Review: Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan

BEFORE I LET GO
Kennedy Ryan
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Genre: Contemporary romance, women's fiction
Rating: ★★★★★


Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn’t solve or save everything.

It couldn’t save their marriage.

Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.

Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another…and then more. It's hot. It's illicit. It's all good—until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?

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With every Kennedy Ryan novel I read, I feel at a complete loss to do them justice with a review. I don’t have adequate words to convey just how powerful and moving her writing is. Ryan’s latest, Before I Let Go, is no exception. She has woven a story of loss, healing, and second chances that is stunningly good.


To friends and family, Yasmen and Josiah were relationship goals - a shining example of a happy marriage – until they weren’t.  Blow after unexpected blow shook their once rock-solid marriage to its foundation and created a chasm they seemed unable to bridge.


Post-divorce, Josiah and Yasmen found a new normal: running their successful restaurant together and co-parenting their two children. What didn’t change was their deep love and respect for one another. Josiah never wanted the divorce and was shaken to his core when he lost the one thing he believed in, the one steady presence in his life that he was sure would never abandon him. Yasmen felt Josiah’s absence like a physical ache. He was her first love, but drowning under the weight of grief and trauma, divorce seemed the only option.


While Yasmen found a therapist she connected with and began to claw her way out of the darkness, Josiah only began therapy to serve as an example for his young son. Stubborn and skeptical at the start, Josiah started to confront past trauma and acknowledge the ways it had impacted his life, and his relationship with Yasmen.  Their lives were still irrevocably intertwined, between the children and the business, and their love for another was evidenced in every shared memory and inside joke. When a business trip forced them together, lines were crossed and all the old feelings that had been hidden under a layer of hurt and recrimination spark to life.


Before I Let Go was tender and poignant while packing a powerful emotional punch. There was laughter and tears and most importantly: hope. Yasmen and Josiah’s struggles felt all too realistic and the unexpected place they found themselves in was heart wrenching. The love was still there but buried under grief and pain.


Kennedy Ryan has been candid about her own struggles with depression and mental health, which came to a head while writing this novel. That intersection of real life and fiction likely went a long way in making this remarkable story that much more realistic. Ryan is a born storyteller and Before I Let Go is an achingly beautiful story of two people who stumbled and fell, only to travel a rocky road back in hope that it leads them home. 5 STARS


ABOUT KENNEDY RYAN

A RITA® Award Winner and Top 25 Amazon Bestseller, Kennedy Ryan writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Her heroes respect, cherish and lose their minds for the women who capture their hearts.

She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son. She has always leveraged her journalism background to write for charity and non-profit organizations, but enjoys writing to raise Autism awareness most. A contributor for Modern Mom Magazine, Kennedy’s writings have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today and many others. The founder and executive director of a foundation serving Atlanta families living with Autism, she has appeared on Headline News, Montel Williams, NPR and other media outlets as an advocate for families living with autism.


17 comments

  1. Oh, boy. This sounds very good. I'm not sure I could read it right now, but maybe in the future. I just read Meghan Quinn's Untying the Knot and it was a marriage in trouble booko and that one took a lot out of me. I think I need a few months before I read another of that trope, no matter how they end since it's romance. Great review!

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    1. Thanks Deanna. And I totally get it. There are certain kinds of stories that i just have to be in the mood for or in the right frame of mind for.

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    2. Yes, that's exactly it! That being said, I would still recommend Untying the Knot to you. So good!

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  2. Wow, I rarely see a 5 star rating from you Tanya so I know this must be good! I do enjoy a moving marriage-in-crisis romance. It is hard trying to write a review for a story you love so much, right? I usually just want to say 'I LOVED IT, READ IT!" like over and over, lol. Wonderful review, Tanya!

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    1. Thanks Rachel! Oy yes, with a book I totally love I just want to word vomit "I love it, you have to read it!" lol And you're right, I am super stingy with my 5 star rating. I save those for very special books. And this one qualifies. :)

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  3. Wow, this sounds powerful! I always enjoy reading about married couples, because it shows that "happily ever after" isn't always so happy. And in this case, where they're divorced, I like that it explores how their lives are still so intertwined.

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    1. Angela - I agree, I love examining a marriage/relationship after the happily ever after.

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  4. I've found my tastes have shifted from enjoying plot motivated books to more character motivated, and I can feel the authenticity of these characters from your review. The dissolution and potential reconciliation of a relationship is ripe for brilliant character exploration, and it sounds like Ryan is a master.

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    1. Ethan - I am the same in that I much prefer character-driven stories these days. I'd much rather dig deep into a character's personal journey than read an intricate plot. Kennedy Ryan truly excels at this.

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  5. I love character-driven novels, and books that pack an emotional punch, but in a good way. :)

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  6. I just started this one this morning and I can already tell that it is going to be quite the emotional journey. I am so glad to see that you loved this one as much as you did!

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  7. I am sure you know how I want this book to end even if I cannot tell from your review (*looking for spoiler reviews). Not surprised it was a hit for you, but I am happy Kennedy's books continue to move you

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  8. Wow, this sounds really powerful. And I love when books focus on mental health.

    Lauren @ www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  9. Ryan's books are always so very good, but I always have to work up to them because they take a lot out of me every time. That just goes to show how powerful her words are. Great review! Not surprised this was another winner.

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  10. This book sounds amazing. I definitely want to read it. Great review Tanya.

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