This is a book review of Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan with a few spoilers.
Yes, there are trigger warnings at the beginning of this book, yet I still did not feel adequately prepared. It’s been a minute since I finished this book, and I still think about it and some of the gut wrenching quotes.
The Facts
Author: Kennedy Ryan
Release Date: November 15, 2022
Genre: Contemporary/adult romance
Main Characters: Yasmen & Josiah Wade
Number of Pages: 376
Rating: 5 out of 5
What I Loved
Though I feel like it could have shared a bit more about the intensity of emotion the reader would feel, I appreciate the trigger warning at the beginning. I’m not sure if it was so heavy emotionally because I was going through my own grief at the time or it’s simply so well-written that it’s triggering.
Yasmen spoke so much truth. Most of the quotes I loved from the book were said/thought by her, whether it’s the quote at the bottom of this writing or “My health isn’t a number on the scale or on a tag in my jeans.”
At first, I rolled my eyes to a different planet when I learned Josiah is, unfortunately, the stereotypical Black man when it comes to therapy. However, after promising their son he would go to therapy if their son went, and keeping his promise (!), I began to see the Josiah appeal. Of course, he was guarded at the initial meeting (because of those stereotypical opinions), but he eventually opens up. A great example of incredibly written character development. When Josiah finally cried at the end? WRECKED me.
Yasmen referred to her period as her cousin in conversation, and it was the most genius way of bringing up that monthly monster most women dread.
What I... Didn't
Deja, Yasmen and Josiah’s daughter/eldest child, had a consistent resentment towards her mom because of the divorce. This led to her saying some wild, out of pocket things about/to her mom. I spent my teenage years hating my mom, but I still never said anything as verbally insane as Deja.
Final Thoughts
Using Euphoria for the high school comparison is so hilariously out of pocket, especially with the way season three is going.
Anyway, I understand the Kennedy Ryan hype. This book was incredibly heartbreaking but also very healing for me, especially as a child of divorced parents. I just really hope the TV adaptation does it justice. I’m a little nervous because it’s Peacock doing the adaptation, and so far, Amazon has been the only streaming service to get book adaptations correct.
"Grief is a grind. It is the work of breathing and waking and rising and moving through a world that feels emptier. A gaping hole has been torn into your existence, and everyone around you just walks right past it like it's not even there. But all you can do is stand and stare."
