Warning: This book has themes of suicide and bipolar disorder. If those topics do not interest you or you do not want to read about them, I would not read any further.
This book is also kind of creepy in general. I'm not a fan of books that are out to terrify me, but this read more along the vibe, "I always feel like someone is watching me. HELLO???" which I was mostly okay with.
An amazon summary, "Best friends Corey and Kyra were inseparable in their snow-covered town of Lost Creek, Alaska. When Corey moves away, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winter, and wait for her return.
Just days before Corey is to return home to visit, Kyra dies. Corey is devastated―and confused. The entire Lost community speaks in hushed tones about the town's lost daughter, saying her death was meant to be. And they push Corey away like she's a stranger.
Corey knows something is wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. Lost is keeping secrets―chilling secrets. But piecing together the truth about what happened to her best friend may prove as difficult as lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter..." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Before I Let Go follows the journey of Corey returning to her hometown of Lost Creek, Alaska to mourn the death of her best friend, Kyra. Upon her return, the townspeople of Lost Creek start treating Corey like a stranger, and no one is really giving Corey any clear answers on Kyra's death.
....which is really enough explanation.
So the whole book is weird mash up of trying to figure out the circumstances surrounding Kyra's death, exploring the relationship between Corey and Kyra, and also dealing with the absolute weirdness of the townspeople of Lost Creek. It doesn't really do any of that well at all.
This also didn't feel like Lost Creek, Alaska. This felt like it could be any little town, practically anywhere. There were a few points made about the snow, cold, isolation, can be reached by plane, but they were so minor, I often forgot this was supposed to take place in Alaska.
The book was also broken up into small chapters, which helped build tension and suspense. It was an easy read...but I only made it to the end because I wanted to know what the twist was.
So we're just going to go into SPOILER LAND.
BEGIN SPOILER LAND.
I'm pretty disappointed in the mild LGBT+ theme. There's a moment between Kyra and Corey where Kyra is admitting she likes Corey, and Corey isn't interested in that way. But it's this little blip of a moment that felt more like asking a semi-friendly acquaintance, "how are you?". It felt very tacked in, like a desperate attempt to add more themes to this book, which really just led to diluting anything good about the themes already at play. Kyra and Corey very rarely fight, so there's no tension there either. But also, Corey is asexual or aromantic; it's not really crystal clear in the book. They're called asexual on the page, but it reads as an aromantic response/mindset.
I also found Kyra's bipolar disorder problematic. The other characters in the story know Kyra is more than her bipolar disorder (BPD), however, it also seems to be a crutch to explain any eccentric behavior Kyra exhibited. Almost like it's suddenly an ABNORMAL thing to enjoy painting, when painting is a pretty common behavior (wine and paint, anyone?). There was also a lack of balance between showcasing character development from Kyra (there was none) and how that played with her BPD. Kyra had more unique circumstances, personality traits, and conversation than Corey, but I still felt Kyra's character was woefully underdeveloped.
Corey is also bland as hell. It reminded me a lot of Bella from Twilight. The narrator is just kind of there, reacting to the situations, not making any unique choices or offering a different perspective, and the story just kind of drifts on.
There was also no suspense. The townspeople almost immediately started telling Corey it was Kyra's time, or Kyra's natural end from the moment Corey landed in the town. So when you find out towards the end of the book the townspeople literally stood around the frozen lake and watched Kyra go out too far and fall through the ice, killing her self, and the townspeople did nothing to stop her, it's not really that much of a twist. I find it very unnerving that Kyra's suicide has no intervention and also comes across as widely accepted by the townspeople (except for Corey). An entire town of people was fine with a young teenage woman, killing herself. By drowning in a lake. EXCUSE ME?! What exactly are you trying to say book???? Whatever lesson you're trying to teach or accomplish in that moment feels entirely misguided.
THERE WAS ALSO NO TWIST. GRAHHHHHHHH. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to work through the entire book, only to turn the last page and have the, "That's it?" reaction. It felt like there was a lot of lead up to a whole lot of nothing. Booo, booo!!!
Happy reading!
....which is really enough explanation.
So the whole book is weird mash up of trying to figure out the circumstances surrounding Kyra's death, exploring the relationship between Corey and Kyra, and also dealing with the absolute weirdness of the townspeople of Lost Creek. It doesn't really do any of that well at all.
This also didn't feel like Lost Creek, Alaska. This felt like it could be any little town, practically anywhere. There were a few points made about the snow, cold, isolation, can be reached by plane, but they were so minor, I often forgot this was supposed to take place in Alaska.
The book was also broken up into small chapters, which helped build tension and suspense. It was an easy read...but I only made it to the end because I wanted to know what the twist was.
So we're just going to go into SPOILER LAND.
BEGIN SPOILER LAND.
I'm pretty disappointed in the mild LGBT+ theme. There's a moment between Kyra and Corey where Kyra is admitting she likes Corey, and Corey isn't interested in that way. But it's this little blip of a moment that felt more like asking a semi-friendly acquaintance, "how are you?". It felt very tacked in, like a desperate attempt to add more themes to this book, which really just led to diluting anything good about the themes already at play. Kyra and Corey very rarely fight, so there's no tension there either. But also, Corey is asexual or aromantic; it's not really crystal clear in the book. They're called asexual on the page, but it reads as an aromantic response/mindset.
I also found Kyra's bipolar disorder problematic. The other characters in the story know Kyra is more than her bipolar disorder (BPD), however, it also seems to be a crutch to explain any eccentric behavior Kyra exhibited. Almost like it's suddenly an ABNORMAL thing to enjoy painting, when painting is a pretty common behavior (wine and paint, anyone?). There was also a lack of balance between showcasing character development from Kyra (there was none) and how that played with her BPD. Kyra had more unique circumstances, personality traits, and conversation than Corey, but I still felt Kyra's character was woefully underdeveloped.
Corey is also bland as hell. It reminded me a lot of Bella from Twilight. The narrator is just kind of there, reacting to the situations, not making any unique choices or offering a different perspective, and the story just kind of drifts on.
There was also no suspense. The townspeople almost immediately started telling Corey it was Kyra's time, or Kyra's natural end from the moment Corey landed in the town. So when you find out towards the end of the book the townspeople literally stood around the frozen lake and watched Kyra go out too far and fall through the ice, killing her self, and the townspeople did nothing to stop her, it's not really that much of a twist. I find it very unnerving that Kyra's suicide has no intervention and also comes across as widely accepted by the townspeople (except for Corey). An entire town of people was fine with a young teenage woman, killing herself. By drowning in a lake. EXCUSE ME?! What exactly are you trying to say book???? Whatever lesson you're trying to teach or accomplish in that moment feels entirely misguided.
THERE WAS ALSO NO TWIST. GRAHHHHHHHH. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to work through the entire book, only to turn the last page and have the, "That's it?" reaction. It felt like there was a lot of lead up to a whole lot of nothing. Booo, booo!!!
Happy reading!
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