If I Let You Go: The Heartbreaking, Shocking Richard and Judy Book Club Pick

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The characters are so well written, they’re definitely ones that will stay with me and despite this only being Charlottes second book, she has definitely edged her way onto my list of favourite authors. Her transformation from a cowed, colorless individual into a women wholly alive for the first time in years. Heartrending and surprising, with an very believable protagonist, this is a tale of loss, grief, abuse and fractured relationships. The emotional intelligence that underpins this novel is very impressive and I'll be reading more from Charlotte Levin before long, that's for sure. It's clear from the start that something isn't right between the pair, Colin is horrible towards Janet, never lets her go out and always expects her to do everything for him.

I love Janet, she is brave, gutsy and caring she does not get everything right but she has the courage to put the one foot in front of the other. I was wondering how Charlotte would follow her triumph of a debut, and my gosh, she has somehow delivered. She is very real and I liked how the author lets the reader into her innermost thoughts and feelings, allowing her to confide her darkest secrets so that we understand her rather than judge. There is a huge focus of trauma in this book and how it affects you on a day to day basis, the way it was explored was just fabulous.This is a painfully authentic reflection about the dark side of grief and loss that can seep into every aspect of life - it takes us to difficult places, but Levin offers a comforting hand to try and guide us through this journey and hope for a little bit of a light at the end. The story embraces some difficult topics — loss, grief, guilt, blame — but Levin handles them with the utmost sensitivity.

We peek behind the outward face of Janet to see how she navigates life as the day that would have been her daughter's eighteenth birthday. Despite Colin's control, she manages to go out on a night out to celebrate a colleagues leaving party.I loved the ending too (for a while I thought we were going in a different direction, and Janet deserved so much more than that - I'm glad she got it). I also enjoyed Charlotte Levins “ If I Can’t Have You” which was also darkly original and can only say I think this is even better.

She’s a likeable character, and Levin manages to make her sympathetic even as the universal praise for her brave rescue of another little girl from a train crash goes to Janet’s head, and she briefly becomes rather arrogant. With Claire on her mind, she is caught on camera screaming about how there’s a little girl that needs help; a little girl that she has given CPR too. A decent enough story but for me, it never really got going and the end was lacking and felt a bit rushed.Janet’s character was flawed , but I could totally understand why and I was really rooting for her the whole time , her husband Colin is an abuser in the form of coercive control and mental abuse , I found his character sickening, he was a disgusting human being . If I Let You Go is a story that quietly worms its way under your skin, gradually revealing the details of its protagonist’s life. I grow increasingly disenfranchised with thrillers; so many seem geared toward parents and totally miss the mark for me. Janet is a decent human being with so much to offer to anyone blessed with more humanity and self-awareness than her self-obsessed husband is able or willing to show her and her gradual discovery of the right path forward is slow but so believable. She could be cruel (her actions toward Mary illustrate this well) and I found her so difficult to empathize with or like.