REVIEW & GIVEAWAY of Before I Let You Go by Kelly Rimmer

Paperback, 384 pages

Expected publication: April 3rd 2018 by Graydon House

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?

Both candid and compassionate, Before I Let You Go explores a hotly divisive topic and asks how far the ties of family love can be stretched before they finally break. 

My Thoughts…

I started this book with mixed feelings.    There was no doubt that it would be a tough story to read.    Kelly Rimmer wrote about drug abuse, sexual abuse, cult living, loss of a father, and having to grow up too fast.   There is nothing easy about any of those topics but she managed to take care and write a truthful and hard story without making lite of them.  My eyes were open with the loss of a father and how it can change everything in your life.   My heart was filled and then broke with the love between the sisters.      I had tears, I smiled, I giggled, and I sighed all while enjoying every page of Before I Let You Go.

Lexie drove me nutty.    She had been in charge of her life, 100% in charge, for so long that she refused to ask or accept help from anyone.   It was a constant issue between her and her fiancé, it was a problem with her career, and it was a problem in her life.    I wanted to her to ask for help, I needed her to ask for help, but I understood why it was so difficult for her to do so.    If she gave up any part of the control her life could spiral out of control.   As a child, after her dad died, she didn’t have control and she lost control, having the roughest years.   Her fiancé was a hero to me.   He put up with her inability to ask for help, he accepted that her sister needed help, and he didn’t pressure her to live life his way.   He accepted her as she was with her flaws and supported her.  

Before I Let You Go is not easy to read.   It is tough, it is raw, and it is heartbreaking.   Yet, I am so very happy to have had the chance to read this story.     The story made me think and made me open my heart to some amazing characters.   

                           

Thank you Katie Olsen at Little Bird Publicity for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.  

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