I Let You Go
Rating: 4/5
First time read
Clare Mackintosh's book jumps right in, beginning the moment before a five-year-old boy is tragically killed in a hit and run after his mother briefly lets go of his hand. Jenna Gray's life is then horrifically split into a "before" and "after." We navigate the next year switching between her point of view and the detectives trying to solve the case. In the beginning, we feel the intense grief of our main narrator, Jenna, as she moves to an out-of-the-way cliffside village. As she attempts to escape the memories of the fateful accident, her own injury and her heartbreak, we start to gain interest in her future but also get subtle glimpses of her mysterious past. All the while, we're watching the detectives dig through the scattered and vague clues while losing support for their investigation as time passes. But then, hold onto your britches, because there’s a huge twist! My jaw literally dropped. Once you read back, it all makes sense and you see where Mackintosh cleverly kept details vague. You then get a whole new character’s point of view, which I thought was an entertaining addition to the revelation. It adds a lot to the history of an original character’s story. In part one, the pace was a little slow, and Jenna's passiveness throughout the book sometimes irritated me. Particularly in part two...I just wanted to shake her and make her realize what was happening, but I think that was the point. There's nothing you can do—a miserable parallel to real-life scenarios. Otherwise, this was such a well-written page-turner. I actually didn't want my commutes to end so I could continue reading. If you’re a fan of thrillers like me, you’ll love this book. I feel I’ve seen or can guess every surprise ending (which is completely not true, but I like to think), but the way Mackintosh presents this one and the way she crafted the narratives created a completely fresh experience for me and I truly enjoyed it.
