Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan

This book has been everywhere since its release in November 2022. I was originally hesitant to pick it up because of all the hype it’s gotten. Sometimes books that are so popular tend to fall flat with me. But after a Kindle sale, I decided to give this a try.

So, I know what you’re thinking…was it worth the hype…

YES!!! The answer is YES IT WAS!

From the first chapter, I knew I was going to enjoy this book. I predicted that it would be a high 3 or 4-star read for me. But this ended up being a very strong 5-star!

Quick highlights

• Second Chance Romance
• Woman’s Fiction + Romance
• Dual POV
• Black Love
• Emotional
• Spice level – 🌶🌶🌶🌶 (open door)

Get ready to fall in love

In this second-chance romance, we follow Yasmen and Josiah as they navigate life after divorce. After some very difficult years, both before and after the divorce, these two seem to have found a peaceful rhythm with co-parenting their two kids and running a successful business together.

But the love and desire that they have for each other are harder to put at bay. Everything in their lives reminds them of the time they shared together making it difficult to truly move on. Will they have another shot at love or will they simply find a way to co-exist?

This book had me deep in my feels

To say that I LOVED it is an understatement. The love that was displayed in this book was genuine but also very messy and sometimes complicated. Yasmen and Josiah clearly still had feelings for each other. But it’s also apparent that they both still holding on to a lot of hurt and grief.

I was so glad to see this was written in a dual POV. It gave us more insight into both characters’ feelings and thoughts which helped balance the story. I personally think they both shared blame in dealing with the events that led up to their divorce. And knowing the way they both felt had me on “team get back together”.

I want to reiterate that we do spend a lot of time with both of these characters throughout the book. I’m a character-driven reader so I didn’t mind this aspect. Some of the details move the plot forward, while other pieces give us a deeper glance into the characters’ lives and personalities. I mention this again because some of the spicy scenes don’t happen until the latter half of the book. 

We even spend some time learning more about their kids, how they are handling their parent’s divorce, and how Yasmen and Josiah adjusting to co-parenting.

The angst between these two had me in a chokehold! If you can’t tell, I enjoyed my time with this book and will be ordering a physical copy for my shelves. 

Dare I say, this may be one of my 2023 reads? Time will tell, but this one is going to be really hard to beat.

This was my first book by Ryan but it will NOT be my last. And I’m sure I’ll enjoy working my way through her extensive backlist.

Lastly, please check the content warnings for this book for possible triggers (grief, divorce, depression, etc).

Are you thinking about reading this one or have you already read it? Tell me your thoughts. 

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