Reviews with content warning for Car accident - Before I Let Go

Title: Before I Let Go
Author: Kennedy Ryan
Series: Skyland #1
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.75
Pub Date: November 15, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Riveting • Raw • Beautiful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn't solve or save everything.

It couldn't save their marriage.

Yasmen wasn't prepared for how her life fell apart, but she's is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they're always drawn back to each other, and now they're beginning to wonder if they're truly ready to let go of everything they once had.

Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another...and then more. It's hot. It's illicit. It's all good--until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?

💭 T H O U G H T S

Before I Let Go was my first venture into Kennedy Ryan's repertoire and I picked it up at the beginning of 2024 simply because I desperately wanted to read my ARC of book two in the series, which was releasing in February. What a pleasant surprise this one was!

I absolutely loved this second chance at love story!

It is so much more than a romance and it's filled with such deep and raw emotion. Yasmen and Josiah are both complex and such fully developed characters. Getting both of their POVs allowed for an in-depth look at how each handled the same event in completely different ways. There is so much power in this aspect of the storytelling, because it showcases how one event can affect people entirely differently based on a number of intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

Their ability to put aside their differences and continue to run a business together and co-parent their children is incredibly beautiful and mature. Not only does Kennedy Ryan focus on the romantic
relationship, she also demonstrates relationships of friendship, parenting, and maybe most importantly, the relationship with self, with such integrity. Don't get me wrong their passion and chemistry lifted right off of the page, but I loved that it was so much more than that.

The secondary characters were also fantastic and it made me really look forward to continuing on with books in this series. Again the bond between Yasmen and her friends felt so organic, supportive and life-giving. I want more of that in my books.

Before I Let You Go was an absolute gem! The characters and the relationships are one I won't forget and it was easy to immediately jump into This Could Be Us as soon as I finished. While I await another installment, I look forward to exploring more of her backlist.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• steamy romance
• the second chance trope
• romance with depth

⚠️ CW: grief, death, child death, miscarriage, pregnancy, infertility, medical trauma, death of parent, mental illness, depression, sexual content, divorce, suicidal thoughts, cursing, panic attacks/disorders, car accident, injury/injury detail, dementia
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🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"You have no idea what it takes to get out of bed most morning, but I do it. Everything hurts, but I keep doing it."

"Grief looks different for everyone. You saw her as falling apart and me as strong, when maybe she was doing something I wasn't able to do."

"'I told her it wasn't that I wanted to take my life,' she says. ' But that I didn't want to live it. I'd wake-up disappointed that I wasn't still asleep and think, Oh, my god, I have to do this again. I have to be here again. The only that got me our of bed was knowing I had to take care of my children, even though I had no desire to even take care of me. All day I had to remind myself of how much they would miss me if I was gone. Of what I would miss if I wasn't here, even though here was the last place I wanted to be for a long time. I ached every moment of every day.'"

Content Warnings

mikaylawood's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

clareasday's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

jikuuu08's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

each and every individual character had their own voice, their own story.
the dialogue of every character was so distinct and though the topics varied through heavy and emotional situations, the lightness and fun sprinkled into the story was delightful.
the narritive comes full circle and in the end is so heartwarming and satisfying.

i learned that love is not how inherently good it is, but it is more how you can fight through the bad and find your way back to eachother when times are tough.

Content Warnings

sleepybunnyreading's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Here’s to sex that cracks our backs, adventures that snatch our edges and friends that stick like you glue”

This book had me in all the feels, honestly it was such a pleasant experience. Although daunting because of its size I truly did love the characters and dynamics and troubles within this book. I could truly find myself relating and understanding Yasmins struggles throughout the book as well was gaming a new level of understanding with the dual POV.

Content Warnings