Don’t Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde | Book Review

Dont Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform on June 16th 2012
Genres: Emotions & Feelings, Fiction, Social Issues
Pages: 434
Format: eBook
Add to: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes&Noble

Former Broadway dancer and current agoraphobic Billy Shine has not set foot outside his apartment in almost a decade. He has glimpsed his neighbors—beautiful manicurist Rayleen, lonely old Ms. Hinman, bigoted and angry Mr. Lafferty, kind-hearted Felipe, and 9-year-old Grace and her former addict mother Eileen.

But most of them have never seen Billy. Not until Grace begins to sit outside on the building’s front stoop for hours every day, inches from Billy’s patio. Troubled by this change in the natural order, Billy makes it far enough out onto his porch to ask Grace why she doesn’t sit inside where it’s safe. Her answer: “If I sit inside, then nobody will know I’m in trouble. And then nobody will help me.”

Her answer changes everything.

To be completely honest, I am having the hardest time deciding where to begin with my review. I absolutely loved this book and it was most definitely one of my fastest reads in a while. It has so many life lessons that I feel are lost among people today, yet are greatly needed to move forward a stronger community.

One of the biggest life lessons I feel is portrayed in this book is that it takes a village. It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to overcome big (and small) obstacles. It takes a village to really thrive in life. The characters in this book portray this well, because they all came to know, respect, and admire each other. They relied on each other for different things that helped them overcome big issues, ranging from communication issues to drug addiction. This is something I feel very strongly about, because in order to truly be successful in something, you have to have people there to support you. Without support, we are nothing. Without friendship, we cannot truly thrive. Nobody can truly survive on their own, it’d drive them mad.

Another life lesson I feel is portrayed well in this book is that addiction is real, and it’s not all the same. It’s also not easy to overcome, especially alone. Different types of addiction were described in this story. The first of which is drug addiction. The second, third, and fourth are all emotionally related. One character is addicted to being home, alone. So much so he locked himself in for years. Another is addicted to being withdrawn. She is addicted to pushing people away, addicted to the fear that she’s going to be hurt. Another character is addicted to anger and hatred, not only towards himself, but others as well. And it drove him so mad, he committed suicide. None of these characters was able to overcome their addictions alone, which leads us back to life lesson #1 ~ it takes a village. To pull a direct quote from a character in the book, “You want to be OK right now, so you trade that for having a good life in the long run. It’s a bad trade, but people do it all the time. That’s all addiction really is. It’s trading away the future so you can feel OK right now.”

Another life lesson is to work hard, despite being scared and despite being capable. Fear lives in all of us, both rationally and irrationally. This book does a great job of depicting how fear challenges us to be successful and challenges us to work hard. In order to be successful, you have to overcome the fear of being successful or doing what it takes to get there. It also does a wonderful job of showing us how natural ability is not always enough. It always takes hard work, otherwise it catches up to you if you’re not willing to put forth the effort.

The author does a great job bringing the reader into the lives of each character. They are each relatable. They are each someone readers can relate to and learn from, and for that, I give this book five little crayons (stars).