lana72905's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! All of the recommendations I've received for this book, I completely agree with. My first five star read for feburary, and I truly adored it. Every aspect of this story. The pain, the grief, the love I felt like it was really real. I was rooting for Josiah and Yasmen the entire way. It truly broke me seeing all the grief and depression all characters were going through, the inevitable crash of their lives, and how they had to cope from it. It was amazing seeing them feel through it. Each character felt real. Rheir flaws, their liks, their dislikes and their personalities felt truly deep and three dimensional. It was phenomenal. I cannot express enough how much I was fangirling seeing the scenes where Josiah and Yas had do much love for each other. It felt truly like a love story, a truly heartfelt love story that also delved into grief and loss. It truly made me feel like a second chance was deserving, to which it was. A wonderful story, 10/10, I'm definitely reading more from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Pregnancy, and Mental illness
Moderate: Miscarriage and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, and Dementia
spencerhoneyy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy
annie26's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
There are writers and there are WRITERS, Kennedy Ryan is the latter. An absolute wordsmith but beyond that, someone who so profoundly conveys the human experience - particularly when it comes to love and relationships. I can’t praise this book enough honestly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
paperbacksandvinyl's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I knew going in that this would be an emotional read, but I was NOT prepared to cry over the smallest moments in this book. I cannot say enough about how tenderly this book is written. The relationship between Yasmen and Josiah is really only one part of what makes this book so special. The show of strong friendships, parental relationships, and self love and healing make this story so beautiful and so gut wrenching. Definitely check trigger warnings before diving in for this one, but I cannot say enough about the care that Kennedy Ryan took with this story and these characters. I love them and I heard that this is the first in an interconnect series, so I hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the Wade Fam 💛💛💛
Oh, and the spice?? 🤭
Oh, and the spice?? 🤭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
abbyreadsbigbooks123's review against another edition
4.0
The writing was so good I just felt like the reunion between Josiah and Yasmen was super rushed also I don't know if I think they are actually better together but the book is still amazing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Death, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, and Infertility
jesszelman's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Panic attacks/disorders
vicktorea's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ms. Ryan LOVES pulling at my heartstrings!
What a beautifully written story of love, loss, forgiveness and healing. I love that these themes weren't just present for the couple for but the individuals outside of their relationship. Yasmen and Josiah each had their own issues they needed to work on involving forgiving themselves (as well as each other), coming to terms with their own grief and healing from their losses and grief.
I also really appreciated the emphasis on the importance and value of therapy that Kennedy Ryan incorporated into the story.
This was super emotional and Kennedy Ryan wrote it in such a way that you could feel every emotion the characters were experiencing.
Excited for the other (two?) books coming in this series!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
What a beautifully written story of love, loss, forgiveness and healing. I love that these themes weren't just present for the couple for but the individuals outside of their relationship. Yasmen and Josiah each had their own issues they needed to work on involving forgiving themselves (as well as each other), coming to terms with their own grief and healing from their losses and grief.
I also really appreciated the emphasis on the importance and value of therapy that Kennedy Ryan incorporated into the story.
This was super emotional and Kennedy Ryan wrote it in such a way that you could feel every emotion the characters were experiencing.
Excited for the other (two?) books coming in this series!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Miscarriage
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
takarakei's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I am not a huge second-chance romance trope person, and for it to be super engaging there needs to be more time spent apart for the love interests. For me, the two main characters being fairly recently divorced and still so involved in each other's lives made me miss that 'rediscovering' each other thing that often happens with second-chance romance. It also made the first half-ish of the book drag a bit, as the reasoning for their separation is teased out to us. That being said, in the end of course you're rooting for them because obviously these people belong together. The romance is a bit slow burn in places, but the ending - woooo it goes there!
HUGE TW for grief especially - this book covers some heavy topics (miscarriage, death of family members) but does so in beautiful and meaningful ways. If you have experienced grief you will likely get teary-eyed. I love to see an entire family in therapy by the end of a book!
3.75/5 ⭐️
4/5 🌶️
HUGE TW for grief especially - this book covers some heavy topics (miscarriage, death of family members) but does so in beautiful and meaningful ways. If you have experienced grief you will likely get teary-eyed. I love to see an entire family in therapy by the end of a book!
3.75/5 ⭐️
4/5 🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Sexual content, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Car accident, Dementia, and Suicidal thoughts
This is a very grief heavy book told from both the MC's POVs of losing several family membersSpoiler
detailed descriptions of miscarriage/still-birth from mother's POVkaren_the_reader's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Kennedy Ryan is an exceptionally gifted writer and storyteller, and Before I Let Go is a perfect example of her amazing talent. The Wards are an average American family living a middle class life in an average American neighborhood. They fell in love young and broke, built a life together, had two kids and a business and when life got hard, as it always does, they got a divorce. He’s not a billionaire. She’s not running away from a secret life. These are regular ass people doing regular ass things; and yet their story is so beautifully told that it makes you laugh and cry and root for them as you fall so head over heels in love with both of them that your heart aches when they can’t seem to put the pieces of their life and love back together.
The character development is fantastic. The pace and arc of the story is very well done. I listened to the audiobook and the voice acting by Jakobi Diem and Wesleigh Siobhan is excellent. Still, the star of the show here… is the writing. This book is for anyone who enjoys a well written novel because Kennedy Ryan has produced a beautifully crafted story that pulls you in from the beginning and keeps you enthralled until the very last word.
I received an arc of this book from NetGalley, but once I found out the audiobook was being performed by Wesleigh and Jakobi I opted to hold off on reading it until release day and spent my own money to get the audiobook. It was so worth it!
The character development is fantastic. The pace and arc of the story is very well done. I listened to the audiobook and the voice acting by Jakobi Diem and Wesleigh Siobhan is excellent. Still, the star of the show here… is the writing. This book is for anyone who enjoys a well written novel because Kennedy Ryan has produced a beautifully crafted story that pulls you in from the beginning and keeps you enthralled until the very last word.
I received an arc of this book from NetGalley, but once I found out the audiobook was being performed by Wesleigh and Jakobi I opted to hold off on reading it until release day and spent my own money to get the audiobook. It was so worth it!
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders
100_pages_hr's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was truthfully an emotional rollercoaster. A very well written story, but very heavy. Please check content warnings before reading.
Any book that deals with life after divorce is going to have it's challenges both for the divorced couple and for each of them as they move on. This story tackles those challenges and then some.
It was hard to read about all the things that precipitated their divorce and the heavy depression that Yasmen suffers. It is always hard to read about that topic and combining it with a divorce was even harder. I loved Yas' commitment to getting better though and how positively this book portrays therapy.
I felt like Josiah's character growth was really good even though I hated him multiple times throughout the book. In the end I felt like he mostly redeemed himself.
This book had some other really good qualities in dealing with children in their school experiences. I really liked how the book ended for their daughter. I'm glad they listened to her needs and desires for her education.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
Any book that deals with life after divorce is going to have it's challenges both for the divorced couple and for each of them as they move on. This story tackles those challenges and then some.
It was hard to read about all the things that precipitated their divorce and the heavy depression that Yasmen suffers. It is always hard to read about that topic and combining it with a divorce was even harder. I loved Yas' commitment to getting better though and how positively this book portrays therapy.
I felt like Josiah's character growth was really good even though I hated him multiple times throughout the book. In the end I felt like he mostly redeemed himself.
This book had some other really good qualities in dealing with children in their school experiences. I really liked how the book ended for their daughter. I'm glad they listened to her needs and desires for her education.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, and Miscarriage
Minor: Infidelity