Before I Let Go

      Contributed by Eli, gr. 12, Jan 2019

      
This book is engrossing and atmospheric, and it made me want to read other mystery novels, but I think the number of unanswered questions and the ambiguous ending might frustrate readers. The story is marketed as a contemporary thriller about a girl who returns to her former hometown, a remote Alaskan community, to investigate the death of her friend. However, I found the description misleading, as the book feels more like a cautionary tale about the dangers of neglect and prejudice.

While I personally enjoyed my reading experience, the elements of magical realism do not quite fit into the novel’s overall plot. The main character appeared scientific and rational at first, but her understated reactions to the bizarre events and the disturbing behavior of the townsfolk prevented me from fully understanding her. Many of the strange coincidences that she discovered were not explained, and it was unclear whether certain scenes only took place in her imagination. The book has excellent suspense, but the details did not all add up, and there was not enough information about the protagonist and the history of the town for me to feel fully grounded.

I would recommend this novel primarily because it deals with important topics: intense friendship, mental illness, the desire to belong, crimes going unpunished, and suspicion toward someone who is “different”. It can be a difficult story to read, since loss and loneliness are central to the plot, and it also contains violence. The conclusion in particular does not seem intended to be satisfying, but to leave the reader with a sense of unease. Despite its weaker aspects, this is one of the most gripping books I have read recently, and the themes and writing style left a lasting impression on me.