Lucy has had a tough life. She was abandoned by her parents and grew up in foster care where she lived with and became friends with Amber. When Amber disappears, Lucy is obviously a suspect since they left for the woods together and only Lucy returned. As a reader you don’t know because Lucy has gaps in her memory.

After such a hard life, it is sad to see that Lucy is still surrounded by people that aren’t nurturing and supportive of her. You would hope she could break the cycle.

You then fast forward and a body is found in the woods. The reader is left wondering if it is Ambers and what happened to that body.

There are twists and turns along the way. The first 2/3rds to 3/4s of the book moves at a slow pace, but the last piece picks up and hops along as you learn everyone’s secrets.

I Let Her Go by JA Andrews MUST be put on your TBR pile for 2021!!! I am one of JA’s super fans and have been since Mummy’s Boy and can tell you this one is his best!! Oh it is intense, deals with difficult subjects, twisted, so suspenseful, shocking. JA has a gift in this genre and with each book he writes they just keep getting better.

I absolutely loved the cover of JA’s book! It was so different and unique from most of his other covers. It made me curious to know what the book was about.

JA Andrews dedicates this book to his Nan and Grandad (Joy and Richard Barry) with his many fond memories of the creek. Although they both never lived to read his novels, I’m sure they would have enjoyed them.

Thank you JA Andrews for letting me be a Beta Reader for you on this book. It was an honor and a privilege to help you. The finished product turned out amazing.

I commend JA for expressing concern for the wellbeing of his readers as their are difficult subjects such as domestic abuse and suicide thoughts discussed in this book. If you find yourself in a similar situation he hopes you have a good support system.

For me I always love knowing how the author comes up with the idea for their book. We learn at the end of the book the inspiration behind the creek setting. It is a sweet story that made me smile.

JA grabbed onto my heart and held onto it tight for the prologue!! Boy oh boy was that an emotional one!!! An eleven year old girl writing such a powerful and heartbreaking letter! Oh I knew this was going to be a good book that was going to keep my attention the whole way through!

I was cracking up laughing at the part when JA mentioned Josh’s job in Telecommunications Company in Complaints wasn’t his dream job. I used to work for a Telecommunication Company once I can totally understand it was not his dream job!

Linda was not my favorite character at all; she was so cold! She reminded me of Kathy Bates from Misery!! Oh yeah she was creepy!

The big mystery in this book is what happened to Amber?! Where did she go? Why did she run away?

Each of these characters had such an intense and troubled background that made them who they are today. It makes for an interesting read however it is a very sad read.

This book deals with anger management, domestic abuse, suicidal thoughts, foster parenting, jealousy, alcoholism,infidelity, etc.

There were moments in this book that were like OMG he went there that was a shady man!! But WOW oh so good!!!

I’ll let her go had so many twists, turns, shocking mind blowing climatic moments that will blow you away!!

I can’t wait to read JA Andrew’s next novel Behind Her Smile coming out in November!

A carefully written story which builds up the main characters comprehensively and slowly. It explores friendships that are deep rooted and forged during teenage years of shared adversity in care.
At times the story built a little too slowly for me but this added to the depth and greater understanding and engagement with the individuals involved and insights into their character flaws and inner problems.
The last third or so of the story pulls lots of punches as secrets are revealed and the pace quickens. I didn’t see most of the surprises coming and it was definitely edge of the seat stuff. Overall a very enjoyable read, thank you.

he central characters are all damaged in some way by their pasts and that shared history has a direct impact on the events in the book. Josh, Lucy and Linda act as the narrators and all three are unreliable, so at no point does the reader ever feel that they have a true grasp on what is going on. It is only through the different points of view that we get a picture of what the characters are really like and even then we are not sure we really have a handle on them. None of them really trust each other and this fact only adds to the sense of tension and suspense. The big reveal when it comes is unexpected but makes sense in the context of the characters' stories. There were one or two loose ends that weren't tied up but these were minor points so didn't detract too much from the story. Overall, this was a decent thriller that kept my attention and maintained the suspense throughout the narrative. The characters' backgrounds are difficult to comprehend for people who haven't been through the care system and I think as a society we would like to believe that things like this couldn't really happen. However, as we all too frequently find out, mistakes can be and are, made and sometimes the most vulnerable members of society are repeatedly let down by the systems which are meant to protect them. This is not an easy read if you look beyond the immediate 'thriller' aspect and delve more deeply into the underlying narrative.

This was a really GOOD BOOK and I pleasantly surprised! I would love to purchase it and add it to my collection. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending this over to me to read.

There are some genres that are so avidly read by me that the books from those genres can either be a hit or a miss. Unfortunately, this book falls in the second category.

I Let Her Go by J.A. Andrews had all the necessary premises that are needed to build up a good thriller. However, the writing style did not fit with my taste at all and I could not connect with the book.

Lucy is abandoned by her mother. She ends up in a foster home where she meets Amber. Amber and Lucy try to get away from the foster home. However, on that very day, after fleeing, Amber never returns. Is there something that Lucy hiding? Or is this a part of a bigger strategy?

From the beginning itself, I took a lot of time to devour into the story. It was not making any sense to me and the story seemed to be a very haphazard try.

However, this is completely my opinion on this book and may not ally with what you feel. My final verdict of this book will be that you are not missing anything if you don't pick this book up.

This is my first novel by J.A. Andrews and it made for a good and interesting read.

We follow Lucy and Amber both have a bond after being in foster care, fostered by Linda. We also meet Josh who is also a foster child. One day the girls go into the woods and only one comes out, missing for many years the mystery of Amber's disappearance is not clear. Fast forward many years and a body is found in the woods, which the reader asks "could it be Ambers body".

I did enjoy this book, it was not as easy reading like some novels that I have read in the past and I did find it a bit hard going but if this novel sounds like something you would enjoy then it is worth giving a read.

Thanks to J.A. Andrews, NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I Let Her Go is my first novel by J.A. Andrews.

When Lucy is abandoned by her mother, she ends up in a foster home. She thinks Amber, a girl she meets there, will be a friend for life after they make a pact. Josh is at the home, too. Linda is the foster carer. Amber and Lucy want to get away from her and they try to one day. But Amber doesn't return.

Where is she? Suspicions rise. Was Lucy really the good friend to Amber she claimed to be? I was wondering if she helped her escape or if she hurt her in some way as the story unfolded and was eager to see what would happen.

I did not like Josh and Linda, they seemed strict and self-centered. I did wonder if they had done something and also if Lucy was innocent.

Who is innocent and who is guilty? The tension is well built up and I liked the alternating points of view as a chapter structure because they helped go deeper into each character's experience and helped the already fast pace. The pacing was fast but not so fast I could not keep track of what was going on.

I Let Her Go is a twisty, at times slightly dark thriler that is gripping. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks to J.A. Andrews, as well as the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

4 stars

This is the story of two girls in foster care. One goes missing and now many years later a body is found in the woods. Could it be the missing girl?

The story is told from multiple POV and timelines. It really helps to have the current and past story mixed in to fill in the holes. This is a good book to read.

Wow. I was not expecting that! This was such a gripping read and you will feel like you've been given whiplash as some points.

I Let Her go was not what I was expecting but the twists definitely kept it interesting for the most part. I don’t really know if I liked any of the characters all though my heart did break for Lucy especially since she carried a lot of guilt for what happened with Amber. I know that I did not like Linda and especially Josh because they were awful sorry excuses for human beings.

The book didn’t end the way that I thought it was going to and I was definitely shocked at whose body was found.

Yeah, this was a no from me. I couldn't even finish the book because it was so bad. The cover is really nice though.

I Let her Go **3.5**
The opening of the book is a poignant letter written by a child Lucy to her mom who apparently abused her and she wants desperately to forgive and see her again. Most of the book is a reflection of horrific memories in a foster home with caretaker Linda. Lucy, abandoned by her mom and dad, finds consolation with another foster teen Amber. I'm not sure how this friendship bonded when she wreaked havoc and taunted Lucy on a daily basis.

When Amber is reported missing, Lucy bonds with Josh, also living in the home. The book navigates on the past and present and told in several POVS. In present time, Lucy and Josh are planning their wedding against the wishes of those closest to her due to his anger issues and erratic behavior. Lucy continues to have episodic memory and relives that horrible day when Amber disappeared.

When a body is found, the mood changes and everyone becomes a suspicious character. They all have secrets and worried about what will be revealed. The action is ramped up. You will want to keep reading in order to find out whose body they find.
Thank you NetGalley and Xpress Book Tours for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was a bit slow paced for me but I still enjoyed it. Don't get me wrongThe story was good I just think it could of been alot faster paced.

This was a jumbled mess of a book. To be honest - it read like it was self-released. There were too many plot holes and the story and twist did not live up to the 'hype'.

This is 100% a pass for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was a very quick and easy read. I didn’t have problems with the multiple POVs. The plot was interesting but the mystery side of it fell flat. It took a really long time to develop and I was starting to drift away from the story towards the end. The characters were hard to like and it was tough to root for anyone by the end. The ending was very disappointing.

It took a while for me to get into this one … and it still didn’t wow me. It lacked the solid texture I’ve some to expect. I Let Her Go was underwhelming unfortunately.

"Some secrets should have stayed buried..."

Lucy was abandoned by her mother as a child and forced to fend for herself in foster care. Lucy meets Josh and Amber while in foster care . Amber and Lucy formed a pact, that they would forever be friends for life.. Amber and Lucy find refuge in the woods, both have formed a bond over their common fears and both had a difficult past. When Amber fails to make it out of the woods one day, most people assumed Amber has just run off, but did she?

Now, present time, Lucy is set to marry Josh but a body is found and Lucy is forced to face the past that haunts her.

Then a note is found and it says Lucy is next.

At times I felt like the pace was a little slow and the plot was a bit choppy. The premise was definitely intriguing and the cover is just beautiful.

This was a tough read. It was jumbled and hard to keep track of what was going on. Not in a sense that things were overly explained and complicated but it was so just… bland. Zero emotion it was a robotic style atmosphere for me. The story was told in multiple point of views and from the beginning I felt each character was just restating what someone else said about them.

Linda fostered three kids named Josh, Lucy and Amber. Amber disappeared and it was devastating (in a sense…) to Lucy. Josh is an angry man but in love with Lucy and they are planning out their wedding. Then things go haywire and everyone seems to have a secret that’s about to be uncovered.

Sounded sinister and exciting but… it was boring. Unfortunately this was not for me and I do not recommend it.

Thank you Xpresso Book Tours and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book had a really good storyline and plot. It took me awhile to get into this book but I enjoyed it. It had some unexpected twists and turns. Overall it's an enjoyable read.