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Original poster

I let you go - anyone want to discuss? Possible spoilers!

30 replies

Brassica · 14/05/2015 12:46

I've just finished reading I let you go by Claire Mackintosh and find it is staying with me more than most books do and I'm not quite sure why.

Early on I found it irritating (police chapters) and upsetting in equal measure so I really dawdled over the first part. The twist absolutely threw me and suddenly it got a lot more interesting, in that I was taking the book to bed and reading ravenously. I still wouldn't say I thought it was that well written, mainly because the banter between Ray and Kate was unconvincing, and his home life quite predictable/unoriginal. But Ian's chapters…well, he was chilling.

Ian's 'voice' and the quality of the twist are what would lead me to recommend the book to others, yet overall I can't quite shake the feeling that it was a bit 'creative writing' as an exercise.

What did you think? And did you find the ending slightly ambiguous? I wasn't at all sure what to make of it, although I'd like to think it was all OK...

OP posts:

imaginative · 14/05/2015 18:47

I read it some time ago and was riveted. I really liked it. The twist was completely surprising. I loved the use of different perspectives. It's a while since I read it but I seem to remember it uses first person present as well as third person past, to great effect. In fact...spoiler alert...

It was the use of first person present in two of the characters which helped fool the reader and make the twist work. A tactic used to even greater effect (IMO), in the book by Samantha Hayes, Until you're mine. I still haven't decided if it's cheating or not!

HarpyFishwifeTwat · 14/05/2015 20:48

I really enjoyed it. When we got to the arrest I had to re-read it several times to make sure I hadn't mistook what I had read.

Cornishblues · 25/05/2015 19:43

I know what you mean. I found it a really good read, virtually breathed it in rather than read it, but at the same time I found it more of a cheat than a twist. I've been recommending it as a thriller, but not sure it stands up to scrutiny. Would read her next one though!

southeastdweller · 14/07/2015 18:39

Mixed feelings on this one. I agree with the OP about the banter between Ray and Kate not ringing true.

I didn't see the twist coming, but the second half of the book after the twist is revealed was disappointing because I didn't like her writing of Ian, a panto villain if ever there was one. I didn't feel much terror.

I also got that 'creative writing' vibe. I felt the same whilst reading Harriet Lane's two books.

I felt she could have made more of Mags and the dinner party passage could have been better if C.M had ramped up the tension as Mags knew there was something going on between Ray and Kate. That felt like a missed opportunity.

It would have been a more interesting book, I think, if Jenna had killed Jacob. But maybe it wouldn't have been published if she had.

Destinysdaughter · 18/01/2016 19:14

I read it in one day! Wasn't expecting the twist at all! Left me scratching my head for a while. Also the end was pretty ambiguous, what were we supposed to make of that...?

tripfiction · 18/01/2016 19:25

I didn't see the twist coming. Did I feel undermined by being caught out and not seeing it, I wonder? But the build up of the domestic violence and abuse (DVA) was surreptitious and insidious and realistic (not panto, this is how it can be for people who are under the thumb of a powerful person). Yup, the dialogue between Ray and Kate wasn't a strong point. Nevertheless I found it a good and engrossing read.

bakeoffcake · 18/01/2016 19:39

I could have written your opening post Brassica. It is exactly what I ought of the book.

I actually read it on a long flight all in one go. I thought the police chpts were boring and if I hadn't been on a plane with nothing else to read I may have put it down and forgotten about it- glad I didn't!

When the twist came I was totally shocked and like HarpyFish had to re read it several times as I thought I'd made a mistake.

I also want sure about the ending. Is he still alive? it annoyed me leaving it like that, it was as if she thought she needed another twist but one was enough. The Plot was a fantastic idea but needed a good editor on it.which it obvioulsy didn't have

It do think it would make a brilliant film.

bakeoffcake · 18/01/2016 19:40

Sorry about typos!

WipsGlitter · 19/04/2016 11:00

I've just finished this - i thought it was really good but in terms of a twist I had guessed that Jenna wasn't the missing mum and suspected Ian was involved in the death of Jacob. I didn't think it needed to be his child, that was a step too far n terms of credibility and I don't think it added anything to the plot.

But it was the last few lines that really got to me - are we supposed to believe he's still alive??

MrGurley1 · 03/06/2016 20:57

At the twist, I went back twice, scratching my head. First part was meh. The twist saved the book's readability.

Question? How did Jenna hurt her hand, if not on the pavement as we thought at the beginning? I'm stumped.

bigbutsrus1 · 04/06/2016 21:48

The end bit...... She sees her name in the sand and then all goes black. Does that mean he did survive and gone back and kill her?! I thought she just closed her eyes....my friend thinks otherwise! Loved the book but can't find anything to replace it

Coffeepot01 · 06/08/2016 19:06

I am stumped by the ending. Did Ian survive the fall or did evening close over? I was riveted by the book until then, although I had to skip over the abuse of Jenna because it made my skin crawl. Wonderful book for a first book and I do like police procedures.

hollyisalovelyname · 06/08/2016 19:08

I read it but can't remember it
Could somebody do a quick synopsis for me to jolt my memory please.

BennyTheBall · 07/08/2016 01:19

Me too, holly

I read it recently, but can't remember much about it other than the storyline, broadly.

I thought it was a bit pants, so that's probably why I have thrown it out, mentally.

BaconAndAvocado · 20/08/2016 14:21

I read it and enjoyed it but it's definitely not a book that's stayed with me.

hooliodancer · 27/08/2016 16:03

I didn't get why there wasn't more about the mother of the boy, and how she felt, especially that Ian had killed him.

Jenna hurt her hand when Ian attacked her.

Dickorydockwhatthe · 28/08/2016 17:33

I have just finished this book after 3 attempts and a camping trip!!! I found it very slow and boring to begin with but then the twist came and I was slightly confused, shocked and like others said had to re read parts to make sure I had read it properly but from then on I was hooked. I found Ian chilling to read and found myself slightly horrified at parts. I almost imagined a Silas type character/voice in my head from hollyoaks. I guess the end part was mainly showing that Jenna will always feel paranoid and scared and never really free from Ian as he has left a mark. But I am pretty sure he was dead following the conversation between Ray, Kate and Frank. I found the Girl on the train a lot easier to read then this but the twist in this book was very cleverly written, although I wouldn't be sure how they would convey that in a film. Need to find another read now!!

mayemma · 22/09/2016 23:46

This comment is a big spoiler for people who Havnt read this book yet but want to, I advise you it is an amazing book. Twist came at part 2 and at the end. Whole conclusion for those that like them- Starts of with a hit and run incident in the view of Jenna who in part one runs away and it makes you think she is the mother of the boy who died in the hit and run , as she goes on she moves to Wales and meets Patrick who goes to spray water as a joke at her and she flinches as if he will hit her and she finds herself looking at pictures of her baby that died , In the other chapters it is about the poilce officers working on the incident and in part 2 Jenna opens the door to the poilce officers who say they are going to arrest the person who was the driver of the hit and run, instantly that's a twist plot as its crazy you think Jenna is the mother the way it is portrayed in the book however she now is being portrayed as the driver and she even says she killed Jacob the boy who got killed however there is a mysterious link missing. The poilce officers see this but don't do anything until Patrick Jenna's man she was seeing tells the poilce he doesn't think she is guilty and shows a secret passport under Jenna's bed he found of her second name showing she is still married. Whilst she is on bail and goes back home the former abuse husbands comes to find her and says how she promised not to tell anyone he hurt her and thinks she has told people about him so he beats her up and leaves her again. She goes to court and just as they are about to sentence her the poilce and Patrick come in. They looked up details of Jenna's former boyfriend and see that he has previous connections to being an abusive partner, drink driving but Jenna never went to anyone or the poilce but doctors, friends and neighbours rang up poilce and information was put in a folder at a domestic Abuse support place so if Jenna did say anything it would all come up as evidence as usually people suffering domestic abuse are too scared to say so they have this support place just in case they ever come to them. The poilce see all evidence of Patrick's abuse on Jenna and have a break in court. The poilce talk to Jenna and say how they know she is married to Ian who they know is abusive. Jenna tells them how he would of killed her if she told anyone about him, she never did , doctors tried to get her help but she wouldn't take it knowing Ian would find out and kill her. She wanted to escape to prison to get away from him and wanted justic for Jacob and his mother. She says how her and Ian was coming back from one of her work dos and Ian thought she was having an affair with a work collegue( she wasn't) she was driving but he was abusing her all the way home and he made her stop and made him drive . He was drunk and he ran the little boy over, Jenna seeing it all and trying to stop Ian but not doing it said it felt like she had killed him herself. She gets to go away with Patrick back to Wales whilst the poilce go to Ian's address to arrest him with a squat team, they find out he is not at his address and realise he is at Jenna's she is in danger. Ian abuses jenna but she has strength when she finds out that Ian knew the little boy he killed. It was his own son who he had cheated on Jenna with a Russian women and he didn't want the Russian women and boy to ruin his life by telling Jenna so he saw him in the moment and killed him on purpose. This gave Jenna strength as Ian had killed her own baby when she was 7 months pregnant he punched her in the stomache and blamed her. She tried to run out the house and ran near the cliff side , he grabbed hold of her and she pushed back and he went over the cliff. All ended up sorted , everyone found out the truth even the new village friends who wanted her out as they saw her as a murderer not knowing she was innocent, lost her own child and lived a haunting past with a horrific fear always chasing her. In the epilogue at the end it says that she saw her name written in the sand and it went dark... Meaning it was Ian as they never found his body , who knows ... We may never know but I do hope they bring out a film or another book, this has been by far the most amazing book I have read , so many emotions, so much detail I felt as if I was inside it, defiantly a book you don't want to miss out on. Including love, misery, heart break and accomplishment

Newmaks · 07/10/2016 10:14

Just finished this and I went back to the beginning again to check something. Where it says "and then it went dark" I think she died, he pushed her off the cliff, she was standing on the very edge. I think this because at the end of the Prologue where the boy is run over and dies it ends with the same sentence 'and then it went dark'

Mum2KSS · 11/10/2016 15:14

just finished this and really enjoyed it - as someone else has posted previously, i think Ian is dead but it will take a long time for Jenna to get over him and will remain paranoid. Jacob being Ian's son was the only down point for me as I thought that was just a bit too far fetched.

Really good book though, especially for a debut.

Ac398307 · 12/10/2016 17:33

Hi, the book states Ian poured boiling hot water on her hand. Forever handicapping her from her sculpting.

Polly1951 · 04/01/2017 17:30

Ian poured boiling water over her hand.

mj15 · 28/04/2017 14:02

Very happy to read all these because I really wanted to "discuss" it with someone. I, too, was bored with the police chapters at first and skim read them. I agree that it was too much that Jacob was Ian's child and the ending was ambiguous which almost made it feel like a school essay ending. Having said that I was riveted and didn't get enough sleep for a couple of nights reading it - such a great twist. As much as I want Jenna to live, I think Newmaks is right when she says the Prologue ends with Jacob's death and, "And then it went dark." Which is the same line as the end of the book. How can Clare Mackintosh do that to Patrick?!

GreenGinger2 · 29/04/2017 13:07

Apparently she'll tell you the meaning of the end if you e-mail her.

I think it meant she had dark days ahead constantly looking over her shoulder.

Surely if he killed her they'd know he was still alive and why didn't he do it that night if still alive? They said she was on the cliff for a while,he would have scrabbled back up surely if capable to do so. I think another return would be a tad silly.

I hope they don't make a film as I found the abuse quite gory and difficult to read through. Big,Little,Lies was enough for me and this book was a lot more graphic.

Quite liked the police scenes puzzling it out.

Ineedagoodusername · 24/07/2017 08:43

Just finished this. Thought it was fantastic.

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