*I received a free copy of [title] from [publisher] via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *Before I Let Go is a very strange story - dealing with grief, a touch of something maybe paranormal, and friendship.
Story:
Corey is just getting ready to go back home, to her small town in Alaska to see her best friend. However, her friend isn't around to be seen anymore. Kyra dies before Corey makes it back, and Before I Let Go shows all the different emotions Corey goes through. She feels a lot of guilt, because she hasn't written to Kyra as often as she had said she would. She is also very sad. And a bit angry. And most of all, she just can't understand how Kyra could have died that way.
Once Corey arrives in Lost Creek, she feels out of place. She feels unwanted. And she definitely feels lost. Before I Let go is a strange story, because even as we follow Corey's journey through grief and disbelief, there are other subjects lurking as well. Kyra's parents are a big question mark. As are the people who live in Lost Creek. Corey feels like she has been erased from the population just because she went away to college.
Before I Let Go also deals with mental illness, but in a way that felt a bit off to me. Because no actual diagnosis was given. Nor was Kyra followed by doctors. And that definitely made me feel rather removed from the story and the strange plot.
Characters:
Corey has a lot to deal with once she arrives back in Lost Creek. The loss of her best friend is the biggest, of course. But she also has to deal with how the villagers view her - and how they talk about Kyra now that she's dead. Corey also has trouble understanding whom she can trust. As strange things keep happening.
Writing style :
First person present tense for parts of Before I Let Go, while other passages are in third person, past tense narrative. There are letters, post cards, dialogues, and flashbacks to a distant past, diary entries and more.
Feels :
I felt confused. Even as I felt Corey's grief, I still felt confused more than anything else.