The most satisfying thing about this book? Watching that world come crashing down as the book shifts into Part Two. Part One moves at a slow pace, carefully crafting a world all its own. At some point right before the book changes gears (and trust me, you’ll know when this is happening), I did find myself wondering what this story was marching along towards. Characters isolate themselves and show terrible judgment as they each try to cope with their individual burdens. The book’s first half is emotional and heavy. We feel the reverberations of this tragedy, and watch as our story’s characters struggle to carry its weight. We see the accident from the perspective of the police officers tasked with finding the boy’s killer-we see how this case has consumed the lead detective’s life, causing him to undermine his personal relationships and ignore his family in a single-minded search for justice. We see the accident from the mother’s perspective-we witness her heartbreak, her worst nightmare come to life, and her inability to cope with her guilt at not being able to protect her son from this tragedy. The reader is presented with various perspectives on the book’s central crime: a hit and run accident where a young boy is killed, and the driver never stops to help.

Part One of this book is all about stage-setting. The twists that define and propel the second half of the book are made possible by Mackintosh’s fastidious character development in the book’s first half. Mackintosh uses Part One of the book to lay the foundation for a big reveal that the reader won’t see coming.

The little details in the first half of the book that might seem tedious as you’re first reading them become hugely important in the book’s second half. Part One is atmospheric, contemplative, and emotional Part Two is dark, raw, and shocking. This book is best discussed just as the author structures it: in two parts. This story is tragic, heart-wrenching, shocking, and gasp-out-loud good. I LET YOU GO follows a mother hiding out in a secluded cottage, attempting to heal from her son's untimely loss, and the two detectives tasked with finding the boy's killer. But the car doesn't stop-it drives off into the night, leaving the mother to watch her son die in her arms. On a dark evening, walking her son home from school, a mother's worst nightmare comes true: he slips from her grasp and runs into the road, where he is hit by a speeding car. I LET YOU GO by Clare Mackintosh tells the story of a mother reeling from the tragic death of her son.

Clare macintosh i let you go