Review of 'Before I Let Go' by Marieke Nijkamp

Kyra and Corey have been best friends forever. But Kyra is different in their tiny little town of Lost, Alaska. She's shunned her entire life for those differences by most people, her days and nights on end without sleeping, her wanderings that have her parents and others searching for her for days, her deep depressions. Kyra is bipolar. And not even her closest friend fully understands what she is going through. Medications don't work, therapy doesn't work. Corey's family moves to Canada and a promise is made that she will return to Kyra as soon as possible. But her new school and life keep her from writing back to her friend and before years end she receives a call telling her that Kyra has fallen through the ice and drowned. Corey, heartbroken, returns for her memorial service to find Kyra's paintings throughout the town, paintings that appear to foretell what is to come there, even her own death. And the town that shunned her now revering her and pushing Corey away as an outsider. Corey knows that something is terribly wrong here.....and that the Kyra they are describing is not the Kyra that was. As she seeks the truth, even Kyra's parents turn against her and its clear that her own life is at risk as she awaits the day of her departure. Kyra's fantastic and painful experiences and thoughts as a young woman struggling with bipolar disorder are both beautifully written and heartbreakingly felt. Highly recommend!

My sincere thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for sharing this title.