BEFORE I LET GO

USA Today bestselling author and Audie® Award-winner Kennedy Ryan writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Kennedy and her writings have been featured in NPR, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Glamour, Cosmo, Ebony, TIME, and many others. The co-founder of LIFT 4 Autism, an annual charitable book auction, she has a passion for raising Autism awareness. She is a wife to her “lifetime lover” and mother to an extraordinary son.

“Real, raw, magnificent.” —Colleen Hoover, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Yasmen and Josiah’s story is emotional, raw, real, grown-up… Kennedy Ryan has gifted us with yet another addictively delicious read.”―Tia Williams, New York Times bestselling author

“Kennedy Ryan pours her whole soul into everything she writes, and it makes for books that are heart-searing, sensual, and life affirming. We are lucky to be living in a world where she writes.” —Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author

1. In the prologue, we see Josiah and Yasmen young and in love. Later in the book, we get a very different view of their marriage soon after Byrd and Henry have died. And then we see several years post-divorce. Compare and contrast their relationship dynamics in each stage. Who were they then versus who they are now?

2. Details of the two catastrophic losses and Yasmen’s subsequent depression unfold over the course of the first few chapters. What emotions did you feel as it became clearer what had happened and how Yasmen had responded?

3. What were your first impressions of Yasmen’s two closest friends, Soledad and Hendrix? How did they help with Yasmen’s recovery? How are the women alike, and in what ways are they different?

4. How did reading Josiah’s point of view affect your impression of him after the opening chapters of the book from Yasmen?

5. Therapy plays a huge role in the book, and there is a lot of discussion about grief and depression. In some circles, therapy is still stigmatized. How did therapy and perceptions about therapy impact the characters and story? Did it change your views in any way? What were some of the things the story asked you to consider about grief and depression?

6. Did you see any ways in which Yasmen and Deja’s relationship was reflected through Yasmen and Carole’s? How do mothers and daughters influence each other? And how about Aunt Byrd’s role? In what ways do people live on through others?

7. Were Josiah’s initial fear and skepticism when Yasmen asked him to come home justified? How did they make you feel?

8. Before I Let Go is a romance, but also leans into elements of women’s fiction and empowerment. What were some of the elements that highlighted the unique challenges women sometimes face and the various choices the women in this story make? Was there one woman’s journey you identified with most?