A young heiress must return home from a decade-long exile to face the powerful enemies arrayed against her, including those within her own family.... This was such a promising plot. Opens with the heiress; whom we never even learn her name. Lots of child's play and adventure in the estate. Growing up with brothers, her close relationship with her grandfather and the very stiff cold environment her mother portrays very void of emotional connection. The plot is full of History and although very well written, I had a hard time with the pace. Very slow start then picks up and almost feels mysterious but nothing really happens! There was a point where the siblings have an awful confrontation and things almost take a horror aspect but our POV is basically locked up in her room again to cry it out like a child?! The time period being in the 90's doesn't fit with the characters and surroundings of the estate. The later part of the book takes place in NYC. Our POV is sent to a boarding school, so it has hints of academia without much happening within the school. I did finish this book but it just left so many loose strings and so many questions. just wasn't for me. Don't think i will pick up the next one either. If you enjoy History and a coming of age this might be for you. I cant say this was much of a mystery thriller as labeled. overall, beautiful writing, lovely cover. 2.5stars


Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Unfortunately I had to DNF this one at 25%. The premise sounded so intriguing, a family mystery, it was described as addictive and it centred on a book. At 25% I felt like I got nothing from the book, nothing has happened to keep my attention and it just was not working for me and I didn’t want to fall into a slump.

Family secrets and lies. Know that this is told in the first person by an unnamed narrator who uncovered a deep family secret which is pinging back to cause problems in the present. She spends her teen years at a boarding school and then is swept back to the family estate where the family has plans for her. Some of this is just over the top and seems completely implausible for the time period. That said I was engaged enough to keep reading. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm curious where the second book will take us.

Unfortunately, this was yet another book that hasn’t been marketed properly. There was no mystery of thriller aspects in this book at any point throughout the story. The description of this book is so horribly misleading the person who wrote us should be fired.
Reading the description of this book we are led to believe that the majority of the story will take place after our main characters exile from her family estate, her time in boarding school, and then her return to her family estate once the exile has ended when she’s in her 20s and the book will involve an adult uncovering family secrets.
The entire book takes place when the main character is between the ages of 11-16 except for a handful of chapters at the end. It was so incredibly misleading and made the book so disappointing because it was so hard to connect with the main character because she was so young.
This book also read like historical fiction throughout despite it taking place between 1992-2001. It would have been better marketed as fiction, an old money family drama than a mystery because even after finishing the book I have no clue what the mystery was.
I also wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style. It felt very forced and over the top at times. What was meant to be beautiful prose was confusing and poorly structured sentences to me.

I really wanted to like this one because I love a story about old money drama and intelligent women but this story was just so far from how it was presented that it made it hard to enjoy it.

Thank you to Atria for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled with this one. I finally finished it but it was tough. I couldn't get sucked into this book like I normally do. I would ready a little bit and then start another book. All of the components of a really great book are there, I just struggled making the connections.

A young heiress, from one of the great European families, has only ever lived on land that is owned by her powerful family. She's lived a fairly cloistered, sheltered life, never knowing about the dangers that surround her family. When she sees something that she wasn't supposed to see, she is quickly flown out of the country to an elite, isolated all-girls school in the United States.

A decade later, in her twenties, she finds all her money is frozen and she is quickly swept back home and pushed into plans where she has no voice, including an arranged marriage. Upon her return, she is brought closer and closer to the truth of what sent her away.

I think this story had a ton of potential, but got bogged down in history and details. Succession but worse? Maybe? I wanted this to be better than it ended up being.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Can I just say that this cover is stunning? It completely drew me in and I could not wait to read it. This book gave me lots of dark academia vibes. I enjoyed the point of view from the daughter. The author's writing is very good and I liked how the novel flowed. I was very confused at the ending. I had to go back and make sure I did not miss any pages. But now knowing that there is another book supposedly to follow the ending makes more sense. I look forward to reading her next book and finding out what happens.


Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

This one was a little slow and hard to get into but I did feel for the main character and what she was going through. If you don't mind taking your time with reading and don't need fast entertainment, check this one out.

A beautifully written novel with an interesting premise: a 11-year-old girl accidentally discovers a dark secret about her wealthy and aristocratic family and is whisked away to an isolated boarding school; a decade later, she has her bank accounts frozen and is summoned by her family to return from abroad. However, overall I found this novel to be somewhat odd for reasons that are hard to put put my finger on. Perhaps it is because I found the historical aspects of the novel to be way overdone so that they really bogged down the storyline. Or, perhaps it is because despite the novel’s twists and turns, little actually seemed to be resolved in the end. Or, perhaps it is just that I did not relish plowing through all the detail, much of which seemed unnecessary. Nonetheless, this was a decent read, but not a great one.

I appreciate the opportunity to read the ARC, but it wasn't for me.

Very slow. Not enough character or plot development.

A young girl learns the making of her ultra rich family and their power. Her grandfather has grand plans for her but first he must outwit her mother. After learning of the great many secrets, she is swept away to the states to a very private boarding school. It's here she learns her independence and worth to her family. The history outlined throughout the story demonstrates the rise and fall of wealth and power, and her families hierarchy.

The author slowly unfurls the story as it builds anticipation to its epic conclusion. So many questions left unanswered, well I guess I need the next installment to find out about the true nature of the young girls exile and grandfather's fate.

Thank you Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books

In all honesty, I just could not finish this book. I was so excited to read it, but it moves so slowly I just could not connect to it.

I appreciate the opportunity to read the ARC, but it wasn't for me.

Dark, elegant, and utterly mysterious—but also a bit confusing.

Letters from the Dead by Isabella Valeri is one of those books that feels like stepping into a candlelit library with velvet curtains, old family portraits, and secrets hidden behind every door. It's gothic. It's dark academia. It's layered in mystery and privilege. And... I’m still not totally sure I understood everything I read.

This story follows a young heiress growing up in the shadow of her family’s legacy—an old European dynasty nestled in the Alpine foothills. Her life is as polished and cold as the marble halls she lives in: mostly ignored by her parents, she finds unexpected warmth and connection with her grandfather. But as she pokes around long-buried family secrets, she’s sent away to an elite American boarding school. Years later, in her twenties, she’s summoned back home—only to discover that the strings of her fate have been pulled all along.

There’s so much to love here: the atmosphere is intoxicating, the family drama is deliciously tangled, and the slow-unraveling mystery behind the main character’s heritage kept me reading. I especially loved the relationship between the FMC and her grandfather—it’s tender, quiet, and full of emotional weight. In a world where she’s mostly seen as a pawn, he treats her like a person.

BUT—and this is a big but—she’s twelve years old for the majority of the story. And while I totally understand the "growing up in secrets" angle, it made it hard to stay fully engaged. I kept wishing the timeline would progress faster, especially since the story really comes alive in the final third, when she returns from school and things begin to accelerate.

It’s a longer read and one that asks you to be patient. I think with some tightening (especially in the first half), this could have hit even harder. And yes, it ends on a cliffhanger… so be prepared to sit with those unanswered questions a little longer.

If you love moody estates, power plays among old money, and gothic secrets told in a whisper, Letters from the Dead might be your next fix—just know it asks for a little more of your time and attention than most.

I was really excited just from the description of the book. But it was very hard to get into for myself. Some things felt like a lot of history. Unfortunately this book just wasnt for me.

It took me a while to get through this book. Aspects of the life painted for the main character are so foreign to me that it didn't click. If that's how kids of wealthy families in Europe were raised, then I feel so sorry for them.

The premise overall was interesting. She finds a book with family secrets and is then sent away with ties cut. Plenty of options for intrigue and showing growth in a character. However, the book didn't fully deliver.

Even though it was a challenge to muddle through at times, I am now curious about what happens next for this young heiress.

A pretty cover was just about all that the book had to offer, the premise was really cool but it failed to hold my interest. The facts were fun but it got a bit too historical for me

I think this book had potential. There were some parts of the book where I did feel engaged but a good chunk of it was difficult to follow or make sense of. We are also- quite disconnected from the main character as her name is never given and the character development seemed all over the place, and development overall was very stalled. The focus of the book seems to jump around and I think the author chose to focus on the wrong things. example, why not focus on the main characters growth as a young lady, or mysteries of Sophia, or instead of detailing things you don’t even see or mention in the latter half of the book?

Quick Summary:

We discuss Sophie in the beginning, and the author leads us into some questions, like who is Sophie, what does she have to do with the book?

Next few chapters goes on and details her life about how she doesn’t fit in- how she is crushing on Yves, doesn’t exactly have a happy family life as one would imagine- and is close with her grandfather. Find out her brother has some typical rich boy rapey vibes and we find out the supposed skull is just a doll and any suspense about Sophie cuts there.

Next plot point- Mom gets angry and wants to send her away. Grandpa doesn’t agree. Then hooks her up with a professor to educate her instead. Then there is basically a lot of historical discussion about historical movements and figures, and a brief overview of their family.

Education pays off as she is finally brought to an event that her mom has hosted and her brother’s rapey vibes is maxed out to 6000%. Catches her brother threatening a maid to see him again and proceeds to get violent w main character as well.

All of a sudden is shipped off to school after she is caught in the family vault. She says she regrets leaving her brother Bastien behind but nothing is revealed as to what happened to him anyways.

Goes through school- sad that her grandfather never wrote back. All of a sudden- she’s taking part of drinking and drugs and kissing girls at 15.

Finds out her grandpa died and cries a little bit when a side character died that had almost no relevance she seemed to be more shook about it than her grandpas death. She then turns into a stereotypical spoiled rich kid that does drugs and drinks too much then daddy cuts off her card.

She dumps the girl she loves and goes back home to be locked up at the estate until she’s married off.

There were instances where I felt they were starting to develop her character, especially moments with Phoebe. However after Ethan died, I felt extremely disappointed. Both her and Phoebe had some build up and I was hoping something would develop character wise but the story seemed to go on and it lost focus again.

I actually started enjoying some of the world building and didn’t mind that sometimes it wasn’t focused but it was extremely shallow and it felt like I was reading a very long general overview of a novel with a few extra details.

NetGalley provided this for my honest review-

Thank You~

Thank you to NetGalley & Atria books for an advanced readers copy of this novel!
I was really intrigued by the premise of this novel, but in all honesty, I really struggled throughout most of it. The author is definitely a talented writer and very smart, but for most of the novel I felt entirely lost of what was actually going on/the point of it all. It would have spurts of things that sparked my interest again, but overall it just did not work for me. I’m glad to see this worked for some people, and I hope it finds its audience!
2.75 rounded to 3

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this free copy of "Letters from the Dead."

Oh my heavens, what a fantastic, fascinating book! Although it doesn't need it, I'm hoping there will be a sequel, just because I got so involved in these characters lives, even though I detested some of them. And I adored "the heiress" so I'd love to know what path she chooses and how her life unfolds.

We never learn "the heiress's" name but she is the only daughter of a very prestigious, influential, and dynastic European family. Her mother doesn't like modern things so their home is almost gothic. "The heiress" is very sheltered but extremely observant and intelligent, moreso than her older brothers, which causes problems.

We meet her when she's 12 and learn about the family secrets and intrigues. The titular "Letters from the Dead" are diaries of the previous heirs that are kept hidden and only certain people are allowed to see them.

The blurb already tells us that one of her most dangerous foes is her father, so I read the whole book with that in mind and watching the interplay between her parents and her grandfather, as her father assumes that he will be named the next heir. But will he? And wondering how her exile factored into that whole equation.

I struggled with this book, finding it to be rather boring, which is a shame, because the premise seemed promising. It's about a young heiress who's always been confined to her family’s estate, and then gets exiled for witnessing something she shouldn't have. The story is told in the first person, and we never even learn the protagonist’s name, which left me feeling somewhat disconnected from her.

The first half (or so) of the book delves really deep into some history I wasn't familiar with—it felt a bit like reading a school assignment, and I found it rather tedious, though I did enjoy the protagonist’s interactions with her teacher and grandfather. I also didn't really understand why she had to be sent away; what she saw didn't strike me as that significant. The pace picks up a bit when she gets to New York, but even then, I felt like not a lot actually happened. And the epilogue? Completely lost me. I feel like I must have missed something crucial, because it left me utterly unsatisfied.

Overall, while the writing is beautiful, it was a little too heavy on the historical detail and too light on action and suspense to really work for me.