When We Let Go | Rochelle B. Weinstein | Book Review

When We Let Go is all about loss, grief, guilt, love, healing, relationships, forgiveness, and second chances. The cover of this book was so exquisite that I wasn't able to resist it, and the blurb just added to its appeal. I wanted to read something that would make me cry harder and more rawly, and this book had what it promised.

Avery moved to Miami to get away from the place that reminded her daughter's death, her sister's deceit, and the loss of everything precious to her. Hoping for a new beginning, she bottled up her past and buried it so deep inside herself that she had forgotten a portion of it existed. When her long-time boyfriend, Jude, a widowed father, proposes to her for marriage, her tongue is tied by the guilt and heaviness of not sharing a part of herself that shapes her reality. When her estranged elder sister, Willow, informed her about her father's hospitalization, she decided to take a break from all that was going on in her recent life to face the life that she left behind in North Carolina. Avery shares her journey with the beautiful and horrifying memories of her ex-boyfriend-Oliver. Until Avery is stuck with the daughter of her boyfriend, Elle, who is still mourning the loss of her mother, dislikes Avery and disapproves of her dad's relationship with Avery.

This novel was incredibly divine; the intensity and rawness of the emotions were palpable. It keeps me on edge all the time, gives me goosebumps, raises my heart rate, and words start to blur in front of me, so I close the book to let my tears flow, and then I read the following chapter, promising not to cry again, and it happens again, several times. In every way, I thoroughly loved this book. Not only do I adore Avery, but I also love Willow and Elle. Three of them are like life support for each other. I do not want to let them go. When the past is too beautiful, too good to be true, how heartbreaking it was to move on from it, the author eloquently writes it.

I've never read any novels by Rochelle B. Weinstein, but now if I ever need to read a deeply emotional book, I'll always read one of hers. I aww with the relationship Avery shared with Oliver and was especially pleased by the one shared with Jude. This entire novel is grounded in reality and manages to bring up the critical topic of mental health. I feel the trauma of heartbreak and am astounded by the process of healing, forgiveness, and character developments.

It focuses not just on the mother-daughter relationship but also on the sisters' bond and growing up without a mother's presence. After committing too many mistakes and surviving from them, there is still hope to redeem and forgive them. Giving yourself a second chance is the most admirable part. And the romance is not soft in this book but intense, heavy, and laced with pain.

Recommendation

Best Quote of  When We Let Go