Overall: 4/5
Plots and Themes: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Writing Style: 4/5
Attention Grabbing: 3/5
Dear Aaron is what I think people refer to as a Dear John story. The protagonist, Ruby, starts writing a soldier through a program decided to comfort those who are deployed. But they talk a lot more than she ever has with any of them before and they get to know each other beyond the words. It's set in 2008, but I feel it's more reminiscent of like a Tumblr love story of 2012.
At this point, I've read quite a few Mariana Zapata books and I'm a fan of the formula she has established for writing these books. It's a slowburn that is isolated to a standalone, so she has to get through all the character-building separately while pushing them to be together. Dear Aaron throws the additional challenge of trying to get us to understand these characters through their messages exclusively rather than any sort of additional dialogue. I think it's not my favorite of her reads, but it's definitely fun and different to feel like you're meeting the characters as they meet each other. You don't have any of that reader's omniscience that allows you to see into their heads and gives you that told you so feeling.
So, not my favorite of the Zapatas but definitely not the worst. I still need to read From Lukov and I know these guys get a feature so I'm excited to see how they've progressed. I was deprived of my usual Zapata married with children epilogue and I'd love to see where they end up.
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