.

Oh my heart. Let me say that again, Oh my heart. It broke reading this.

This was a tough read in some parts. Edward is a 12 year old boy who boards a plane with his family to begin a new life on the other side of the country. But a horrific accident ends life as Edward knows it. He is the sole survior of a plane crash that has killed all 200 people on board including his entire family.

Thus begins a story of of Edward...although its not just his story. The book begins with stories of the passengers. I enjoyed this and learning about them because it connected you to them and made the impact of the accident that much more heartbreaking. Its after the crash, that the book focuses on Edward and his way to healing.
As sad as it is, it is also a book about healing and will leave you filled with hope.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc. #netgalley

This type of book, where there are two timelines interleaving (one forward, one backward) from a tragedy, is hard to execute. I felt compelled to keep reading and finished it in just a few days. I appreciate the effort that went into crafting such a chain of events. However, I felt that the abnormality and magnitude of Edward's tragedy were what propelled the book forward, not character development or plot. It is because of this lack of subtlety that I give it 3.5 stars.

The victims of the plane crash come from all walks of life and backgrounds, of course. It felt somewhat heavy-handed to hear about all of the remarkable tragedies that they carried around. There was a Wall-Street type, a woman who claimed to have been reincarnated many times, a closeted gay soldier, a former businessman dying of cancer. It seemed like these passengers were almost too "colorful", and I had a hard time believing that people could connect on such a deep level on a flight.

Edward was also not satisfying to read, character-wise. I had a hard time understanding his motivations and why there was so little said about his repressed trauma. Certainly he experienced flashes of grief and depression, but I wish I could understand how he recovered from it in more detail. I was not invested in him since his character and speech fell flat.

This Book will keep you thoroughly engaged from cover to cover. You will find yourself feeling completely broken for Edward and amazed at his resilience and survival. Edwards ability to finally come to grips with being the sole survivor of a horrific plane crash and finding a way to honor those who did not is amazingly cathartic. There were times, I thought throughout the read that he would not make it to the end. His relationship with Shay at first seems stilted and convoluted but in the end, seemed to be a perfectly natural ending to their beginning. His relationship with his Aunt and Uncle finds healing and I truly believe he came full circle. Dealing with all the letters, requests (mostly crazy) and money nearly became his undoing but in the end, he showed his maturity and strength of character. The intermittent jump to the characters on the plane nearly threw me, but in the end gave me a window into those souls lost and a basic understanding of what Edward was trying to see from afar. I think the writer proved to be an amazing and magnificent story teller. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who chooses to read it.