Reviews with content warning for Child death - Before I Let Go

Giving this book 5 stars is as easy as breathing. Kennedy Ryan has a way of giving you the most emotional, gut-wrenching love story in a way that feels absolutely effortless. Such intense feelings and subjects and yet you can’t help but fall over and over. I was on edge and frustrated and yet I felt immense privilege watching these two fall back in love with each other. Before I Let Go is going to stay with me for a long long time.

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pbrown05's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

I really wanted to love this book based on the hype surrounding it but I didn’t. It was a struggle to get through. There’s a lot of sex scenes that seemed overly descriptive for the sake of word count. A lot of repetitiveness about the characters looks and not enough character development. The main characters have a relatable story but it was just a lackluster read. The author visited some serious topics like grief, child loss, divorce but didn’t really get into the nitty gritty of it like I hoped. I’m used to reading books where I know the ending but the characters didn’t make me feel for them like I love doing when reading. I wasn’t invested in them. It took me forever to finish but I kept going hoping it would get better but for me, it didn’t.

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10nsafoa's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

this is my first kennedy ryan book and i literally have no words. the emotions i felt reading this, out of this world. as someone who believes in true love and second chances, this book resonated with me so much.

i didn’t like how deja was treating yasmen though. granted they worked on it towards the end but i think it’s just mean treating your mom that way given the loss she’s been through

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gelslitreviews's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

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najmam's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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tyras_bookshelf's review against another edition

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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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kaleys23's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

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