Book review: before I let go, by Marieke Nijkamp.
1 What is the connection between the title and the book? Explain in detail with examples from the
book. How does the title relate to the main character/s?
- The connection between the title and the book is, that it represents the relation between Corey
and Kyra. The 2 girls were best friends when Corey still lived in lost and they told each other
everything. Kyra was a girl with a bipolar disorder, sometimes she was very busy and painting a lot
and other times she only sat in her room and was feeling depressed. In the book Kyra died by suicide
and Corey comes back to town, to go to Kyra's funeral, trying to understand why she committed
suicide and why nobody from the town tried to help her while there were hints everywhere for her
death. So the title before I let go mainly refers to the fact that Kyra left all kinds of letters and hints
before her death and Corey needs to find them and know the truth.
2 Characterization: What kind of person is/are the main character/s? In what ways does that
become clear to you as a reader? Explain with examples from the book.
- Kyra is a 16 year old girl who has a bipolar disorder, this means that sometimes she is just herself,
cheerful and talking a lot. But she also has moments when she is very depressed and just sits in her
room. These are times where she does a lot of painting, the people in her town think she likes
painting because she does it so often but it's really just a way to get through her manic periods.
-Corey is also a 16 year old girl. She is the best friend of Kyra. She is just a normal girl, who helps her
friend a lot through her bipolar disorder. She is happy and cares about others a lot, but she gets very
angry and confused when she went back to lost and found out that Kyra had already predicted her
death and no one was doing anything about it.
3 Who is your favourite character in the book and why? Explain with details of what he/she is
saying/doing in the book.
- My favourite character is Corey, this is because I can recognize myself in her and the book is written
from her perspective so that you really understand the person well. I think the way she handles thing
in the book are really impressive and I think she is really strong for going to her old town where she
is completely shut out and still tries to stand up for her friend.
4 Development: In what ways does the main character change or develop during the story? How do
you notice that as a reader? Give detailed examples from the book.
- The biggest change for the already happened in the beginning of the book, when she heard her
best friend had committed suicide. And when she went back to Lost she found out that Kyra
predicted her own dead and that you could see that al through town, but nobody saw it or did
something about it. This was a really unexpected development for Corey because she thought Kyra
died by accident. An example from the book is that Kyra has painted a wall with a big painting, but in
the painting you can see a girl laying under the ice and that represents Kyra's dead.
5 Conflict: What is the most important emotional conflict that the main character becomes involved
in? How does the writer end the conflict? Explain.
- The most important emotional conflict in the book is that Kyra died and that she went to her old
town to find answers about her dead. Corey gets involved in this because Kyra was her best friend
and she used to live in Lost. Corey initially went to lost to go to Kyra's funeral, but when she got
there she noticed that all the people were acting different. They made it look like they cared a lot
about Kyra but the only thing they really cared about were here paintings. The writer ended the
conflict with Corey who went back to her own town, with some of the letters Kyra left her.
1 What is the connection between the title and the book? Explain in detail with examples from the
book. How does the title relate to the main character/s?
- The connection between the title and the book is, that it represents the relation between Corey
and Kyra. The 2 girls were best friends when Corey still lived in lost and they told each other
everything. Kyra was a girl with a bipolar disorder, sometimes she was very busy and painting a lot
and other times she only sat in her room and was feeling depressed. In the book Kyra died by suicide
and Corey comes back to town, to go to Kyra's funeral, trying to understand why she committed
suicide and why nobody from the town tried to help her while there were hints everywhere for her
death. So the title before I let go mainly refers to the fact that Kyra left all kinds of letters and hints
before her death and Corey needs to find them and know the truth.
2 Characterization: What kind of person is/are the main character/s? In what ways does that
become clear to you as a reader? Explain with examples from the book.
- Kyra is a 16 year old girl who has a bipolar disorder, this means that sometimes she is just herself,
cheerful and talking a lot. But she also has moments when she is very depressed and just sits in her
room. These are times where she does a lot of painting, the people in her town think she likes
painting because she does it so often but it's really just a way to get through her manic periods.
-Corey is also a 16 year old girl. She is the best friend of Kyra. She is just a normal girl, who helps her
friend a lot through her bipolar disorder. She is happy and cares about others a lot, but she gets very
angry and confused when she went back to lost and found out that Kyra had already predicted her
death and no one was doing anything about it.
3 Who is your favourite character in the book and why? Explain with details of what he/she is
saying/doing in the book.
- My favourite character is Corey, this is because I can recognize myself in her and the book is written
from her perspective so that you really understand the person well. I think the way she handles thing
in the book are really impressive and I think she is really strong for going to her old town where she
is completely shut out and still tries to stand up for her friend.
4 Development: In what ways does the main character change or develop during the story? How do
you notice that as a reader? Give detailed examples from the book.
- The biggest change for the already happened in the beginning of the book, when she heard her
best friend had committed suicide. And when she went back to Lost she found out that Kyra
predicted her own dead and that you could see that al through town, but nobody saw it or did
something about it. This was a really unexpected development for Corey because she thought Kyra
died by accident. An example from the book is that Kyra has painted a wall with a big painting, but in
the painting you can see a girl laying under the ice and that represents Kyra's dead.
5 Conflict: What is the most important emotional conflict that the main character becomes involved
in? How does the writer end the conflict? Explain.
- The most important emotional conflict in the book is that Kyra died and that she went to her old
town to find answers about her dead. Corey gets involved in this because Kyra was her best friend
and she used to live in Lost. Corey initially went to lost to go to Kyra's funeral, but when she got
there she noticed that all the people were acting different. They made it look like they cared a lot
about Kyra but the only thing they really cared about were here paintings. The writer ended the
conflict with Corey who went back to her own town, with some of the letters Kyra left her.
