Marité's Book Review: Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

Description:

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...

Marité's  Review:

BEFORE I LET GO is a novel as dry as the ice that covers Lost Creek. From the moment Corey steps off of the plane and lands in the town of Lost to the moment she steps back on the plane the reader is blown from flashback to flashback with no character development made whatsoever or little to no relevant information divulged to further advance the story which takes place over the period of five, I quote, "...endless nights, endless days" that seemed to stretch on for forever when one is forced to read this book due to pure determination to write this review. The theme of endless nights, endless days continued further into the storyline as the reader is introduced repetitively to a moment in which a passage was "first mentioned" in an effort from the author to provoke a sorrowful, emotional response. However, all this incited, besides boredom that was as constant as the snowfall, was irritation and confusion. Irritation, yes, from the interactions of the cult-like townspeople, but mostly from the books pretense of accurately representing a diverse cast of characters which in the end appeared as a thinly veiled ploy to diversify the book. Even Kyra's bipolar disorder which played the integral role of this story was only semi-relatable and the dialogue that surrounded it appeared to have been written from something researched from a professional standpoint rather than an authentic viewpoint of someone who suffers from the mental illness, or someone who has a first-hand account. ( I being the latter.)

To make matters more confusing, a lot of the incidents that took place concerning the hallucinations or-what-have-yous did not hold a deeper meaning to the true storyline and only served as a spooky mystery that was left unanswered. Leaving the reader to wonder how much was actually happening or how much was due to the harsh conditions Corey was subjected to. To describe this reading experience was best said by Kyra when she said: "And no matter how hard they tried, they could not escape being lost." As will be any reader who picks up this book.

Verdict: ☕

About the Author:

Marieke Nijkamp was born and raised in the Netherlands. A lifelong student of stories, language, and ideas, she is more or less proficient in about a dozen languages and holds degrees in philosophy, history, and medieval studies. She is a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, geek. 

Marieke's debut young adult novel This Is Where It Ends, a contemporary thriller that follows four teens over the course of the fifty-four minutes of a school shooting, will be published by Sourcebooks Fire in January 2016. Visit her at mariekenijkamp.com.