Before I Let Go

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The pacing is slow in places, but the story is so real that I sometimes forgot I was reading a work of fiction. Kennedy Ryan captures so many topics in this book from grief, loss, community, and friendship to learning how to forgive yourself, speak your truth, and ask for what you want. If issues overtake the romance plot and the pain in the story story outweighs the joy, the book isn’t a romance.

BookPage is a recommendation guide for readers, highlighting the best new books across all genres as chosen by our editors. A beautifully honest portrayal of love in its many forms, and the most raw, poignant, and romantic journey of healing I've read in a long time. The only thing that rivals Kennedy Ryan's stunning prose is Yasmen's journey itself--raw and moving and relatable.With meticulously detailed prose, Ryan creates characters who are deeply relatable, so compelling and lushly drawn that they feel like old friends. The the Grip series (2017), the Hoops series (2018-2019), The Kingmaker in 2019, Queen Move (2020) , and Reel (2021). Kennedy and her writings have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, TIME, O magazine, and many others. Every member of the Wade family had emotional struggles to overcome and it was wonderful that they could find joy after suffering heartbreak. Yet, like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.

But I’m a sucker for second chance at love stories, so I decided to try this book about a formerly married couple who are still kind of in love (and lust) with each other. The way his children play a role in the story, his friends, his restaurant, an overnight trip together (with only 1 bed!Like magnets, Yasmen and Josiah are always drawn to each other, and now both are beginning to wonder if it really is too late to let it all go. Before I Let Go tells the story of a divorced couple who are trying to move past the pain they’ve caused each other to continue co-parenting their two children.

When the rug is pulled out from under the life the thought they would have forever, how do they pretend it's not seismic? Now they are managing to find their footing again, running a successful restaurant, co-parenting their sensitive, intellectually gifted son Kassim and their ambitious, confident daughter, Deja. Yasmen and Josiah’s story serves as a reminder that the best things in life are worth fighting for, and that a successful relationship requires more than simply loving each other. She is the first Black author to win the romance industry’s prestigious RITA Award, recently redubbed the Vivian, for her novel Long Shot. I would argue that what we’ve made is stronger, truer than most marriages because of the freedom it allows us.Before I Let Go is an ode to supporting the emotional needs of your partner and learning to be gentle with yourself. Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she’s is finally starting to find joy again. Devastating, thought provoking, and so hopeful, this deeply romantic second-chance love story brought out all my emotions. For a second, Yasmen looked distressed, but then, despite feeling like someone dragged me over hot coals and needles, I laughed.