Warning: Spoiler Alert
Corey returns to her hometown of Lost, Alaska after her best
friend Kyra falls through the ice in January, when the ice should be frozen solid,
just a few days before Corey is scheduled to return for a visit.
I was eager to read “Before I Let Go” after reading the
synopsis and was drawn in quickly. However, it just seemed to be going in circles
for the majority of the book. The townpeople act strangely, they tell Corey she
no longer belongs, Corey is hurt and confused, Corey misses Kyra, Corey thinks
she sees/hears Kyra, repeat.
I finished and I was left with a feeling of, “What just happened?”
and “What genre was this book?” Was this supposed to be about teens who are
loners, suicidal, lesbians, precognitive, survivor guilt, or a ghost story? A
lot going on here and several of the themes just never came to fruition.
I still have lots of questions. Where did all the stinkin’ salmonberry
flowers come from in Alaska in January? Why did Mrs. Robinson’s garden growing
and blooming in the dead of Winter? What was up with Aaron’s cottage looking unlived
in and then reverting? Did the townspeople kill him, too, and he was a ghost? Why
did the townspeople try to kill Corey but then let her escape and go on as if
nothing happened. Was Kyra a ghost or was Corey just spooked? Was Kyra
precognitive or just imaginative? Were her paintings self-fulfilling?
In the end, I did not like Corey. Not one bit. OK, she left
town to go to school. She moved on with her life, but totally forgot about her
best and only friend Kyra even though she knew Kyra was bipolar and needed her.
Corey would not even return her letters. She should have some guilt there. In the end, she leaves Lost with hope
and is starting a new story. Not sure I would want that kind of best friend.
Thought about the title, “Before I Let Go”. What does it
mean? Before Kyra lets go and kills herself or Before Corey lets go and moves
on with her life a second time? Or maybe both. Not sure, but that makes me
dislike Corey even more!
I liked the flashbacks and letters (especially the unsent
ones) to tell the story. Good story, but just too much going on and not enough
resolved.
Publication Date: January 2, 2018
Genre: Fiction, Teen,
YA, Magical Realism, Mental Illness
Cover: Great
Rating: 2 stars
Source: I received
this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!
