I am back with another book review, today it is the psychological thriller debut I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh. Thanks so much to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
I don't even know where to start this review, so much happened in this book.
I'm going to try and keep this fairly vague, because this book is a thriller, and truly, if you get spoiled for this book, there are so many twists, you need to experience it all first-hand.
For the majority of this book, we get two POV's, one of the detectives, Ray, and Jenna, a mother who lost her son, trying to escape her devastating past and move on. This book also has a third POV that comes into play a little bit later, but I won't really get into that, because it will reveal too much.
The two main detectives on this case at the Bristol Police Station are Ray and Kate. We don't get as much info about Kate as we do Ray, but I didn't mind. Between the rush of finding the hit-and-run driver, we get glimpses of Ray's family life, with his wife, Mags, a former cop, and their two children Lucy and Tom. There is some tension within the family, Tom isn't fitting in in secondary school, and Ray isn't at home as much as he should be. I liked the family dynamic, it made the story feel a little more real, not just two cops sitting a police station all the time. There, of course, was also some twists in Ray's personal life, with his connection with his partner Kate perhaps being more than professional, and his son Tom's bullying. These events were a nice break from the fast-paced, trying to find out what happened aspects of the accident.
The other character we get is Jenna. Her perspectives are all told in first person, where Ray's are third, so the transition is a bit jarring at first. I was confused at first, but then realized we were in the perspective of the mother. Jenna is racked with grief and guilt, while people are blaming the driver, they are also reprimanding the mother who let go of her son's hand. She gets on a bus and ends up in a small seaside town where she can escape her past. A variety of events happen, including her finding a puppy left to die, and falling for the vet who helps save him. She just settles into her new life when her past comes back for her. I won't say too much because Jenna has a lot of secrets that you need to experience yourself.
I will say, this is a thriller at it's finest. I started this book at around 9pm last night and stayed up to 1:30am trying to finish it because I. COULD. NOT. PUT. IT. DOWN. With 100 pages left, I begrudgingly put it down to get some sleep. But those last 100 pages are crazy. So much happens, the build up is unreal. One thing just gets resolved and then another comes up to attack. I pretty much held my breath for those last 100 pages because it was so intense.
I was glad with how everything ended, and then that epilogue, oh that epilogue killed me. I know the author is writing another book, but apparently it isn't a sequel, but that epilogue needs an epilogue. I've got a sneaking suspicion that even though it isn't a sequel, that perhaps they are somehow related... Because how can you end a book like that? Are we just supposed to think she is paranoid? Because the body was never recovered...
Overall, I Let You Go is a spectacular debut dealing with a myriad of issues from domestic abuse, marital issues, loss and grief.