I wasn't too sure about this one, but since a friend told me that I had to read this book, I figured I would give it a shot. I'm so happy that I did because she was right, I loved it! I couldn't get enough of this story/plot. I had to know what was going to happen next. Lovely writing and I loved the character development as well. Another great read!

A book that had my attention from the get go! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.and would recommend to friends

A predictable thriller where a teen commits suicide and the friend left behind doesn't believe it to be true.

Whilst I desperately wanted to like the book after reading the synopsis and looking forward to starting it I just didn't enjoy it. Unfortunately the story felt flat and the characters under developed and therefore I was not invested

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 town talks about Kyra's death in a hushed tone about the lost daughter, saying her death was meant to be. They push Corey away like she is a stranger. Corey knows that something is very wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. But trying to piece together the death of her best friend proves to be more difficult than lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter...
This was a interesting read, I was invested to find out what happened to Kyra, but on the other hand it wasn't one of the best stories I have ever read.. I tried to stay into the book, I praise the author for trying to hold my attention, I just felt that it was a very slow coming to the suspenseful portions of the story. I however didn't really enjoy the whole plot, I did enjoy the setting as I am a North Carolina girl who has always wanted to visit Alaska..
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book..

I’ve determined I don’t like this author’s writing style and cannot give a good review for her. Sorry, I can’t.

I really enjoyed this book. I was so gripped that I ended up reading it in two sittings. It had such a spooky atmosphere and all the characters were really creepy. I also really enjoyed the fact that there were various storytelling formats mixed in, such as letters and phone calls.

The only real problem I had was that there were some things that didn't get explained, but that didn't bother me too much, and overall I loved this book, and can't wait to see what Marieke comes out with next.

On the one hand, it has a very interesting premise. But a lot of the time, I had no idea what was going on, and that stayed with me for the rest of the book. It just felt so all over the place. The characters were meh. The plot was confusing.

This is a story about two girls who live in the small Alaskan village of Lost Creek, Corey and Kyra. They have been best friends all growing up. Kyra is an outcast in the town which makes her friendship to Corey even more special to her. When Corey gets accepted to college and moves away Kyra makes her promise that she'll stay in contact and come back for her. Corey does, but life gets in the way and she returns fewer letters than she wants. A couple days before Corey is scheduled to go back she gets a call telling her that Kyra was found, deceased, under the ice in a local pond. That doesn't make any sense to Corey. They grew up around and on that pond. Corey goes back to Lost Creek, AK to say her goodbye and to try to understand. It was a real page turner for me. I was trying to figure out if it was accident, suicide, murder or even something magical. However, I was so disappointed with the ending. I felt like there were just so many unanswered questions. Questions that arose during the story but never resolved.

I have been on the hunt for the next great YA book, but unfortunately, this wasn't it for me. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. The plot was an interesting idea and centered around the following ideas: bipolar, friendship, suicide, family, and loss. It took place in Alaska which is one of the reasons I chose the book.

Cory had to move away from her best friend, Kyra. Cory always promised to return, but right before her planned visit, Kyra was found dead under the ice in the lake. The townspeople didn't understand Kyra's strange ways and considered her an outcast for most of her life. Cory set out to learn if Kyra really did commit suicide or was she murdered by someone in the town? She knew the people in town were hiding something, and she wasn't leaving until she figured it out.

I gave this book three stars. I wanted to know what happened, so I stuck with it, but I could have easily skipped to the end of the book to learn why Kyra died. I personally wouldn't recommend it to my middle school students, but I have a feeling that there are kids out there who would like this sort of book.

Instead of the reunion they had planned, Corey returned to Lost, Alaska, where she had lived her entire life until 7 months ago when she moved away, to attend her best friend Kyra's funeral. When she tries to investigate her friend's bizarre death, she finds that the entire town now considers Kyra to have been a prophet and they turn against Corey so she doesn't find out and expose the truth.

This book was simply okay for me. I loved how the story kept me guessing and seeking answers but the writing style just wasn’t my taste.

I had a hard time getting into this book, it was interesting as first, but as the book went on, the plot just kind of got away from me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

My middle school students love this author, so I was excited to read this book. (I’d still like to try This Is Where It Ends.)

At the risk of spoilers, I need to say that NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED in this book. There was no plot progression-- I could have shuffled the pages into a completely random order and it would have been just about the same story. I am all for self-discovery, coming-of-age stories, but this one just didn’t work for me. There were attempts at mystery and intrigue, but nothing was ever revealed to justify those hints.

I will say that the setting was pretty cool, and added to the sense of mystery. But honestly, I’m not even sure you could classify this as a mystery because, well, nothing is discovered.

This book would be appropriate for my 8th grade students, and some might enjoy the mysterious qualities of the story.

I'm sad to say, that this one wasn't a hit for me. Let me put a few things out there to start --
*I received a free e-galley of this book from the publisher before publication, but am just now reading it.
*I read this one on audio and did not use the e-copy.
*I am 35 and not YA, so obviously not the intended audience.

This is a paranormal (at least a touch of paranormal) YA suspense. I didn't connect with any of the characters and found the paranormal aspects a bit odd. I felt a bit confused as to where this one was going - just stick to paranormal or not...but this was somewhere in between. I found all of the characters a bit wishy-washy and just strange. People don't act like this, even angsty teenagers. Adults don't act like this. Small towns (even small towns in Alaska!) don't act this way. Whatever, I finished and the ending wasn't stellar or disappointing really, just an ending. This might be a hit for some YA readers, but it wasn't a hit for me, unfortunately. Nothing really WRONG with it, just nothing right for me as a reader.

I am unsure how I feel about Before I Let Go. I felt invested going in but in the end I just feel like this book is average. It felt cliche and after awhile I got bored. This book was compared to so many big titles that I was underwhelmed.

Initially I was hooked and intrigued about this story, however I felt like I was confused most of the time and the suspense was killed by the pacing and repetitive nature of the storyline and writing. Unfortunately, this did not mesh with me as much as I would've liked. I do not understand why some of the characters were written in a script format either...

I was really into this book at the beginning. It had an interesting plot and I liked the two main characters, Corey and Kyra, but somewhere near the middle of the book it just got too weird. And once it got weird, I had major issues staying interested in what happened.

I read this entire book today (my birthday, by the way) and I really enjoyed it! It was a bit dark and there was a good mystery to it. I found myself wondering (more than once) what was actual going on in this little town. I love when a book makes me question myself.

This book by Marieke Nijkamp had a very strong start. It was intriguing. It didn't hold my interest as it progressed, but still was ok.

Before I Let Go is a brilliant story of friendship and grief. Corey returns to her old home town after her best friend Kyra dies, but what she finds there is not at all what she is expecting. the community there is interesting and the gradual reveal of what happened to Kyra is both fascinating and horrifying. This book was not at all what I expected it to be, but it was a wonderful surprise and I very much enjoyed reading it.