Before I Let You Go by Kelly Rimmer – audio
Book Blurb:
The 2:00 a.m. call is the first time Lexie Vidler has heard her sister’s voice in years. Annie is a drug addict, a thief, a liar—and in trouble, again. Lexie has always bailed Annie out, given her money, a place to sleep, sent her to every kind of rehab. But this time, she’s not just strung out—she’s pregnant and in premature labor. If she goes to the hospital, she’ll lose custody of her baby—maybe even go to prison. But the alternative is unthinkable. As weeks unfold, Lexie finds herself caring for her fragile newborn niece while her carefully ordered life is collapsing around her. She’s in danger of losing her job, and her fiancé only has so much patience for Annie’s drama. In court-ordered rehab, Annie attempts to halt her downward spiral by confronting long-buried secrets from the sisters’ childhood, ghosts that Lexie doesn’t want to face. But will the journey heal Annie, or lead her down a darker path?
My Review: 4 stars
Before I Let You Go is story of sisters lost, sisters found and the effects of opiate addiction. This is a story that will tug at your heartstrings and want to grab the certain characters out of the book so you can slap them silly. I became interested in this title because of all the hype surrounding the author’s upcoming 2019 release, The Things We Cannot Say. In this case, all the hype is worthy for the book
The title of this book, Before I Let You Go, was perfect. It has so many meanings throughout the book: between a mother and her daughters, those daughters as sisters, those sisters as mothers. These relationships were at the heart of the book yet all of their drama came from addiction, rehab, adoption, foster care, religious cults, trust, abuse and love for your family.
Sadly, I know someone whose sibling has suffered from opiate addiction for years and the author described it almost exactly as my friend does. The meds used to help them detox, become another addiction. It’s just a circle of hell for those trying to get clean.
Learning why one sister became a successful doctor and the other one, although quite talented, did not, was built up in the story quite well. There were several storylines running throughout, which kept me engaged through the whole reading. All of the relational issues, except for one, was explored and understood. I just couldn’t wrap my head around why Lexie couldn’t trust her fiancé, nor open up to him. This book will certainly require a few tissues, fair warning given.
Note: I listened to this on audio and didn’t enjoy the narrator chosen to perform this. Usually that’s enough to make me stop listening, but the story was good enough to hold its own, which made me continue on.
Quotes I liked:
Addiction is, in that way, just like love – in the early moments, you don’t see the potential for it to bring you pain – it’s just something you slide into between laughs and smiles and moments of bliss. It’s something that feels like a shield, until you realize it’s actually a warhead, and it’s pointed right at you.”
-” It’s funny how every single thing in your life can shatter with a single decision; and not a decision I had any control over. Everything is suddenly broken, and there is nothing I can do to fix it.”
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