From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller This Is Where It Ends comes another unforgettable story of loss, hope, betrayal, and the quest for truth 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 … 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…
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Before I Let Go is a good read. It hooked me and I didn’t want to put it down. It’s an interesting read that at points had me wondering actually what was going on in Lost Creek. Corey and Kyra were best friends. Corey moves away and doesn’t kept great touch with Kyra but she plans to go back and visit. Before Corey gets back to Lost Creek, Kyra passes away. Before Corey left Kyra was an outcast in town but when Corey returns to Lost Creek everybody has changed. There are weird things going on in Lost Creek. Corey is not one to sit back and she tries to figure out what’s going on. I really liked Corey. There were points I wondered of Corey would make it out of Lost Creek. I liked this one but would have liked a little more at the end.
This book was super confusing, weaving threads of YA fiction dealing with mental illness, horror, and mystery into a giant ball of tangled yarn. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD Ok, so Kyra had bipolar disorder and was treated as persona non grata by her backwoods Alaska town (except for her best friend Corey). During her manic episodes, she painted like mad but apparently hated it? And sometimes her paintings predicted the future, I think? So once Corey moves away, the town discovers Kyra’s “psychic painting” and turns her into some type of oracle, but then also kills her/lets her die? And then when Corey comes back for her funeral, the entire town (except for two teen guys and the hot springs caretaker dude) have formed some type of weird Kyra death cult and are willing to burn Corey alive because she’s asking questions? And what’s with the weird whispers, shadows, trees moving, etc.? OK – see all those question marks above? Those are legit questions/uncertainties, because the book never explained anything beyond what I just wrote.
This book addresses a very real and troubling mental illness. Bipolar disorder. I don’t want to discuss the whole book in order not to give away the story, but it is very disturbing to read if you or someone you know has any kind of mental illness and not be accepted for who they are!. Love, kindness and caring goes a long way in helping someone. These people in Lost Creek didn’t have a clue. Disturbing read.
A moving story about how teenage friends cope with one struggling with a mental illness and the other trying to keep friendship the same. Corey and Kira are friends in Lost, Alaska and though there are many things to face the reality is that one is dealing with a mental illness and the other is trying to understand how to cope with her friend who is losing her grip with reality. Kyra remains in Lost while Corey leaves with her family and sadly Korey dies. Should Corey feel responsible for leaving Kyra and going to another city with her mother and brother? Should Corey feel like a bad friend because she wants to escape and live a different life? Corey returns to lost after Kyra dies and what she finds there will perhaps bring answers to her questions and also help her cope with leaving her friend to die. A moving story of teens coping with mental disorders
I was really looking forward to reading “Before I Let Go” but it just fell short for me. The book basically is about two girls growing up in a town called Lost. One had mental illness and the other tried to help and protect her. The town just did not understand her and just used her. The town wanted to hide the secrets. The chapters were repetitious and seem to be saying the same thing over and over but in a different way. I think that struggling readers would have a difficult time staying interested in this book.
While this may be an unpopular opinion, this one was a pan for me. It tried to cover some heavy topics, but the disjointed timeline, the hint of the paranormal and the dark nature of how an entire town (her parents included) treated/used/abandoned a bipolar teenaged girl…quite frankly deeply disturbed me. I also felt there was some character development lacking here. I simply did not care about them as I should. It was almost a DNF for me. Maybe others will appreciate it…just not my cup of tea.
This book was provided to me free of charge by Edelweiss. I am voluntarily reviewing it.
Before I Let Go is not your typical YA thriller, where you get to the end of the book and know who the bad guy is. Instead you’ll ask yourself “who is the most to blame for what happened”. Even that question will run you around in circles for a good long time. I feel this is one of those books that readers will either love or hate, and I fall on the love end of the spectrum.
I would recommend this book to teen readers who appreciate diversity and who don’t mind delving into a really twisted belief system.