How to Read Ava Dellaira’s Books
Ava Dellaira is renowned for her lyrical, emotionally resonant prose that captures the raw vulnerabilities of life, growth, and healing. With a bibliography consisting of standalone novels, there is no single "correct" narrative path. You can read her books in any sequence you choose without worrying about missing critical plot links or character crossovers. However, because her writing style and target audiences have evolved over time, choosing where to start depends on your preferred genre and reading style.
We recommend two primary paths for diving into her work:
- The YA Emotional Journey: Start with her smash-debut Love Letters to the Dead (2014) to experience her signature young adult epistolary style, followed by her dual-timeline YA novel In Search of Us (2018).
- The Adult Contemporary Path: Jump straight to Exposure (2024), her debut adult fiction novel, which offers a multi-perspective, mature exploration of memory, consent, and social dynamics.
Ava Dellaira Books in Publication Order
For readers who want to experience the author's voice as it matured, reading in order of publication is the most natural approach. This pathway highlights her transition from teenage coming-of-age narratives to intricate adult psychological dramas.
- Love Letters to the Dead (2014)
- In Search of Us (2018)
- Exposure (2024)
Deep Dive into the Novels
Love Letters to the Dead (2014)
Dellaira’s debut novel is a masterclass in the young adult epistolary format. The story is told entirely through letters written by Laurel, a teenager grieving the sudden, mysterious death of her older sister, May. When Laurel’s English teacher assigns a task to write a letter to a deceased person, Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain—who died young, much like her sister. Soon, Laurel fills notebooks with letters to other late cultural icons, including Amy Winehouse, Elizabeth Bishop, Amelia Earhart, and Judy Garland. Through these letters, Laurel processes her grief, navigates the complexities of starting a new high school, falls in love for the first time, and gradually uncovers the truth of what happened the night her sister died. The novel is heavily inspired by Dellaira's own experience of losing her mother and was written under the mentorship of Stephen Chbosky, the author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
In Search of Us (2018)
Her second young adult novel employs a dual-narrative, non-chronological structure to explore the complex relationship between a mother and daughter. The book alternates between two distinct timelines: Marilyn's past in the late 1990s and her daughter Angie's present day. Seventeen-year-old Marilyn struggles under her own mother's intense ambitions for her to become an actress, but her life changes when she falls in love with her Black neighbor, James. Eighteen years later, seventeen-year-old Angie, who is mixed-race, goes on a road trip with her ex-boyfriend Sam to Los Angeles to search for her father, whom she was told had died before she was born. By weaving these two perspectives together, Dellaira illustrates how the choices of the past ripple into the present, creating a profound exploration of identity, family secrets, and first love.
Exposure (2024)
Marking a significant departure from young adult literature, Exposure is Ava Dellaira's debut adult novel. It centers on a single, life-altering night in 2004 and the long shadow it casts over a group of interconnected characters twelve years later. Juliette Marker is a white college freshman grieving her mother when she meets Noah King, a Black high school senior trying to find his footing. What happens between them that night becomes a focal point of conflict years later when Juliette's childhood best friend, Annie, uncovers a secret about that night that threatens to destroy Noah's successful filmmaking career and family life in Hollywood. Told through four alternating perspectives (Juliette, Noah, Noah's wife Jesse, and Annie), the novel is a gripping, multi-layered look at the subjectivity of memory, the nature of consent, and how race and power influence our perceptions of truth.
What to Know Before You Start
Before jumping into Ava Dellaira’s bibliography, it helps to understand a few recurring elements that define her writing:
- Focus on Grief and Loss: A common thread through all of her books is the profound impact of parental loss or sibling grief. Her characters are frequently defined by how they process absence.
- Unreliable Narratives: Dellaira loves playing with structure. Whether it is epistolary letters, dual timelines, or multiple perspectives in an adult drama, the "truth" is often something the reader must piece together alongside the characters.
- Cinematic Influence: Dellaira worked as an associate producer on the film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This background in film shines through in her visual storytelling, pacing, and the Hollywood settings featured in In Search of Us and Exposure.
- No Direct Continuities: There are no spin-offs, sequels, or companion novellas. You can pick up any of the three books without feeling lost.