Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Before I Let Go

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan

8 reviews

leaonaxreads's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I love how this book directly tackles mental health and views on therapy, particularly in the Black community. I started this book before, but wasn’t in the space to digest a heavy plot so I came back to it later on. Our main character suffers a terrible loss that changes her life and we watch her recover and put herself back together. In the midst of that, the changes impact her family dynamic, and everyone’s impacted in some way or another. I think the book is well written and does an excellent job of capturing everyone’s emotions. I took one star away because I felt like most of the blame sat with the person who was most affected and that made me sad for her. There are lots of triggers here so reader beware. With all that said, I will be picking up This Could Be Us

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tyras_bookshelf's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Wasn’t super impressed but it was a good read.

Realistic, distinct characters, with strong arcs for the main characters and thought provoking ideals about grief and depression.

I did have to come back to this book though since the beginning starts so slow and I only got excited because I flipped to the last third to give me some motivation to read it.

*spoilers*

The whole time I was reading Yasmin’s POV I was like “Girl, leave that man alone!” I couldn’t decide if I was rooting for her or for Vashti because clearly Josiah is hot & great so why wouldn’t they be together, especially when Yasmen was slow-playing. I think Josiah needed more flaws though or something. He’s a great dad, husband and businessman. He finally goes to therapy to support his son but even that was too easy a decision.

Most of his struggle was off-page or in memories so I didn’t feel the tension build up. We did see him have to come to terms with trusting Yasmin and opening himself up again so I guess that was enough.

Yasmin’s growth was pretty clear though as she struggled to accept that she wanted her husband back.

Also, keeping their relationship a secret when they finally got back together had no stakes. There was some emotional turmoil and Yasmin and Josiah finally had a full conversation which was nice for their character development. However, we knew they would end up together so there wasn’t much mystery around that.

I wasn’t a fan of the inner monologue reading like the characters were talking to me the whole time. They were explaining things that they already knew like it was narration. Also, the dialogue often felt like it was trying too hard and read unnaturally.

The story is beautiful, and sad, but also redemptive. It was probably one of the most mature romances I’ve ever read not just in subject matter, but with how in-depth Ryan writes about loss. Not my favorite and I love I would it but it’s worth giving it a try.

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abidavisf's review

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I am stunned and awed by this book. Kennedy Ryan has taken my heart in her hands, broken it, and then healed it.

I can hear Yasmen and Josiah’s voices so clearly in my head, feel everything that they felt. I have been in a somewhat similar situation to Yasmen (though it cannot compare to the enormity of Yasmen’s loss), and to be able to hear both her and Josiah’s sides was completely gut-wrenching while also incredibly healing. I considered possibilities about my former partner/relationship that I never have before. The demise of a relationship, the loss of trust, it has all been captured so realistically and with so much heart. I feel like I should be devastated, but I actually feel a sense of closure.

There are moments of beauty and tragedy within Before I Let Go that are then expertly juxtaposed with humour and hope. 10/10. A must read.

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cdbrown's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

I will start by saying the exploration of grief, loss, depression, betrayal, etc was done beautifully. Such complex parts of love were explored effectively. However I didn’t love this as much as I hoped to. I wish the length of this story spent more time exploring how and why Yasmen and Josiah fell in love so that I could feel more attached to their characters and more eager for them to be back together. With no history I felt their attraction was solely based on sex, their kids and the restaurant and I wanted to explore a bit more than that. Overall, I thought it was worth the read.

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allysonw_'s review

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

I have never cried as much as I have while reading this book. Like I sobbed and that doesn’t happen often when I read despite me being a pretty emotional person As someone who has gone through depression and certain types of ideation I was amazed at how detailed Ryan was in describing what it felt like. For example there’s a certain part in the book where Yasmen describes what her day to day felt like at one point. She says “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.” This is just one of many parts of the book that really hit the nail on the head of what it’s like to really be in a deep pit and feel like there’s no way out. What I love about this book is how layered it is and how it doesn’t hold back in digging into the ugly parts of life. Yasmen and Josiah are imperfect people who went through unimaginable tragedy, and I think showing the conflict in their relationship early on and leaning into the awkward parts of their life as a divorced couple helped to showcase so well the nuances of being in love and illustrate what they had to go through to come back together. This is a book that I know I’ll be re-reading for years. Ms Kennedy Ryan, you hit this one out the park.

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sehenry20's review

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emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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livreads4fun's review

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challenging emotional inspiring 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

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abarnakwn_ourcolourfulpages's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was honest and visceral, while also being steamy as heck. Reading the author's note at the end, it really is evident how much work Kennedy Ryan put into this book, and it's nothing short of the product of a labour of love. Ryan does a remarkable job exploring difficult topics such as grief, depression, stillbirth, death of close family members, and the impacts of all of these things on a marriage (and subsequent divorce). It's an account of rebuilding one's life after clawing out of depression's iron jaw and figuring out what that means for them and their family. It's also a story of learning how to cope and be yourself after being irrevocably changed by traumatic events. About all, it's a story of love (familial, romantic, platonic) and healing. I was so deeply impacted by this story despite my lack of experience in some of the matters, and I can't imagine the profound impact this story will make on those who have experienced loss in the ways that the characters have. I was so moved, and so totally enthralled by Yasmen and Josiah's story.

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