The Letter to the Guide - Chapter 2

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),

Hi! I'm here to leave a quick review!!

First Impression: This is a lovely little followup to that first letter and I know I will definitely be hopping right over to see what the third one has to offer. It looks like we've got ourselves a very interesting little budding friendship of sorts between the two and at any rate I want to see what sort of effect this letter has on Susan.

Anyway let's get right to it,

Thank you for your letter, and thank you for reading my book.

I was very touched, and could relate to what you wrote, since one of my loved ones died too. I know it's hard to cope with, and it's been relentless on me ever since. It's like a golf club is clobbering on your head every living minute. I know that it’s very hard.

I think that a new batch of friends should be in order. I don’t think that you need so-called ‘friends’ who try to lure you like a fish to drugs and the like — please heed my advice and do not try them at this tender age. I understand that it might be difficult for you to talk to your parents when in grief.

I think you should absolutely get a diary.

In the Holocaust, where millions of Jews were murdered by the German dictator Hitler’s regime, there was a girl about your age — perhaps younger. She was a Dutch young woman by the name of Anne Frank. With her family, Frank lived in a concentration camp. She was going through many hardships - people in these concentrations were often subject to hunger, torture, slavery and molestation - and Anne Frank’s family was no exception. Even before she was subject to a whole brutal year in Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen, they lived in hiding in concealed rooms, so that the Gestapo (the Nazi Party’s secret police). She kept a diary, and called it ‘Kitty’. In it, she expresses her hardships, highs and lows. I recommend you do the same. Because, things you cannot express speaking are best expressed as written.

Above all, remember the power of being strong. And its you who have to be strong.

Consider me your pen pal and write back if you want to,

THE GUIDE.

hi once again! been a while since i read the first chapter, and don’t remember too much, but im happy to be able to read more of Susan’s story.
a sad reference to the Holocaust, and Anne Frank. i think it paints a picture of what Susan had went through, the pain and suffering.
although i do not remember all of the first chapter (i may reread it), you’ve written her story beautifully, through the form of letters. i love the way you did it.
can’t wait to read more! what a great writer you are.

Hello! I hope you are having a wonderful day or night!
First off, when I was looking for something to read/review in the greenroom, your title immediately caught my eye, and by the first paragraph of the first chapter, you had my attention. I particularly enjoyed the analogies used in the initial chapter. I thought you managed to make them poetic without following too many cliches, and really felt as though I were inside your characters heads! Which is really impressive considering you are formatting this by letter!
However, I couldn't help but feel that both letters were written by the same person. (Which, of course, they were, but the readers not supposed to know that!) I believe this is due the similar kind of similes/metaphors used throughout the first chapter and in the beginning of this one. 'Tis not to say you cannot ever use figurative language, or even similar writing conventions, with two different characters, just that more distinction between their individual tones may be in order.
This may just be me, but the mention of Anne Frank felt very out of place. Her story is a terrible tragedy, but one that shares little overlap with your characters. I like that The Guide recommended writing in a diary, it shows that they care about Susan enough to make suggestions on how to help them. However, I would try a different anecdote. Maybe a personal one? The Guide mentions that they have experience with losing a loved one, maybe writing in a diary helped them handle the grief.
Alright, this last thing is absolutely a selfish suggestion, but I would really like to see an excerpt from the book mentioned in chapter one. This might be something you plan to do anyway, but I'd love to get more context for these two letters. Even if it's not a full excerpt, it would also be cool to see the characters referencing the stories in their letters back and forth. Either way, I'd like to know more about the book, and the mysterious "Guide" who wrote it.
(By the way, I like how they are called The Guide, and they are 'guiding' Susan to a happier life. Not sure if it was intentional, but even if it wasn't, good on you!)
I look forward to seeing more of this! In your Authors Note on the first chapter, you mentioned this will only be updating monthly, so I suppose I will have to wait for the next installment! Be sure to let me know when that drops!
Keep on writing, and have a wonderful day!