Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – Letting Go by Jacquie Biggar (book 1 in the Defiant Sisters)

Published on by dgkaye

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m reviewing Jacquie Biggar’s (book 1 in the Defiant Sisters) – Letting Go. A story about family loss and two sisters who share different opinions about handling what they’ve experienced.

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Blurb:

A coming-of-age novel about the pain of misconceptions and learning from them.

When life gives you lemons…


Izzy

Mom is barely in the grave and the prodigal child is here to pick the bones clean.

I don’t want her here. My sister’s defection is a wound that won’t heal, and her return simply rubs at the scabs covering my heart.

I’ve managed just fine without her. She can go back to her fancy college and forget about us- that’s what she does best anyway.

If only I didn’t need her help. Or miss her so much.

Renee

The day my dad committed suicide I ran. I’ve been running ever since.

Going home is supposed to be the answer. Instead, it makes me question every thoughtless decision I’ve made.

My sister hates me. My little brother barely knows me. And Simon… is engaged.

None of it matters- or so I tell myself. I’m here to make amends and face a past haunted by regret.

As long as I can convince myself to stay.

Letting Go is a new adult romance dealing with tragedy, restitution, and love in all its aspects. The story relates to sensitive topics that may be triggering for some readers.

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My 5 Star Review:

Grief, hurt, and family. Everyone is affected differently by death. And when the father of this family took his own life, daughter Renee flees the home after witnessing it, leaving behind her sister Izzy and younger brother Ben and their mother. But after the mother dies from cancer, (where the book begins), Renee returns to the unwelcoming arms of her sister Izzy who was left to take care of her brother Ben twelve years of age, and their mother. Renee had fled, and Izzy carried the load. We’ll also learn of Renee’s heart throb Simon, now a paramedic Renee left behind too – unsettled love.

Renee returns for her mother’s funeral and upon her return is faced with confronting all those she left behind, still carrying the torch for Simon too. But Simon is now engaged to Lacey and when Renee comes back to town there is a small accident that happens between Simon’s grandmother and Renee – bringing the two ill-fated lovers back into each other’s orbit – and those unsettled feelings between them bubble up.

It’s evident the two lovers still had feelings for each other, and in this story, the tension between the two is electrifying. Izzy holds a lot of resentment toward her sister Renee for abandoning her in their dire family time. But Renee begins to see the damage she has caused in abandoning her now small family and decides it’s time to move herself and her physiotherapy practice back to her home town to help her sister and raise her brother Benjamin. But Izzy can’t let go of the hurt, and we’ll have to read book 2 to find out how this plays out, and what will become of Simon and Renee.

The story is written from the POVs of Izzy, Renee, and Simon in first person. Each character takes us into their own thoughts, wounds, and aspirations. This book is written as a new age adult genre, which explores many growing up adult situations that the younger gen are faced with – feelings, life decisions, romance, hurt, grief, and love.

©DGKaye2024

52 thoughts on “Sunday Book Review – Letting Go by Jacquie Biggar (book 1 in the Defiant Sisters)”

  11. Debby – your mastery of book reviews is truly remarkable. You had we on pins and needles to find out what comes next. Jacquie – looking forward to exploring your writing!!!

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  13. Every coming-of-age story is the same. And everyone is as different as the specific locale and characters. That’s why I keep reading memoirs and fiction. Thanks for a super review, Debby!

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  14. Jacquie has created an interesting scenario with this one. I like stories that put two characters with a different perspective in the same situation.

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  17. I’m so glad you got to this book, Debby. It’s so good. I really like the way Jacquie writes the complexity of sibling relationships. Congrats to Jacquie on the wonderful review. 🙂

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  20. Jacquie seems to have tapped insightfully into family dynamics.

    This book’s premise is bound to take the dynamics to greater heights. Lots of room for tension. There’s also room for a lot more form the sounds of it, in books 2 & 3.

    I enjoyed this review, Debby, Thank you!

    Congrats to Jacquie on this intriguing series!

    🌹❦🌹❦🌹❦

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      1. Welcome!
        Hope you’re holding up well in this heat dome. This is not how I remember late spring/early summer. Hugs! xoxo❦🌹

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      2. OMG, seriously!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Two hours at the gym, aircon turned to 62F, all fans on, and I thought I was going to pass out. Then, walk outside, and it hits you like a pizza oven! Stay inside! 🙂 ❤

        Liked by 1 person

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