Reviews

The author said this is a work of fiction, but everything about Before I Let Go feels so real from the characters, their past ordeals, their carried trauma, their struggles, their vulnerability, and their love. The roller coaster of grief not only exhibits in the actions and words of our divorced protagonists, Yasmen and Josiah Wade, but in the intolerance and fear of their children, Deja and Kassim. It's a tug-of-war of emotions and deep thoughts racing to reach the surface.

I was so hurt (lol) when I reached the final page knowing this is where the author is concluding their written journey to page. I

amandalywarren's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This is, in fact, the most beautiful romance I’ve ever read. But I feel like it’s so much more than a romance. Kennedy Ryan writes the most heart-wrenching and heart-warming stories, brimming with vulnerability and compassion. Empathy seeps through every page and bleeds into the stories of her characters. She is a master at conveying human emotion—she had me happy crying and sad crying the whole way through this one.

I want to point out that Ryan puts her author’s note at the beginning of the book, setting the stage for telling this raw and beautiful story. Don’t skip it. And don’t ever skip an author’s note from Kennedy Ryan. Those little peeks into her heart are a gift.

Yasmen and Josiah’s story is unlike any second chance romance I’ve ever read. It tackles the very real experiences of love and grief and life and death and the ways we change as we experience the realities of life. This story takes the real brokenness of the worst parts of being human and reminds us that we can heal and grow.

While I am not a parent, I found myself connecting to Yas as she navigated a difficult season of motherhood on top of everything else she was going through. And though she did find the strength to make it through, it was not alone. The friendships in this story challenged me to be a better friend and to love my people harder and with more honesty.

On top of all that, Yas and Josiah are the epitome of chemistry. I don’t know that I’ve ever rooted for a book couple so hard. I was both enchanted and moved by their love story. A beautiful reminder that while love cannot erase the hurt we experience, love can overcome.

I have only good feelings toward this book and I love Kennedy Ryan for putting this story out into the world. A forever favorite for sure.

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Wow! I honestly don't know where to start with this book. I guess I'll go through my experience chronologically. Going in, I thought his book was going to be my first 5-star of the year (it sadly wasn't), but that doesn't negate its impact or its likeness in the slightest. This book and the themes that it tackled were phenomenal and the last 50 or so pages really made this book. It had me struggling with how to rate it. It's not a 5, but I was going between a 4 and 4.25 and sometimes even a 4.5, but I finally decided to land on a 4 star because the way I rate books is based on the content and my reading experience throughout the book. And although I loved the story overall, my reading experience accumulated to being a 4-star.

Going in, I don't know why, I'm still unsure if it was me or the book, but for the first few pages I just couldn't get into it. I wasn't vibing with the writing and I wasn't vibing with the way it started out and I seriously don't know why. Like I kept starting and stopping the book and I was so close to dnf-ing it cuz I just wasn't feeling it (so glad I didn't dnf it). And, that was my experience for the first 30 pages or so and I think after that it picked up a little for me. Now although it picked up, I would say it was around the 130-page mark is where I really started to feel for the characters.

And then after that, I was just enthralled. Each POV provided a different perspective and after reading the book it really established that there was no one "bad guy" in this book. Both characters had a role to play in the demise of their marriage.

Yasmen being the one to initiate the divorce in the first place. And honestly, it wasn't until the later parts of the book toward the end that I really started to emphasize with what Josiah was going through. The chapter where he denied Yasmen's proclamation to get back together was really telling and I'm so happy the author remained consistent with the characters through the entirety of the book because it would've been so easy to have Josiah forgive Yasmen with open arms and have the book be done there, but she didn't and I admired that so much because she really took time to pick apart both Yasmen and Josiah's issues that caused them to drift apart in the first.

After losing her child and a woman who was like a second mom to her both in a short span of time from one another and because of that she grew insanely depressed and became really recluse from everyone, including her husband. While Josiah appeared to be moving on. She was standing still and he was moving constantly and they weren't meshing which someting that the author bring up. She pointed out how thier greif style were incompatible whihc is something that I've never thought of in terms sof relationships before. It's not osmething that could deter partners from getting together however it is something that should be addressed because it could led to situations like this where one or both parties don't understand each other and therefore dont have sympathy for one another because they don't recognize that theyre dealing wiht the same situation differently.

That paint scene in the nursey room broke my heart honestly, I totaly understand why Yasmen "felt" like she wanted a divorce. And to be quite honest, in my opinion, I felt like doing that was needed for her to devlop inot the person that she was. She was so distraught from all this death and sandess in her life while also having her own husband not undertsnad. Stuff like that can feel siffocating and I'm glad Kennedy also explored boht the mental and phsyicla implcaitions depression can have on you. So, althought her decison to end her marriage was rashed and something she later regrets, I think wihtout doing that she wouldn't have been able to better herself the way she did. And I'm also glad the authour acknlwdoged that althoguth Yasmen regrets her decison, she also had to sit in it and acknlwdged the consequences of her actions, while also being aware that she can't sit in the past. She needs to be kind to herself.

On the other hand, although I sympathized wiht Yasmen throughout the entire book. Josiah's claims of frustration are so valid and I'm so happy that his grievance were illustrated in his POV because it really made it empathize with him a lot. We learn in this book that throughout the entire process leaidng the divorce Josiah was not for it and was fighting it the entire process because his heart still beats for Yasmen. So, the dovrce really hits him hard and in that scene where Yasmen was basically syaing that she wants him back and he got agiatted with her. My initial response was like "no, take her back", but then I literally laid there and thought about it for a second and I applaud Ms. Kenendy Ryan, because I LOVED how she validates both Josiah and Yasmen's emotions in this book. Although Josiah is completely undoubtedly in love with Yasmen, his also extremely HURT by her and her actions. He doesn't trust her. He doesn't trust her because she broke his heart when she asked for that divorce. And reading that was really hard-hitting for me because I totally relate to putting your all into someone, them breaking your heart, and now having to deal with this cognitive dissonance of still having love for that person while also deeming them as untrustworthy. Because this all comes down to Josiah being scared. He doesn't want his heart broken again. To him Yasmen is the love of hiis life, so therefore he fears that he will be unable to recover if she happens to break his heart again. And that is just so real!

This book is so raw and emotional to the point where this whole book felt like it could've actually happened. Like these people felt like real people and I was just reading their story.

Now, the only reason this wasn't a five stars is like I said in the beginning was pretty slow for me. And although I sympathized and empathized with Yasmen and Josiah, for some reason I didn't completely connect to them. Like I really enjoyed them and going through their journey to becoming better people and finding themselves and I genuinely believe they belong together, however, for some reason, I just wasn't obsessed with them. And I think this has to do with the fact that this book doesn't follow the "typical romance format". This read more so like a contemporary fiction story with a huge romance plot. A lot of development that happened between Josiah and Yasmen happened with them individually instead of as a couple which is why they were able to come together and be stronger for one another and their kids toward the end of the book. And I'm not knocking that decision because it did make sense for the book, but I think that's why I wasn't over the moon about them until the end where they finally strating having discussion with one another and finally letting their emotions rip. Also, this is just a me thing, but at times it completely boggled me how someone could stay stuck on someone for that long.

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 (much more prevalent in the later half of the book so watch out for that)

laurenkraigco's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.25

katharinerenshaw's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

maazi0328's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

Let me tell you… I’m wrecked. Kennedy Ryan, you have a new fan. As a mother, your book was inspiring… thank you. I thank my bestie for introducing me to this magnificent author 😭🫶🏻

jenbussen's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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