Review of I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh 

Goodreads/Amazon/Author Website
Release date: May 3, 2016

Publisher: Berkley/NAL

Genre: Mystery/Psychological Thriller

Goodreads blurb: 

On a rainy afternoon, a mother’s life is shattered as her son slips from her grip and runs into the street . . .

 

I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past. 

 

At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them. 

Review:

Every parents worst nightmare comes true at the start of this book. Five year old Jacob is killed in a car accident and for Jenna Gray, life will never be the same again.

Though the events unfolding in this book are tragic and absolutely awful, part one of this book gently lulls the reader into a sense of complacency. It takes the entire first part of the novel for the real action to begin as it sets the stage for completely mind blowing events.

Then part one ends.

I literally gasped and covered my mouth when I read the last paragraph of part one, I needed some time to collect myself. I set the book down as my mind was racing trying to work out what I had just read, and what I had missed. I found myself frantically flipping pages towards the beginning, then reading and rereading the last paragraph. I was that blown away.

Part two is where things get tense. I was glued to each and every word, completely absorbed. Told alternately from Jenna’s point of view, then the police investigating the accident was clever and interesting. I was blindsided again and again as the book went on and revealed shocking turns and unique angles. The first half of the book took me a day or so while part two took me a matter of hours.

The twists are such a sucker punch that I’m scared to say more though I would love to as they’re that good. Mackintosh wrote a stunning debut and if you are a fan of psychological thrillers like Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and My Girl then don’t miss I Let You Go. 

Overall rating: 4.5/5 

18 thoughts on “Review of I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh ”

  1. Lauren Busser says:
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    Lauren Busser's avatar

    I fricken loved this book! I keep talking it up to everyone I meet and a woman in my writing group just started it! She says she’s loving it. It’s such a fantastic book! I actually had to run off to Book Depository and get a copy of her next book which comes out next week!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Annie says:
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    Ani - The Misstery's avatar

    I loved this one, although I saw it coming. I was thinking: but what if… that would be awesome! And it was just that hahaha I’ve just read her second novel ^^

    Liked by 1 person

    • novelgossip says:
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      novelgossip's avatar

      I know exactly what you mean! I too had heard quite a bit of hype so while reading I kept waiting for the big “reveal” and trying to guess! Luckily I didn’t guess right so it still gut punched me. You’ll have to let me know what you think once you read it.

      Like

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