Title: Before I Let Go
Author: Marieke Neijkamp
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4 Stars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I picked up Before I Let Go because I liked the description. I was not disappointed.
The Things I Liked:
- The flashbacks that show us what Kyra was like before she died, and how her bipolar disorder affected her.
-The actual writing was good - I would have read this even if the story sucked because it was well-written.
-BUT: the story did not suck - I think the story was well thought out and moved well.
-I liked most of the characters. I especially liked Kyra, but I didn't love the fact that she was part of the story without actually being in the story. More on that below.
The Things I Didn't Like:
-No character growth! I know this story only takes place over 6 days, but you think in that six days Corey would have learned something, even just one thing! Nope.
-Corey. I didn't like Corey. Not only did she not learn a thing about herself or her hometown and former best friend, she was also fairly selfish, really only thinking about how things would affect her.
-The Bury Your Gays trope. Why did Kyra have to die?! WHY?! Because everything is about Corey, right?! I mean, yes this story is told from Corey's POV. HOWEVER, I think this was Kyra's story and killing her was completely unnecessary.
-Why did everyone in Lost just brush Kyra's bipolar disorder under the rug? I actually loved that this book talked so openly about mental illness because I think it's so important for people to know there is help. But I hated that Kyra was abused by people who thought she was some fucking prophet, and withheld her medication. (Yes, people - withholding meds from someone with mental health issues is a form of abuse.)
Despite what I didn't like about this book, I still rated it 4 stars, because I love that this book talks to candidly about mental illness. Even with the abuse the Kyra suffered, at lease her friend was willing to bring her mental illness to the table and talk about it when other people just wanted to shut it down.
This is a book I would recommend to anyone! Go forth and read!
- The flashbacks that show us what Kyra was like before she died, and how her bipolar disorder affected her.
-The actual writing was good - I would have read this even if the story sucked because it was well-written.
-BUT: the story did not suck - I think the story was well thought out and moved well.
-I liked most of the characters. I especially liked Kyra, but I didn't love the fact that she was part of the story without actually being in the story. More on that below.
The Things I Didn't Like:
-No character growth! I know this story only takes place over 6 days, but you think in that six days Corey would have learned something, even just one thing! Nope.
-Corey. I didn't like Corey. Not only did she not learn a thing about herself or her hometown and former best friend, she was also fairly selfish, really only thinking about how things would affect her.
-The Bury Your Gays trope. Why did Kyra have to die?! WHY?! Because everything is about Corey, right?! I mean, yes this story is told from Corey's POV. HOWEVER, I think this was Kyra's story and killing her was completely unnecessary.
-Why did everyone in Lost just brush Kyra's bipolar disorder under the rug? I actually loved that this book talked so openly about mental illness because I think it's so important for people to know there is help. But I hated that Kyra was abused by people who thought she was some fucking prophet, and withheld her medication. (Yes, people - withholding meds from someone with mental health issues is a form of abuse.)
Despite what I didn't like about this book, I still rated it 4 stars, because I love that this book talks to candidly about mental illness. Even with the abuse the Kyra suffered, at lease her friend was willing to bring her mental illness to the table and talk about it when other people just wanted to shut it down.
This is a book I would recommend to anyone! Go forth and read!
No comments:
Post a Comment