Sunday, December 31, 2017

ARC Review: Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

Book info:
TitleBefore I Let Go
Author:  Marieke Nijkamp
Genre:  YA Contemporary
Release Date:  January 2nd, 2018
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Fire
Source:  ARC received from publisher
My rating:  3 stars

Synopsis:
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...


My Review:
Unfortunately, unlike with the first book by this author, This is Where it Ends, I wasn't blown away by this one.  While there were definitely some important topics in it, mental health, bullying, a gay teen couple, an asexual teen, not sure about how well it really touched on those.  I felt like this one hovered too much on trying to have a supernatural aspect, but in the end, it just wasn't enough for me.  It just wavered too much between that and the mental health/other issues.  It didn't really spend enough time to make it a great book for any of the things it could have been.  

At times I was a little unsure about who a certain person was, or how they had related earlier in the story.  I guess I was just left wanting more.  There were some parts that definitely were scary or creepy.  And there were some emotional parts that made me cry a bit.  But it just didn't all fit together well for me.

I will continue to look for future books by this author, but I will hope for one more like the first book.