this review shall go live on my good reads and instagram on the 11th november 2022.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/155411538-nancey-hazelden
instagram.com/nanceys_booknook

I will also be posting 3 tiktok about this book before launch day, a reading vlog, a review and a video to remind my audience on release day. all posted on diffrent days.



This literally pulled and yanked my heart strings all over the place and I loved every minute of it.

Summary

This book is about a divorced couple who are still family, we follow Yasmen & Josiah as they tell us about the cause of their split and the circumstances that brought it about. we learn about their challenges and how they try to overcome them.

Genre & Tropes
-second chance romance
-slow burn
-divorced couple

Review
(please check trigger warning before reading this book.)
Kennedy Ryan really knows how to write a raw beautiful hearfelt book. there were multipe moment where tears were brought to my eyes and thats saying something because I do not cry easy. this is not just a romance book, this is a healing the soul book. I loved that Kennendy keep a healthy family relationship between the main characters and didn't make it messy between other characters ( if you know. you know)

Overall this is a tear jerking raw second chance romance and i cant wait to see what Kennedy Ryan brings to the table next.

I absolutely adored this. It was raw, beautiful and heartbreaking all rolled into one. The romance was written amazingly, the mental health rep was dealt with incredibly well and the family dynamic, whilst being messy and complex, was enjoyable to watch as every character developed and grew within themselves.

It had me laughing, sobbing and my heart hurting for Yasmen, Josiah and the kids. I just wanted the best for every single one of them and felt so attached to their story. The author did a brilliant job of handling the grief and loss experienced by everyone and this came across through every page.

I can't wait to read more of Kennedy Ryan's books.

Well, that was a rollercoaster. What an amazing book! I had high expectations for this book because of all the glowing reviews it’s been getting and it did not disappoint. It’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year!

Yasmen and Josiah’s story is one that will stay with me for a long time. Following them on this journey was truly inspiring. Their struggles, their pain and all the heartbreak they experienced felt incredibly real and tugged at all my heart strings. Life really wasn’t kind to them… They suffered blow after blow, they both made many mistakes, they let each other down and lost their marriage in the process and although the book is set a couple years after their divorce and the tragic events that lead to it, the pain was still there, very raw and real. But under all the pain, there was also a strong connection and feelings that never truly went away.

Yas an Josiah were amazing characters. They felt incredibly real with all their flaws and their struggles. All the losses they experienced fundamentally changed who they were and they had a lot of work to do on themselves as a result. There’s a strong message in this book about therapy and how beneficial it can be, which I loved. People deal with things, especially trauma, in different ways and that was something that Josiah and Yasmen leant throughout the book and that I think is a really important point. 

I loved Yasmen and Josiah’s coparenting dynamic. Despite everything they went through, they were able to come together when the kids needed and tried to always be present in their lives and show them how much they loved them. Having been there for all the tragic events and having seen their parents’ marriage fall apart, the kids understandably had a lot of feelings and emotions to process and event though it wasn’t always easy, Yas and Josiah always supported them as best they could and did what they thought was best.

In addition to these amazing main characters, we also have some great secondary characters. I especially loved Yasmin’s friends; they were funny and supportive and just overall great friends. They gave each other time to open up and were always willing to help. I hope to see more of them in the future.

I’m not going to lie, I found the first half of the book a bit too slow but I feel like there was no way around that due to the plot and the nature of the story. Plus, it did eventually pick up and once it did, there was no putting it down.

Overall, this is a fabulous book about love and second chances. It’s a heavy, very intense story about loss and pain; but it’s also a story about the importance of self reflection and forgiveness. You might want to have some tissues at hand as this book will definitely shatter your heart but it’ll slowly put it back together and the HEA will make it all worth it.

[Note: This book deals with a lot of heavy topics so please make sure to check trigger warnings before you start reading]

A HUGE thank you to Piatkus and NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

I didn't know much about this book and so I didnt really know what to expect, but what I got I really, really liked. I found the writing style really engaging and readable, but also the writing is incredibly beautiful and at times really moving and I thought the characters were well developed and I really liked them. I loved seeing things from both Yasmen and Josiah's points of view.
There are some hard hitting issues in this book but I think they were handled sensitively and they go toward making this book the wonderful piece that it is. I would definitely recommend reading it.

This was a definite roller coaster of emotions. To be honest I went in blind to the book and had no idea what to expect. It was my first book by the author and while it didn't disappoint I had my issues.

I love that this book touches on some very sensitive subjects. And even though I wish I could give it more I can't. Clearly the MCs have chemistry but I feel like that's all it is. In both POVs from the MCs they are always thinking about how "hot" the other is. With everything they've been through both separately and as a couple I'd of liked their POVs to be more than just physical.

I have so many emotions and opinions towards this book. So many that I don’t even know where to begin. I feel so blessed to be given ‘Before I Let Go’ as an ARC. I have definitely become much harsher with my ratings since the start of this year, where I would literally dish out 4 or 5 stars like oxygen, but as I’ve read more books, I’ve slowly realised what a 4 or 5-star book is like to me. I am rarely so confident to rate a book 5 stars – usually 4.75 – but listen, ‘Before I Let Go’ 100% deserves the full 5-star rating.

Not only is the writing beautiful and extremely well-written, but the difficult yet important themes within this book are also dealt with so well. Grief and depression are the two major themes in this book, and believe me when I say your heart will ache for the characters. For the children, for Josiah, and for Yasmin. I absolutely love how therapy is portrayed in such a positive way, especially as there is still a stigma towards those getting therapy. I also really like how the author brings light to the fact that there’s even more stigma towards Black men getting therapy – which is why one of our main characters, Josiah, was so reluctant to see a therapist. The character developments in this are also extremely heartwarming to read, albeit the journey is heartbreaking.

I went into ‘Before I Let Go’ not really knowing much about the plot (as it’s not yet released so there aren’t any spoilers online), but damn, am I glad. I think you will enjoy this book better not knowing what it entails. Because this is not your typical, cliché romance book. I don’t even know if the category of this book can be simplified to just romance. But for once, I genuinely could not predict the ending and what will happen in the book (unlike most romance novels, where I’m basically able to predict what happens because the plotline is quite obvious) and I loved that. I love how the writing kept me on edge and made me think about what will happen and why.

Also, the quote at the start?! And the way my heart was hurting even after reading only the first four pages because I could already sense something heartbreaking happening. And there were tragic events that happened. That’s another thing I love about this book – I was literally on an emotional rollercoaster, and I couldn’t put the book down. My heart ached for the characters and what they had to go through, I felt frustrated for them, I swooned over them, and I felt happy for them. The chemistry between Yasmin and Josiah is phenomenal, but there’s more to it than that. There was definitely an attraction, but I could also feel their lingering love for each other even at the start of the book. It was so painfully clear that they both still loved each other, yet it was something that they couldn’t admit to even themselves, which is understandable considering the things they’ve been through. It’s these little things that Kennedy Ryan writes about that really allow me, as the reader, to feel vicariously the main character's feelings.

The side characters are also written very well and are not two-dimensional. The friendship between Yasmin, Soledad and Hendrix are so wholesome, and I am so glad Yasmin had Sol and Hendrix in her moments of vulnerability and sadness, but also during her happy moments, too.

AND there are recipes at the end of the book!! This may not make sense now, but once you’ve read the book, it will make so much more sense – I literally squealed and threw my Kobo. 🙈 Guess who’s going to be trying those recipes out? 🤫

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and it is hands-down one of the best books I’ve read this year. Again, I feel so blessed to be able to read such a great book as an ARC, and thank you to Little Brown Book group and Kennedy Ryan for sending this to me. 🤍

I have never read any of Kennedy Ryan’s books before and now I’ve finished this, I’ve no idea why?! I loved this more than I thought it would, as it is actually quite a heavy read. It’s heartbreaking at points, but all the more gripping for it. Also, very interested to see that it seems to be the first in a series?! As the secondary characters were so interesting.

Before I let you go
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is the best romance book I’ve read this year but it was so much more than that.

I was excited to read Yasmen and Josiah story as I’ve never read mature second chance love story but nothing prepared me for how their story unraveled.

Yasmen’s character spoke to me from the beginning. I could tell that something extremely traumatic had happened to her and when it was finally revealed my heart broke for both her and Josiah.

This book touched on how grief can effect people that love each other in completely opposite ways and I like how the author highlighted that. With Yasmen, she become extremely depressed and lost herself and only through therapy and time, slowly built herself back. With Josiah, it was just to keep going, to completely ignore it and treat everyday like it was before everything happened. This ultimately led Yasmin feeling like he didn’t care and the end of their marriage because neither of them understood how to help the other grieve and didn’t fight to.

This book also touched on therapy and how important i is regardless of age in the ways in which it can help you.

Their story raw and SO SO real. It didn’t sugarcoat anything. Their regrets, their mistakes, their heartbreak, their pain and love was so real.

I also loved Yasmen and Josiah as parents and business partners and how they didn’t allow their divorce to effect their relationship with their children.

Their love was mature, all consuming, passionate and beautiful. It was pretty evident from the start that their story had not finished from the start. Josiah clearly still loved his wife but extremely scared to lose her once again and didn’t trust his heart with her.

The longing, the angst and wanting, omggggg it had me screamingg!!!! It was so perfectly written. They were perfect for one another. I loved how they came back to one another with their love for one another even stronger.

This book really made me reflect on a lot of things.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc !!